"We have not decided." Oberyn replied. "It is still in our interest to get vengeance upon the Lannisters, and to do this we will need allies. Powerful allies. There are only two suitable candidates for your hand."
"These are Willas Tyrell and Robb Stark." Her father cut in. "One can bring us the breadbasket of the Reach, and the other is the key to three kingdoms."
Tyrell or Stark…
...
Arianne nodded, sombrely.
"When will I know who is to be my husband?" she asked, her voice fading away.
"In due time." Doran replied. "We have to clear the mess you made in Dorne first, lest you be spurned by every lord in the kingdoms. Until then, I will see you get a proper education. It seemed that I have failed you in this regard. You will stay here with me in the Water Gardens, and I shall oversee that you are properly taught and ready to do your duty for our house."
"Very well." She answered, tears flowing down her cheeks. "May I leave?"
Her father nodded, as both Oberyn and Quentyn launched pitiful glances at her.
She walked towards the small houses on the edges of the gardens, not looking back. She waddled for a few moments in the staircase leading up to the floors above, finding her old room overlooking the gardens.
The door creaked open, and she collapsed on the bed, crying.
She didn't know how long she sat on the bed, looking at the dull ceiling, until she heard a knock at the door.
"I do not wish to talk to anyone." She quickly cried out.
The door creaked open anyways, as she grit her teeth and prepared to kick the intruder out.
"I disagree." The figure entering the room said. "I think you need to unleash everything weighing on your heart right now."
"Brother." She hissed. "What is with you and intruding my privacy?"
"I think you needed someone to talk to in a time like this."
"After I nearly had you killed?"
Quentyn touched his scar and sat down on the chair in front of her.
"I don't think you are a kinslayer. Mayhaps I'm the biggest idiot here, but although you bear some of the responsibility of what happened, you did not order me killed." He sighed. "You did order me harmed, though, and you did try to have my friend killed."
"Your friend?"
"Come on, sister." Quentyn looked at her dead in the eyes. "Don't take me for an idiot. You tried to poison Gerris."
"The Drinkwater one?" she asked, confused. "Aye, I wanted him incapacitated for the fight against you, so that you may fight Daemon after. But I never tried to have him killed."
"You didn't?"
"Of course not! I just had some Sandstone bite poured into his wine so that he feels wobbly during the fight and that is it."
"There was a decent quantity of Viper's fangs in that wine, Ari."
"What?" she jolted. "I never would have risked something like this! Two glasses could kill a man!"
"You didn't?"
"I swear it on my life, brother, I didn't order Viper's fangs poured into your friend's drink."
Quentyn looked confused for a moment, before changing subjects entirely.
"How are you dealing with the news?"
"As well as you can expect." She hissed. "Have you come here to taunt me?"
"No." He shook his head. "I am your brother after all, and I worried for your well-being."
"You worry for me?" she laughed.
"I do." He answered. "I know you wished to rule Dorne more than anything else, and all of this news cannot have been good for you."
"Promised." She chuckled. "My own father refused to tell me I was to be betrothed to a dragon. Tell me, Quentyn, did you know?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Two years?"
"TWO YEARS?" she cried out and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "And you told me NOTHING?"
"Please let go."
"Not until you tell me why you didn't say a word." She hissed. "Why did father trust YOU with a secret he never trusted me with?"
"First of all, I found out myself. Father did not say a word to me." He pointed out. "And during our first meeting you decided to laugh at me for being a maid and scoffed at everything I said. That wasn't exactly what I was expecting my sister to be like during our first meeting in two-and-ten years."
She let him go.
"And besides, by the time I learned of the betrothal, I also learned that the boy was as mad as his father. I considered this betrothal null and void." Quentyn continued. "But let us assume that I had told you. Would you have believed me? Or would you have thought that I was concocting a plot to destabilize you and turn you away from your birthright? Worse, would you have told every single soul in Sunspear? I had everything to lose by telling you then. I had no reason to trust you, Ari."
"You didn't think I could keep the secret?"
"I didn't think you'd believe me, first of all. I can't even talk about trust." He continued. "I think father and uncle Oberyn made a severe mistake not telling you or trusting you with this secret when you came of age. That does not mean I could trust you with that same secret considering you were calling me traitor."
