A Vow Without Honor

The Promise

Arianne

When she was a child, Arianne dreamed of running away with Oberyn and exploring the world as he had. From the Shivering Sea to the ruins of Old Valyria, she longed to make her mark. She'd lost count of how many times she asked her uncle to take her away. Only once had she truly begged, when her father thought to betroth her to Hoster Tully instead of his much younger heir, Edmure.

She had never known Oberyn to be sympathetic, brash and honest, yes, but things such as pity had no place in Dorne. Yet that was what met her when she was once again denied her request. How she had hated him for it, and how she often regretted it now that she had learned the truth.

For all her dreams of adventure and excitement, Arianne never did leave the borders of Dorne. Only now on the brink of war, in the aftermath of overwhelming loss, did she travel from her home. It left a bitter taste in her mouth, and a pain in her chest that often made it difficult to breathe. The one time she wished to remain, she had been given no choice but to leave.

Arianne, Obara, and a handful of guards had traveled in secret across the Sea of Dorne to the Rainwood. Their objective was Storm's End, the ancient and isolated seat of House Baratheon. The waters about the castle were infamously dangerous, as was the Redwyne Fleet that rested just outside the bay, so they had been forced to travel by land the remainder of the distance. The going was slow, plagued by constant rain and a landscape turned to mud. One horse had already been lost to a broken leg.

"This is stupid," Obara remarked that morning as she stared across Shipbreaker Bay. Her cloak and hood were soaked through, lowering the fabric until only her cousin's deep-set frown was visible. "No wonder these people are always at war. I'd kill my neighbor too if I never saw the sun."

It managed to coax a smile out of Arianne. "I seem to recall you needing far less than that."

Obara snorted, but said nothing else.

Arianne squinted at the mist blanketing the bay. Somewhere beyond lay their destination, and the first of many tests she would face in the coming days. Once, she had prided herself on the ability to make others cave to her whims, now she had become uncertain, a child left alone in the world. It frustrated her to no end, and she often kept to herself, dour and silent. How Tyene might have teased her.

Night and day, she had pondered over what to say, but she hardly knew the names of those she went to meet, much less their personalities, needs, or desires. But she knew men. They hated to be cornered, to suffer loss and continual insult, and both the Lannisters and Tyrells had provided them plenty. It would have to be enough.

They broke their fast over nuts and cheese, and continued their eastward march through the trees. Thunder crashed overhead, and a wind off the bay began to whip about them, tearing at hair and clothing both, further abusing their already low morale, but Arianne paid little attention to the elements. Her gaze was focused on the path ahead, awaiting the first glimpse of their destination.

Morning drifted away into the afternoon, or so she guessed. The rain would not relent, and the sun's journey had little effect upon the gray light that guided their steps. But the trees had begun to thin, and she heard the distant rumble of waves between thunderclaps.

Almost in an instant, Storm's End was upon them, jutting from the end of the cliff. Its massive curtain wall was forty feet of gray stone, but she knew it dropped for at least one hundred more beyond the cliff. A single iron gate marked the entry, dwarfed by the walls that enveloped it, and one great tower thrust upward from the center, tall and commanding. The entire keep stood in defiance of nature itself, and Arianne could not help but feel awed by it.