Asoiaf: I Have a Wolverine Template

Chapter 71

Chapter 71: A Princess Invitation
...
Author Note: Surprise and get flash banged. This is 3 moons later from the previous chapter. Enjoy the Chapter.
...
Elia Martell POV

Until that afternoon, my day had been perfectly ordinary.

I had awakened, broken my fast, and spent most of the morning at the Water Gardens. Ellaria, Ashara, and I had played beside the pools before settling beneath the shade of an orange tree to gossip about court rumors and suitors, as girls our age often did.

Now we wandered through the markets of Sunspear. Five Martell guards followed close behind us, while three more kept their distance and watched from among the crowd.

The market was alive with noise and color. Merchants called to passing customers from beneath bright silk awnings, offering spices, jewelry, fine cloth, and strange goods brought across the Narrow Sea. The warm air carried the scents of freshly baked bread, salt from the nearby sea, and the blood oranges stacked high upon wooden stalls.

We had no particular destination. We simply moved from one stall to another, stopping whenever something caught our interest.

To pass the time, we had begun trading riddles.

It was Ellaria's turn.

"I learned this one this morning. It is exceptionally difficult. Neither of you will solve it," Ellaria declared, looking far too pleased with herself.

"You always say that," Ashara replied.

"And you always answer incorrectly," Ellaria countered.

"Then ask your impossible riddle," Ashara said, placing a hand over her heart as though deeply offended.

"What belongs to you, yet others use it more often than you do?" Ellaria asked with a smug smile.

"Your shoes," Ashara answered immediately.

"Why would other people use your shoes?" Ellaria asked, staring at her.

"Perhaps they stole them," Ashara suggested.

"That is not the answer," Ellaria replied.

"Your hairbrush?" Ashara guessed.

"No," Ellaria answered.

"Your horse?" Ashara tried again.

"No," Ellaria repeated with a sigh.

Ashara continued offering one ridiculous answer after another while I considered the riddle more carefully. I was certain the answer was something simple. Ellaria's riddles usually were once one looked beyond the misleading words.

Then a flash of gold caught my attention.

It appeared between two passing merchants before vanishing behind a hanging curtain of red silk.

I turned my head, though I did not know why.

For a moment, I saw nothing but strangers moving through the market. A woman carrying a basket of blood oranges passed in front of me. Two sailors argued beside a wine merchant, while several children chased one another through the crowd.

Then I saw it again.

Golden hair.

A man walked some distance ahead of us, his back turned in my direction. I could see little more than his hair and the dark traveling cloak resting across his broad shoulders.

Something about him seemed familiar.

I took a step closer.

"Elia, are you even listening?" Ellaria asked.