Chapter Text
Hellholt, 283
Ellaria
Ellaria did not consider herself a pessimist. A realist, perhaps, but not a pessimist. But that unfortunately did not keep her from wondering if the atmosphere in Dorne would ever lighten up.
Why would it? They had been forced to march to war with the knowledge that their own Princess Elia and her children held hostage by a madman, one that would not so much as hesitate to slowly burn them to death or worse.
And now they had to live with knowledge that it had all been for nothing. Thousands of their good men- including a member of their own ruling family, Prince Lewyn, their ruling Prince’s own uncle- had been slaughtered by the damned rebels… and Princess Elia and both of her children had been mutilated and slaughtered despite being completely innocent.
She sighed, shivering not from the cool night air despite being on her balcony, before drawing her robe tighter around her body. Her own uncle Ulwyck had survived, but that was only a cold comfort. So many others had not been as fortunate…
And what had happened to the Princess and her children was almost the worst of it all. How dare they call House Uller mad when they happily did things like that and smiled at their corpses? Their House took care of prisoners, yes, but never innocents. One would have to do something truly heinous to be sentenced to their dungeons.
Ellaria sighed again, beginning to turn back into her chambers to get however much sleep she would be blessed with tonight, when something in the distance caught her eye.
She squinted, rubbing her eyes and wondering if she was seeing things, but… no, there was truly a single horse galloping towards the gate.
Ellaria barely allowed herself time to put on a pair of shoes before rushing down to the gate herself. If it was more bad news, she would prefer to hear it now, rather than having it brought to her just as they had when news of the Sack of King’s Landing reached the Hellholt.
When she arrived, her father- still in the same clothes he had worn all day, she noted- was already there, barking orders to open the gate and let the rider in, which the guards did without hesitation, but with alarmed looks when the rider immediately fell from his horse out of what looked like exhaustion. Harmen Uller was opening his mouth, no doubt about to order someone to get a healer, but was cut off by a small voice screaming, “Gally!”
Still on the horse was a small girl, one who couldn’t be more than three years old, crying for her protector, a black kitten in her arms meowing in distress and trying to comfort his mistress.
Leaving the guards to check on the rider, Ellaria ran to the other side of the horse. “Sweetling, sweetling, can you look at me, please?” she asked as softly as she could, making certain that she did not look at all threatening to the toddler and waiting until the little girl looked at her, still sniffing to continue. “Gally will be fine, do not worry for him. A healer will be along soon to check on him, and I am certain that he simply needs some rest. Will you come with me? I can call a bath for you, and find some clean clothes.”
The toddler seemed to hold on to her kitten even tighter. “You won’ hurt me or Balerion or Gally?” she asked suspiciously.
Balerion?!?
Suddenly suspecting who this child was- and oh, how she hoped that this girl was who she suspected, that at least one of them had made it out of that cursed city alive- Ellaria shook the thought away and smiled at her. “I will not. You are safe here, sweetling. I swear that you are safe.” Here she paused, realizing that she would need something stronger than just her word with nothing else added to it. Taking a chance and hoping that this would work, she amended, “I swear to Mother Rhoyne that you are safe here.”
The toddler sniffed again, something like hope entering her eyes. “Mother Rhoyne? Mama told me and Egg stories ‘bout her. She said she’s all of our mamas, and she protects us from bad men.”
“Yes, your mama was right. Mother Rhoyne does in fact protect all of her children, which is why I swear to you on her name that you are safe here and that I will never hurt you.”
After a long moment, the little girl adjusted herself, one arm still holding her kitten and the other outstretched, allowing herself to be lifted off of the horse and burying her face in her shoulder as soon as she was held in her arms.
Ellaria looked at her father, who nodded back before ordering a nearby servant to bring up a bath to his daughter’s rooms while he waited with the unconscious rider for the healer.
She made certain not to hurry down the halls to her room, knowing that would likely only alarm the child clinging onto her. Hopefully that would also mean that they would not be waiting long in her rooms before the servants came with a bath and hopefully a clean dress, for this child sorely needed both.
She settled them on a chair, gently stroking the little girl’s black hair, uncaring of how it desperately needed to be washed and combed. “My name is Ellaria,” she said softly, smiling at her when the toddler pulled back enough to stare at her with wide black eyes- eyes a color she had seen before. “My father, Harmen, is the lord of this keep- Lord of the Hellholt, to be precise. What is your name?”
The little girl sniffed, shyly saying, “Rhaenys. This Balerion,” she added, holding up the kitten, who politely meowed at her.
Ellaria couldn’t keep her smile from widening. She had been correct! Though her heart ached, knowing that this little girl had lost her mother and brother in one fell swoop and would carry that grief with her the rest of her life, knowing that at least one of them had lived made the world seem slightly less bitter.
“I am so glad to meet you, sweetling,” she said before looking down and scratching the kitten on the head. “You as well, Balerion.”
The kitten meowed at her again, a pleased sound this time, making Rhaenys giggle.
Before either of them could say anything else, someone knocked at the door, making the toddler tense before Ellaria kissed her head. “It’s only the servants coming with your bath, don't worry,” she assured her before calling out for them to come in.
She hadn’t lied, it was truly just some of their trusted servants, all of whom greeted them with warm smiles before setting up the small bath and leaving her with a couple of small dresses that should hopefully fit.
Once they were gone, Ellaria asked for permission before carefully helping Rhaenys undress, finding that she was wearing a necklace in the shape of a golden sun. “That is a beautiful necklace,” she complimented, smiling.
