A Crown of Winter Roses

Chapter 28

I really sorry for how long a wait it has been!!!

Chapter 28

Oberyn didn't mention it the day after the trial, nor the day after that one, or the one that had followed suit. It wasn't until a week had passed and her nights grew more fitful that he mentioned it casually, the fire in her veins turning to ice as the quiet stretched around them. Oberyn was to be Tyrion's champion, and she was set to be a widow. It wasn't that she lacked confidence in him - she had seen him spar multiple times, including going against him - but this was different. She knew it was going to be Gregor, every fibre of her being was telling her - the only reason Oberyn championed.

He was finally going to do it, he was going to get the information he needed but at what cost? So their children could grow up fatherless? So she would no longer have a husband? Rosie was furious as she turned her back to him, legs hanging limply off the side. "Rose, speak to me." He muttered, the tension tangible on their tongues as the silence wrapped around them like a cocoon.

"What do you want me to tell you Oberyn? That this is all okay? It's not Oberyn." She sighed, stepping up from the bed before crossing to the window, gazing out. The sun was sat high in the sky, the rich bright light like a beacon across the shadow of blue; a single fluffy cloud breaking the expanse. The calm was nothing compared to she, a storm more fitting that a cloud. Rosie wanted to scream at him, cry, and beat her fists but none of that happened - she just kept quiet.

"Rose, you know why this is important, you know why I have to do this; understand, please." Oberyn's voice was pleading, an edge of desperation to his silky accent.

"No, Oberyn; I am 8 months pregnant, our child will soon be welcomed to a world that you won't be in. This is crazy, illogical even." Her voice wavered for a moment, thick emotion bubbling in her throat as she thought on it. She needed Oberyn, he was Rosie's lifeline - the love of her life, she couldn't be without him. "I told you I would show you what happened that night, and I promise to keep that; isn't that enough?" Rosie muttered, turning to look at him.

Oberyn was caught in a storm, his face stone-like as he watched her. Every thought that he had ever had on avenging his sister, every murmur of what happened to her and her children, it lead to this point. A face-to-face combat with The Mountain; it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. But, it was his wife who urged him not to, and he couldn't simply let it go. "Rose, I have to; I promise you I will make it out alive, and he will be dead. Everything that has ever wronged our family, will be put to justice."

All she could do was shake her head at the arrogance of her husband. "Don't you get it? King's Landing is not a place for justice, it never has been. Forget this trial, don't be his champion; we can wait."