It was already night and they were so tired that they had to stop at the Tower of Joy, just as Quentyn had recommended them so they could rest. The plan was simple – cross Starfall and get to the Reach in the blink of an eye.
Lilia's auburn hair was holding up for the time being but she feared it would stop being so when they got to the Reach and that scared her. She was probably the most wanted person in the country, which meant everybody would be looking for her... especially if the price on her head was a considerable one.
When they got to the Tower, Lilia stood in front of it with the weird sensation that something very important had taken place there and, oddly enough, she found herself being drawn inside. But she didn't, at least, not straight away.
She took some time to look around and memorize the sight as if she was painting it with every single detail, so neatly one could not see the difference. The Tower stood right in front of the Red Mountains... or so it seemed. The moonlight lightened the tower and made everything even more beautiful since it added a mysterious charm to the fortress.
Eventually, she headed inside and found many different chambers but the one she got, gave her instant goosebumps. It smelt of roses and it emanated sorrow and sadness. She wondered if that had been her Aunt Lyanna's room, if what they said was true, of course.
That night Lilia had a hard time sleeping. Falling asleep seemed almost impossible. To sleep under the same roof her aunt had died years prior was something that she just couldn't handle, it felt like a ghost would whisper in her ear something she didn't want to know, something she didn't want to hear.
Lyanna Stark's story was a very sad and unfortunate one, so much that Lilia understood why her father would never talk about his lost sister. And the truth was that she didn't want to listen to it... not anymore anyway. Her life had come from perfect to utter disgrace and misery in months, just with four simple words. She had her dose of miserable life for herself, she didn't have to weep for family she didn't even meet.
Before first light, they decided it was time to leave. Lilia had been able to sleep for two hours if so, which worried both Arianne and Tyene. However, Lilia did not complain or even said a word about it. Instead, she was the first to show eagerness to continue their journey with no hesitations whatsoever. She knew they couldn't lose the time they still had ahead of them, she knew that if they weren't quick, they could be caught and she would be lost forever...
They were near Starfall when the sun started to shine brightly in the sky once again. For a moment, Lilia was thankful for having that veil covering up her head, though it still didn't help.
"When you become Lady Tyrell, I'll finally be able to get some sleep at last" Arianne mentioned as they rode past a desert. Lilia had realized that Dorne was made by desert with a village or two if there would be a village or two. Also, the nights were as cold as in the North... perhaps not so much but pretty close, and the temperature between day and night made her body confused on which way to react to the climate. But Lilia loved Dorne nonetheless, despite its many inconveniences.
She had learnt how to love Dorne and she had realized how similar Dornishmen and Northmen were. Her place of birth was Winterfell but it could have easily been Dorne if it weren't for the fact that she didn't quite fit the typical dornishwoman physical characteristics.
One thing she had realized from the many weeks she had spent in the Southernest South there could be in Westeros was that it had shaped her into a different girl. The people she had met and the way that they saw life, made Lilia hold onto the thought that there was still something to work with, that she was still valuable and that she had to make the best out of the things she had gone through. Not to mention the fact that she finally realized how to play the so-called Game of Thrones, and she was determined to make everything that she could so that House Stark would win. She wasn't going to allow her father's death go unpunished, let alone allow it to have been in vain.
"No, you won't," the Stark girl said, catching Tyene's and Arianne's attention. The conviction in the young girl's tone had made Arianne proud. She had taught her well enough, she had done well. For a moment, she stood with the authority of a Queen, only without the crown and the title herself.
The Dornish Princess realized that the Lilia Stark who would play the act of the dutiful Lady was long gone, and though she couldn't define if that skill would still be necessary for the path the girl was taking, she had no doubt she would adjust to her situation, just as she had been doing since the day she left her home behind and headed South.
When Arianne first heard of Lilia Stark, she expressed what a joke she thought the girl was. When she heard the King was taken by her and that soon they would have another Queen who would be a Stark, Arianne laughed in the Water Gardens with her cousins. They had been told that the King was betrothed to Lady Sansa Stark but that he would cast the beautiful Lady aside for an even more beautiful Lady, his betrothed sister.