“Mama gave it to me!” Rhaenys beamed before her smile dropped. “Mama… will we see her in… Sun-spear? Gally told me we see Tío Oby and Tío Dorry, but what about mama? And Egg?”
Ellaria’s heart broke again. “No,” she whispered, not able to lie to her, “I don’t think we will.”
Rhaenys sniffed. “Did the bad men take them?” she asked in the smallest voice she had ever heard.
“No! Mother Rhoyne simply called them home to her halls for she desired their company, but she knew you were needed here, for who else would take care of Balerion?”
The toddler still looked about to cry, but her face hardened into an adorable look of determination as she grabbed the kitten from where he had settled at her feet. “You right! And Balerion needs a bath!”
Without any fanfare, Rhaenys dumped Balerion into the bath, causing him to yowl in protest and Ellaria to start laughing when the little kitten’s mistress climbed in after him and started insistently washing him, demanding that he stop squirming because he was dirty and needed to be clean!
Once the kitten was clean and hiding under a convenient blanket that had fallen to the floor earlier, Ellaria was able to help Rhaenys wash herself, especially with her hair. That had more tangles in it than she had ever seen in her life… but regardless of how bad it was, they eventually managed to clean all the sand, dirt, and sweat that had managed to cling to the little princess.
The dress was plain and a little too large for the girl’s small frame and had most likely been meant for an older child, but it worked well enough for now, and they would no doubt find something more fitting for the girl before they made their way to Sunspear, for they would never keep her survival from her family.
That done, Rhaenys tugged on her skirts. “’Larie… can you stay with me? Don’t wanna be alone,” she whispered, looking so forlorn that Ellaria couldn’t stop herself from kneeling down and hugging her.
“Of course,” she whispered, kissing her on the head.
She led Rhaenys and her kitten into her bedroom, Balerion insistently following his mistress, no doubt wishing to keep her safe from all harm. She lifted the little girl into the bed, pulling the covers over her before lifting the kitten on the bed, who immediately curled up at his mistress’ feet. That done, she got into the bed herself, Rhaenys immediately curling up at her side.
Ellaria hummed to her for awhile as she held her and gently stroked her hair, and eventually Rhaenys fell into what looked to be a peaceful sleep. She wished she could join her, but she couldn’t, not quite yet.
This little girl being alive was something that all of Dorne should be able to celebrate, but unfortunately they could not, for there was too much to take into account.
Given what happened to her mother and brother, if the Usurper learned that Rhaenys was alive to threaten his claim to the throne he would order them to give her up, to send her to the Faith at best and slaughter her like the rest of her family at worst. Dorne would refuse to give yet another one of their princesses up, and the war would continue, only this time it would likely be in their own borders.
She was not the one in charge, but if she was able to advise Prince Doran, she would suggest that they hide Rhaenys, hide her in plain sight as one of the infamous Sand Snakes. She had met Oberyn, spent quite a bit of time with him during the year end celebrations Sunspear had held close to four years ago to celebrate Prince Doran’s first year on the throne-
Ellaria froze as a thought came to her.
Oberyn would immediately claim Rhaenys as his own if he had to, no questions asked. He would never dream of doing otherwise, both to protect his niece and to honor his sister’s memory.
But someone might look at her age and when she entered his care and start to connect the dots, which could give their plot away and bring pain unto their people.
However, if this little girl had someone claim to be her mother, one who had spent time with the man who claimed to be her father but three moons before Rhaenys Targaryen would likely have been conceived, a mother who had been visiting her maternal grandmother in the Summer Isles for well over a year after that meeting, only coming back to the Hellholt a few moons before war had broken out, a time that could neatly include a pregnancy…
Ellaria did not get that much sleep that night, mind too busy imagining all of the outcomes of this decision, but by the time dawn started creeping past the curtains and a knock came at the door, her mind was set.
She left the door to her bedroom open, not wanting the little girl still slumbering peacefully in the bed to wake up and immediately assume she had been abandoned, before crossing her solar and opening the door to reveal her own father.
Harmen Uller did not waste time. As soon as they were settled in a couple of the chairs she had in her solar, he said, “The rider woke an hour ago. He is Galahad, formerly a squire of Prince Lewyn. The Prince left him in the capital, and there he stayed guarding our Princess and her children until the sack. He managed to save Princess Rhaenys, but was unfortunately unable to save her mother or brother. They managed to escape King’s Landing, barely stopping to rest before they reached our keep, for he knows that we will never turn on House Martell and will keep the princess safe. He will recover, he simply needs time to rest.”
Ellaria nodded, completely unsurprised. “She will be glad to know he will be okay. She was worried about him last night.”
Harmen smiled, a slightly grim turn of his lips, but a smile nonetheless. “At least one of them survived.”
“And she will always.”
“Yes. All of Dorne will protect her from the Usurper if need be.”
They would, but Ellaria hoped they did not have to. War had already taken too much from them, and she had no wish for a continuation.
With that in mind, she explained her plan to the Lord of the Hellholt.
Her father did not try to dissuade her from her plans and simply asked, “My daughter, are you certain?” When she nodded, he smiled sadly at her and enveloped her in his arms. “My daughter, I am proud of you. I cannot think of anyone else who would suggest this.”
Ellaria smiled. “I am only doing what anyone should do,” she whispered, thinking of the little girl that had already lost so much, one who deserved nothing but happiness.
Ellaria was Dornish, above anything else. She was an Uller as well, even if she did not bear the name. And both of those things led her to do anything to save such an innocent life, no matter what it brings her.