Arianne's anger dropped once again.
"Why the act, then?" she asked. "Why do you carry the frog along? And you are no maid, why not tell me this?"
Quentyn shrugged.
"Because I didn't see reason to tell you. What goes on in my bed is no concern of yours, just like I do not care much for what happens in yours." He answered bluntly. "And as for Achilles, he does have a name, he is…useful. Rhoynish tree frogs have certain abilities that little men suspect them of having."
"He's a token, then?"
"I'd say a charm."
Arianne didn't want to probe any further. She didn't care much about what Quentyn's frog was up to, and there were more serious issues she needed to discuss.
"Can you be honest with me, brother?" she asked.
Quentyn nodded.
"What do you think of father's betrothals for me?"
Quentyn took a minute to think.
"If I am to be completely honest, nothing much." He finally answered. "A marriage tying us to the Reach would make sense. The Reach is the most populous kingdom, can field the most men, and is a breadbasket. It would be our best bet to get our revenge against the Lannisters.
However, the Tyrells are ambitious. Perhaps a bit too much. Mace Tyrell is unrelenting at seeing his family end up on top of the kingdoms' hierarchy, and I doubt he'd stop at a lion sigil to get what he wants."
"And the Stark boy?" she asked. "I've heard that you have interests in the North."
"I have interests in their timber, but I know little more than what is already known to everyone. In any case, I think that this betrothal would be even worse." Quentyn sighed. "Father thinks that the North can give us three kingdoms. One is a frozen waste, one is a mountainous waste, and the last is one that is walked over by everyone. I fail to see how an alliance with the North can give us any real benefits, especially considering how close Stark and the Usurper are. This may change in the future, but this alliance could bring us more harm than good."
"This alliance has toppled a kingdom before."
"True enough." Quentyn replied. "But they had the might of the Stormlands, while the Westerlands did not raise their banners, and the Reach sent the majority of their forces to a siege, waiting to see what happened at the Trident. Should they face the Crownlands, the Westerlands, and the Reach again, would they win?"
"You don't agree with any of father's proposals, then?"
"I just fail to see how they will help us gain vengeance, that is all. Besides, I don't think you would like staying in Winterfell for most of your life." Quentyn sighed. "Otherwise, the marriage pact with the Reach could bring us a wide range of benefits and stop our dependency on the Free Cities' products, as well as confirm the ties we've had with them since the Rebellion."
Arianne nodded and smiled.
The irony of it all.
Long ago, she was stopped from getting to see Willas Tyrell. Now, she might end up betrothed to him anyways.
Her uncle Oberyn only had kind words for him, and she was inclined to believe it. As for Robb Stark...he was the great unknown. But men had bent to her will before, and she could do it again.
"And you?" she finally asked. "Has father given you anything?"
"I am to replace uncle Oberyn at Sunspear." Quentyn replied. "Otherwise, I have not been graced with any betrothals."
He said that last part with worry in his voice.
"Good." She nodded. "Freedom is good. Just…be careful."
"Of what?"
"Nym. Be careful that she…"
"She takes moon tea, I make sure of it." He quickly replied. "She isn't willing to give up her own freedom like this, either."
Arianne nodded, and looked at her brother, the scar ripping across his face a constant reminder of her stupidest mistake. She felt like crying, but composed herself.
"Tell me, Quentyn, do you hate me?" she asked.
"No." He replied, holding her hands as he sat down next to her. "I am your brother; I could never hate you."
Arianne nearly broke down in tears as she moved to hug him, making him jolt in surprise.
"I'm so sorry, Quentyn." She said, hugging him as tightly as she could. "I didn't think…"
"Calm down, Ari." He whispered, moving to hug her back. "It's all right. We can both do Dorne justice."
"Let's make Dorne proud of us, then, brother." She smiled. "We shall have our vengeance. For Elia."
"For Elia." Quentyn whispered as they continued the embrace for a little while longer.
She would not fail Dorne again, even if it meant living the rest of her life in the frozen North, or listening to honeyed words in Highgarden.
She would not fail again.