Then, when she heard that Lilia Stark had dared to talk back to the King and question his authority in front of the whole court, she laughed once again. She had thought that the girl was either stupid or too bold for her own good, she remembered commenting that the wolf girl wouldn't make more than two weeks in the real game. And then she was shipped off to Sunspear with the Crown Princess and Arianne's curiosity sharpened when she heard rumours that the King had been able to bed THE Lady Stark.
The first day Arianne laid eyes on the young girl she realized why every man was talking about her striking beauty. She was angelic, dutiful, and overall perfection itself. And she didn't like her for those reasons and many others.
Then, she started to think of that stupid girl – as she used to say – as a pawn in her scheming.
Lilia Stark was, in general, one of the most important pieces in the game. First of all, she was the eldest sister to a boy who declared himself King in the North and went to battle when he was not older than sixteen, not losing any of the battles he had fought. Secondly, she was the King's dearest, which made her one of the top Ladies in the Kingdom, higher in the rank than her own sister who was to be Queen. And lastly, her father needed her.
Tyrion Lannister had shipped her off to get her away from the spotlight of the scandal that Arianne would later find out. Apparently, contrarily to the rumour that had reached her ears, Lilia Stark had been raped and abused at the hands of Joffrey Baratheon, which made her pity the poor young girl. Nevertheless, that came in handy when she had to manipulate her... or so she had planned.
Having the most precious jewel in the Kingdom living under the same roof as herself, made Arianne more powerful than she had ever been. She just had to earn the Stark girl's trust and she would have her father in her hand, defying him and showing him how capable she was to play the game.
Everything would have gone alright if she had not started to like Lilia Stark. The more she talked with her, the more listened to her, the more she established any sort of contact with her... she ended up caring for the girl. With time, she had come to see her as a friend, not as dear as her cousins, but certainly close to it.
And watching her about to take control over her life and not being speechless just to look well in the picture made her truly, genuinely happy.
"After that, you'll go with me and you will marry my brother, Robb Stark. He's handsome, he never lost any battle he's ever fought and he is honourable. To be honest, he's far better than the Darkstar creepy lad you insist on bedding much to my own surprise"
Arianne would have been offended if she actually cared about Darkstar. She enjoyed him, that was for sure, which was the only reason she bedded him so frequently. That and because he was incredibly handsome, there was no man who could ever compare to him. Ever. At least, that she knew of.
And on top of all that, he was an eligible husband for her. Her father would never have anything against it, at least, not the usual argument he used to hold against every man Arianne was interested in. He was a Dornish Lord and that was undiscussable and irrefutable.
Nevertheless, if her father ever heard of this possibility, he would probably think twice before allowing her to marry Gerold Dayne, and if Robb Stark had his way, her father would say yes for sure. Of course the Young Wolf had to ask her hand first and she knew he would, Lilia Stark would make sure that happened.
She wouldn't have a problem with that either. She would be Queen in the North and Princess of Dorne, it would be beneficial and if Lilia was saying the truth, marrying Robb Stark wouldn't be so awful... only freezing cold but she would be a Princess in her own right and she could easily come to Dorne when she very well pleased.
"Your brother is a traitor" the Dornish Princess pointed out in order to test her friend. Arianne had no intentions to simply obey without asking any further. Despite considering it, she was going to be the one to choose her husband, not her father, not her brother, NO ONE would sell her off like a broodmare. She stood in a different position than many women she had met.
"So are the Tyrells" Lilia refuted with the same look on her face. That was the strategic one and she was plotting with her own head for the first time. It was good for both sides, her brother would have another army that would help him crush the Lannisters and Dorne would finally get its chance to avenge Princess Elia and her children. That revenge would make Arianne Martell look even better in the eyes of the people and it would make Robb have a wife he would like to have and that would talk some sense into him when Lilia wouldn't be able to. "Family is the bond, once you get married to Robb Stark, you think your father is just going to leave you and your possible child for dead? Of course not!"
"You're starting to think and I'm enjoying that" Arianne confessed, slightly proud of the work she had been able to do on Lilia Stark. She had shaped the fragile little girl who had gotten to Dorne weeks ago into a woman men would go to war for. "I'd be in the North and he would be in the South. I guess a Nymeros Martell Stark alliance wouldn't be so awful"
"I don't think so"
Lilia looked at the owner of the voice and widened her eyes when she recognized him. Her palms got sweaty and her heart beat increased. It was over for her and there was no turning back.