Different Perspective

After the banquet everybody went back to rest and spent a peaceful night in the comfortable climate of Lys.

Ashara spent a very cozy night in the high-quality bedsheets and was woken up by a personal maidservant. This cute maid was given to her by Isabella and would be with Ashara for as long as she stayed as a guest. The gentle service of a kind and beautiful maid was a pleasant experience for the dornish girl.

When she arrived in the dining room Isabella, Amando and the two little girls were already present and waiting for her to start breakfast. Once again, she was surprised by the large number of options and the high quality and taste of the food. But she was a little too shy to ask about everything during breakfast, she would take her time for all the questions she had in mind already. But she couldn't help but notice Victor being absent.

"Lady Isabella, is something wrong with Victor? Or does he not usually participate in having breakfast together?"

Isabella and the two little girls were quite amused by the question, but could understand the confusion, nonetheless. But it was Emilio who answered the question.

"If Victor is home, he wakes up very early every morning and takes a look at the training grounds. After inspecting the important places of the estate, he starts his personal training until 11' o clock in the morning. He fights continuously against some prospects for the future guardians of the family and some very strong gladiators, trained for the colosseum of Lys. But I wouldn't recommend you visit him at this time. I know your brother is a famous warrior and as a Dornish you pride yourself in your toughness and battle spirit, but Victor's training is not something everybody can handle. The two little girls are not even allowed nearby every morning. No matter how much they cried and begged, nobody dared to let them into his training space. The only person to try this was killed by Victor himself."

While Amando was talking the two little girls were getting very quiet and kept looking down. Isabella wanted to argue with her husband but after seeing Amando's expression she kept quiet. Even though Amando and Victor loved their female family members, they wanted them to understand the cruelty of the world and that any decision had consequences. When Giulia and Diane tried to break a rule set by Victor, they paid for it with the life of a guard. This is the cruel world they were living in and trying to prevent them from ever meeting those rules would harm them in the long wrong.

Ashara was very surprised by this revelation. She didn't expect something like this to happen in such a warm and friendly family. And by the way the two little girls were treated by Victor, like the apple of the eye, she would have never imagined such a strict discipline. But she thought not even allowing them close would be a little too strict.

"Lord Amando, I understand that warrior training is not suitable for little girls, but I watched my brother train many times during my childhood and even though it was a little cruel at times, I wouldn't consider it so unsuitable as to impose such a heavy punishment on a little girl."

Isabella could relate to Ashara's confusion, but she watched her son training a single day and teared up at least five times in this single morning. After experiencing a single training, she never wanted her daughters to be around anymore.

"I am sure the training of the sword of Dawn must be extraordinary, but Victor's training is a little different. He is training in real life and death battles. It is less training but more a real battle. Every morning at least one person dies. This is not a practice to improve his skills, but more like a tempering of his will and instincts. The sand of his training ground is completely red from the blood of Victor and his partners. Even if you are familiar with hard training and occasional injuries, I wouldn't suggest you stepping in, if you are not 100% mentally prepared for the consequences."

When Ashara heard about the incredible death count her hands were getting a little sweaty. Even for a Dornish this was an insane way of training and completely unheard of. Everything she learned this morning was a complete contrast to the scene of yesterday. A wholesome united family full of love and compassion, compared to a ruthless predator that is literally using human life to increase his will, tenacity and fighting skills in life and death battles.

When Ashara returned to her room with only her personal maid, she was lying on the bed alone and started shivering. Being far away from home and her family was hard for the young girl, she was exhausted and fell asleep. After an hour of being alone the door suddenly opened and a little head peeked into the room. After making sure she was not disturbing someone the little girl, Diane, started walking towards the bed and crawled into the arms of the sleeping beauty. What was left was a peaceful picture of two beautiful souls resting in a magnificent room full of splendor, spending each other warm during their difficult time. Diane couldn't really understand what was happening at the dining table, but the atmosphere was depressing for the little girl. She felt strangely at peace in the presence of girl with the purple eyes. After gaining consent of her mother, she went into the room of Ashara and both spent the whole morning sleeping together under the same blanket.

Whether Diane nor Ashara could imagine that this was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two girls. A friendship that would cause a headache to countless people, especially Victor.