A Dance of Lions and Snakes (O. Martell)

XVIII

Letters were sent to all of Westeros, announcing the birth of our prince. I was advised to stay in bed for a week after the birth, in which time my beloved niece, Myrcella arrived. She is the spitting image of both my siblings in different ways, it still bothers me the sins they have committed but I cannot betray them, however, I think I will tell my beloved about her.

She greeted my son with the biggest smile, happy to finally have a cousin. Doran swore to me that she would be safe, he said to me "We don't hurt little girls in Dorne." An obvious reference to my father sending the Mountain to murder his young sister and her children, hurtfull comment but fair. Even with all the many mistakes and atrocities he has committed in the past against many families of Westeros, including his own, I can't bring myself to hate him. Now that I think about it, I have much to tell him about my past.

***

A month has gone by since the birth of our little prince, it was a bit nerve wracking, I couldn't really bring myself to leave his side for more than a couple of hours. I made the wet nurse feed him with me in the room and the maester had to come at the end of every week to check him.

The first month is the most crucial in health for a new child, but my Elio pulled through with his mother's stubbornness and his father's strength. Speaking of his father, Oberyn has been doing the most for both of us. He has been rubbing my feet every couple of nights and brought me hot compresses every other night for my aching back, while cuddling Elio every chance he gets.

It is truly something to watch your love turn into a father, of course, Oberyn has been one six times before but seeing him cradle Elio's tiny head and speaking sweet nothings to him made me love him even more. Our daughters have been coming every day in between lessons to see their little brother. I will never keep them separated simply because of the conditions of their births, they are all my children and I will raise them as siblings.

I am at the nursery looking over my little lion, he is so beautiful. Elio is Oberyn in a smaller version, his little hairs as dark as his, his nose, and skin touched by the sun but his eyes... his light blue striking eyes are the color of the sky when the sun is high, those are all me. "My little lion, you will be fierce and just, you will go down in history for all of the best reasons."

I hear Oberyn's chuckle and can practically feel his smile from the door. "With parents like us, I have no doubt our little viper will be grand... as will any other children we might have."

"I am still recovering from Elio and already you are thinking of more. You must think of me as indestructible, beloved." He holds me from behind, "I will take as many children as you are willing to give me. Come, now we must go to bed."

Once we reach our chambers and change into nightgowns and go out to the balcony, we sit as we did the night of Elio's birth, me resting between his arms. "Beloved? I have been thinking about my father, specifically about the letter and the gifts he has sent to celebrate Elio..." He hums behind me.

"He wrote about how proud he was that I made him a grandfather to another boy, but also of how relieved he was that the birth went smoothly and not horribly like that of my brother Tyrion... With the war that two of my siblings are fighting up north, the third one missing along with one of my closest friends and the impact of yet another war made me realize that I haven't really told you much about my life before Dorne."

He lets out a breath and says back to me, "I suppose we haven't given ourselves the time to talk, we were much to busy hosting court, fighting of mistresses,  and enjoying some glorious sex in your friends' villa."

I twist my body to face him, "Oberyn I know and understand the hatred you have for my father but to me he is my papa even when he has wronged me in many ways." He frowned, urging me to explain more. "I grew up in bliss, everything I wanted I got, though I always acted like the perfect daughter and lady my father demanded I be... so I got cocky, thinking I was immune to his wrath and I started a relationship with one of the knights, Johna."