The Viper and the Wolf

Aftermath Part 1

I had grown up.

Looking in the mirror, I noticed that I had grown taller, my face had become more weathered and looked more severe, more seasoned, and my hair had gotten longer, falling to my waistline.

I stood on the battlements, watching the snow fall, my breaths coming in puffs of steam. In King's Landing, it was probably just starting to snow. In Dorne...

Dorne.The one place I never spoke of, had never seen—and yet, there wasn't a single night in which my dreams weren't plagued by some representation of House Martell—a sun, a spear, a snake....

I had forced myself to stop thinking about Prince Oberyn Martell after I had been sold like a heifer to the Boltons. There wasn't any good in thinking about him now, anyway....from what I heard, Euron Greyjoy had killed his two eldest daughters, Obara and Nymeria, and had taken Princess Yara Greyjoy, Ellaria Sand, and Tyene Sand prisoner. What Cersei was doing to them, I had no idea....

His older brother, Doran, and nephew Trystane were long dead, victims of the coup that Ellaria Sand had staged in Dorne just so she could avenge Oberyn. In my opinion, I thought that if Oberyn had been alive to witness it, he would've laughed at their excesses...or maybe not. From his apparent thirst for revenge at the rape and murder of his sister and his niece and nephew, he would've probably felt prideful about it.

I knew that if I thought too much about him, I would just start crying, and to shoulder a burden like that and be the Lady Regent of Winterfell at the same time was too much. Winter was here now, and I had to make sure that everyone was properly fed and cared for before I focused on my own private bubble—which was so tattered by now to the point where I could hardly even call it a bubble anymore.

"Did you eat anything?" Oberyn asked, turning his head to look at me.

I shook my head. "I'm not in the Red Keep anymore."

Oberyn gestured to the wine and fruit on a low table next to the bed.Clutching the edges of the sheet I had tied around myself with one hand, I snatched a cluster of red grapes off the table and pressed a grape to Oberyn's lips.

"You're not hungry?" Oberyn asked, his lips parting in a smile.

I shook my head. "I'm used to not eating."

"At least drink some wine."

"I don't drink. Not anymore, at least."

Oberyn tsked in disapproval. "You're missing out on half the world's pleasure."

"Wine?I beg to differ," I said, watching him chew and swallow before pressing another grape to his mouth.

"You should get used to it now," Oberyn replied, propping himself upon one arm and using his free arm to mold my upper body to his. "In Dorne the wine is incredible compared to this piss."

"So I've heard," I said. "Do you really spend all your time here?"

"When I can get it, yes." Oberyn's eyes sparkled.

He stared at me unblinkingly for a few minutes, his dark eyes drilling into my blue ones. Then, despite that it went against my nature completely, I put my hands on his shoulders and shoved him onto his back, pressing my hands into his shoulders. Oberyn's face momentarily registered shock as I began to kiss his neck, letting my entire body go slack on top of his to keep him pinned.

"Who taught you to do this?" I heard him rasp as I trailed kisses along his collarbone and then moved back up his neck.

I smirked as I lowered my head so my lips were brushing his.

"No one."

I felt tears prick the edges of my eyes and blinked vigorously, staring up at the gray sky. If Oberyn had still been alive, maybe now I would be strolling the Water Gardens with him, sipping a Dornish red and wearing a sheer cutaway dress, my red hair falling long and thick down my back like a fiery waterfall. A shockingly vivid image of a dark room lit only by one ornately decorated candle flashed across my mind; I imagined wine, Dornish candied plums, Oberyn's tanned skin turning a caramel hue as the firelight struck it, his hands trailing a blazing path down my body...I imagined my fingers tangling in his curly black hair, my legs twining around his waist as we legitimized our....rather illegitimate relationship—it wasn't like we already had, but Dorne would have made it special.

Wolf.

I closed my eyes, his voice echoing in my mind.

He really was the only person that had ever made me happy in my whole stay at King's Landing—but, just like every other kind of happiness I had ever experienced over there, it was taken away from me faster than a burglar could steal a pair of some random's shoes.

Quick A/N: As you read this chapter and the one after it, listen to that piece of sad music from when Arya and Nymeria reunite...it really fits these scenes...just mentally insert it wherever you feel it appropriate...I did that and it really helped me inject some emotion into these scenes.

~Libyan4evr