( Edric )
The Water Gardens were truly a special place.
In the maze of gardens, pools and houses, there were spots that would seem cut off from the outside world entirely. A safe haven of peace, silence and beauty, despite the laughter and cheers of children and adults alike only a few steps away.
The lone pool he was currently in was one of these havens.
It was a pool completely surrounded by double-storey houses, which were hidden themselves with various trees such as palm trees, blood orangers and other trees he had never seen the like of which before.
In the middle of it all, a large pool filled with tranquil water.
Isolated from much of the gardens, and with guards standing at each door, such pools were reserved for guests of House Martell only, and Edric was thankful to have been invited there.
The water soothed his skin as he submerged himself completely, erasing the pain from previous spars and fights.
He dipped his head underwater, clearing his mind as he finally relaxed in peace and quiet.
Approaching the edges of the pool, he sat upon the steps that had been carved neatly into one of the edges, and brushed his blonde hair aside, enjoying the beauty of his surroundings, the chirping of birds, and the small sound of water dripping from a nearby decorative waterfall.
The peace and quiet did not last.
As soon as he made himself comfortable, an intruder appeared.
"Oh, Ned, I didn't expect to find you here." The familiar voice came from behind.
"I needed to relax after the morning spar." Edric countered. "And the prince didn't need me at his side."
"I see." The voice became nearer until Edric finally saw who exactly he was speaking to.
Cletus Yronwood had apparently had the same idea as him, as he wore only his breeches, carrying his belongings at his side.
The heir to Yronwood wasn't what he had expected. While most Yronwoods, such as Lord Anders, were blonde of hair, Cletus had dark hair, unlike both of his sisters, but still kept the blue eyes the Yronwoods were also famed for.
Not like it mattered. He himself did not have all of the particular Dayne attributes. Most Daynes, like his uncle Arthur, and both his aunts, had purple eyes and dark hair. He himself had neither, inheriting his father's blonde hair, and the blue eyes from his mother, Eryna Blackmont.
Her mother had light blue eyes, which combined with the usual purple from the Daynes, gave him dark blue eyes which often occurred in Daynes marrying with other Stony Dornish houses.
"Dark blue, like an ocean to drown in.", cousin Elinor had teased when he was younger and about to squire for Lord Beric. He had blushed furiously had her comment, she who inherited Valyrian silver hair and purple eyes.
He couldn't deny now that his deep blue eyes had fascinated many in Sunspear, not used to such a sight in a Dayne, or in any Dornishmen of their generation.
"Well get in." Edric finally let out. "This pool can fit at least six-and-ten people; it isn't like we can't share it."
Cletus nodded and slowly entered the water opposite him, and he too let the pool's magic do their work on his battered skin.
"First time at the Gardens?" Cletus finally asked as he found a couple of steps to lean on.
Edric nodded.
"I never got the chance to be fostered here like my cousins have." He admitted.
"Why is that?" Cletus asked, intrigued. "The Daynes and the Martells have been on good terms."
"Father." Edric replied with a slight wince in his voice. "He didn't talk much of his family to me, so it was my aunt Allyria who told me this before I went to squire for Lord Beric.
Father lost a lot in the rebellion. He lost a brother at Lord Stark's hand, and then a sister to the waters of the Torentine, out of grief. The only thing he had left was mother and aunt Allyria.
When I was born, father was overjoyed, or so my aunt told me. But mother…"
Edric repressed a sob.
"Mother got ill soon after I was born." He felt a tear run down his cheek. "She…she left us when I was but a newborn."
"I'm sorry." Cletus nodded sombrely. "It must've been hard on your father, and you."
Edric nodded.
"Father only had aunt Allyria and I left, you see. With mother gone…" Edric repressed another sob "I was the only thing he had left, really. Aunt Allyria wanted me to go to the Water Gardens when I was old enough, but father refused.
Aunt Allyria told me it was because he did not want to lose the last thing his wife left him.
Father…he never really recovered from mother's passing. He often got ill, and grew weaker as the years went on."
"Why agree for you to squire for Lord Beric if your father wanted to protect you?" Cletus asked.
"Aunt Allyria convinced him to." He confessed. "She told me that I couldn't be a proper Lord of Starfall if I had never once stepped outside Dayne lands, so she convinced him to squire for Lord Beric. I served him a short while, and then came back to Dorne when prince Quentyn asked for me. By then, father had passed, so it was hard for me to refuse."
Cletus nodded, and Edric couldn't resist asking him the same question.
"First time here as well?"
"Yes." Cletus replied. "For very different reasons."
