Training Two Princesses Pt. 1

As they're all escorted back to Sunspear, Podrick finds himself deeply unhappy. Not entirely enraged, perhaps, but at the very least he was incredibly irritated. He supposed he should have known that Arianne would backstab him, the treacherous little bitch. She may not be an official Sand Snake, but she certainly held to their values more than her father's.

With the actual Sand Snakes dealt with and broken in, Podrick had been under the impression that they could retrieve the young Lannister Princess at their leisure, and he could escort her back to her mother. He'd been looking forward to beginning Myrcella's training on the way back, in fact. She had so many delicious examples of whorish behavior to learn from, now that Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene were as broken in as Brienne and Ellaria.

Alas, the Dornish Princess that Pod hadn't broken in yet, that he'd been treating more as a client than a product up until now, had proven to be a backstabbing, treacherous little wretch. Really, he should have known better. He should have expected no less. How long had it been, since Podrick had come to recognize that noblewomen, be they Ladies, Queens, Princesses, or Knights, were nothing more than sows, one and all?

Each and every one of them held ambitions above their station, each and every one of them reached beyond themselves and ended up hurting innocents in the process. Each and every one of them needed to be brought to heel, needed to be taught a lesson, to be taught their fucking place. Podrick had allowed himself to be semi-fooled. He hadn't truly thought Arianne was any different then the others, not really, but he had at least believed he had her measure.

Obviously not. He'd known she was hoodwinking Ser Arys Oakheart, the Kingsguard assigned to watch over Myrcella and keep her safe. But he had no idea she was managing to manipulate him at the same exact time. He'd had no idea of Arianne's true plans regarding Myrcella Baratheon and Hellholt. Luckily, it turned out that her father was a bit smarter than him, apparently. Or at least, Prince Doran apparently had a better measure of his daughter than Podrick did.

It rankled, to say the least. To not understand at first what was going on when Areo Hotah and a dozen guardsmen had come off of the poleboat right after their arrival at Greenblood. When Prince Doran's Guard Captain had gone on to detail Arianne's treachery and tell her she was under arrest, several things had happened very fast.

First and foremost, Ser Arys Oakheart had seemingly taken one look at the situation and decided he had to die. That was the only way Podrick could even begin to describe the Knight's suicidal charge into the dozen spears that were waiting for him. He'd died and he'd died fast, probably to keep his honor from being irrevocably stained when word of his trysts with Arianne got out. Poor man was so ashamed of thinking with his dick that he couldn't handle it.

Secondly, another recruit of Arianne's scheme, Ser Gerold Dayne, made an attempt on Princess Myrcella's life. Podrick Payne didn't know much at all about this 'Darkstar', but luckily, he and his women were there. When Gerold Dayne tried to kill Myrcella, both Brienne of Tarth and Obara Sand stepped in to protect her. The fierce Knight found himself speared through the gut and beheaded in two smooth motions as Podrick's Warrior Whores made short work of him. At least THAT investment had paid dividends.

In the end, the worst Myrcella suffered was a bruise on her tuchus from falling back as he'd lunged at her with his sword. Said sword had never even managed to mar her pristine flesh as Brienne and Obara had interposed themselves before he could finish said lunge. Were it not for their presence, were it not for Pod's, he's not sure what would have come of dear Myrcella. He'd been lucky that Arianne had felt like she needed to continue stringing him along.

With Arys and Gerold dead, the full breadth of the Dornish Princess' plot had ultimately been unveiled. Believing that her status as her father's heir was in jeopardy or some such, Arianne had intended to perform a coup. And in doing so, she would have started a war with all of Westeros in the process, pitting brother against sister.

Yep, that was Princess Arianne's true plan, apparently. She wanted to take Myrcella to Hellholt and crown her as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms there, using Dornish Law that said the sister held higher claim than the brother if she was older. She would have crowned Myrcella as Queen of Westeros over her younger brother Tommen, who was currently King in King's Landing.

From there, she would have rallied Dorne behind the only female Baratheon, and ultimately rallied them AGAINST her father. In the Dornish Princess' mind, it only made perfect sense that she would become Princess of Dorne with Myrcella's help once she did this. Doran would be deposed by his own subjects, and Dorne, along with anyone else who swore for Myrcella, would go to war with the rest of Westeros.

… Yeah, in hindsight, Podrick should never have treated Arianne so damn respectfully. She really was just like the rest. He'd been foolish to think she wasn't quite as bad as Cersei or Margaery, but now that her would-be crimes and schemes were laid bare before him, it was incredibly obvious that she was a spoiled bitch who's ambitions would end up doing far more harm than good if they were left to run amok.

Her father certainly understood that, and honestly, Podrick was left somewhat grateful for Prince Doran. In the end, thanks to that man, Arianne's scheming had only led to the deaths of two Knights. The fallout from her plans could have and would have been far, far worse if she'd been left unchecked. Instead, things were bad, but not impossible. Podrick and his retinue had been just as tricked as everyone else. The fact that they were not made privy to Arianne's plans kept them from being imprisoned like she was to be imprisoned.

And because he was the only Lannister Man left in all of Dorne, the upside to all of this was that Myrcella Baratheon was to be placed directly under his care now. That was good, at least. In fact, that was very good. In the face of Arianne's sudden betrayal, Podrick needed every win he could get. For now, he would be stuck in Sunspear a little while longer while everything was taken care of.

