A Shadow and a Wolf

Doran II

The body was cold, lying in a bed before them. Caleotte had tried everything to save her, but it was useless. Doran's brother had studied at the Citadel, forging six links before he grew bored of the studies. Caleotte knew about poisons too, but not as much as Oberyn. Doran's little brother had travelled through the Free Cities, learning much more about poisons during this time, and Caleotte didn't have the knowledge of the cure to some of the poisons Oberyn learned about there. And sadly, Oberyn had passed his knowledge to his daughters. If Oberyn had known how they would use it...

The result of all this was right before them. Doran was sitting away in his wheelchair, Hotah behind him as always, on guard, while Trystane was crying on his knees, holding her hand. Doran had seen them walking through the Water Gardens each day, holding each other's hand, discussing, smiling, laughing, kissing. All it took to ruin it was a little cut from one of Tyene's daggers. The poison took some time to take effect, but a few hours after the supposed failed attack, blood had begun to run out from Princess Myrcella's nose. A minute later, she was dead. There was nothing Caleotte could have done, even if he had arrived before the princess was dead.

Her body now rested here, under the eyes of the three men. Doran looked at Hotah. He showed nothing right now, but Doran knew Hotah was blaming himself for this. Doran had sent him to stop the Sand Snakes as soon as they began their attack on Trystane and the princess. Their goal was still unknown to Doran, but he knew it was nothing good. They probably wanted to torture her, to send her one finger at a time to her mother like Ellaria suggested not long ago, and eventually kill her. In the end, it hadn't mattered. Trystane had taken his sword to fight his cousins and managed to hold them in respect with a few guards that happened to be there at the moment, and Hotah arrived in time with reinforcements to end this folly. Sadly, Tyene had cut the princess on her left arm right before she was arrested, causing her death a few hours later. The Sand Snakes and Ellaria were now under arrest, but the damage was done.

Princess Myrcella dead, five of my guards killed, the Sand Snakes and Ellaria in prison. It's a catastrophe. Doran looked at his son weeping next to the body of the young woman he had come to love. That wasn't what Doran had wanted. He never wanted the girl to die or suffer, no more than he wanted his son to suffer. It wasn't supposed to be this way. An innocent child was dead, his son was heartbroken, and the plans he worked on for years were in danger.

"I will avenge you." The voice of Doran's son resonated in the piece. "I will avenge you, Myrcella. I swear it. Those who killed you will pay."

Doran turned to look at Hotah. With a sign of head, he made him understand he wasn't to allow that to happen. The bearded priest nodded, confirming he understood the order. With another sign with his hand, Doran commanded the captain to give the necessary orders to the other guards. After a short hesitation, Hotah left to carry out his duty. Doran found himself alone with his second son and heir. He lost a sister long ago, along with a nephew and a niece, then he lost a son, and a wife, and more recently a brother. He couldn't take the risk to lose another son. He couldn't conceive to lose his last living son. And yet, he knew he would have to take that risk. You couldn't be cautious all the time. In order to win, you had to make a decisive move when the time came, and any decisive move was risky by nature.

Trystane rose from his kneeling position and faced his father. "I want their heads. Ellaria, Obara, Nymeria, Tyene. All of them." Doran could see the hatred in the eyes of his son. The same hatred and lust for vengeance Oberyn once had when he was alive. The same hatred that got him killed.

Doran tried to appease him. "To kill them will not bring back your love, my son."

"No, but at least she will get the revenge for what they did to her. The people who killed her will be dead."