❝ There was a feeling of inevitability when I met you. And our lives were fated to converge like some cosmic dance. And I think I had to break your heart and you had to break mine. ❞
As Cressida Black's lungs ceased to draw breath, Aurelia Martell's...
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March 110 AC
Aurelia is welcomed only by her brother's steward once she and her party reaches the courtyard at Sunspear. She is then led towards her father's solar, where he leaves her after her father grants her entrance.
Aurelia walks briskly across the solar to her father's side at his desk, he looks up and smiles broadly, opening his arms and she is all too eager to lean into his warm embrace. As they separate, he gestures for her to take a seat and she does so, her eyes roving around the solar and taking in the changes.
"How was your travel, little sun?" He asks her, taking her small hand in his larger one. Her father might not be as large as a Baratheon, but the blood from his Baratheon mother certainly makes itself known in him most out of the three children Arella Baratheon bore for Alessander Swann. And Aurelia takes after her mother in her petite and small body, which only makes the difference in their frames more clear.
"It was alright," she says. "We made good time and didn't run into any problems on the way."
"That's good."
His smile does not fade, but his eyes seem to soften slightly, as if in pity. Aurelia can't stand that; she is glad he squeezes her hand and releases it before she can try to jerk away in annoyance. She doesn't want to be pitied and there is no reason for it. She knows why she was called back home, knows that she will soon be married but it doesn't scare her. For all that she might mourn her relationship with Jamie, she always knew it would come to an end when one of them was made to marry.
"There is a matter we must speak about," he says, and after a moment's hesitation, takes a piece of parchment and reads it.
Aurelia stares at him blankly, only registering that it is a letter from Prince Daemon.
"Aurelia," her father says, again, too gently. "Prince Daemon has agreed to marry you in exchange for our non-interference in his war."
Aurelia stares at him, blinks, and blurts out. "Are you mad?"
"Little sun —"
"Don't call me that," she snaps. "Don't you dare call me that after what you've just said."
Her father closes his eyes as he thinks. "Will you not smile, Aurelia? You will not find a higher match in Westeros."
"I am Dornish," she hisses. "I knew I'd marry, but I thought you'd arranged a marriage with Ser Borros or old Dondarrion. Not the Rogue Prince!"
Her father's smile vanishes."Borros Baratheon is a man who can barely read and spends more time on the training yards on a regular day than he has ever spent in a library. And while Blackhaven is a perfectly good keep, Ser Julian is already promised and I would not see you wed a man old enough to be my own grandfather."
"So that means I must be tied to a Targaryen? The man is already married!"
"Not anymore," her father presses a finger to his forehead. "Your brother has spent some time negotiating with Oldtown. He somehow managed to get the Prince's marriage to Lady Royce annulled."
