Tournament of Crowns: Gods Among Titans

Nine

BRANDETH

It's safe to say that last night's Iron Ball was a success. A success that I could bask in until next year. Or until I find a new joy to bask in the light of. Someone will try to destroy it. Destroy it to the point that it is impossible to reverse its state. Impossible to bring it back to normal. But I can always find joy in other things. Dark things, that is. Spilling blood, vanquishing people, conquering kingdoms...that's the things I enjoy. The things that bring me the greatest joy imaginable.

It's monstrous, I know, but I don't care. I never gave a damn. It drives me up the hierarchical ladder, so I'm not going to drop these methods if they're working for me.

But there is one thing—one power dynamic—that could be a threat to the hierarchical ladder and the empire that I worked so hard to build. It hits close to home, considering that the person who remains at the helm of this puny war...is my own daughter Anaysha. This time, however, I have to be careful. She now has the most dangerous man—the crown prince of Dorne known as Oberyn Martell—at her side as her ally, which frightens me.

Yes, I'll admit it. I am afraid of a prince.

But this is a prince that is quite dangerous. In fact, he's the most dangerous in the entirety of Westeros. He can get even more dangerous if his kingdom or someone close to him is harmed. And in this case, Anaysha is the one that is close to him. Had she not been involved in this petty war, then the situation would be a lot less delicate, and I could be harsher than I already am.

"What are we going to do about her, Giyana? She's gone too far this time," I said to my wife.

"I think she's doing just fine, Brandeth," she said back. "After all, she's fighting for her future that you're trying to take away from her."

My brows furrowed. "I am not trying to take anything away from her. I'm only trying to protect her from men like Oberyn Martell."

"Be glad that any suitor is treating her exceptionally well. She's a stubborn child and doesn't like being treated a certain way. Sounds familiar, if I do say so myself," she fired back. "In fact, I believe the crown prince of Dorne treats her a thousand times better than any other suitor that was presented to her."

"Please, Giyana. You're really falling for that snake's tricks?" I said, my tone of voice growing in rage. "He's trying to trick our daughter into loving him, so he could kill her later on."

My wife scoffed in disgust. "You just don't get it, do you? Someone is genuinely in love with our daughter, and you can't seem to get that through that steel-reinforced head of yours! Someone's finally falling for our daughter because of who she is as a person, not by the title she was given at birth. She's finally getting what she wants, can't you see?"

"And what she's doing could be a threat to my empire!" I shouted.

"To hell with your empire! You've become so obsessed with gaining power and building up your 'empire' that you've become a danger to your children! They—they don't even know you anymore," my wife explained in a depressed state. "I don't even know you anymore."

I could sense tension building up rather quickly, all because my beloved wife and I had different opinions...and both of us were unmovable;. We both had our morals and beliefs, and we firmly stood by them. That means that we don't always agree on everything, which leads us to the state we're in now.

"I have an idea!" I exclaimed.

My wife, finally recollecting herself, sighed and bit the inside of her cheek. "An idea? What do you have in mind this time?"