Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

Chapter Eighteen: The Orphanage

Staring up at the worn-down building, the stone looked like it was crumbling and the roof was missing in places; the sign on the door read that it was an orphanage, though it looked far from that. 

Amara ignored the whispers from her ladies as she stepped inside, she wrinkled her nose slightly at the smell that greeted her; it was like nothing she had ever smelt before in her life. 

A harassed and shocked lady appeared, surprised by Amara's appearance and quickly ducked into a clumsy curtsy at the sight of her; she had not been expecting to see a Princess on her door step. 

"May I see the children?" Amara asked kindly, she wasn't here to cause trouble in fact it was the opposite; she was certain that her travels around the poorer parts of the capital had spread. 

It seemed strange to think that in her time as a Princess of Dorne, she had spent her time helping those in need; she spent more time wandering the streets than anything else. 

"Of course, Your Grace," the woman said quickly, her eyes cast to the floor wondering just what she wanted; she had never thought that she would have a Princess here. 

The royals never wandered down this way, they stuck to their parts of the city and despite the fact that she had lived here all her life; she could not name a time that she had seen the Princes around. 

The building was warm and the air felt trapped inside the slim corridors that wormed their way through; some rooms that Amara passed had no doors on them at all and there were improvised beds made up of straw and dirty rags for covers. 

The great hall was where the children were scattered around, skinny and small with barely any clothing to call their own. 

Some had no shoes but all of them were dirty and unwashed; they all bore looks of sadness and hunger that Amara had never seen before; her heart broke for them and she wished that there was more that she could do for them.

Making her way into the middle of the floor, Amara looked around unsure where to begin and knowing that there was much that she could do to change their lives; they would likely just end up on the streets from here. 

"Your dress, Your Grace," Lady Myria exclaimed dismayed at how dirty the place was, she stepped forward to stop Amara as she crouched down on the floor. 

The children all stared in wonder at the woman that had come to see them that was so finely dressed; they had never seen the like and Amara stood out just as her ladies did. 

Ka and Lagos lingered in the background, both uneasy with what was happening; it seemed that each time they went to a place like this, the worse the place was. 

Amara didn't care about the dirt, she sat down on the floor knowing that it didn't matter if her dress was ruined; a smile forming on her face as a little girl clambered into her lap. 

The others slowly followed and soon Amara was surrounded by children, all in awe of her and she had never felt like this before; she answered any of the questions that they had for her. 

In turn she asked them questions about themselves, about their parents and she took an interest; some had been abandoned at birth, others their mother's had passed and their father's abandoned them. 

"I have presents for each of you," Amara announced with a smile, she signalled for her ladies to come forward and start distributing the gifts amongst the children; their little faces lighting up at such a gesture. 

To the lady that ran the orphanage, Amara gifted her a bag of coins, some clothes that she and her ladies had put together for the children in different colours and sizes along with a few bags of food.

"It's not much," Amara told the lady, she would visit when she could and would even consider taking on some of the girls into her household when they were older; she would make sure they had a better life than what they had started with. 

The lady had tears in her eyes, she could not believe how generous Amara was being; some days she struggled to even make sure that the children had something to eat every day. 

Some nights they went to bed starving because there was no money for food, the fact that Amara had gifted them with so much would keep them feed for weeks. 

"I have tried my best to help them... but these times are hard on us all," the lady said trying to explain, she shook her head mournfully and looked around knowing that she did all she could. 

Every day seemed to bring in a new mouth to feed and nothing seemed to get easier; the price of food just seemed to continue to rise especially with the wars going on. 

"I swear to do what I can to make this better," Amara vowed taking the lady's hand, she squeezed it hoping that she would be able to do something to make this better. 

She had more than enough in her life and every night she didn't have to wonder where her next meal was coming from when the palace had so much extra food made her feel guilty when she came to places like this. 

"May the Gods bless you. Your Grace," the lady insisted, she pressed a kiss to Amara's hand knowing that she would pray for her; she had heard about how the Prince had shunned her for his whore. 

She had once seen Ellaria from a distance and the woman seemed to think herself above all of them; she considered herself equal to Amara yet would never hold such a position. 

Amara was kind and was using her sudden rise in status to benefit others; she was going out of her way to make sure that those in poorer stations would benefit.

"I pray that His Grace realises what the Gods have blessed him with," the lady insisted clutching at Amara's hand, she didn't know what Oberyn saw in Ellaria; it was hard to believe that he continued to favour his whore. 

Amara swallowed at that, she didn't know how to reply to that especially when she had found striking out on her own to be able to stand on her own two feet. 

It was something that she'd never truly achieved when she had been back at Fairmarsh, she might have been the acting Lady of the house but she had never been able to do much. 

Now as a Princess, she had even more freedom and could do as she pleased; her work was benefitting other people and she had found herself at peace with that. 

Before she could reply, Amara found herself being distracted by the children and pulled away to play a game with them; a smile forming on her face as she did so. 

Ka watched Amara with a smile, he was certain that she would be a great mother and he was sure that they would look like her; he couldn't deny that he had considered what might happen should he father her children. 

Of course, the Prince would be upset but since he had bastards of his own then surely, he would not care if his wife had one or two of them. 

They would be treated like Oberyn's daughters, they might not have been considered royal but their mother was a Princess and that would have counted for something. 

Amara might even be allowed to retire from court, Ka was sure that Prince Dorian would gift her land of her own to call her home; a place away from court and a place where she could happily raise a family. 

Ka was not the only watching how Amara interacted with the children, Elia found herself frowning at the sight; her mind trying to come up with a time when she had once been like that and her mother had played games with her. 

Nothing came to mind and a lump formed in her throat, she looked away knowing that she would forget why she was here if she continued to watch.