Family Meeting

After the negotiations concluded the alliance of Essos didn't even wait for another hour and just left with their ships. They suffered a huge loss and humiliation.

Victor and the Dornish on the other hand were very happy with this result. For Victor the deal with Myr and Tyrosh wasn't all that important. He could have taken it by force if they refused to bow to him. But the deal he reached with Doran made Victor very satisfied. Gaining the potential for development on the mainland of Westeros with the backing of Dorne and receiving two future wifes by the way was everything he wanted.

Oberyn invited Victor to stay for a few more days. Not only to get to know the Martell family, but also to wait for Ashara Dayne's arrival at Sunspear. In the evening a large family dinner was planned, where even the current ruler of Dorne would attend, but more as a mother and grandmother, than as the head of Dorne.

After resting for a few hours Victor arrived at the banquet hall around 7 o' clock in the evening. Oberyn, his mother, Princess Elia, and Doran with his wife were present. The four little girls were sitting quietly on their chairs, behaving very well. They seemed to be very respectful and a little afraid of their grandmother. Princess Dorne was already quite old, and she spoke with a weak voice.

"Welcome to Sunspear Victor Di Natale. I am very glad that the communication between both of my sons and the future leader of Lys is going so well. I am very sorry that I couldn't be involved in the negotiations today, but I am feeling weaker and weaker lately. The thought of gaining such a smart and steady relative is quite calming for someone at an old age. I hope you will take care of House Martell in the future."

Victor was very surprised at how calm and humble Princess Dorne was. Having such a peaceful mind after living a long life full of war and deceptions was extraordinary. He showed great respect for such an elder and expressed his thoughts sincerely.

"Princess Dorne, it is my honor to be able to join together with such an old and prestigious noble family like House Martell. I will assure you a pleasant cooperation between Prince Doran and myself in the future. As for Oberyn, I know him for a very long time, and we have gotten very close friends. Sometimes the bond you achieve by such an innocent relationship is even stronger than the bond of interest and family. As House Di Natale and House Martell now have the bond of family and friendship, I am sure we will have a long and happy alliance."

Princess Dorne was visibly relieved by those words.

"I know you told Doran about your ideas for the south coast of Dorne. I wish I had the time to see such a beautiful sight. All my life the steep cliffs around Dorne prevented this beautiful place from prospering. Those cliffs prevent the water from entering towards the inner area and only dust and sand is left in many places. If you can really fulfill this dream the favour and gratitude of House Martell will rest with you forever."

The rest of the banquet was very pleasant. Victor had some polite conversations with Elia Martell, the future princess of Westeros, and his future mother-in-law. The wife of Prince Doran was very satisfied with her future son-in-law. They talked about many topics of the free states and Victor even invited Lady Mellario to Lys, to meet up with his mother Isabella and his two little sisters. Lady Mellario was very pleasantly surprised and suggested a vacation in Lys for next year. Even the four little girls, who have been relatively quiet for most of the evening, reacted very cheerful to this proposition. Victor didn't really have much contact with his future wife Arianne. To be honest, she was just a normal little girl now. There was not much to talk between Victor and his fiancé.

The next couple of days Victor spent visiting Sunspear together with Oberyn. The two friends still had a lot of catching up to do. It took nearly a whole week for Ashara Dayne to arrive at Sunspear. Victor learned that her brother, the sword of Dawn, was not in favor of Ashara pretty much becoming a prisoner of House Di Natale. He expected his sister with him in King's Landing. In the end his loyalty towards Dorne and House Martell still got the better of him.

When Victor met Ashara for the first time he was really stunned for a few seconds. There are quite a lot of people with different eye colors in Lys, but he had never seen a woman with such beautiful purple eyes before. Overall, Ashara Dayne was truly a beautiful and elegant woman. Nonetheless her behavior was still very distant. Victor could feel that she was very bothered by not being Elia's handmaid and having to travel to Lys instead of King's Landing. They didn't really have any private conversations until Victor started his return journey a couple of days later. After saying goodbye to the Martell family, Oberyn personally sends him to the port and watched him drive away. Princess Dorne kept him for quite some time to talk to him about the future of the two families and wished him a happy marriage with Arianne. The current ruler of Dorne seemed to feel that her life wasn't going to last for a long time anymore. Feeling relieved about the incoming marriage of her daughter and the engagement for her granddaughter seemed to life a heavy burden of her shoulder, which often isn't all that healthy at an old age. Once you relieve the pressure many old people are not long away from dying anymore.

The return journey to Lys lasted for roughly five days, before the ships finally arrived at the beautiful port of Canahs, Victor's home. His family was already waiting for his return.