Arianne III

292AC

It was wonderful getting out of that cell called her room for the first time in months, even if she had gotten little sleep the night before.

The realization that she had been acting like her father had cost her most of the night, and she awoke early in the morning desperate to make it up to him. Her father's warnings washed off of her like rain, and she found herself waiting by the gate out of Castle Sunspear even before the sun rose.

Soon her prince came to greet her, clad in bright white clothing that set off his blue eyes, it had a strange look to it, but not a displeasing one. Though it was still far too conservative for her own tastes, it had its charm.

The rest of the morning was a whirl. She was sure to show him all of the wonders of Sunspear, the Great Bazaar, the food, the mummers who performed their stories of Nymeria and of the dragonslayers who held back the Targaryen invasion, the bards who strummed their lutes and filled the air with sweet music.

She hoped it was enough to make up for her actions, but she knew it was not. Not in truth. Her father could have given her all these things and more and she would not feel better towards him.

But then, she might forgive him if he just said he was sorry, that he wouldn't do it again.

But she had already apologized to Arthur, and yet he didn't smile that much, just looked at her and looked around, and affirmed that he liked whatever she showed him.

It was impossible to tell if he was simply being polite or not, and it was driving her mad with uncertainty

When the sun reached its Zenith, they were browsing the wares of one of the merchants, who was selling fine silks made in Yi-Ti, which he had purchased in Volantis. For once, Arthur seemed quite interested in the story.

"So what is the news from the Free-Cities then?"

"Oh, why there's plenty of it my Prince, what holds your interests?"

"I had heard that the disputed lands were heating up again."

"Oh aye, that's true. They're all still negotiating of course, but it looks like Volantis will go to war with the Three Daughters soon, their new Triarch is a tiger, and a fierce one at that."

Arianne mostly blotted out the conversation after that, wars in Essos were constant and ever-shifting. If Arthur wanted to worry about then that was his prerogative, but she was more interested in the silks themselves, fine green things embroidered with silver decorations along their edges, tangling and interweaving with each other.

She chose too, and lifted them gently, turning to Arthur. "Which of these do you think would look better on me?"

Her prince turned to her, and for the first time in an hour chuckled happily, before pointing to the one on the right, though he was careful to caution. "I doubt there are many outfits in the Seven Kingdoms that wouldn't look good on you."

She felt her face flush with pride at that one, and even more so with embarrassment when Arthur drew out his own purse to buy it for her.

"Oh, you can't." she moved to protest, but he simply paid the man anyway, who smiled and nodded his approval at the transaction as several gold dragons changed hands.

"I just did, princess."

It made the guilt on her shoulders feel tenfold heavier, even as he took the thing and draped it around her shoulders, before grasping her hand in his own. "Now, I believe that I had said I would take you sailing…"

She almost yelped as he pulled her towards the edge of the Bazaar, a twinkle in his eye. "You've been showing me about all day, it's about time I got to show you something."

They went to the Castle Sunspear to get horses, and soon they rode down to the docks where the maiden fleet lay at anchor. It was funny to learn that his Island Born comment was not a joke, as his riding was amateur, and she herself could easily outpace him. Then again, he was still quite young.

She started for a moment as he lead her up onto the boat, struck by the realization that her prince was indeed only twelve, four years younger than her, and she had tried to make him a father against his will.

Still, her guilt was quickly buried as she felt the wood beneath her feet move as the sails of the cutter he had led her onto filled with the sea wind, and she found herself clinging to his shoulders for dear life. "Er, um, is this a bad time to mention that I've never been on a boat before?"

Her Prince's laughter was loud and clear, his eyes shining blue like the sky, whatever one thought of his face.

He kept laughing for a good while, and she might have been angry had the shifting of the decks not been so startling.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it." He said, managing to choke it out in between his laughs. "And besides, you want to be like Nymeria right? You'll have to get on far more boats than this one before you die."

She sputtered in the salty spray that blasted the deck as the cutter made a particularly sharp turn. "You-You're making fun of me. You can't make fun of a princess." she pulled back from him in faux-shock but grabbed right back on when the boat crashed over yet another wave.

"Maybe." the boy snickered, grabbing ahold of her hand. "Cmon, just try to steady yourself, anticipate what the boats going to do before it does it."

She nodded, and backed off of him, taking first one, and then another shaky step back.

She watched the next wave coming, felt the wind.

And still almost fell over, much to Arthur's amusement. "See, you were better that time, you'll be matching your ancestors in no time."

For her part, Arianne decided to accept the praise at face value rather than engage the sarcasm. "I will be. You'll see it soon enough. I have her blood in me, and I know I can do it. I take it quite seriously I'll have you know."

The boy's eyes lit up once again, and she could swear they were laughing still even as he stopped to speak.

"That's good, I would have to have the statue resculpted if you didn't."

"The what?"