Ch.26

(Talrit POV)

As we all sat inside the spacious and extravagant mini palace that is the place of worship for these humans. They all follow the faith called 'The Seven' as it has seven gods who have different reasons to be prayed to. At least that is what I gathered from reading about it in the library, I found the topic boring so I did not read much into it. Once everyone gathered in the room, Prince Doran Martell walked his sister, Elia Martell, up to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen to be wed, and the ceremony officially began.

As I sat next to Tywin Lannister, I could hear his daughter mumble some anger at the bride, Elia Martell. It seems Cersei wanted to be wed to Rhaegar as she was envious of the bride, plus from what I heard Tywin was denied when he proposed that his daughter and the prince be married. The King denied the betrothal and instead is connecting the house to the Martells. Either way, I can see the Lannisters are very annoyed by this prospect, though Jamie seems both nervous and happy today.

After the long and boring marriage ceremony, which I felt was longer than necessary, we all headed back to the Red Keep for the wedding feast. At the Keep, they had tables set up in the garden, music playing, games for the guest to partake in, and many other activities. Though unsurprisingly the King was watching everything from the stage set up for the bride and groom's family. He watched everyone with mad eyes and suspicion like at any moment he would be attacked. Which is probably why he has all the Kingsguard surrounding the high table.

The Queen was making the rounds in her husband's stead, talking to all of the 'important' guests. Once in a while, she would give me a side glance, seems she really wants to speak with me but will not publicly talk with me. The Prince and his new wife were also making the rounds talking with everyone that came to their wedding. After they spoke with Tywin Lannister, Tywin then walked over to the King to have a conversation that looked to be getting heated. As the King was smirking at Tywin and probably goading him into anger, while Tywin was a very good man at hiding his real feelings. Though I can still see the well-hidden hatred in his eyes for his King.

'Funny, from the stories I heard the King and Tywin used to be very good friends, almost like brothers. Now it appears that Tywin hates him almost as much as the rest of the realm does,' I think to myself while I sip wine and watch all the nobles mingle from a distance in the garden.

"Enjoying the royal wedding?" I hear a very familiar voice say to me, as they have been pestering me ever since they arrived in the capital, Oberyn Martell.

Though at the same time, I've come to enjoy his canter and lack of care for the noble customs. Little does the young man know that I'm actually enjoying his company to a certain degree. Since I learned long ago to have the stoic face that all nobles deploy when speaking with one another, at least the ones with good political sense.

"The wine and food are good. Though aside from that… not much different than any other noble wedding I would imagine," I say to him while still watching the nobles walking around the feast.

"I agree. From what my sister was saying the wedding would be like, this is not what I imagined. She made it sound like it would be a spectacle of the ages and everyone would remember this day forever," Oberyn says to me leaning on the stone railing with a wine glass in his hand, that I also was resting against watching the nobles.

"What I do not understand is how they can wake up smelling this piss-covered city and instead of spending the money to fix it. They instead spend the money on this… this unnecessary week-long ceremony," I say to him and he laughs hearing me.

"I totally agree, the first thing that cut through the smell of the sea, was the sea of piss and shit inside this city! To be fair the ceremony was only a few hours and the rest is just the royal family showing off," Oberyn says with a chuckle agreeing with me.

"Can you tell me what is a bedding ceremony? As I keep hearing everyone speak about it in excitement," I say to him since I do not know this custom and I haven't read anything in a book on it.

"Damn, I really want to know more about where you come from… though the bedding ceremony is later tonight if they have one. Basically, the men carry the bride to the couple's bed chamber… then help disrobe her to her undergarments. The same happens with the groom, but the women escort him to the chambers while disrobing him. Though since it is the royal prince I would assume the women will be just as excited if not more than the men in this activity," Oberyn says to me and I just stare at him in confusion as to why this is even part of the wedding day.

"What is the point of that?" I say with utter confusion and he chuckles seeing my face.

"No idea, just something that has been done for… well forever really. I've no idea how or who started it," Oberyn says with a shrug and I just shake my head. As silence takes over and we watch the nobles mingle with one another for a few minutes.

"So can I ask how you came into the Lannister's favor? Not many gain their favor, especially an outsider, and even to the point that I could not find out much. Seems they really value you, that your past is well hidden," Oberyn says breaking the silence and I smile a bit at the loyalty the Lannisters have shown me so far.

