"Why would a woman want to go to Castle Black?" Orivel spoke through a loud laugh. The way he spoke made it seem that he guessed her answer would be just as stupid as the thought of a woman roaming Castle Black was.
"Because it is the last place any...
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There's great honour serving in the Night's Watch.
Sunspear, 288 AC
Hear my words, and bear witness to my vow.
"Did Allar swear a vow to my family?" Elyana questioned as she wandered through Maester Caleotte's library, drawing her fingers over the spines of the books she's read and those she plans to. He had taught her to read the moment she showed interest in his work, and now at seven she was most often padding around his space until she saw a title that looked interesting enough to pick up. "Like the knights in the stories?"
Caleotte looked up from where he was sitting writing a letter, his hands nearly too old to do so. Soon, he hoped that the young princess who take to helping him until the Citadel sent him over an apprentice. But Elyana Martell had a brighter future ahead of her than helping an old man do his work.
"Yes," he nodded, slight surprise in his tone as though he hadn't expected the question. But Elyana asked nearly a dozen questions every day. "After proving himself to your mother and father, of course. It helped that he had your uncle vouching for his character—"
Night gathers, and now my watch begins.
"Uncle Lewyn knew Allar before he came to Dorne?" Elyana questioned excitedly, spinning around quickly with a large smile covering her face. The Maester knew that the poor knight would soon be faced with questions from the girl about her uncle. "How? I thought he was from the IronIsles, how did he know Uncle Lew—"
"Islands, princess. The Iron Islands," he corrected her, shaking his head. He had been trying to teach her the geography of Westeros, and the Great Houses and their sigils. She had no interest in the subject, however. "If you'll allow me to finish; Ser Allar was born a bastard in the Iron Islands, yes, but when his mother died his elder brother brought him to King's Landing. Ser Orivel Suller was a knight in King Aerys Targaryen II's army and was close with your uncle. Ser Orivel wanted his brother to move past his bastard title, so Ser Lewyn had the boy squire for your father."
It shall not end until my death.
"Bastards aren't bad, Caleotte," Elyana spoke as if the Maester was being silly, calling him by his first name no matter how many times the man stressed the importance of titles.
Maester Caleotte shook his head, "Prince Oberyn may think so, but the rest of Westeros does not share his belief."
Sunspear, 292 AC
I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children.
Elyana prided herself for being more skilled than any of the little lordlings of Dorne. She was smarter than them, both in the literal sense and in common thought, and when she began learning to wield a sword, she discovered that she was much better at that as well. At age eleven, after she spared with Andrey Gargalen, she was quickly becoming displeased with his attitude.
