"...to kill the person you hate the most in the world,"
The effects of Jon's words were almost immediate as Oberyn's eyes widened in red-hot anger at the mere mention of his most hated enemy and for a moment it almost seemed as if he was going to lunge at Jon and get into melee right there and then.
But at the last moment, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and somehow managed to calm himself.
When he next opened his eyes he was calm once again and was looking at Jon with a deep scrutinising gaze.
He picked up the cup of ale on the table in between and took a big gulp from it before slamming it down and replying to Jon in a dark voice, "If this was your idea of a joke, then it was not very funny, Snow."
"But that was not a joke, my prince." Jon replied in a serious tone unbothered by the stormy anger in Oberyn's eyes, "I fully intend to follow through with what I just said and rid this world of Mountain and his band of filth."
Oberyn's grip on the cup tightened a bit more, almost crushing it, "And pray tell, why do you want to kill them? What did they do to you?"
"No particular reason," Jon shrugged without a change in his expression, "I just think that they are a scrouge on the face of Westeros and that they shouldn't be allowed to breathe the same air as us..."
"What kind of stupid reason is—" Oberyn's indignant reply abruptly halted as he realised just who he was talking to making his eyes suddenly widen in comprehension, "Oh..."
"What? What happened?" Jon asked with a confused tilt of his head as he was quite bewildered at seeing the sudden epiphany on the Viper's face.
"No, Nothing," Oberyn replied as a mysterious smile suddenly replaced all the previously intense emotions on his face.
All this time Oberyn had been thinking that 'the secret' he had inadvertently stumbled upon in the past was a very big one and that very few people in Westeros knew about it.
He had expected that the frozen-hearted lord of the North wouldn't have even bothered to tell his 'bastard' about it... but it seems he had been wrong about it, and this bastard seems to have some knowledge of his parentage.
It probably means that his fantasy of using this information to create a hidden weapon against the North and the Stark family was going to be a bust... because, after all, if what he suspected was true then the boy in front of him already knew that he was related to the almost extinct old royal family.
'But does he have the intention to use his bloodline to strive for the throne or does he want to live the rest of his life just as a 'bastard'...' Oberyn mused because the answer to this question would decide whether he was an enemy, a friend, or just another pawn that his brother could use (his brother who still ignorant about the big secret that Oberyn had unearthed because of his good friend Willas's mundane letter.)
"So, what do you think?" Jon finally asked after a while when he saw that Oberyn was just sitting there lost in his thoughts, "Are you going to join me on this crusade or not..."
"Answer me this first..." Oberyn asked suddenly while looking up with an intense expression on his face, "Are you doing this of your own volition or is Lord Stark behind this..."
"No, I already told you it's all my wish and my father has nothing to do with this. In fact, he doesn't even know that I have such plans," Jon replied shaking his head, "You're one of the first people I've told about this. This whole thing is going to be planned and executed by me using the funds I've earned from my shipping company so there will be no connection between this and the North..."
"You know, I've heard about that shipping company of yours. The Northern Wolf Shipping, right? You have made quite a name in Braavos because of that... But what you need to understand, boy. Is that no matter how much money you've earned from it, or how many ships and sailors you have under you... You just can't win against the Lannister's might and their influence. The moment you step a single foot in Westerlands and anyone even catches a whiff of your intentions, you are going to have a whole army after you and no one's going to be able to help you...not even your father."
"You are of course, completely right about all of those things," Jon said nodding his head in agreement, "But then again all of those things only apply if they ever find out about us..."
"You think that you are going to be able to get into the heart of Westerlands along with me and kill or capture the Mountain and his band, and then safely leave the kingdom without the Lannisters knowing about it," The sheer scepticism on the Dornish's princes spoke volume about what he thought of Jon's idea. "I don't know if you know about it but let me enlighten you to the fact that there is hardly any direct trade between Dorne and Westerlands so every single person coming in from my land with a Dornish look is looked at with intense scrutiny, so it would only be a matter before someone manages to recognise me in one port or the other... And once I am caught... well, I don't need to tell you the rest, do I?"
"We are not going to use any of the ports or travel through any big city at all, so you don't need to worry about any of that. Besides getting you into the Westerlands, finding where the Mountain and his men are, taking care of them as well as getting out of that place... It all comes under my purview. So you just need to... trust me."
"Haha!!" Oberyn immediately burst into laughter at that, "Trust you?! Boy! I hardly know you. And after meeting you just twice you suddenly want me to place my life in your hands?"
"Well, that is on you, because whether you agree with me or not, I am going to do it. I just wanted to give you a chance to join me because I didn't want you to suddenly hear about it in the future and then come after me in rage because I somehow stole your chance to get revenge..."
'That sounds like something I would do...' Oberyn mused with a raised eyebrow before he fell into a contemplative silence while seriously considering Jon's offer for the first time.
On one hand, the mere thought of the Mountain and his Men continuing to live and thrive had always sent his blood boiling. He couldn't even remember the number of times his brother had to stop him from going on a foolhardy mission to the Westerlands to quench his revenge. He had only stopped later when his brother offered him an alternative that, while slow, still was one that was far more likely to be successful...
But now that a much faster method had appeared in front of him, it was almost painful for him to resist the temptation to immediately jump on the offer... even if the one offering was the 'bastard' of a person he had always considered to be the usurper's dog until of course he found the big secret the loyal dog was hiding from his 'best friend'.
But that was the crutch, wasn't it?
The boy in front of him was from the enemy faction and even if he had a thin familial connection to his dead niece and nephew, it was still too vague for him to place his complete trust in him and for him to believe that he just wanted to take vengeance and did not have any other ulterior motive...
Oberyn thought for a long long time before he finally looked up at Jon who was patiently waiting for him and replied, "My answer is..."
...