Tournament of Crowns: Gods Among Titans

Fourteen

ANAYSHA

The world is definitely a cold, harsh place. A dark one that I've known my entire life. I have become so acclimated to being in the dark that I've known nothing else but that. I hadn't seen or felt the positive, bright light of day to know that there was still hope for me out there.

Then, Oberyn Martell came along.

He changed how I thought about everything and showed me that there was hope for me. I didn't have to give it all up just because I was at rock bottom. Thanks to him, I had a new lease on life that I sure as hell won't take for granted.

It's the same as the fact that I didn't take this war for granted, and I seemed to realize this while I was boarding the ship that would take us to the beast's mouth. The Iron Islands. The home I thought I knew.

Throughout the entire journey there, I could feel my stomach turn on its head multiple times. Only because I knew that I'd have to eventually confront my father. I hadn't seen him since the Iron Ball, which was an occasion where I knew I angered him. Only out of assumption did I think that he was fuming much more than he was back then.

"What if everything turns out the way we dreaded?" I pondered aloud.

Oberyn shot a sympathetic glance over to my direction. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if things don't go the way we wanted them to? What if my father does steamroll through Dorne like he wants to?" I pondered, my throat becoming dry as my fears shot up.

He sighed, letting out a heavy breath. It was like he was waiting for this to be said.

"Look, Anaysha, the one thing I've learned over my twenty-four years of life so far...is that life is always a toss-up. It's just a game of random chance. Sometimes, you get what you want. Other times, you don't," he said. "But if you want something, you have to work for it. You have to possess the drive to go after it. You certainly cannot expect life to go the way you desire if you're not willing to go for it."

"But, Oberyn...Over the past few years, that tossup hasn't been going my way," I depressingly fired back. "It's like my game of life is rigged enough to make me unhappy."

He gripped onto my hand so tightly that I thought he was crushing the bones in it. It hurt like a bastard to be trapped in his claustrophobic grasp, but at least I knew his words were truthful and serious.

"But you can't lose hope! You can't," he snarled in a relatively calm but ruthless tone. "You lose hope, then life isn't worth living anymore. Trust me. I lost hope once, too. Finding my suitor—my soulmate—was one of the hardest journeys I had to go on. But then, I met you, and...everything changed. You can't lose hope just because you have a bad stint in life. Trust me when I say this, princess, but everything will become better. I know it will."

I smirked, with one corner of my mouth hooking upward. "You really think that?"

"Of course I do," he answered simply.

I stared ahead at what was coming ahead, waiting for the exact moment for the sea to turn from a calm, beautiful blue to a dark, raging gray. Only then will I know whether or not we were close to the battlefield.

After a while, I found myself in the ship's sleeping quarter—the one specifically reserved for Oberyn and myself, since we were royals—and staring blankly out of the only window in there. My mind was rambling uncontrollably over the battle that was soon to fall upon us. The battle that will most likely break my heart because I'll be fighting against my father.

The conflict between us—and only us—had finally come to a head. A fiery climax, if you will.

It broke my heart to know that I'd have to fight my father. I'd have to fight in order to survive against him. At this point in the war, I can't let him win. Not after all the years he abused me and treated me like nothing.