Still, he was nothing if not adaptable. Things changed, and plans had to change with them. Podrick's plans were certainly not set in stone, nor were they as insane and unmanageable as Arianne's. In fact, as they finally come into view of Sunspear, he knows exactly what he's going to do next. He has a Princess to begin teaching, and a Princess to begin disciplining. So why not combine both exercises into one?

-x-X-x-

A couple days later, Podrick finds himself escorting his newest unknowing property back into the Spear Tower. Ironically enough, the top of the tower was now Arianne's prison, after the Sand Snakes had all mellowed out and submitted themselves to Podrick's command. Making his way up to Arianne's new rooms with none but Myrcella in tow, Podrick smiles grimly, in an… expectant mood about what was to come.

Behind him, Myrcella Baratheon is rather quiet. She'd clearly been shaken up by her experience and the death of her Knight Protector. Podrick himself was no Knight, but with the only Kingsguard in all of Dorne slain, Myrcella would have to make do with him until another could be sent to replace. Of course, if Podrick had his way, they would depart back to King's Landing before that could happen.

For now though, he had to make the best of a bad situation. Which meant it was time to confront Arianne about the insane plan that she'd hatched. Myrcella was coming along for… obvious reasons.

Entering the top rooms of the Spear Tower yet again, Podrick raises an eyebrow when the Dornish Princess looks over, only to go wide-eyed. Arianne immediately stands up, looking flushed and caught off guard even with her dark skin to hide her blush.

"P-Podrick… M-Myrcella."

Podrick just crosses his arms over his chest. Myrcella, however, is not nearly as reserved. Stepping past him, the beautiful blonde princess, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes, lashes out, slapping Arianne across the face hard enough to turn the other young woman's head. Huh, he hadn't known that Myrcella had that in her. Or rather, he'd suspected she did, but had thought he would have to draw it out.

After all, for all that Lord Tyrion had always called Myrcella a sweet, kind girl, Podrick knew better. He knew she was her mother's daughter. More than that, he knew what every noblewoman was like, deep down inside.

"… I deserved that. But please, at least g-give me a chance to explain."

Podrick speaks up at that, scoffing loudly.

"Explain what? Your crazed plan? Do you think me a fool, Arianne? Do you think the Princess a fool? Well, obviously you do, for both of us. Or you would never have tried what you did in the first place."

After that initial slap and getting some of it out of her system, Myrcella suddenly seems a lot less sure of herself. She retreats to his side, trusting him because he wears Lannister colors and claims to be from her mother. Even if she has Cersei's temper lurking deep down inside of her, the Princess' naivety is still rather blatant.

Arianne, meanwhile, ducks her head before lifting it again, scowling as she frowns at both of them.

"I… I wanted to make you Queen, Myrcella! And you, Podrick… you would have benefited just as much as I from having her on the Iron Throne rather than her brother! Don't try to deny it!"

As Myrcella fidgets and squirms beside him, Podrick shakes his head.

"You would have pitted sister against brother. You would have made Myrcella your puppet. And for what? All for the title you were already going to inherit? Does your hunger for power know no bounds?"

"M-My father was never going to let me inherit! I had to do what I did if I ever wanted to truly rule Dorne!"

Arianne cuts herself off, but by then it's far too late. Her outburst has happened, and she cannot take back the words she's just spoken. Rather than object to his claims, rather than denying his words… she'd all but labeled them truth with her response. Podrick looks to Myrcella then, staring the beautiful young blonde in the eye.

"Now you see. Now you see this woman for what she really is."

Arianne chokes on her own spit, opening her mouth to make some attempt to defend herself, but Podrick just holds up a hand, silencing her without ever even turning his head from Myrcella. The Princess looks back at him, and then glances over at Arianne, before ultimately hardening her gaze.

"Y-Yes…"

"This woman would have turned you against your brother. She would have used you to throw the Seven Kingdoms into yet another war, when we still haven't even begun to recover from the first one. When we still have enemies at our backs, coming from all angles. She would have split your family even further, destroyed the ones you love. All for the sake of power. So, I ask you this, Myrcella Baratheon… what does she deserve?"

Admittedly, if Myrcella said 'Death', then Podrick would be in a tight spot. But he had a fairly good measure of the Princess after the ride back to Sunspear and knew her better at this point. The blonde would never suggest death, couldn't even conceive of wishing it upon anyone. But she could still be angry, she could still be furious at the actions of a woman she considered her friend. So, in the end, he gets exactly the response he desires.

"She… she deserves to be punished for her crimes…"

Such an open-ended answer. As Podrick turns and finally does look at Arianne again, it's to see that the caramel-skinned Dornish woman has gone almost pale despite her dark complexion. Why, she looks as white as a sheet. Wrapping an arm around Myrcella's shoulders, Podrick stares Arianne down, allowing her to see the darkness in his eyes, the darkness he usually reserved for his whores.

But then, the Dornish Princess wasn't the client anymore. It was about time she realized that.

"That's exactly right, Myrcella. You and me… we're going to discipline Arianne together. We're going to show her how she strayed, together."

"… O-Okay…"

-x-X-x-

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