The Sun Will Shine On Us Again | Oberyn Martell

The Paradise

It had been months they had spent in Braavos. Neither of them counted them, but slowly but surely it was approaching the first celebration of Robert's name. Joanna didn't understand how quickly time flew when they were away from home and nothing was bothering them. They didn't think about whether some threat was waiting for them somewhere. Nor did they suspect anyone they passed of working for Ellaria or Oberyn's daughters. Above all, Joanna was fed up with living in constant fear. She was tired of it.

During their journey to one of the Free Cities in Essos, Oberyn admitted to her that he had owned one of the residences in Braavos since his youthful days when he traveled widely. He spent a total of five years in Essos, but Braavos resonated with him the most and that's why he made the investment. He wanted to move there completely one day, but this didn't meet with the understanding of his family. Joanna understood his family's reaction. And besides, if he had decided to move away from Westeros for good, they would never have known each other.

But most of all, Joanna was still surprised by the fact that Braavos was a relatively safe city. The crime rate wasn't high, everyone was said to be peaceful, and the city was really beautiful. It was complete paradise. And if she didn't have a family in Westeros that she loved so much and loved to travel to see them, Oberyn would have asked her to live across the narrow sea forever.

"Robert, no! Don't put it in your mouth, please!" Joanna shouted tiredly after her son, who was leaning on a bench and reaching for flowers in the garden. "Oh my– Loreza, take the flower out of his hand." She was rather shouting a request to her stepdaughter. She turned to the other side for a second and there was already a disaster happening. Joanna's son managed to escape her, managed to stand up and start plucking one flower after another.

Joanna lifted the skirt of her dress and ran to Loreza and Robert. Oberyn's youngest daughter willingly (and carefully!) took the flower from his hand, which he plucked and was about to pop into his mouth. Joanna breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that Loreza had succeeded.

She lifted Robert in her arms and looked into his face. "Stop eating flowers!" she pointed out to him, to which Robert chuckled as a respond. And Joanna had to laugh as well. She couldn't stay mad at him for too long. Robert reached up to her face and placed his hand on her lips. Joanna kissed the inside of his palm and turned with him to Loreza.

Loreza continued to pluck flowers there and combine them into a bouquet. Joanna watched her closely. Her every move. She liked Loreza. She really grew to her heart, and even apologized to Oberyn for the way she used to talk about her. And Joanna also apologized to him for how she scolded him for his idea of taking her to live with them.

"Joanna, look!" Loreza turned to her stepmother and held out her hands, in which she held a bouquet of dark pink colors. "Do you like it? I made it for you," she smiled widely and tilted her head.

Joanna raised her eyebrows in surprise and squatted down. She sat Robert on her thigh and took the bouquet in her hand. She smelled the flowers and smiled contentedly. "It is beautiful and also smells beautiful. Well thank you!"

"I'll make you another one if you want," Loreza hissed out of sheer joy and was already reaching for another flower, which she would tear off and thus start her bouquet number two.

Joanna opened her mouth and laughed. "You don't have to! But you know what you could do? Make a wreath, for example! Like a crown, what do you think? And you make one for me and one for yourself. That could be nice, don't you think?"

Sparkles danced in Loreza's eyes, and she quickly nodded her head from front to back in agreement. "Oh yes! Can Robert go and help me?"

Her gaze slowly moved from Loreza to her son, and her mouth was half-open the whole time, as if she was considering whether she would really let Robert go or not. "I don't think he would be of any help to you in this. And most importantly, you saw it a while ago. He wanted to eat one of those flowers." Joanna laughed softly and shot to her feet. She straightened Robert in in her arms and went to the bench.