-Chapter 121-
-2 days later-
-1st day of the 9th moon of the year 299 AC-
-POV Ellaria Sand-
Ever since I saw Oberyn die because of the king's decision, it felt as if my heart had also stopped beating at the same moment as that of my love.
I couldn't believe that he, of all people, was dead; it felt like I was in a nightmare and that I would wake up at any moment by his side, that he would hold me in his arms and we would share a passionate kiss.
But alas, it was not to be.
Each time I woke up, it was to find my bed utterly devoid of any presence.
I felt intense hatred for everyone who had participated, directly or indirectly, in Oberyn's death.
I couldn't even turn my head to look at my niece who was carrying the offspring of that monster.
I wanted to see them all burn in hell, but I was powerless, for this monster would finish what he had started and take his revenge on us and our daughters.
"I'm sorry, I tried everything to change his mind," said Arianne, her head lowered.
A dark laugh escaped me when I heard her words.
"Tried everything, you say you tried everything, while the love of my life lies in this coffin, dead at the hands of the dog who killed Elia. He crushed his skull so that we couldn't even bid him farewell," I said in front of Oberyn's closed coffin.
Arianne didn't respond, so I turned around and screamed: "IT'S YOUR FAULT, ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU'RE SO THIRSTY FOR POWER THAT YOU LED US TO HIS FEET. YOU OFFERED HIM DORNE ON A SILVER PLATTER. DO YOU REALIZE THAT NO MATTER WHAT HE DOES, HE WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE LAST WORD SINCE YOU WENT TO HIS BED LIKE THE WHORE YOU ARE. THIS CHILD YOU CARRY, HE KILLED OBERYN. I WOULD PREFER TO SEE YOU ALL DEAD…"
Just as I was about to slap Arianne, I felt a hand tighten around my neck, trapping me and preventing me from breathing.
All the anger I felt transformed into fear as I realized what I had just done.
All our daughters stood there, facing the monster who had ordered their father's death, and he now had the perfect opportunity and the ideal motive to eliminate us all.
"Ellaria Sand, I will neither take into account your words nor your actions because I know it is grief speaking. A boat awaits you and all your followers; it will leave in an hour. I want to see none of yours in the capital after this deadline," he said before signaling to Arianne to follow him.
'Traitor' was my last thought of Arianne as I saw her follow Aegon VI like a well-trained little dog.
-POV Arianne Targaryen-
"Do you resent me?" he asked.
'Of course, I resent you' I thought, but I didn't say it out loud.
"I understand your feeling," he said.
I sniffled slightly but he stopped and said, "I assure you I understand your anger towards me, but what just happened is proof that I was right."
His words ignited a fire within me because he was the cause of all the bad things happening to me ever since he had decided to go and exterminate the ironborn.
He knew it was a trap and he played with his adversaries simply to exterminate them all at once.
My uncle was simply passionate; he shouldn't have died like a traitor, he shouldn't have died at all.
"How can you look me in the eyes and tell me it was a good thing that you killed my uncle?" I said, outraged by his audacity.
He smiled and said, "Personally, I liked your uncle a lot, that's the strict truth, but whether you want to hear it or not, he dug his own grave all by himself. I wiped out all the ironborn and you thought I would just sit back and watch your uncle spit on me. He defended a Blackfyre, how could you believe for a moment that I would have spared him if he hadn't knelt to surrender?"
"Because I asked you to?" I said on the verge of tears, facing my own powerlessness.
"Yes, because you asked me to, and that's exactly why he took the risk of stepping into that arena because he believed that you might have power over me, that you could influence my decision to the extent that I would give up on killing Aegon Blackfyre. But I'm forced to disappoint you, Arianne, I won't let any danger hover over our House because remember, you no longer call yourself Arianne Martell but Arianne Targaryen since we were married in the eyes of the gods and men. You are my wife, my queen, and soon you will be the mother of my children," he said, placing his hands on my cheeks and forcing me to look up at him.
I held back my tears long enough, but finally, the dam of emotions I was holding back collapsed, and I did the same, I cried long in his arms, weeping profusely for several minutes.
He enveloped me in his strong arms and then said, "You will never end up like your aunt, and our son will not end up like my real brother, I swear it to you."
"Let Clegane die, I beg you, do not give him the antidote to the poison."
He hesitated and then finally said, "Okay."
"Thank you," I whispered.