seadragon | oberyn martell

Fourteen

Vaelerys watched from her balcony, overlooking the gardens. Her face was solemn as she watched the servants and guards busily move about. She had remained in the confines of her mind since Loiya and Samira left.

A part of Vaelerys felt guilt for how she had spoken to Samira. She was cruel and unfeeling towards her, but yet all the same she had done the same thing to her.

Vaelerys had decided she would not be a naive girl anymore. She would not be kind to selfish and unfeeling others. She would only act for herself. This was what she had grown to know the world to be, and she would learn to become a part of it.

Samira was a start. From the beginning of her life in Sunspear Samira had acted as a mother to her. She followed little of the commands Vaelerys gave her and only acted in her own way. Vaelerys was a princess now, and her servants were to serve her, not take her word as suggestion.

Samira also had a sharp tongue which Vaelerys had never been fond of. She often spoke out of turn and said hurtful remarks. Samira mentioning shaming her in front of Oberyn had thrown her over the edge. Samira knew very well her husband was a sensitive subject.

Vaelerys saw two shadows in the garden out of the corner of her eye. But her attention was taken by a knock. Her guards entered and told her Lord Arstan Dayne was asking for entry. She hesitated before deciding to let him in. She quickly threw on a robe to cover her sleep wear.

"Princess Vaelerys, forgive my intrusion. I worried for you after seeing your servant girls in such a way. Is everything alright?" He knelt to her as he spoke. His charm caught her for a moment, but she was reminded of Ellaria's words.

"I am fine. Only a small quarrel." She said sharply, turning to look away from him back at the balcony. Arstan strode forward. They stood in silence for a moment, him unsure of what to say.

"I was told Ellaria Sand came to your room in the night?" Vaelerys did not answer as he stood beside her.

"I have the strange sensation that she may have said something to estrange us?" His voice peaked at the end. She refused to look at him. Despite her new found voice, her meekness still peaked through.

"You have brutally murdered and kinslain, why should I take in your company? My husband warned me. He sent her to me to tell me of your crimes because he knows I wouldn't have listened to him because all he does is lie, manipulate, and whore. He hates me because I have Targaryen blood and look like the man who caused his sisters and her children's deaths. I am hated everywhere I walk in this castle- " Arstan Dayne watched her lip begin to quiver and a single tear strain down her face from her turquoise eye.

"They whisper. They think I can not hear but I do. They call me 'dragon bitch', 'the vipers cow', and the worst of them all 'the lannisters lamb'. I know my marriage was a pact set by Tywin Lannister and my brother. I know they were prepared for me to die the second I set foot in Dorne. And I know they could have cared less if Oberyn Martell cut out my guts on our wedding night and fed them to his bastard daughters. I am no-one. My family holds no power. We barely have a hundred men to man our fleet of only twenty ships, most of which are eaten up with rot."

She looked down quickly using her manicured hand to wipe the tears which reddened her face.

"Despite all my brother has done to me,  I remind myself of our father. My father like yours was cruel. When I was a child I used to watch him hang Monford and Aurane by their ankles on the seahorses which decorated the heads of our ships when they were caught misbehaving. They nearly drowned almost every time."

Her eyes glossed over and her voice changed. Arstan watched as her demeanor faltered. Where their had been raw emotion now their was only a shadow of such a display.