advent calender day fifteen - for asharaadayne - finnick/annie + smooth sailing
“It’s going to be okay,” he promises her, his smile brewing seastorms inside her, “it’ll be okay,” it’ll be okay it’ll be okay it’ll be okay annie it’ll be okay, and he takes her hand and helps her into a canoe, fingers twined, steady, steady. “I’m here, Annie, it’s okay,” it’s okay it’s okay it’s okay there was so much water so much – “Smooth sailing, I promise.”
His promises are encased in the seashell she clutches in one hand, and she lets him sail them down the river that leads to the ocean, gently, gently, his touch never leaving her skin. Annie closes her eyes and breathes; maybe when she wakes up she will not be surrounded by water. He squeezes her hand, warm and comforting like sand under her feet when she was a little girl and not quite so afraid, and waits till she looks at him again.
“I’m scared,” she admits, and he shakes his head, trailing his hand up her arm, to her cheek, holding her still so she doesn’t shiver. “Finnick, I’m scared – there’s so much water –
“Annie, Annie,” he murmurs, fingers ghosting over her cheekbones, her hair, her eyelashes, “it’ll be okay. I’m right here, I’m right in front of you. Look at me, Annie, you are brave. You are strong. You survived.”
She wonders if this is what he tells himself every time he leaves for the Capitol. She wonders what he might do if she kisses him. She is surrounded by water, and she doesn’t kiss him, but she breathes. She breathes, she breathes. It’ll be okay, Annie. It’ll be okay.
The next time he takes her out to the water, it is by the beach near her childhood home, far away from the Victors’ Village, open sun and birds and crashing waves. And she is terrified. He keeps her hand in his, solid and warm and gentle, and doesn’t walk too close until she’s ready, but she is so scared. She looks out into the water and sees tributes die, swallowed up the sea, boys and girls with the faces of her friends and family. With his face, with her face. It could have been her.
“You can swim, Annie,” he tells her, voice low, brushed up against her ear, keeping her anchored to the sand below, “you can swim and you’ll be okay.” It’s what he said to her before she went into the arena, his hands on her arms and a winner’s smile on his face. Winner, winner, she was the winner. Or did she lose, anyway?
“Did I win, Finnick?” she asks, voice trembling with the tides, “did I win the Games?”
“Nobody wins the games,” he murmurs, bowing his head till his lips press her temple, “but you survived.”
Is it enough, she wonders, her whole body shaking as he takes her into his arms, is it enough to survive? Is it better to have died in that arena, to have never lived beyond it? Is it better to die a child than grow up in a world without innocence?
She looks up at Finnick and wonders if they’re better off dead.
“Annie,” he says the next time he takes her sailing, “you’re not afraid anymore,” the delight in his voice palpable, filling her with lightness.
“I’m afraid,” she says, dipping one hand into the water and letting her fingers skim the surface, “I’ll always be afraid. But I survived.” And she did, she did. Finnick smiles at her and she survived it all, alone and swimming for miles and miles and miles, watching the waves bury children, but she survived. She might be afraid, but she is brave, and she survived.
“What are you afraid of, Finnick?” she asks him quietly, and watches the breath he sucks in as it sticks in his throat, uneasy and afraid but, oh, he survived, too. They both survived.
“A lot,” he admits, pulling her closer, “the Capitol. Memories. Nightmares. You.”
“Me,” she repeats, almost a question but not, bringing one hand up to play with the beads on his necklace. “Why are you afraid of me?”
“Annie,” he laughs, his breath sweet on her cheeks, “you are so strong. You are so strong and I am terrified of losing you. I wish we were both dead, and they couldn’t hurt us anymore.”
“I don’t,” she says fiercely, the first moments of passion she’s had outside her dreams since she won, “I would rather be alive with you than dead where the Capitol wants me.”
“But they can still hurt you,” he says, and she shakes her head, draws him closer, curls her hand around his neck and tangles her fingers in his hair. “Annie, if they hurt you – ”
“I can survive,” she reminds him. “You can be brave, too.”
And she kisses him, slowly, gently, sweetly, out on a boat in the ocean where the waves spray her with water and she is not afraid, not for that moment. There are no faces in the sea; there is only him and her and the possibilities between. He kisses her back, gently at first, as if she is made of porcelain, then deeper and hotter and truer.
