Arianne I (The Winds of Winter)
| Warning This information has thus far been released in a sample chapter for The Winds of Winter, and might therefore not be in finalized form. Keep in mind that the content as described below is still subject to change. |
Arianne I | ||||
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The Winds of Winter chapter | ||||
POV | Arianne Martell | |||
Place | Dorne | |||
Page | UK HC (Other versions) | |||
Chapter chronology (All) | ||||
The Princess in the Tower A Feast for Crows ↑ | ||||
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↓ Arianne II |
Princess Arianne Martell travels to meet the boy calling himself Aegon Targaryen.
Synopsis
Arianne Martell is traveling towards Ghost Hill with her companions: her new sworn sword Daemon Sand, her bastard cousin Elia Sand, Jayne Ladybright, Ser Joss Hood, Ser Garibald Shells, and Nate. Ellaria Sand has left Sunspear to go back to Hellholt, her father Harmen Uller's seat, with Loreza. Dorea Sand remains at the Water Gardens, hidden among all the children, and Obella Sand is dispatched to Sunspear as a cupbearer. Ellaria's Sand Snakes are now scattered, so as to better to survive the carnage.
Arianne and her group travel for two days and two nights, and Arianne starts to reminisce. She thinks about how she and Daemon Sand, once so close, grew apart after Doran Martell had refused to let Daemon marry Arianne. She thinks about Spotted Sylva, Drey and Garin, and about how one of them must have betrayed her. She misses her friends, and she misses Arys Oakheart as well, more than she expected. She believes he charged into Areo Hotah's axe because he could not live with what he had done. All of Arianne's friends have suffered because of her plot, except for Darkstar, Ser Gerold Dayne, who fooled Arianne with his good looks. Obara Sand has been sent to hunt Darkstar down, and Arianne is convinced that her cousin is up for the task, especially since Areo is with her, but Daemon warns her that Darkstar could kill Obara just as easily, when she confides in him.
The second day of their journey, they move at a more sedate pace, and Arianne commands Daemon to tell her all he knows about Jon Connington, but all he can tell her is information Arianne has already learned from her father. What Daemon tells her does leave her thinking, and that night in her tent she reads the letter Jon sent to Prince Doran, informing him that Aegon Targaryen, Elia Martell's son by Rhaegar Targaryen, is still alive, and asking for the help of Dorne. But Prince Doran has his doubts, Arianne knows as well. He was expecting a dragon to return to Westeros, but this is not the one he was waiting for. They have not heard anything about Daenerys Targaryen and Quentyn Martell, and Prince Doran worries. Two Dornish armies have amassed, and one word from Arianne will make them march.
On the third day of their journey, they reach Ghost Hill, where they sup with Lady Nymella Toland and her two daughters, and here Arianne learns that Griffin's Roost, Rain House, Crow's Nest, Mistwood, and Greenstone have fallen to the Golden Company with certainty, and there are rumors about Tarth, Cape Wrath and half the Stepstones having fallen to them as well. Lady Valena Toland also tells that there are elephants in the rainwood, and Arianne takes this to mean that Quentyn has not yet returned. Lady Nymella and Valena go on to discuss the fighting on the Stepstones.
Lady Nymella´s youngest daughter, Teora Toland, has a different opinion. She has dreamed about dragons, and everywhere the dragons danced, people died.
That night, Arianne tries to seduce Ser Daemon, but he resists, so they talk instead about whether or not Aegon could truly have survived. Arianne voices Doran´s wishes, but her answers to Daemon´s questions do not truly reflect her feelings inside. She wishes that Quentyn had returned, but cannot stop thinking how silly "King Quentyn" sounds, nor how silly Quentyn riding a dragon would be.
They continue their voyage on a ship called the Peregrine, where Arianne and Daemon discuss Viserys Targaryen, the Beggar King. Arianne wonders why Daenerys allowed Viserys to be killed by her own husband, Khal Drogo:
Perhaps Daenerys realizes that once her brother was crowned and wed to me, she would be doomed to spend the rest of her life sleeping in a tent and smelling like a horse.
When she tells Daemon that Daenerys is the Mad King's daughter, wondering if she has the taint as well, Daemon answers:
We cannot know. We can only hope.[1]