seadragon | oberyn martell

Twenty-One

Vaelerys sat with Doran as he stared at his breakfast. He hadn't spoken in days. The circles under his eyes had grown darker. Arianne had tried to comfort her father as well but the efforts were in vain. He blamed himself for Quentyns death. He had ordered him to leave his stewardship to seek out the dragon queen.

Vaelerys still struggled with believing the dragons had returned. Arianne had told her of what her mother said, a Magistrate's daughter, with trusted intel. Rumor was Daenerys Targaryen had been gifted stone dragon eggs by a Pentoshi patron upon her union to Khal Drogo. Upon his death, driven by grief for both husband and son, she threw herself into the flames and emerged with dragon hatchlings sucking from her teats. Birthed from stone, forged by fire and blood.

Quentyn, the nephew she had never met, had died heroically. Attempting to claim a dragon not meant for him.

Vaelerys paced the halls of Sunspear in her mourning attire. Oberyn had left the night of their return and hadn't been seen since. Ellaria Sand was still in Hellholt so she assumed he found comfort in his whores. She felt utterly betrayed at the idea.

He had confessed his sexual attraction to her and now he ran around as though it meant nothing. But she knew just because he confessed longing for her body did not mean he did not long for others.

"Princess!" A voice called down the hall. The pale haired woman smiled as she recognized the voice. It was Loiya. She ran to the princess, embracing her.

"How is your husband my love?" The princess smiled into her red hair.

"Oh he is well! How are you my Princess? I heard rumor about your travels events! Samira has been busy attending to Princess Arianne, she has been dying to see you." Loiya grinned as she held Vaelerys soft hands in her own.

"Tell her to come to me tonight with you. I wish for her advice."

That night Vaelerys held a 'council' in her chamber. She recited the events at Starfall and Oberyns confession. Samira was not enthralled at the idea he had gained some sort of attraction to Vaelerys. Loiya on the other hand had convinced herself Oberyn was madly in love with Vaelerys.

"Samira, I want Oberyn to be more than attracted to me. On the road here has begun... flirting. Call me childish and perhaps naive but I wish for a happy marriage." Vaelerys felt disgusted for such a thing to desire.

Oberyn Martell would never stop. He was a man of the world and she was his homely wife. Ellaria was his flame, the woman who burned as brightly as him. She would never compare to the whores he pleasured himself in and especially his paramour.

"You are right to feel a fool. Prince Oberyn would never chain himself to one woman. No matter if you can convince him to love you as he does Ellaria. But if it is your wish I can help you if I can."

Samira did not like Oberyn Martell. Vaelerys did not deserve to be in a hopeless marriage with him, in the eyes of the mere maid. Samira recognized the Princess was a good woman. She was what the other ladies of Westeros desired to be.

Samira was sure Oberyn's convincing flirtations had clawed their way into Vaelerys' heart. The prince was a serpent, slithering his way into minds and cunts. This is what he enjoyed, the game. And Vaelerys, despite her growth as a woman, had fallen for his tricks.

"Oberyn is a jealous man is he not?" Vaelerys looked to the Dornish native. Samira whinced.

"My Princess, please not again..." Flashes of Arstan Daynes dead corpse flooded her vision.

"I have learned my lesson Samira. I will not play with the friendly fire. But you can. You know the people here, you know their families, their reputations. Find me a man to flirt with. To drive my husband mad."

Samira pondered on such a man. Many Dornish men knew to steer clear of the Martell women. They were fiercely protected and prioritized. Not many would dare flirt with Prince Oberyn's wife. And Vaelerys was still pure, there are few Dornish who would not expect to warm the Princess' bed after a night of drinking.

Samira's mind wandered to the Dornish tourneys of her youth. She recalled the young Prince Oberyns valor in battle, how he had beaten all the young lords to be. A flash of dark hair and blue eyes struck her mind. A beautiful young boy being crippled by his horse. That young boy was a man grown now, crippled, but heir to the riches house in Westeros and notoriously handsome. He would be here in a mere week.

"I have a man in thought but in order to achieve him you must make an enemy of your niece the Princess Arianne. For he will be coming for her."

Vaelerys' eyes pleaded with Samira to name the man.

"Willas Tyrell. He comes at order of Arianne. She has been tempted by his reputation for years. She's much like her uncle, obsessed with beauty. Prince Doran will not allow a union. He refused to let Arianne travel to Highgarden when she was a teenager. Oberyn had to run after her and catch her before she made a fool of the family. The Tyrells and Martells hate each other, but despite your husband crippling Willas, they have remained pen-pals. I am afraid Arianne will be rather disappointed when she meets him. Willas Tyrell is tamed and homely, nothing of interest to Arianne who craves adventure and risk."

Vaelerys was appalled at the idea of flirting with the man her husband had crippled. It was cruel if her plan would work and it would make a further strife between the Tyrells and Martells.

Vaelerys had heard of Willas Tyrells beauty. He was nine years her senior, still unwed mostly to do with the crippling her husband had inflicted upon him in a tourney. Willas Tyrell was only ten and four when his life of knighthood had been stripped from him, humiliated in the eyes of the world. An heir who could not lead the armies of his banner men or ride along side them.

But despite his disposition the twenty and seven lord was highly sought after. The Tyrells were now the richest in Westeros and he was known to be a handsome gentleman of great character. Not to mention his sister is to be Queen in a few moon cycles.

It spoke greatly on his character how despite Oberyn being the reason for his shame and their family quarrels, they remained fair friends. Willas was good. And him being good worried her if she would truly fall for him instead of simply using him to torture her husband into loving her.

And Arianne was an issue. She was Vaelerys blood now and she did not want to cause a problem between her and the headstrong woman. She reminded her so much of Oberyn it almost overwhelmed her. Balancing two instead of one.

"I will play the game if I can get Doran out of his depression before then, but I have low hopes. I'm afraid he will mourn himself to death." Vaelerys tugged at her skirt as she thought to her good-brother.

She knew he wanted to die. Everything had been taken from him. His love, his agency, and now his son. His own children had turned against him in the shadows. His brother refused to comfort h during his loss of a child.

Vaelerys Velaryon had returned to Sunspear in shambles.