His free hand digs into her waist, fingers sparking electricity through her dress, and he kisses her and kisses her and kisses her till she sees stars. She opens her eyes and smiles, and she is not afraid.
Passages and thoughts about the mentions of House Dayne in the Dorne section. Largely made because all of this couldn't fit in 140 characters.
"At the mouth of the Torrentine, House Dayne raised its castle on an island where that roaring, tumultuous river broadens to meet the sea. Legend says the first Dayne was led to the site when he followed the track of a falling star and there found a stone of magical powers. His descendants ruled over the western mountains for centuries thereafter as Kings of the Torrentine and Lords of Starfall"
Later it also says the Daynes, Yronwoods and the Fowlers were the ones with the power and prestige in Dorne before Nymeria came and after Mors Martell died she chose between these houses to marry (a "dashing" Davos Dayne was her third husband).
There's a complete page dedicated to Dawn but it doesn't have new information about it, only that other people wish they were born "sons of Starfall" so they can carry Dawn (their words, not mine). Also, from this picture next to the text, Dawn it's approximately as tall as an average man. How do they carry it though? Not in their belts... maybe in the back? They would need at least another person to unsheathe it. Thank the Gods for common swords on their belts.
"Elsewhere in the realm, the Allyrions, the Jordaynes, and the Santagars carved out holdings for themselves"
The Andals came, saw new lands and built some castles along the shore of the rivers. The fact the the Jordaynes of Tor are Andal debunks my theory about them being the Karstarks of Dorne. Whatever. I can dream.
Princess Nymeria sent six dornish kings to the Wall during her conquest (if it can be called that), among them a Vorian Dayne, renowned as "the greatest knight in all of Dorne" and called Sword of the Evening (not of the Morning?). As i said earlier, she married a Davos Dayne after Mors and her second husband (an Uller of Hellholt) died. Could this Davos be a son or nephew of the king she sent to the Wall?
"Whilst another army under Ser Joffrey Dayne marched to the very walls of Oldtown, razing the fields and villages outside it"
"Thrice in the space of a single century [Oldtown] was taken and sacked, once by the Dornish King Samwell Dayne (The Starfire) [...]"
Boy, did Oldtown ever did anything to House Dayne? Become a maester, it's the easiest way to get there! I'm kidding. Oldtown is the most rich and populated city in the Reach, it makes sense the Daynes sacked it being the closest dornish house.
Many, many years later, Prince Maekar married Dyanna Dayne and had six children, the fifth being the future Aegon V. Their first child was Daeron the Drunken described as having "sandy brown hair, and blond stubble crusted his chin". This is not a Targaryen coloring, meaning that he must had inherited it from his mother (even though, Maekar's mother was dornish, he appears to have the classical valyrian traits). We know Aegon V, Maester Aemon and Aerion Brighflame do have their father's coloring but we have nothing on Daella and Rhae.
In 209 AC, Aegon and Duncan the Tall meet for the first time. A conversation between them suggest Dyanna has been death for some time (at least, as early as 202 AC after the birth of her last child, Rhae, in 201 AC).
Sadly there isn't much information about House Dayne in The World of Ice and Fire. A few mentions here and there about Arthur Dayne (the late Sword of the Morning) being one of Rhaegar's "most formidable friend in King's Landing" and the one who knighted Jaime Lannister.
"Though she married twice more (first to the aged Lord Uller of Hellholt, and later to the dashing Ser Davos Dayne of Starfall, Sword of the Morning), Nymeria herself remained the unquestionable ruler of Dorne for almost twenty-seven years"
homegirl nymeria not only was a fierce warrior queen but also married a handsome sword of the morning hashtag goals
do u ever cry because arthur dayne is literally jaime's dream knight and the archetype of every ideal jaime ever thought he would become when he was growing up DO U
he literally goes 'that boy had wanted to be ser arthur dayne but somewhere along the way he had become the smiling knight instead' JAIME FEELS ASHAMED HE NO LONGER LIVES UP TO THIS KNIGHTLY IDEAL (remember in jaime's mind arthur dayne = perfect knight) AND BECOMES EVEN MORE BITTER AFTER LOSING HIS SWORD HAND
do u ever cry because jaime thinks arthur would be ASHAMED of him if he were alive
i'm sure you're all sick of seeing my useless text posts and asks on your dash by now but sorryyy here's another one (i'm trying to do new memes fast bc i still have a lot of older ones that i am definitely planning to do soon)
pearl's top ten tv shows (in no particular order)
how to get away with murder
the 100
girl meets world
brooklyn nine nine
community
arrow
once upon a time
elementary
a to z
avatar the last airbender
i realize atla isnt airing anymore but i had to put it on there so i gave it the tenth spot oKAY
idk how many ppl you're supposed to tag but i'll limit myself to five
i tag avalord, marymorevnas, asharaadayne, shewhodestroysthelight, greywardened
Jon is sleeping in his cradle, looking as peaceful as the red sands outside the windows. He is not a noisy baby, he doesn't cry or screams for attention every time she's not there; he is the best baby a mother could ask and Ashara is grateful. So much like his father, she thinks amused.
