They got to Dorne quickly. The sea cooperated with them and so, they got to the South safely. They had only taken a day and a half of a pleasant journey, without any trouble.
After reaching Dorne, they had a carriage waiting for them. Lilia looked at the guards dressed in yellow with curiosity. It felt like she had landed on a different planet from the one she had seen. They had some time to look around, as the guards changed their belongings from the ship to the carriage.
Looking quickly at the place, Lilia had figured that Dorne was mainly desert. Maester Luwin had always told her that things in Dorne were very different, especially their culture, given that they didn't join the Realm for quite a long time.
Once everything was properly packed, they got inside the carriage that would take them to the Dornish Court – Sunspear. Lilia noticed Myrcella's nerves growing stronger and smiled lightly, putting a hand over hers in reassurance.
She decided to observe her surroundings. She wanted to actually know Dorne. However, the only thing she noticed along the day was sand and desert and more sand and more desert. The climate was very dry and soon, their dresses seemed unfit.
"Are you feeling well?" Princess Myrcella asked out of preoccupation since Lilia was clearly having trouble with the heat. Lilia wasn't used to the heat or dry climates, just the transition between Winterfell and King's Landing alone was hard for her to cope up with. However, she had underestimated Dorne "You don't look very well"
"Given the fact that where I come from, this might as well be called 'hell', I think I'm dealing with it" the girl laughed and Lilia started to think how much she had changed. She had come from the North and now she was at the most Southerner South there could possibly be. What was next?
In about less than an hour, they were standing at the gates of Sunspear. She was the first to leave the carriage where they had been travelling, in order to ensure that it was safe for the Princess to get outside.
Of course, she didn't expect it to be dangerous, but those had been indications from the Queen herself, so she had to shut up and oblige without asking questions, didn't she?
As soon as Myrcella stepped out of the carriage she stepped forward with Lilia walking slightly behind her. As they reached the Dornish Royal Family, they bowed in courtesy to the Princess.
"Princess Myrcella, welcome to Sunspear" a man whom Lilia easily recognized as Doran Martell. She knew about the man's struggle to walk, he had some sort of disease that had no cure, as far as her knowledge went. "Lady Stark, Dorne thanks you for bringing the Princess here safely"
"Prince Doran" both of them bowed out of courtesy. There were a lot of girls there, eight girls or something like that. Lilia recognized them as the Sand Snakes, all of them daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell, the infamous Red Viper. He was the brother to Elia Martell and was known for travelling the world. That explained his eight daughters.
"And this is my youngest son, Trystane Martell" the man introduced them a young boy with curly hair and olive skin. He bowed to Myrcella and kissed her hand, which was very sweet of him. Her cheeks took a reddish undertone and Lilia smiled discreetly at the sight of them. "Trystane, this is Princess Myrcella Baratheon"
"It's very nice to meet you, at last, Princess," he said. His accent was very different from the ones Lilia had been used to hearing all her life. "The merchants and Dornish Lords have told me of your beauty but none of them was even close to make you justice"
After that, Lilia's gaze found two other people next to the Prince, a girl and a boy. They were both very tan, like any dornishman she had seen so far. The girl was very beautiful, with olive skin and dark hair and eyes, she was a kind of beauty Lilia had never seen. But the boy... his 'beauty' could not be compared to any of his siblings'.
"And these are my two other children. Prince Quentyn Martell and Princess Arianne Martell, my only daughter and my heiress" Lilia looked at both of them attentively. She was shocked that Arianne was considered the heiress with two sons. If he had two sons, how could his daughter be his heiress?
"Princess" they both bowed to her out of respect. Myrcella seemed to have found it just as odd as Lilia did. "Lady Stark"
"Princess. Prince" Lilia bowed in respect, being followed by Myrcella. As she thought everybody had met everybody, another man showed up, catching all the attention to himself.
"I apologize for being late!" someone rushed to meet them. Prince Doran seemed impatient as he rolled his eyes. The man was attractive and mysterious, and Lilia recognized him from the stories she had been told many times before. He was the Red Viper of Dorne, Prince Oberyn Martell. "You must be Princess Myrcella"
"I am," she said bowing in respect. She probably didn't know who he was. As far as she had been told, the Martells and the Lannisters didn't have a very good relationship with each other. So, it was only natural that Myrcella was clueless about who she was greeting.
