Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

Chapter Six: Personal Guard

Brushing her fingers against the material of her wedding dress, Amara smiled softly to herself as she thought that her mother wondering what she would say right now if she could see her.

It was hard to believe that in a little over a week, she would be a married woman and Amara was amazed how well she had settled into life here; she was pleased with the changes that had been made to her chambers.

Amara stepped back from the dress, there were still small alterations being made and she wanted it to perfect; she couldn't imagine wearing anything else on her wedding day.

"It's beautiful my lady," Herit said approaching Amara, she knew how much it would mean to Amara to wear the dress on her wedding day.

She didn't remember Amara's mother, but everyone always spoke about how kind Lady Cantrell was; she was certain that Lady Cantrell would have been thrilled to see her daughter become a Princess of Dorne.

"Do you think she would be proud?" Amara asked quietly, she had found herself thinking more of her mother as her wedding approached; she wondered what she would think of all of this and her husband-to-be.

It was strange to think that things had worked out the way that they had, she had never thought for a moment that this was how her life would turn out; she had only ever hoped for a good match with another minor house.

"Of course, you are to be a Princess of Dorne, who wouldn't be proud of that?" Herit asked with a smile, she could imagine that many a woman had imagined the idea that they would be in her shoes once; there was no denying that Prince Oberyn was a handsome man.

Amara didn't reply, the title meant very little to her especially if her husband was going to be more interested in another woman than her.

"I have a meeting with Prince Doran," Amara said changing the subject, she didn't want to get distracted from her mission here and she knew that there was every chance that her happiness could be ripped away from her.

If she wanted her marriage to work, then she needed to make sure that she was the only woman on Oberyn Martell's mind; she was sure that if she played her cards right that she would be the only one.

Herit nodded her head, she moved to get the veil for Amara knowing that they couldn't risk Oberyn seeing Amara's face especially with his whore playing dirty.

It had come as no surprise to hear that she had brought her youngest children to the palace to steal Oberyn away since his attention had shifted to Amara.

While Amara didn't fault Oberyn for spending time with his children, she did find herself rather annoyed that Ellaria had pushed her children in front of Oberyn to keep his attention on her.

Hiding her face from the world, Amara knew that her time hiding away was going to end soon and she could only hope that she was ready for that.

Oberyn had been distant and Amara knew that she had to pull his attention back to her if she wanted to stand a chance; she held her head high as she left her chambers knowing that everyone would watch her.

People whispered thinking that she didn't know what was being said, even before she was married Oberyn couldn't be loyal to her instead preferring his mistress.

They were sure the marriage wouldn't be a happy one and Amara wanted to prove them wrong; she was determined to fight for her marriage even if she wasn't married yet.

Oberyn was going to find that she wasn't going to allow him to walk all over her; she was going to be his only one or nothing at all. 

***

"Ahh Lady Amara... thank you for coming," Prince Doran greeted smiling up at her as she entered the room, he was pleased that she had settled in so well here and he was sure that she would continue to do so.

It had disappointed him that Oberyn had become distant and had taken to spending more time with Ellaria recently; he had hoped that his brother would continue to be curious about his future wife.

However, that was not the reason that he had called Amara to see him, it was a matter of days until the wedding and it was time for some changes to be made.

"I would like you to meet Lagus and Ka... they are to be your personal guards," Prince Doran announced knowing that it was only right that Amara had the right security around her now that she was about to become a princess of Dorne.

Amara was going to be the first woman of court when she married since Doran's wife had left him years earlier and it would be a while before his son married the Baratheon girl.

It would not do if she was not provided with suitable protection should anyone desire to strike against Oberyn; his brother had created many enemies over the last few years.

"It's a pleasure my lady," the two men said bowing to her, both men had been picked for their loyalty to House Martell and they were perfect in Prince Doran's mind to guard her.

They were both skilled enough to keep her safe and Doran hoped that there wouldn't be any trouble with them around; they were going to keep her safe.

"I trust that everything is going well with the wedding planning," Doran mused pulling Amara's attention back to him, he was sure that she had so much to do and he knew that the wedding would be something to be remembered.

It would be a couple more years before Trystan would be married; the last royal wedding celebrated in Dorne had been his own and that had been many years ago.

Opening her mouth to reply, Amara couldn't help but notice that Oberyn had arrived from the corner of her eyes; she did her best to remain focused on Doran, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"Lady Amara what a wonderful surprise," Oberyn mused approaching his brother and the bride-to-be, he had known that she would be here and since Ellaria was distracted with her father.

Lord Harmen Uller, Lord of Hellholt had arrived for the wedding and Oberyn was relieved to avoid the man that had hoped that his bastard daughter might marry him one day.

From what he had heard from Ellaria, Harmen was far from pleased with the fact that Oberyn was to marry a woman from a lesser house.

House Uller was one of House Martell's most powerful vassals and Harmen had been certain that Ellaria despite being a bastard would have made a fine wife for Oberyn especially considering their special bond.

His four grandchildren were the Viper's and Herman had never known Oberyn to linger on a woman for as long as Ellaria had been by him.

"I couldn't help but hear you discussing the wedding," Oberyn stated standing close to Amara, he had come knowing that he would see her here and he was pleased that he had been right.

Not that Amara could avoid him if he wanted to find her; he was surprised that the spy he had set in her ladies hadn't been able to learn much.

Amara was clever and seemed to only trust the one lady that she had brought with her to the capital; the rest had been placed by her brother or Doran, meaning she didn't trust them.

"I trust your dress is nearly ready," Oberyn said, he tried to hide his dissatisfaction at the fact that her face was again covered; he was sure that she had planned her dress perfectly for their wedding.