The Serpent and the Sea

The carriage rattled to a stop, the sudden silence a stark contrast to the relentless heat that pressed in. You'd arrived at port hours ago, the humid chill of Driftmark a distant memory, replaced by Dorne's scorching, dry air. Your handmaid, Loiya, fanned you diligently, though the effort felt futile against the oppressive warmth.

Outside, you heard the sound of horses and voices, including your brother Aurane's. He had accompanied you, his disapproval of this union as palpable as the heat. Seventeen, married to a man twice your age, a man known as the Red Viper, with a reputation as vast and dangerous as Dorne itself. Monford's doing, all of it, a move to secure favor with the Crownlands in the midst of war. You had accepted your fate long ago, the role of a pawn in your family's endless quest for glory.

Then, a deep, threatening voice: "Is the Lady Velaryon within the carriage?" Aurane confirmed your presence, but before you could react, the carriage door was flung open by a woman in revealing garb. Obara Sand. Oberyn Martell's bastard daughter. She grabbed your arm, not gently, and pulled you out, sending you tumbling into the unforgiving Dornish sand. Sand in your eyes, your mouth, your nose. As you wiped it away, you heard the chilling sound of hissing.