"Well, Arianne, girls. Why don't you take Princess Myrcella to her chambers and show her around?" Prince Doran suggested. The girls took Myrcella and as Lilia was going to leave beside them, she was stopped by someone who she didn't expect to even acknowledge her presence.
"If it isn't the infamous Lady Lilia Stark, the she-wolf of the North" she turned to face the man who was coming up to her with a smirk. He had the sort of smirk that she had seen in Cersei various time, especially when she was plotting and scheming against something or someone. So, Lilia decided to play her part as she always did.
"If it isn't the infamous Prince Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper of Dorne" she repeated back, making him smile at her with curiosity. She walked in front of him so that he needed to catch up with her and so that she could keep her distance from him. "What gave it away, my unhuman resemblance to my late aunt, Lyanna Stark?"
"No, actually it was the wolf" she smiled and looked at her feet out of embarrassment. She looked at her wolf and signalled for her to came closer. "But that was a second close"
"She's my direwolf, the sigil of my House" she explained to him as the direwolf walked with them, loyal to her owner. "She's good, she won't hurt anybody unless they hurt her... or me"
"What's her name?" he curiously interrogated her. She smiled as her eyes fell on the direwolf, who looked back at its owner.
"Winter Rose" she replied as they kept on walking through the gardens. They stopped by a fountain where the direwolf ran and started to drink by it. "Winter Rose! Come back here right now! What manners are those?!"
"Don't worry, she's not dealing with the heat very well. After all, she's a wolf of the North" he commented with a giggle. Lilia figured that she could understand Winter Rose's situation very well. "Why would you bring a wolf here?"
"She comes with me wherever I go. For protection" Lilia explained as she looked down. Remorse hit her as she thought she should have left Winter Rose with Sansa, who was in greater need of having protection around, than her. "And why would they have a she-wolf of the North travelling to the southest as South goes?"
"I suppose Lannisters like to cover up their mistakes by sending them away," he said with a more serious tone to his voice. Then, he looked at her and sighed. "I'm very sorry for what happened to you, the Lannisters do tend to rape and kill innocent little girls and women"
She swallowed dryly at the mentioning of it. She hated to be reminded of that, since she was mainly trying to forget it, or at least, deal with it with some honour and some grace.
"I suppose I was unlucky then," Lilia said coldly, making Oberyn a little wary. He didn't expect the girl to say something like that. So, he did the best he could to avoid the subject.
"Your brother will kill him for what he did" Oberyn stated, thinking about the eagerness he had to kill the Mountain for what he had done to his dear sister and her children. In his dreams, he kills him every night... all of them.
"I look forward to the day where my brother gives me their heads before he puts them on spikes at the walls of King's Landing" she claimed disinterestedly as Oberyn smirked amusingly. "What?"
"Finally I have the pleasure of meeting someone who shares the same enthusiasm over dead Lannisters that I do" she smiled back at him as they kept on walking.
"Some of them are nice" she looked over to Myrcella who was with the Sand Snakes watching the city from a window. "Some aren't responsible for what others did"
"Don't worry, we don't hurt little girls in Dorne" he granted her. "Tyrion wanted me to talk to you, I can see why. Shall I walk you to your chambers?"
"I would appreciate it very much, thank you" he offered her his hand for her to hold and she hesitantly took it. At first, she was very unsure, but as he showed her that she was safe, she eventually relaxed as they went back home.
"I believe we are going to be very good friends," he said with a smirk and she nodded.
"It would be my pleasure, Prince Oberyn"
He left her inside her chambers, which were completely different from the ones she had been given in the Red Keep. Dorne was so beautiful and it seemed like a good place for Lilia, far from Joffrey and everyone else who had hurt her.
Can I just share how much I'm freaking out at the current moment? Like, it's Oberyn freaking Martell!
I love Oberyn and I love that quote about dead Lannisters! I was so sad when he died!
And Arianne Martell! I LOVE Arianne Martell! Even though Sansa Stark is my favourite character, Arianne Martell has won a place higher in my heart! I love her so very much!
Well, I'm just going to fangirl in private! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for more friendships that may be born in this period of time in Lilia's life!