"What have you heard?" I ask him and give him a curious look.

"Not much sadly, just that you are a lord from Essos, even though Essos is a huge place so not much I can find out there. Plus you saved one of their family members, though I can not find any details about that either," Oberyn says to me and I can tell he is being completely honest with me as I nod my head.

"Well I am from Essos, as from where exactly… maybe one day I will share that with you, should you prove to be a friend. I also did save one of their family members as he was ship wreaked and I brought him back home," I say to him and he listens to me while thinking before saying something else.

"Seems I need to prove myself to you even more if I want to find out more," Oberyn says and I nod my head at him with a face that says 'no shit'.

"Trust has to be earned and only time will tell if someone is truly a friend or enemy. Should we end up traveling together, then maybe one day I will tell you about myself and my family," I say to him and he smiles at me.

"Then be ready to spill your secrets after tomorrow!" Oberyn says with a determined look and I chuckle seeing his absolute confidence.

"We'll see," I say with a small smile on my face as we fall back into silence watching the nobles.

"Brother! There you are! Oh is this a new… acquaintance of yours?" we hear a woman, who obviously is the bride since Oberyn only has two siblings one brother and one sister.

Turning we see the bride Elia Martell with her new husband at her side, who is giving me a friendly smile. As Elia is giving Oberyn a sly smile and me a side glance as if judging whether or not I'm good enough for her brother. Seems she was implying I was a new lover of Oberyn at her question.

"No, unfortunately, Lord Valtaris is not interested in being more than just a friend. It pains me to say, that even my best advances have been denied!" Oberyn says with a faked hurt look as his sister chuckles at his antics, with the prince smiling awkwardly at this.

"Nice to meet you, Princess Elia, as your brother said, I am Lord Valtaris," I say to her, ignoring her brother's antics and bowing my head slightly as she nods smiling at me.

"A pleasure to meet you also. My husband and brother have been speaking about you, though for different reasons," Elia says to me giving me a genuine smile, seems unlike many of the other nobles in this city, she like her brother is not fake or hiding their real agendas.

"Yes, both have come to pester me for different reasons. I'm not sure who I'd rather be bothered by," I say with an exaggerated tone as he gives a carefree laugh. With both Oberyn giving me a faked hurt look and Rhaegar giving me an embarrassed one.

"I see you do not care about the standard customs that all these others care so highly about. It is nice to have someone I can speak with, without constant worry about being courteous. I can see why both have come to enjoy your company," Elia says to me and I smile at her nodding my head.

"From where I come from, customs such as the ones you all use here are not that important. We do not force others to bow or kneel to a lord or king unless that person chooses to do it on their own. We believe that all are born equal and should be treated as such, with the ones governing to be respected and loved but not feared," I say to them, speaking about the way my clan has grown to become today.

"That sounds like a place I'd love to visit one day," Elia says with a smile on her face.

"Maybe one day, though I can not promise anything," I say to her and she nods in understanding.

"Hmm, so definitely not 'Slaver's Bay'… are you from Braavos?" Oberyn asks me while thinking about where I could be from.

"Maybe, maybe not," I say to him with a smirk as he grumbles.

"Well it was nice meeting you Lord Valtaris, but we must finish greeting the others," Elia says to me as she and Rhaegar take their leave to speak to other nobles.

"I'll find out eventually!" Oberyn says to me with a determined look as I shrug my shoulders.

The rest of the day goes by fairly quickly as everyone starts to get drunk. Oberyn once drunk tried once again to seduce me, which I turned him down again. Then like Oberyn told me the bedding ceremony took place. As all the younger higher lords got up to bring Elia to her bed chambers she would be sharing with the prince from now on. As all the unmarried young women practically fist-fought over helping the prince to the chambers. Once the couple retired to their bed chamber, the feast soon came to an end with most of the nobles drunk, even the King seemed to be drunk.

While everyone left to go to their designated rooms, I headed to the library to finish reading the books that I found interesting. As the next morning came, it seemed time got past me as Oberyn found me in the library telling me to come watch him win the tourney. Placing the current book I was reading down, I follow him outside the city where the servant set up huge areas for different events in the tourney. Even the peasants in the city were walking around to witness the events. Though they were seated much further away from the nobles.