Asoiaf: I Have a Wolverine Template

Chapter 74

Chapter 74: The Rules of Courtship
...
Richard POV

Elia did not release my arm after we left the private dining chamber.

Her hand remained tucked against the bend of my elbow as we walked through the sunlit corridors of the Old Palace. Behind us, the doors closed upon the rest of House Martell, though I doubted our departure ended their interest in what their princess intended.

Every person at that table had understood and so had I.

Elia Martell was officially after me.

She had attempted to disguise her intentions beneath invitations, recommendations, and unnecessary explanations concerning the strength of Dornish peppers, but there was little doubt remaining. She had invited me to dine with her family, served food upon my plate, watched my every reaction, and then asked me to spend the rest of the morning alone with her.

Two years had passed since she kissed me beneath the western sky. Two years had passed since I rejected her. It seemed her feelings had evidently survived every day between then and now.

Elia glanced toward me.

"You seemed quiet, is everything well?" she observed.

"Everything is well, I just have something on my mind." I answered.

"About what? Is it about breakfast?" She asked.

"Im thinking of that too, among other things of course."

A trace of unease entered her expression.

"Was Doran too severe with his questions?" Elia asked. "He does not mean to be discourteous. He merely prefers to understand everyone who enters his family's home."

"Your brother was reasonable," I assured her. "If a foreign lord arrived beneath my roof and immediately began spending time with someone I loved, my sister for example, I would also wish to understand him."

Elia's steps faltered.

I continued for another pace before stopping with her.

Her cheeks had begun turning red.

"I did not say that was what you were doing," I added.

"No," Elia agreed quickly. "Of course not."

We resumed walking. The color remained in her face. She was so obvious.

A pair of horses had already been prepared in the palace courtyard by the time we arrived. Elia's mount was a graceful sand-colored mare, while a dark Dornish stallion waited for me. Four Martell guards accompanied us, though Elia instructed them to remain far enough behind that we might speak without being overheard.

The journey to the Water Gardens took us along the coast. Sunlight gleamed upon the sea to our left, while dry hills and stretches of pale sand rose to our right. The morning breeze carried the scent of salt, dust, and flowering citrus.

Elia spent much of the ride telling me about the land.

She explained which villages supplied Sunspear with fruit, where the best horses were bred, and how the coast changed when the seasonal storms arrived. Whenever she forgot her nervousness, her voice became confident. She knew Dorne far better than many lords knew the lands they ruled.

The Water Gardens appeared before us near midday.

Pale marble walls rose amid groves of blood orange trees. Sunlight reflected from tiled pools and fountains, while water flowed through narrow channels cut into the stone. Children ran barefoot along the edges of the pools, laughing as they splashed one another beneath the watch of nurses and guards.