She recalls Allyria crying at every hour if you didn't feed her immediately, driving her mother to exhaustion more often than not. She also recalls Arthur slipping in the nursery and watching Allyria with attention, she would tease him and ask if he was counting to see if she had all her toes and fingers in order (Arthur would only roll her eyes at her and call her an idiot).
He would laugh now, she mused. There was a certain newness about babies that make you look at them for hours, Ashara never understood the appeal of them but now she finds herself looking for every mole or touching the smooth line of his back. Jon is a quiet baby, he likes to being touched by his mother.
The sun is nearly up, no one is rushing anywhere or making any noise. Starfall's halls shine white with the sun but now they cast shadows as she pass them, touching them with the tip of her fingers as she were a child. Allyria's door is half open and her faint snores fill the room.
Ashara does this almost every morning before dawn, checking Jon and Allyria before going to sleep again; there's always a fear they won't be there when she wakes up, life has killed the two persons she loved the most ans she won't risk anyone else. Ned is last, as always. Their room is a bit far from the nursery but it was her parent's and she wants to grasp the last ghost of them.
The first thing she sees is his back, dark and bulky and bare because Ned hasn't really got used to Dorne's heat, not after expending all his life in the cold north. It's all better for her, she likes to touch him and drag her nails down his arm and see the little goosebumps appearing with that look in his eyes that made her toes curl so deliciously.
She tiptoes to the bed and sheds her slippers quietly while she crawls under the covers. Ned is impossible warm next to her, she closes her eyes.
what if the jordaynes are like the karstarks of dorne? like a younger brother of the principal branch of the daynes got a castle and started his own house, like karlon stark did. how nice would that be?
we know house dayne is the only house (i think) in dorne who has their own cadet branch (hello, mr i am of the night) and has the cool sword, what if they got separated because this hypothetical younger son wanted dawn and believed he was better than his older brother and became so bitter he left to the OTHER side of dorne to start his own family.
Edric’s hair is wet from the drizzle (it doesn't really rain in Dorne and the most heavy weather they get is an annoying lukewarm rain, or so the maester told her) and carries a sword taller than him on his back. From her spot on the window, she can see he doesn't want to get caught in the doors so she goes to the dining hall and leaves the welcoming for Maester Marros and the maids.
She sips her wine and waits for her nephew to appear. Her emotions are a mess, it’s always been like that, since she was a little child and Allem was alive: she is happy for him, of course, he came back safe and sound and no visible wounds to speak of but he's alone and that means something is amiss. She has imaged Ned coming back to Starfall hundreds of times in many different scenarios (she's his aunt after all, she has the right to worry for her only family left alive) and in many of them, Lord Beric is there.
She doesn't quite remember him anymore, many years have passed since their first meeting and Allyria isn't really good for details. What she does remember is a promise. A promise of bringing her nephew safe to her again (and a marriage between them, but she doesn't give much thought to that). Ned came back and a betrothal with a barely known Lord from The Marches doesn't matters at all.
The wine is gone while she waits for him and she could almost believe Ned didn't returned until the door of the dining hall opened. Without noticing, she stands up (maybe to reach out for him or because she doesn't think she can sit while her Edric is so close to her): he seems taller than her, as tall as his father and with the same fair hair. She could almost believe he was the same Ned that left except for something sad around the mouth, something dark and serious.
She wondered what had happened to him. She wondered if it could be mended.
She stretches her arms to him. Allyria fears this changed Ned would only allow himself to look at her from afar and not reaching out like she's doing. But he doesn't. He closes the space and they find themselves in the middle: she's quick to wrap her arms around him, hugging him so tightly as to never letting him go away from her. And he won't, she thinks to herself, I won't let anybody take him away from Starfall, from me.
