RED QUEEN | DAEMON TARGARYEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

With a party of a dozen dornish soldiers, the Prince and Princess of Dorne rode out of Sunspear. Valyria had always been a fairly good horseback rider and since moving to Dorne that skill only improved since Qoren never forced her into a carriage and at times it was best not to fly Ānogara everywhere.

Dornish sand steeds were perfect for the warm and soft terrain that surrounded Sunspear. Valyria noted that they were riding west but that was about it. While she did fly around on Ānogara quite a lot, Valyria always tried to avoid soaring above dornish land more than necessary to not push her luck.

"Is there any particular reason you are dragging me away from my duties less than a fortnight before nearly every noble house in Dorne will arrive?" Valyria asked the same question she had repeated and rephrased at least ten times since he told her they were going out for a ride.

"Patience, dear wife," Qoren told her. "All will be clear soon."

"How soon?" Valyria asked, narrowing her eyes at him in an attempt to guilt him into revealing where he was taking her.

Qoren sent her a smirk, "There is one way we could speed things up. We could race."

"How am I supposed to race you when I have no idea where we are going?" Valyria deadpanned.

"That sounds very much like a Valyria-problem," Qoren said and then he dug his heels into the horse's sides and galloped away.

Never being one to give up on a challenge, Valyria forced her own sand steed into a gallop after him. The guards had no other choice than to follow the prince and princess on their race down the sand covered landscape. Every now and then, Qoren would throw a grin over his shoulder, making sure that she was still there. Meanwhile, Valyria was gaining on him.

They reached a hill and as Valyria rode up on it, she noticed how Qoren stopped at the top. "Have you grown tired, husband-" she trailed off in the middle of her taunts when she noticed what he had stopped upon the hill to look at.

Down on the beach next to the Summer Sea stood a palace surrounded by a large garden. Frowning, Valyria looked over at her husband, "I was not aware anyone lived this close to Sunspear. I thought the closest castle to us was Lemonwood."

"It was," Qoren told her, a permanent grin painted on his face. "But not anymore."

Valyria cocked an eyebrow in confusion, waiting for him to elaborate. Rolling his eyes, Qoren said, "For someone so very bright, you are unusually slow today. It's yours."

"Mine?" Valyria said, looking between her husband and the palace down by the beach.

"Well ours. House Martell's. This is my gift to you, for our five year anniversary," Qoren explained, looking a bit nervous to see her reaction. "I've named it the Water Gardens."

Had Valyria not been an expert at keeping her face straight in every single situation, she would have been gaping by now. A palace. He had given her a palace. Qoren had an entire estate built just for her. "I – I," she said, completely speechless. "You are going to be very disappointed in my gift to you. This - it's wonderful."

"I've rendered you speechless," Qoren teased, "has anyone ever managed such an achievement before?"

"No, so you should be very proud of yourself," Valyria retorted, still in awe of the palace below them. It was unlike any castle she had ever seen before – even Sunspear. She directed her horse forward, as close to her husband's as she could without startling the animals, and leaned forward to kiss him, "Thank you."

"Anything for my lovely wife," Qoren told her, kissing her cheek. "I thought we needed something even more permanent to mark our union. Something that will stand here for generations to come. Do you want to get a closer look?"