"Your great-grandfather?" he asked.
Edric had heard of the duel between prince Oberyn and lord Edgar, and the ramifications that went with it.
"Precisely." He replied. "Neither I or our two sisters came to the Water Gardens. Ynys could've, but my father loved her more than anything and kept her close. As for I, well, the goodwill between house Martell and house Yronwood was lost when prince Oberyn killed lord Edgar.
By then, it was out of the question for me to be sent to the Gardens, and still out of the question for my younger sister Gwyneth to be sent there as well.
It is a shame. The Gardens are beautiful, and deprived me of an opportunity to meet a lot of dornishmen and women my age.
Instead, I met them as I travelled to and from Yronwood. That's how I met Allyria, I mean, your aunt. At a party thrown for Lord Manwoody's nameday, if I can remember correctly."
"At least you got to meet new people." Edric pointed out.
"I never saw anything of Dorne past the Star's Range, and visitors were few and far between at Starfall."
Cletus nodded.
"Enjoy your freedom while you can, then." Cletus smiled. "We're only young once in our lifetime, after all."
Edric didn't fully understand what Cletus was on about being young. For him, it seemed a burden, being so inexperienced and suddenly becoming the second or third more powerful lord in Dorne.
But still, he tried not to think much of it.
Right now, he only wanted peace and quiet.
But there too, he was about to be sorely disappointed.
Just as his conversation with Cletus ended, a feminine voice made itself heard.
For fuck's sake…
Edric had enough and decided to plunge his head underwater and wait it out. Surely it was just a servant bringing in…things.
However, he couldn't exactly hold his breath forever, and had to resurface.
When he did, he found Cletus face to face with a slightly older, blonde-haired woman, who was staring at him with fury in her eyes.
"You're not making any sense." He heard Cletus say.
"I said, dimwit, that we are to be betrothed." The blonde-haired woman said, angrily.
Cletus frowned, but remained calm.
"Lady Jeyne, there is absolutely no way I will marry a Fowler." His voice was tense now. "And don't tell me you came all the way from Skyreach to tell me this?"
"Hah!" she scoffed, as Edric tried to be as discreet as possible, not letting his mouth stay over the water, and slowly waddling towards the other end of the pool. "I wouldn't come all this way for you. Do not fret about it, I have other priorities. But on the subject of marriage, that we can agree."
"Let's go talk to Quentyn then. Surely he knows more than we do." Cletus answered.
"Sure." She grinned. "Lord Dayne!"
Edric froze as he had managed to tiptoe halfway through the pool already.
"My lady?" he asked as he turned around to face her.
"Please accompany us and act as a witness."
"I don't know…maybe I should…"
"Ned, come on, it will only last a few minutes." Cletus cut in. "And the pools aren't going anywhere."
"Fine…" Edric grumbled. "Let me change…"
As he left the pool and dried himself up, getting a change of clothes as he did so, he could hear the bickering between the two.
Clearly there was something he had been missing.
Once he had changed the best he could, both Cletus and Jeyne left in the blink of an eye, running towards where prince Quentyn had told them he'd be.
A small house in the middle of the gardens, guarded by several Martell guards.
Getting in was no issue, and soon enough Edric could hear the prince's voice through a door.
Cletus and lady Jeyne didn't even knock and just barged in.
The prince was standing over a table with a map of Dorne laid out in front of him. A tall red-haired woman was at his side, whom Edric recognized as Lady Nymella Toland.
Prince Quentyn paid no mind to the sudden interruption, and only raised a finger, continuing what he had previously been saying.
"…we expect that with the conflict up ahead, Northern wood will no longer go through us directly from White Harbor. Our ships will go through Braavos instead, and construction of the fast frigates with the wood of the Torentine will instead replace the heavier vessels constructed by the Ansons and Rowes."
"Quentyn, I…" Cletus tried to cut in, but was instantly silenced by Nymella Toland and a croak from his fro…Achilles, Edric reminded himself.
"You don't expect the North to stop sending their wood?" she asked, sneering at the three of them so much that Edric wanted to just disappear from the face of the earth.
"They need the coin to fund their upcoming conflict with the crown." Quentyn continued. "Needless to say, we are more than eager to give them such coin. I am more worried about Stannis Baratheon's fleet patrolling off Greenstone and Tarth. I feel like I will have to reroute some of your ships to patrol that area and protect our shipping coming to Ghost Hill and the Tor."
"Not an unwise choice, but it seems your friends have something to say…" the lady of Ghost Hill looked straight at them.
If Edric could've died from embarrassment, he would have collapsed right there.