Lord Lydden was found dead in a tavern, his head seemingly crushed with a mace. Jaehaerys did not care about his death. At that moment, he was spending time with his daughter, reading a letter from his wife, Daenerys. His mother had brought it to him.
His wife had rejected the idea of going to Casterly Rock.
I don't want to leave our castle alone. Besides, I'm preparing something, it will be finished before you return.
The letter did not say what she was preparing. Although Jaehaerys imagined it was one of the projects she had been working on.
The trial was canceled, and they sent him a message saying he did not need to appear at all. Joffrey was to be tried that same day, and Jaehaerys attended, more for Serena's sake than his own.
But the brat didn't show up. He was nowhere to be found in the castle.
His mother, Cersei, had disappeared with him.
Serena nodded, somewhat relieved that revenge had not been snatched from her hands.
"Your Highness, Prince Oberyn wishes to speak with you," an immaculate man told her.
"Let him in," she said, cooing to her baby with more confidence than in previous days.
"That's Rhaelle Snow, right? Your bastard. I heard Lord Stark agreed to let her and her mother go with you to ArgentStone," the prince's Dornish accent broke the silence.
"He has. She will be raised in my castle," said the prince. "Did you help Joffrey escape?" he asked the man, leaving the baby in her crib.
"No... apparently, Cersei seduced a captain to get them out of Westeros. She took a chest of gold with her," Oberyn said as if he didn't care at all.
"Escaping under the nose of Mighty Tywin himself. How absurd," the prince walked over to take a jug of wine, bringing one for the prince.
"Cersei used to talk about Casterly Rock, its hidden passages, and how she knew every corner, how she could get in and out undetected," said the prince melancholically.
Jaehaerys could think of Cersei as a bitch, based on his memories of the canon. In this world, she was still a bitch, but so was Oberyn; they were kindred spirits. The Dornishman's voice was full of pain; he was devastated, having lost his wife and daughter, and realizing that he had failed to protect his own daughter.
"What will become of Serena?" the prince asked.
"She will go wherever she wishes. I feel I have lost the right to tell her what to do," said Oberyn, taking the wine served by the prince. He emptied it in one gulp.
"I will teach her to fight," Jaehaerys said.
"Good. I should have taught her, but Cersei stopped me. And Serena herself was not very eager to learn. A mistake. I should have given her the tools to defend herself." He approached the cradle and looked at the baby.
Jaehaerys said nothing. "we don't hurt little girls in dorne" Prince Oberyn used to say. And he had no reason to hurt his daughter, yet Jae couldn't help but clench his fist around the cup.
"Ahh, yes. You understand me. I had nine daughters, eight bastards, and one legitimate. I loved none of them less than the other..." Oberyn seemed to have stopped considering Joffrey his own son.
"It's strange, I trust you won't hurt her, but—"
"You're prepared in case I do something," Oberyn nodded. "I understand. I want three of my sand snakes to go with you to Argentstone. They will be Serena's confidantes."
"Fine," having snakes under his roof was dangerous, but not unfeasible. "May I know who they will be?"
"Nymeria, Sarella, and Elia," said the Dornish prince.
"I will order suitable quarters to be prepared," said Jaehaerys. He had already postponed the decision to live in one of the towers. He wondered if the time was right.
"Good. They will teach Serena to fight, although she mentioned a desire to learn to use your weapon. I hope she is a good student," Oberyn began to withdraw. "By the way, have you heard about the tournament?"
"I haven't heard any changes. Has it been canceled?" he asked, unsurprised. With all the scandals, it was possible that it would be canceled.
"No. They increased the prizes. One million for the melee, half a million for the joust, and a hundred thousand for archery," said Prince Oberyn. "It seems they really want you dead. Will you attend?" he asked curiously.
Jaehaerys exhaled heavily. The initial prizes were outrageous, but it seemed Tywin wanted people to stop thinking about his wayward grandson.
'Is it worth it?' Jaehaerys had promised not to fight, to his mother, to Daenerys.
But that prize would double his fortune.
"Hundreds of men will attend the melee. It will be like a small-scale war," said the prince of Dorne, interpreting his silence. "It's dangerous. Take it from a man known as Viper," he said, walking away silently.
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"I'm still not happy with your decision," Queen Rhaella said, her arms crossed over her belly.
Jaehaerys stood in front of her, cradling his little girl. He had become more confident since the first time he held her.
"She's my daughter, my blood... just... look at her," he said, showing her the baby, who smiled when she saw her grandmother.
Rhaella let out a sigh.
"Even so, taking Sansa to ArgentStone, do you know what people will say?" said the queen mother disapprovingly.
Jaehaerys looked at his mother's red dress; Daenerys had given it to her.
"The prince of scrolls... he may be the lustful prince, or perhaps they will begin to compare me to Maegor or Aegon the Unworthy," he shrugged.
The prince knew that a smear campaign would begin against him as soon as he left the Westernlands. Rhaegar would not waste this opportunity to screw up his life a little. The people of Westeros remember. Honestly, since they didn't have many ways to entertain themselves, remembering history was one of the few things they could use to distract themselves.
"You've become bolder. Let Sansa return to the north, even if you don't want her to marry another man," Rhaella tried to convince him, jumping a little when the baby coughed.
She instinctively stood up and took the baby in her arms. Her granddaughter. She was beautiful, and she was sure that if she had been born legitimate, she would have been the envy of the whole kingdom. But the privilege of having Jaehaerys' legitimate children fell to Daenerys.
"I thought you weren't opposed to Sansa and Jaime's marriage," the prince commented, watching his mother's reaction.
"Fuck the Lannisters," she said unconsciously. Then she looked around the room, as if expecting someone to come out and kill her. "Joanna can feign insanity all she wants, but I know she kept me away from your absurd trial on purpose. I enjoyed it when all the gossip about Joffrey came to light. Damn that little bastard." She paused, looking at her son's reaction." I still remember him harassing Daenerys. Everything would be better if his head were on a pike, at least poor Serena would have justice," she said as she caressed the face of her granddaughter, who smiled at her wildly.
Jaehaerys had had countless problems with his mother. From her doubts about his plans to their disagreements about religion, but he never doubted that she loved him. He would make sure his daughter felt the same way about him.
"And to think you told me I could deny her," said the prince, watching his mother smile.
"It's easy to say that when you don't have her in front of you. If you had denied her, I would never have approached her. An old woman's heart is fragile and easily moved," said Rhaella, as if explaining her entire behavior. "She has the bearing of a Targaryen," she added at the end, as the girl held her gaze.
"She may not have the name. But she will be raised as one, Daenerys agrees with that," he said when he saw his mother about to deny it.
Jaehaerys continued to watch Rhaella and Rhaelle, who seemed to enjoy each other's company.
The prince heard his mother's anger toward the Lannisters, but he didn't hear her say anything against Rhaegar. He wondered whether his mother knew that her eldest son was involved in the whole fiasco, or whether she refused to accept it.
At the end of the day, he couldn't force his mother to choose sides. He could try to convince her that Rhaegar was evil, that he was a psychopath, a madman like Aerys. But there was no guarantee she would believe him.
What mother wanted to hear such things about her own son?
"It's a shame Lyanna and Visenya didn't want to attend the tournament," his mother commented after playing with the baby, about to say goodbye. "It looks like it will be quite interesting. The biggest since Harrenhal."
"Tragedy haunts Lyanna... I don't think it's an enjoyable idea for her," Jaehaerys put his daughter to sleep in her crib.
"Tragedy... yes," said Rhaella before leaving.