Lord Yronwood (Pt.2 of The Princess of Dorne)
Hi guys, excuse the parts of war, honestly I don’t really know how to describe them. I did my best and I hoped you like it.
When the rebellion against the Targaryens started Lord Berick Yronwood, Warden of the Stone Way, Lord of House Yronwood, told his son Ormund something that he couldn’t fully grasp at the moment, “War takes only and what gives in return is pain and loss son. Know this before you make part of it”. He was just ten and six years old when his father told him this, and he thought that his father was mistaken. People dies in war, he could die himself; but if he survived, he could gain glory and fame among his peers. Back then, Ormund dreamed of being a famous knight, one that would have fought in epic battles and crushed powerful enemies; and who was more powerful than Aegon Targaryen with his sisters and their dragons?
It was until the first time that he went to battle that he understood how accurate his father’s words were. He lost something that day. His older brother Alaric was stabbed with a sword right in front of him; the Targaryen soldier who did it was Ormund’s first kill. After that he kept loosing and loosing; family members, friends, his home, his youth. Once he got to know all the horrors that accompanied war, fame and glory were nothing to him. For fame and glory would never bring him back what he had lost; so he had a new mission: to become a vehement soldier, with the purpose of securing the protection of his people and to defend his country.
To say that the relationship between the Martells and the Yronwoods was strained it would be an understatement; the Yronwoods never forgot how the Martells had stripped them of their lands and their kingdom; the Martells feared that the Yronwoods were going to join the Targaryens in their conquest as revenge, but as time passed they remained loyal, they never understood why. Although his father hadn’t raised him to hate the Martells he used to be wary of them; a wariness that was replaced by respect when he witnessed how aggressively they fought, how they toyed with the Targaryens. Ormund and Princess Deria met when he was ten and eight years of age and she was ten and six, at first they were formal with each other, eventually they became friends and allies, because they had the same mission. It took him five years to realize that he was in love with her. To be more precise, the day he became aware of his feelings was the day of the Battle of Hellholt.
At the battle Ormund was part of the many soldiers that were fighting around the gates of the castle instead of in it. They knew from the beginning that the castle was a lost cause, they could not offer any protection against the fire of the dragon, that’s why that instead of placing archers at the top of it they placed scorpions in the surroundings. Ormund did his best to never have out of sight the dragon Meraxes while he was fighting, and it proved to be harder than what he expected, Meraxes was fast and agile in spite of her size. It was hard to tell who was winning, whenever he saw a Targaryen soldier falling he saw a Dornish one as well. Ormund always went to battle knowing that he might not return, but that was the first time he actually felt that death was imminent. Fuck it, if this is where I perish, so be it. And after he finished that thought, that was when it happened, that was when Meraxes roar of agony stilled everything and everyone ceased to fight to see the dragon and the Queen going down. The sight he was beholding looked surreal to him, in all his dreams he never pictured this outcome. It all became real when the dragon hit the ground casting a fog of dust that covered his view for what felt hours and the first cry of celebration was shouted. Unlike the rest of the soldiers Ormund didn’t celebrate, he didn’t feel joy or relief. He felt rage; a rage he never felt before, not even when his brother was killed. When he felt the weight of the sword that he was holding again he turned to the Targaryen soldier he was battling, who was still shocked, and pierced him right on the gut. Every time he saw a man wearing the Targaryen sigil he finished him without any compassion, he was so consumed by his rage that he didn’t notice that he was clashing against a soldier that had already surrender and was only protecting himself against the blows that Ormund was giving him.“Ormund! Stop!” someone screamed, “Ormund! It is over!” It wasn’t over; it wasn’t over until every Targaryen was overthrown. The voice kept begging him to lower his sword and he did when he recognized the voice of Aresia Dayne. Shocked, he looked at the soldier who was on his knees with his hands up and he looked at Aresia who was with Timeon Toland; both of them were disheveled, scratched and covered with blood, but they were unharmed and well. Ormund felt a profound gratefulness when he saw that his friends were alive.
They left the terrified soldier there, they had had enough death for the day. Aresia and Timeon must had felt as drained as him because they walked the field aimlessly, not knowing what to do next.
Ormund never believed that he would stand so close to a dragon one day, not even a dead one. Meraxes was indeed a magnificent beast: her silver scales that turned litmus when they caught the sun light, a snout so large that she could sallow horses with no difficulty, one of her wings was extended and it was long enough to cover the entire castle, or what was left of it, and it was translucent, it was said that her eyes were golden, now he would never know. Unbelievably, one single arrow in the eye was enough to kill her.
