"The blood of Lucerys will be repaid tenfold. A brother for a brother."
In which Daenys Velaryon, the oldest child of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Laenor Velaryon, must come to terms with the fact that the man she loves has committed an unforgivable crime...
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"I am the fire, and I am the forest And I am the witness watching it I stand in the valley watching it And I stand in its midst watching it I am not there at all."
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The city of Dorne was sweltering, the late afternoon sun beating down mercilessly as Daenys Velaryon paused outside Old Palace for a moment to take it all in, still mounted on her dragon. The slender stone Spear Tower rose high in the air, with a spear of gilded steel at its summit that further increased its height. Despite her friendship with the Dornish princess, this was the first time she had actually set foot in the region and the myriad of history lessons she had been forced to undertake in her childhood echoed in her mind.
Almost shamefully she realized that the voice in her head that patiently recounted the history passages to her belonged to the one and only Aemond Targaryen. He had always been more interested in such things, even when they were children, and standing here in the arid, dry atmosphere, she almost missed the afternoons they had spent hiding out in some hidden alcove of the Red Keeps library where he read aloud to her and she pretended to listen so she could avoid the impatient sounds of her Septas calling her for her lessons.
Then she made a face at the memory, swiping a bead of sweat from her brow. She must be suffering a heatstroke to be recalling such trivial nonsense. Perhaps her attire had been a mistake, after all, the black riding leathers practically baking her alive like the tarts her mother so loved. Still, it's not as if silks were a sensible thing to wear while dragon-riding, and if Daenys was being honest, she had forgotten what it was like to wear anything but black.
She turned her attention to the second tower of the palace, the Tower of the Sun, which housed the high seats of the Prince of Dorne and had a dome of glass and gold which glittered in the sun. It made the heat almost bearable, being able to watch the sun's rays reflecting off the dome and Daenys had to squint against the trails of light that flashed across her vision. Eventually, she dismounted and followed the beckoning guard that appeared in front of her as he led her inside the palace and through the countless winding hallways to present her to Prince Qoren Martell.
When they arrived, it took Daenys another moment to take in the opulent throne room, not noticing its occupants until much later, her head still swimming from the heat, her single eye straining to acclimate. It was a large round room with windows made of coloured glass and the sunlight that streamed through tinted the entire space in a kaleidoscope of shades. The floors were made of pale marble and there were two seats up on a dais, almost identical to one another, except one was inlaid with the Martell spear on its back and the other featured a blazing sun. Prince Qoren Martell was seated on the spear seat and beside him sat his daughter Aliandra.
"Princess Daenys Velaryon has arrived," the knight who had escorted her announced.
Daenys lowered her head in a deep bow and felt Prince Qoren appraise her with calculating eyes. When he motioned for her to rise, she lifted her gaze and it fell upon his daughter who beamed at her.
