Of Lions, Wolves, and Dragons (Jon Snow)

56. The Lion and The Wolf

It took more effort than she ever could have imagined, but Joellyn did manage to slip away from Jon long enough to get a letter written to Doran so it would be ready for Areo when they left in the morning.  She still felt the obligation to send her thanks directly to Dorne for the sacrifice those 53 men had made for her, but now she also felt obligated to tell Doran about her upcoming marriage to Jon.

Doran,

I will never be able to fully express my thanks to you and the people of Dorne to coming to my aid when I asked for it.  Thanks to your help, Sansa and Jon were able to reclaim their rightful home, and it begins to feel like things are being set right in the world.

I deeply regret the lives that were lost in this battle.  I did have some time to spend with the soldiers you sent, and they were all good men.  It was incredibly difficult to believe that so many people were willing to come fight for a woman they did not know, but I see now how much the people of Dorne loved Oberyn.  I feel grateful to share just a portion of that love because of my marriage to him.

I am attaching a list of names of the soldiers that lost their lives in the Battle of the Bastards.  I can never fully express to their families what their sacrifice means to me.  Please convey my deepest regrets and appreciation.  I regret that my need caused 53 men to lose their lives, but I can promise you their sacrifice is not in vain.  They honored their prince's memory, and I will never forget what they have done for me.  I assisted Areo and the other soldiers in collecting their personal effects, and I hope that my words, actions, and those items bring some peace to those families, though I know it could never be enough.

I also write to inform you of some news in my life.  As you know through Oberyn, Sansa and I have been friends for years.  What you, and likely Oberyn, did not know is that I also met her brother Jon many years ago when I first met her.  He and I shared a connection, but we knew nothing would ever come to pass between us, and we went our separate ways after a very brief friendship.  In this time with him, helping him take their home back, we have rediscovered that love we had for each other all those years ago, and we have decided to get married.

Areo assures me that you and the rest of Dorne will be understanding, and that you would not want me to mourn Oberyn forever, but I still felt as if you should hear the news directly from me rather than hearing it secondhand.  I will always, with all of my heart, love Oberyn.  He made me into the woman I am today, and I will never be able to forget that.  I am so glad to carry his love for me, and I pray that we will have the blessing of Dorne on our marriage.

I do hope to still meet you sometime, my brother.
Your sister,

Joellyn

As Joellyn watched the soldiers of Dorne leave, she felt nervous about how the news would be received, but Areo and the remaining men offered their sincerest congratulations and wished them well, so she hoped that Doran and the rest of Dorne would feel the same way.  She, however, did not have long to worry about what Doran or anyone in Dorne thought about her marriage to Jon.

Sansa was beside herself when Joellyn and Jon told her that they planned on being married before the rest of the northern lords arrived, and she immediately set to making plans for the wedding to happen in just two days.  As such, Joellyn was consumed with wedding planning with Sansa.  The majority of the day was spent finding an appropriate dress and making modifications to it so that it would be a suitable wedding dress.  To be entirely honest, Joellyn wasn't really all that concerned about what she was wearing to the wedding, but it seemed to give Sansa something that she enjoyed doing, so she went along with it willingly to make Sansa happy.  All Joellyn needed was just the knowledge that she was soon going to be Jon's wife, everything else was just details that didn't matter much to her.