“Where is Queen Rhaenys?” Asked Timeon.
“She must be under Meraxes” Said Aresia. Aresia’s tone was flat, almost indifferent, but Ormund saw she had a smirk on her lips, like she was relishing in the fact that Queen Rhaenys was squashed by her own dragon. On his behalf, he didn’t know how he felt about it.
When they regained their composure they helped to collect the bodies of their fallen brothers in arms, incarcerate the remaining Targaryens soldiers, attended the wounded and move all the debris of the castle.
“What will we do with the dragon?” Asked Ormund to Commander Qorgyle.
“For now we will leave it here. Tomorrow if sand dogs haven’t devoured her we will dismember her”
When he finally went back to the camp in the dessert he wanted nothing more than to go to his tent, thankfully Lord Commander Blackmont dismissed him and he didn’t have to accompany him to give the report of the events to Princess Meria. He was heading to his tent when Deria came out of her grandmother’s tent and when she saw him she smiled at him like she never had before, and for some reason that smile was his undoing; it was too much for him, so he kept walking leaving a concerned Deria behind.
He intended to clean himself but he just sat on his cot, then somebody called his name.
“Ormund, may I come in?” It was Princess Deria.
Feeling ashamed for his earlier behavior he let her in, even though he wasn’t sure if he was ready to face anybody.
She didn’t come in right away and when she did she looked nervous. She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out and she was fidgeting.
“Is something wrong Princess?”
No matter that Deria had asked him countless times to call her by her name he kept calling her Princess.
“No, there is nothing wrong… I wanted to see if you needed anything”
“Thank you your majesty. I don’t need anything right now”
Deria didn’t know if that was supposed to be a dismissal and perhaps the most sensible thing would have been to leave, yet she couldn’t bring herself to do so.
“Are you alright Ormund? Truly”
“I am not harmed Princess, Maester Uron already checked my wounds, they are superficial”
“I didn’t mean that. What I meant to say is… how are you feeling? I don’t want to intrude. Is just that you look sad”
Sad. He was certain he looked tired, in all honesty, Ormund couldn’t put a name to what he was feeling. He remembered the resignation he felt during the battle, the rage that possessed him after the death of Meraxes and the numbness that took over him when everything was over. And now; he remembered Queen Rhaenys, how little she seemed when she was falling and somehow he managed to see her struggling in the air, her arms and legs twisting, the deafening roars of Meraxes, the sound her corpse did when she at last touched the ground, the arrow in her eye, the soldier who had already surrender looking at him like if he was a monster, Aresia’s delight, leaving the castle that was his family’s home, his foolish dreams of being a Knight, his brother dead in his arms. Indeed, he was sad, he just had not realized it.
He felt his eyes filling with tears and he didn’t want her to see him cry so he put his head on his hands and close his eyes hoping to suppress them.
Deria had never seen him so devastated, she couldn’t stand it; she sat next to him and embraced him, and Ormund gave in, he couldn’t call to mind when the last time somebody had hugged him was. He forgot his shame and cried, he let his tears to flow; Deria said nothing, she just comforted him and let him be. Once he felt better she asked him:
“Do you wish to be alone?”
No, he didn’t want to, and he wanted to be with her. Only her, because Deria never judged him, she listened to him, she never expected him to be strong all the time and she always found the way to lift his spirit.
“No, please Deria stay. Do not leave me alone tonight, please”
Whether it was the way he said it or that he had said her name, or maybe both, it made her feel a tremor all over her body. So she stayed and she listen all about the Battle of Hellholt, all about the grief he carried but never expressed, all about his tiredness and all about his fears.
“For tonight is over Ormund, you have been so brave. Rest, you have earned it. I am not saying that tomorrow all that consumes you will fade away, but it will be a new day, and I will be there for you. You can lean on me”
That night, Ormund fell asleep with Deria by his side.
“Ormund, say something, please”
He listened to every word, every single detail, and just like Deria he couldn’t believe it. Queen Rhaenys Targaryen survived the fall; Meraxes didn’t fell on top of her like he had thought. How was it possible, only Gods knew.
He knew that Deria was telling the truth, that she was not aware of this; he could see it in her eyes. On the contrary of her fellow Martell relatives, Deria was more transparent and less cunning, traits that it was hoped she would get with time.
“Are you angry? Is that why you don’t speak?”
“Yes, with my grandmother, with my father… with me”
“Deriam why would I be angry with you?”
