- 273 AC -
(Oberyn Martell POV)
"That was uncalled for, Oberyn! Why did you do that?"
I smile as I listen to Elia complaining about what I did.
"I didn't even need to search for something bad; it just ... puffed into existence."
"... Hahahaha."
"Stop it! That's not funny ... hahaha," she laughs.
"Then why are you laughing as well?"
I admit, I ruined Elia's chance this time. Not that I care.
Baelor Hightower is not a bad man, I admit. He is handsome, courteous, well-spoken, and stands to inherit one of the greatest seats in Westeros.
However, he also farted in front of everyone during our dinner. Some things cannot be forgotten, and it wasn't my fault that the name 'Baelor Breakwind' came to my mind. I thought it was funny, and it was. But after Elia heard it, she couldn't look at him without laughing.
"You liked him," I say.
"I did."
"Then you should thank me. Imagine discovering this after the wedding."
"Discovering what? That my husband has bowels?"
"That your husband's bowels are loud enough to talk to others."
Elia strikes my arm, though she is laughing again.
"You are impossible."
"And yet Mother is adamant to find me a woman to marry. As if one was ever enough. Where's the fun in that?"
"Mother does not trust you alone in Dorne."
"A wise decision," I admit freely. Not that it ever stopped me from doing what I wanted anyway.
The door to Elia's chamber opens. Mother stands there with her arms crossed. Her current consort stands behind her, doing a poor job of hiding his amusement.
"Have you finished ruining another possible marriage?" Mother asks.
"I did nothing. Lord Baelor 'broke' it himself."
"You gave him a name that will follow him for the rest of his life."
"His bowels introduced themselves; it is hardly my place to ignore them."
Elia covers her mouth, but another laugh escapes her. Mother closed her eyes for a moment.
"We leave for the Shield Islands tomorrow. After that, we visit Crakehall and then Casterly Rock. I would have preferred to finish this journey without starting a feud with House Hightower."
"Baelor Breakwind is hardly cause for war."
"You underestimate the pride of men. That's your biggest weakness, Oberyn. One that might cost you your life one day."
"How can I underestimate something that only I am entitled to have?"
...
"Casterly Rock will be different," she says.
That gets Elia's attention.
"Because of Lady Joanna?" she asks.
"Joanna is my friend, and because our visit there was never only about introducing Elia to possible matches. You as well, Oberyn."
I look from Mother to Elia. My sister does not look surprised.
"You knew?" I ask her.
"I suspected."
"And you did not tell me?"
"I wanted to enjoy the journey."
"You have a cruel heart, Elia."
"You deserve it."
Mother enters the room fully and closes the door behind her, leaving her paramour outside.
"Joanna and I have discussed joining our houses years ago. Elia might wed Leonard or Jaime Lannister, or you might be promised to Cersei. Perhaps both, if we're lucky, but that's highly unlikely."
For a moment, I simply stare at her. Then I have to laugh.
"Hahahahaha...!"
Mother does not laugh, however. She looks at me with a serious face, which I know means that I'm on rather thin ice.
"You are serious."
"Entirely," she says.
"The little lioness is what, three?"
"She's seven, Oberyn," Elia corrects me. "So is Jaime."
"Yes, but I am 10 and 5 name days old. You can't chain me to a child, can you? Not even you would be that cruel, Mother."
"Oberyn."
Mother says my name in a tone that means she has already imagined striking me.
...
"What do we know of the eldest Lannister? Leonard," Elia asks.
Leonard Lannister. Tywin's and Joanna's firstborn son. One who no one really knows much about.
He has been in Oldtown for years, though I never met him. There were stories about him in the Citadel. Maesters called him brilliant and the heart of a party or something like that.
Then the Citadel burned; House Hightower lost a fortune in gold. Apparently, the young lion tried to put out the flames and even helped, like a common man. The look on Tywin's face would have been a treat to see when he heard that one of his dared to get his paws dirty.
"Leonard is Lord Tywin's heir," Mother answers. "Joanna knows her husband will seek the greatest possible advantage for his firstborn. Jaime is a second son now. That makes him easier to spare."
"So you already expect Tywin to refuse?"
"I expect Tywin Lannister to refuse at first, yes."
"And are we worth enough in their eyes? Why bother going there?"
Mother studies me.
"To Joanna? Yes."
"That was not what I asked."
"No," she says. "It was not."
.
The Shield Islands were dull, and Crakehall was worse.
I find faults with Elia's remaining suitors, though I restrain myself after Mother threatens to send me back to Sunspear in a grain wagon.
One has teeth like a horse. Another speaks so slowly that I was sure he was dropped as a child. A third spends an entire meal discussing hawks and never once notices that Elia has stopped listening.
None of them deserves her. Perhaps no one does.
By the time we reach the Westerlands, everyone is talking about the youngest Lannister born at Casterly Rock. The stories improve with every mile and every stop we took.
Tywin Lannister's youngest son has a tail; he has claws instead of fingers; one eye is red, the other black; his head is larger than his body; he has the parts of both a boy and a girl. One man swore the babe bit through the Maester's finger moments after being born.
Honestly, I need to see this. It has to be a monster by all accounts.
...
Casterly Rock makes nearly every other castle we visited seem small.
The castle sits upon a mountain. Towers, windows, gates, bridges and walls have been carved into the side and on top of the mountain overlooking the sea. The Rock rises above everything as if mimicking the Lannister arrogance.
I dislike giving Lannisters compliments, even in my own thoughts, but it is impressive.
A party waits for us within the outer gates.
Lord Tywin stands at its centre in crimson and gold, straight-backed and unsmiling. He looks exactly as Mother described him: a man who had all his warmth cut out and replaced with pride. Only his lady wife gets to see some of it at times.
Lady Joanna stands beside him. She seems still pale from the birth and somewhat thinner than Mother described her, but she is alive. The instant she sees Mother, her face brightens.
The twins stand to the left of Joanna.
Jaime is... cute, I suppose, though far too young for Elia. Cersei is... exactly the same, made into a girl, and from the way she holds her chin, she expects the world to recognise her superiority. Haha, how typical.
Leonard stands to Tywin's right.
At first, I do not understand why my attention settles on him.
He is larger than most boys of ten, but not impossibly so. His shoulders are broad for his age, his golden hair reaches his neck, and his green eyes are unmistakably Lannister. He wears a dark red tunic without jewels or ornaments beyond a small golden lion fastening his cloak.
Nothing about him should command more attention than Lord Tywin. And yet it does. It's like the feeling of falling and then waking up.
Leonard is watching us arrive.
His eyes pass over our guards, the horses, Mother's consort, Elia and me. I can see him cataloguing everything or something of the sort. His face gives nothing away. Not unlike his father, but different still. There is something lying in wait there... a true lion.
It takes only a few heartbeats. By the time his gaze reaches me, my hand moves towards the dagger at my hip before I realise what I am doing.
Leonard's eyes drop to it, then they return to my face. There is no challenge in them, no reaction to my preparation for a fight. He dismisses it without a second thought. And somehow that makes it worse. I am being underestimated, it seems, by a child 5 years younger than I.
Mother dismounts, and Joanna comes forward to embrace her. A moment later, she steps back and nods at Tywin.
"I apologise, Lord Tywin. I wasn't sure I would see my friend again. I am thankful that you are here to welcome us."
"Greetings, Princess," is all he says.
"You look great," Mother whispers to Joanna. "I heard it was a hard process."
"I had every intention of making it," Joanna replies. "Though apparently my body required some assistance."
Her eyes move fondly towards Leonard.
"My son has decided that even death must ask his permission before coming for my cub or me."
"Mother should not be standing this long," Leonard says.
It is the first time I hear his voice, and it almost makes me flinch. He does not sound like a child at all. His voice is not impossibly deep for his age, and it is measured and strong. There is no nervousness, no desire to impress and no question hidden beneath the words.
Joanna sighs.
"You see? He has been home for less than a moon and already gives me orders."
.
The welcoming feast is smaller than I expected for such an obscenely rich House like the Lannisters. This could mean a few things. Either we aren't worth more than a small feast, which would fit with what we know about the Lannister Lord. Or Joanna is not yet strong enough for a great celebration, and Tywin does not appear to enjoy celebrations in the first place.
Mother sits with Joanna and Tywin. Her consort is beside her. Elia and I sit across from the Lannister children.
Cersei spends much of the meal looking at Elia's revealing dress and jewellery. Jaime asks me questions about Dornish horses and spears. Leonard, on the other hand, eats in silence.
"So tell me, Elia, how was the journey through the 7 Kingdoms and the suitors? Did you find someone you fancied?"
Before Elia can say anything, I speak up. This was basically the moment I waited for to tease my sister again.
"Baelor Hightower was Elia's favourite," I say.
I ignore the look she gives me, and the foot that hits my leg blow the table.
"Oh?" Joanna asks. "I hear, Baelor is a courteous young man."
"He was," I agree. "Then he broke wind before us."
...
Jaime starts to laugh, and Joanna nearly chokes on her drink. Mother's consort looks at me with pity, for he knows what will surely follow after we are alone with Mother. It was worth it, though. The feast was growing stale and boring. The walls are cold and lifeless, while the wealth is flaunted at all corners.
I wish to go back to Dorne.
"Oberyn named him Baelor Breakwind," Elia says, her cheeks turning red.
Joanna covers her smile with one hand. Tywin looks as though he is considering whether to throw us out of Casterly Rock right away. He has as much humour as a rock. How fitting.
Leonard continues eating without reacting to my words. I was trying to gauge everyone's reaction, and while I already expected everyone else's, I was not certain what to expect from him.
I'll continue to try and get a reaction out of him. It would be the first time I couldn't manage that. So, I point at him.
"You found it amusing."
"No."
"You nearly smiled."
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"I know what I saw."
"I question your powers of observation, then."
Elia laughs in surprise. Mother looks at the heir of Casterly Rock with interest. Clearly amused that someone bothers with my antics. But she hasn't seen anything yet.
I lean forward.
"You spent years in Oldtown. Did you know Baelor?"
"I knew of him."
"Did you ever hear him bre--?"
"I believe the joke has lost its flavour," he interrupts me.
Tywin's expression does not change, but he stops cutting his meat for a moment and looks at his son with what could be interpreted as pride or approval. Joanna sighs silently, while the twins look at their elder brother with interest. Mother and Elia are silent, though.
Not wanting to leave things at that, I remember something and smirk.
"Did you start the fire in the Citadel?"
Everyone freezes around the table. Looks of shock and appalled offence are directed my way. It doesn't matter as long as I get a reaction out of him.
...
He doesn't even stop eating as he stares at me. Then, he shakes his head in disappointment.
"I have seen 10 name days, and you ask me whether I set fire to the Citadel?"
"Yes."
"I don't know you, Prince Oberyn, but I would recommend you not to speak at the table again, lest you offend someone who doesn't accept it as Baelor."
That is a bold statement and makes me widen my eyes in surprise. Such an open threat... That is enough to make me believe that Leonard Lannister is the most interesting person at Casterly Rock.
"Careful, child. You make me want to see you back up your words."
"Enough," Tywin Lannister tells his son.
"Yes, that's quite enough, Oberyn," Mother agrees.
Leonard simply nods his head and continues eating. Seeing such arrogance from a little boy really challenges my self-control to not go over there and send him to the floor in a spar. Heh, this might be interesting.
Afterwards, the dialogue doesn't flow as well as it had before. Joanna and Mother both know each other well enough to carry the conversation, but they aren't alone right now. They can't speak about the topics they could if they were alone.
Leonard doesn't say anything for the rest of the feast and only observes. The twins are as small and childish as I expected; however, their characters aren't. After asking again who was who, I figured out that Cersei, the girl, is far more outgoing and prideful than Jaime.
She asks questions, while still keeping to her lessons without fear. I am still not convinced that the one who claimed to be the girl is truly the girl. Apparently, she enjoys swordfighting and is even better than her twin as well, besting him.
I stopped talking at some point and contemplated how I would spend my time during our stay here. I certainly hope that the marriage proposals won't go through. It would be interesting to see the fully grown version of Cersei, who acts so unlike noble girls of the 6 other kingdoms apart from ours. But right now, urgh.
Then again, I'm sure I'll find a way to spend the time. Like visit the monster.