“Because they lied, they withhold very important information, my grandmother and my father they could have ended this war… and I… I am part of them. And I know how your family feels about us and…”
“Don’t” He was not going to let her end that sentence. This was not her fault.
“You did not do this. This was your grandmother, your father and also the Ullers. I am certain that if you had known about this you would have fight against everybody to do the right thing; I do not understand why your grandmother did what she did, and I agree with you: it was not the right way. And if you think that I would blame you for something that was not your responsibility, then that means that you don’t know me at all”
Deria put her forehead against his shoulder and he gave her a kiss. He was so different to any man she had ever met; so caring, so patient and so understanding. She remembered that she had not told him everything, and she knew that he would not be so comprehensive about this.
He was smiling when she raised her head which only made it harder.
“There is something else” He said, it was not a question.
“Yes. The emissary my father is going to send, it is me”
He stood up like a bolt making the bed rattle. She tried to hold his hand but he withdrew it.
“No. I can be very tolerant Deria, but not with this. You really think the Targaryens won’t make you a prisoner?! Won’t use you as an example! What is your father thinking?!”
Deria stood up and braced herself for the argument that was about to begin.
“It was not his idea, it was mine”
“Of course, you are mad enough to do something so foolish”
Deria grabbed him by the shoulders and as calmly as she could she explained her reasons:
“My love, like I said to my father, if I am going to be a ruler of this country I need to be brave, to show some backbone. It is I who must face them, if my father was younger he would do it, but he cannot”
He wanted to shake her hands off, he was shacking.
“And why you? Why not someone else? Why not Harmen Uller? He was an accomplice in all of this”
“Because I am Princess Deria Nymeros Martell of Dorne, the future Princess. You know as well as I do that I am the one who is supposed to do this” Said Deria with vehemence. There were flames in her voice, in her eyes, they were so intent that Ormund had to look aside. He removed her hands, gently.
“This is not your mess to clean Deria. This is your father’s, let him have the consequences of his actions”
“That would not be fair” As angry as she was with her family, she still wanted to protect her father.
“Nothing about this war is fair!”
He was getting desperate, so he used his last card:
“And what about our child, have you thought of that?”
Her flames wavered but she knew exactly what he was doing.
“Do not do that, it is beneath you”
“What? Reminding you that it will not only be you the one who is in danger?” He got closer to her. “I know that you want to prove yourself but you don’t have to. This will not define you as a successful ruler”
She felt like crying. He was smart, he knew how unfit she felt sometimes, how guilty she felt, since she was convinced that she had not done enough to end this war.
“It is my turn Ormund. It is my turn to put something at stake. Of course I worry about our child, and I also worry about its home, its future, its legacy. This could finally end everything and I am going to do it, if you won’t support my decision then fine, you can stay here. But I let you know that you won’t stop me”
“I need to be alone” Ormund said harshly and left the tent not caring that he was not wearing a shirt.
He went to an oasis that was not far from the camp, not even Deria knew about this place; it was his sanctuary, where he went when he needed to collect his thoughts. One of the reasons why Ormund loved the oasis so much was that he got the chance to see the desert fauna up close. He would just sat beside the water and watched the animals drink or relax; it could be dangerous so he always carried a knife, so far he had not needed it. At first when the animals noticed him they were suspicious, they approached carefully and when they realized that he was not a threat they treated him like he was another one of them. Tonight, he saw a fox and her cups, some of them were cuddling against her, and the others were playing with each other while their mother was keeping an eye on them.
He was not sure if he was exaggerating. It was just that when she told him what she was planning to do, he lost every ounce of equanimity he had. This was the woman he loved, the mother of his future child, one of the few things that he had. As many people in Dorne, Ormund Yronwood had lost a lot as consequence of the war; and yet he had won something: Deria, and now she was about to deliver herself to the people that hated her the most. He didn’t feel proud of all the things he said to her, he knew that it was a low blow to use her insecurities against her. She had a point, deep down he knew that. Still, it was hard to acknowledge it. Regardless of what he believed, her mind was already set, and he was confident that she would leave without him and without a word, that would be worst to him.
When Deria woke up she found Ormund next to her already awake.
“If we are going to do this promise me that you won’t take any unnecessary risk, and that you will share everything with me. We will make a plan and we will follow it”
He said we not you, he was coming. Deria felt a warm feeling spreading through her chest.
“I am sorry for my outburst last night”
He brought his lips against hers, and they kissed slowly. Deria was aware that this wasn’t easy for him and she didn’t blame him, which was why this meant so much to her. It didn’t matter that he did not agreed with her, he was supporting her anyway. When they were done kissing he asked:
