"What are you going to do?"

Victoria holds her son in her arms, his snoring softly blows on her neck and she lifts him tighter into her body. Her hearts thumping so loudly she feels out of breath and nervous, this wasn't foreign but it was uninviting.

She swallowed thickly and looked around, on one side she had the horse stalls where the carriage awaited her children and prepared them for the descent back to Valiente castle, and then the other she had Trystan and her Uncle who she loved very much and wished to keep safe.

"Fuck," She cursed with anger and slight despair, her son moved and awake.

His colored eyes looking dazed as he pulled back and met her gaze, "mama?"

"My summer frost," she cooed lowly and kissed his forehead. "We need to go see Uncle Doran and Trystan, do you think you can walk?"

He yawned, stretching his arms and nodding. She gently placed him on the ground and noted Valeria was staring at her with wide eyes, awaiting an explanation.

Elaine crossed her arms, "what are you doing?"

Her husband looked at Lady Valiente much in the same manner, they both awaited a response.

"If I send the children away without saying a word they'll know somethings wrong, I need to at least have them say goodbye." She explained, squatting down she pushing her sons curled locks back. Valeria also had her hair pressed behind her ears and the front of her dress was pressed downwards as the mother fussed to rid herself of nerves. She gave them a somber smile and kissed their conjoined hands. "Let's go say bye to Uncle Doran and Trystan okay?"

"What if Jamie—"

Elaine was stopped with a look from Victoria who asked her not to continue, "he can make his own conclusions of them if he sees them. For now I will not run away like some scared child, this is my home as much as it is the sand snakes."

|•|•|•|•|

Aleks and Valeria played atop the beautiful carpet of Trystan's room, the twins giggled and murmured to one another indistinguishably as the mother looked on. Her eyes concentrated on the golden dragon in his hands, it was light, shiny it nearly appeared to be fake. To those that knew nothing they would overlook the toy but to the mother, and the few close at heart the backstory of them was much more interesting.

In fact, the dragon was gold, and the red beads that resembled eyes were rubies, much like his sisters identical one made of dragon glass, with green emeralds that sparkled just right. The twins went everywhere with them, the moment was rare that a toddlers hand wasn't wrapped around the priceless gems and although there had been a question here and there over the origin of said toys the mother could usually shrug it off.

It was moments like today however, when she truly remembered the days after she'd given birth when they appeared. She could still remember the intricate note that had come, the smell of foreign spices and a beautiful sentence.

Joyous days for all, no matter how foreign the blood of the dragon runs deep cousin...
-Queen Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen

She'd known little of the Dragon Queen in the East for the past years, less of her presumed dragons that had hatched around the time the northerners had declared war against the south. Even when she'd returned to Dorne it was only a passing statement given to her about the world outside but clearly things had been different for the Targaryen queen. And I'm truth they did share blood, after all Victoria was as much Martell as she was Valiente, which meant there was a Targaryen within her. What did she want? She wondered for quite some time. That question however held many responses, most of which were quite easy to distinguish.

The seven kingdoms were all a Targaryen would forever want, and if she was going to return for glory she'd need some help.

"Dracarys!" Aleks yelped out, breaking his mothers thoughts as he stood and mimicked the roars of dragons in the east.

She smiled at him, and stood as the doors to her cousins room opened.

Trystan walked in, rubbing the sides of his jaw with a sullen look upon his face that quickly dissolved when he saw them.

"Victoria!" He spoke happily. She smiled deeply as he came forward and hugged her, he had grown considerably the last few years, now a man grown he towered over her. Handsome as his predecessors, the future ruler of Dorne was every bit his uncle, father, and family alike. "It's so nice to see you, you've spent your time with my father or being hosted by the other houses you've forgotten about me."

Victoria laughed softly, the days in Sunspear were often spent with the Lords, all wanting to hear of her time in the North and wishing to give their remorse for her fathers death. The amount of grand feasts she'd attended has taken much of her time and the smiles of appreciation she'd granted were now becoming redundant.

"Oh sweet cousin, what about you? You've fallen in love and left us all behind, every time I've caught a glance you're with her, so enthralled it's a wonder you knew I was here." Victoria responded back, her throat swelled as she remembered who she was.

Trystan faltered, "Vic... I'm sorry."

Victoria placed a hand on his cheek, caressing his growing beard, "it's alright, my sweet, I was in love once too. It's thrilling, there's no other drug like it. You can't help who you fall in love with."

"I know, I wish things were different and she wasn't a Lannister."

A sad smile rose, and she breathed deeply, "I know, but she is not her mother, she is here with us and she loves you. I just need time."

He nodded in agreement, "we have time now, more then ever."

Victoria smiled deeply, "speaking of time, with everything going on I think it's best I take us home for the time being."

Trystan furrowed his eyebrows, he seemed to think for a moment until it dawned on him, she knew who had come. "You're safe, he can't touch you, you're very well protected here. The people love you, they think you're brave and the babes, they're well protected."

It took everything in her not to tear up as she thought about the fear that loomed, she would never fear another Lannister for the rest of her life but he did not know that. Trystan was clueless sometimes, his father kept him in the dark about such items but sadly it was not her own life she worried for now, it was his that she feared for. The sand snakes wanted blood and with everything coming forward it seemed that possibility was realistic.

He gripped her hand, tightly fastening a hold and hummed, "I will not, nor will I ever let another Lannister tell me where my life leads much less my children's but even so, I do not wish to have him know the faces of my children just yet. I'd like to see him, if you would not mind, staying with the babes for some time."

"Of course, you honor me with your trust." Trystan seemed more then happy to watch over his niece and nephew, he went around his cousin and straight towards the children. He'd seen them off and off for the last year, nearly immediately after their birth he'd taken a horse and ridden through the night to come. Valeria had a particular affection for her uncle whenever she saw him and stood to run into his arms as he took a spot on the ground.

"Dracarys!" She softly cooed and held her blackened beast out to him.

"Oh well isn't this extraordinary," he murmured and took it from her grasp.

Victoria took a moment, smiled at the scene and then waved goodbye before exiting the room. She had no doubt that her children would be more then safe in the care of their uncle trystan, however time was running thin in where that assurance would continue.

Lord Commander Trout walked beside her, he nodded his head, "everything alright?"

She swallowed her worries, "it will be once I figure out why Jamie Lannister is here."

"Amina has been taken into custody with them, luckily she wasn't placed in the cells with the rest of the sand snakes, the Lannister cunt demanded to have an audience with her." He detailed.

"You got all that in the time it took for Trystan to get back?" Victoria turned to look at him in shock.

He shrugged, "you Lord and Lady's have no idea how much the common people gossip. I also know that the Lannister brought someone to help him, some mouthy fellow."

Victoria wondered who might he be speaking about but pushed it away as they neared the entryway of Prince Doran's side.

"Lady Valiente," the men guarding the doors greeted her. One spoke solely, "Prince Doran is not present, I have been given instructions to direct you towards our new guests rooms. He has been waiting for you."

Victoria held back her reaction the the disrespectful way he spoke of Jamie Lannister, she didn't oppose it however it was still bold to speak in such a way.

Victoria smiled, "very well, is it the north or south quarters."

"North, my lady," his eyes gave away something that burned a fire in her chest, like he was the first to break. She knew there was more going on then originally led, there was more enemies now then friends even in Sunspear, she heard it in his voice and the way he contrasted her name to Prince Doran's. He appeared to look at her much softer, much fonder, once these noble knights and guards had never given her the time of day, after all she was considered a northern child to some. After returning, and fighting her way back to Dorne it was like they'd finally accepted her, like she herself was a Martell, she worried.

She bid them farewell and they bowed, forcing a glance to break between her and Lord Monterroso who now stepped closer as they walked.

"What in the blood hell was that," he whispered quietly once they were far away.

"Nothing I like, once I am in conversation with Jamie Lannister get the children and send them off at once. We've run out of town." She quickly ordered.

"And leave you alone?" Monterroso countered in shock.

"Amina will be there, I won't be alone." She commented, the flow of her evergreen dress swayed and contrasted against the falling sun. She stood out lately, a symbol of her time and battles. The people now stared at her when she walked by, their whispers were praises and remarks of wonder, the winter sun out of a lions mouth and the dens of wolves.

She repeated that statement in her mind time and time again to build the courage she would need.

"Make sure Elaine and my children are far from here before they rest, I want them in Yronnwood before they stop."

"They are noble allies to your family—" Monterroso nodded along.

"No, they will not know. Have them setup camps in sand dunes if needs be Greywind will hate it but he will stand guard with the men, but they will not risk my children or my best friend." Victoria cut him off, she was paranoid, and it caused distrust even with the most confident of her ally's. "We do not know who is true to their word, and who is looking for a secure hostage."

He nodded his head, silencing any further discussions on the matter.

"My lady," the guard bowed at her as they approached the north tower.

Victoria felt her breath be held, there it was again, she thought when both guards practically mimicked the previous guards look. It was distinctly in their eyes, like indecipherable whispers they hummed alive.

She shifted her gaze, and Ser Monterroso, sensing her discomfort, was the first to speak, "lads, open the door for Lady Valiente."

Normally, she assumed they would protest but instead both men simply nodded and pulled the grand doors apart. Victoria nodded her head at both of them and Monterroso looked at her subtly.

She stepped forward, entering the room and turned to find both Amina and Jamie in a heated argument, both standing close to one another. Amina's face was so angered, her eyes were like vipers slits on her prey and Jamie seemed just as angered.

She cleared her throat, hands placed over her midsection, "I see you've become reacquainted."

Amina swallowed thickly, she was in an internal battle, this man stood in front of her matched her soul in every way, the fire that brewed within her seemed to match his but all this hurt, anger, and disgust was hard to ignore. Love wasn't a thin line between hate, it was a rotting staircase that could send you plunging into oblivion.

She stepped away and towards the cups of wine, Jamie seemed to turn his face away, finding a moment to catch his breath and adjust his mind. Amina sent him spiraling, every single time he looked at her every thought faded and it was only her, it was always her. Cersei was no longer his driving force, the method to his madness, Amina was the madness.

Victoria watched silently, feeling her heart tighten, she was there too many times to count, she knew this love all too well.

"I see I've come just in time," she walked forward, towards Amina who's fist was clenching a chalice tightly, fingers going from a muted pink to a blood red the stronger she became. Victoria grasped the chalice, her cool hand forcing Amina to look up. They shared a look, the sand snake appeared nearly depleted of her strengths, Victoria gave her a brief smile and gently said, "cousin."

She didn't say it, but the sand snake understood all too well, it was her turn to rumble with the lion.

Amina handed her the cup and poured herself a heavy hand, she took a sip and leaned against the table, eyes straying from Jamie to Victoria.

Her cousin took quiet walks forward, she stepped closer to Jamie, her head tilted, "I see the years haven't changed much."

She extended the chalice, and Jamie was finally able to look her in the eyes, his bluish green eyes were much sadder then she'd remembered, and when he lifted a palm it was the one still attached, although her eyes did trail down to the golden hand.

He took the chalice, and smiled at her, "you surely do not, my lady."

Victoria spared him one more glance before turning back to Amina who extended her half drunken chalice. "That's kind of you, Lord Commander, although I meant your current state, once more a grand lord under chains."

Jamie lifted an eyebrow, staring between the two women, they held that same stare, one that could make a man break. Was it a Dornish thing or a Martell one? Maybe it was the dragon that lay untouched.

"Chains? I do not see chains?" He countered.

"You're in my home, with hateful eyes around every corner. They blame your family for the death of Elia Martell, the death of my uncle, and now you've come to harm my cousin and take his intended. You may sit in silk and cotton but make no mistake, this is no different then the oak you were once chained too. This is your prison cell." Victoria clarified, she saw the way it dawned on him, his muscles tensed and his eyes trailed to the entrance. She chuckled lowly, "if it's any consolation my uncle won't let anyone harm you it appears."

His eyes seemed to narrow, like his mind was running with her words and his vision adjusted to her appearance and in that moment he somehow smile, "well if that were true then you are still Queen. I've heard the whispers all the way up to Kingslanding, we've seen the destructions you're doing. The Tyrells, the Hightowers, you're keeping the war going."

Victoria stiffened, she hadn't been called Queen in so long, and much less mocked for it. She stood straighter, "I was never queen, I was the one with the power and still am, the title of Queen was giving to me to be complacent. And I will never be that again."

"And yet here you are, here I am." Jamie said, although that last part was directed at her cousin.

Victoria didn't let the moment rest, for months she'd awaited this moment, wondering how or what she would say if she saw another Lannister, she would say everything and anything. "I'm still winning, I'm still taking your lands."

"You're fighting a tired war, when the dust settles who do you think will be our first target? Where do you think all eyes will fall? The Starks are all gone, your uncle will never rise against us. Where does that leave you?" Jamie countered, he spoke una firm voice, confident in every word he said.

Victoria kept a stern face for as long as he spoke, she let a second of silence hang in the air before a smile formed upon her face and a slight chuckle rolled out. "Oh Lord Commander, you have not changed at all, you still think of me as that stupid little girl you shared a dance with in Winterfell. I am not taking lands and salvaging villages, I am not threatening the common folks into submission, and I am certainly not taking heads off if they do not obey. The people who choose to follow me do so because I provide them food, I provide the grains, my armies are there to prepare them for winter afterwards they can choose to follow me or not. I am simply handling the lands you westerosi have savagely mislead for centuries. It was ours once, and it will be again. As for your family, I think you should be home, worrying about your new king considering the unfortunate ending of the last one and his hand. Such tragedies, I suppose that's what happens when you slaughter guests at a wedding and then reward a traitor."

Jamie looked away, his eyes averted to the carpet, both women glared at him harshly. Once upon a time he'd wondered what that fire behind Amina's eyes was, what she knew that he didn't, and no matter how close they grew he never quite understood. It wasn't until today, when that same look was mirrored onto the face of Victoria did he know, Amina carried the fight of her cousin within her soul.

He fist tightened, he looked up, suddenly feeling remorseful, not for the fall of the Starks but for thinking he could trust a Frey.

When he was able to muster the courage to look back he finally said the words that had plagued him for a year, "I'm sorry, those words mean little now but I am. You were never meant to be harmed, they were to keep you confined."

"Never meant to be harmed?" Victoria scoffed, her anger suddenly rose with the amount of fresh tears that threatened to shed. Cursed were the gods that made women so fragile as to tempt tears with anger instead of fire. "I lost a best friend that night, he was slaughtered like an animal and then discarded like a carcass. Marcos Trout was a good friend, as loyal as the sun rising and you took him from me. And I— I was violated and assaulted. Do you know what they wanted to do to me? How he ripped my dress and my lady in waiting's? They were going to make me their wife before the night was over and you allowed them too. I would've lost everyone but I'm sorry is what I get?"

Amina had laced her fingers with her cousins, comforting her. Victoria never spoke of the horrors she went through that night, neither did Elaine, and she was silent over Ser Marcos. She commissioned a memorial for him in the Valiente cemetery and on occasion she would sit there instead of with her parents but for the most part she stayed silent.

"You have to understand, I had no idea that old bastard would try to do that, my father would've never let it stand."

"Your fathers dead, all for the numerous treacheries he committed even against his own blood." She hissed angrily, "and now the Lannisters have their backs against the wall, foes in every corner why? Because of greed, you took more then you gave and now it's coming back to you."

"I warned you!" Jamie snapped back, "you knew what was going to happen. You should've talked Robb Stark down, you should've stopped him before he got too close."

"And you should've stopped your nephew from killing my father," she retorted.

"And now he's dead, so is Robb, and for the sake of your children I suggest you stop this madness."

"My children will never be safe, not until their enemies have been defeated, although, I believe you understand that however. My children do not hide nor will they ever be forced to run for their lives, what I want for them is what all parents want, it's what you want with Marcella and Tommen."

Jamie's eyes narrowed when she referred to king and princess as his children but he did not deny it, "Sansa killed Joffrey, there's high sparrows in Kingslanding threatening to take what is rightfully his and here Marcella... is being threatened."

"And you've come to what? Save her? With your one hand and a sell sword? Jamie... you're fanning the rumors of your families demise." Victoria commented and lifted the chalice for a drink of her wine, she saw his fist tighten like he was taking her as a threat. She lifted her palm and shook her head, "oh you think I want to come for Marcella? Don't be stupid, Jamie, I would never murder a guest. I'm not after blood anymore, I'm after names. As for Sansa, she didn't kill Joffrey."

"Why? Is she here? Are you hiding her?"

A laugh rang from her lips, something soft and careless, her eyes closed shut as she chuckled loudly. Amina looked over, eyes analytical as ever, this was a side of her cousin she had yet to see. Against her sisters was one thing, there had always been sly threats masked under their games even as children but this, she was deadly serious.

"You must not have heard me, I am done hiding if she was here I'd have her beside me here and now, and do you think one can hide a northern face like that?" Victoria hummed. "Although, for what it matters I don't think Sansa had the power to kill Joffrey. She's been a Lady her entire young life, never once strayed from what elders told her to do, in fact, I bet she was terrified of your sister and for good reason. Whatever the case may be she's missing, along with several Stark children, all due to your family's involvement. I will say this though, Marcella is not safe."

"Victoria..." Amina muttered slowly, her eyes blinked from her cousins to the doors where guards stood.

"He needs to know," she said softly. "Marcella is a kind soul, she does not deserve this."

"What are you saying?" Jamie's must've understood the importance of their silence as his voice dropped into an angry whisper, green eyes blinking towards the doors.

Victoria and Amina shared a careful look before the former nodded her head, "tell him, quickly."

Victoria moved around them, her footsteps were loud and she hummed a loud tune as she walked around closer to the doors, her hands moved the small decorations on the table to create louder noises.

Jamie grasped Amina wrist, calling her attention back, her cerulean eyes finally met his own. He swallowed thickly, "is my daughter in trouble here? Tell me the truth?"

Amina chose her words carefully, "there's rumors of an uprising, it's why Victoria sent her children away. They want blood for Oberyn's death."

"And what of you? Are you for or against me?" He questioned even quieter, turning his back to Victoria who was pretending not to listen.

"Are you serious right now? First you attempt to kiss me, then you threaten my family, and now after everything we've been through and everything you've done to me you ask that? My allegiance lies with my cousin, with her, the one person who has been harmed just as strongly as I have by you and your family Jamie!" Her anger was so strong ever final word felt like being stabbed, Jamie averted his eyes when she brought up the obvious. It was no secret the relationship with Cersei would never die but what he and Amina had, it was so strong, he could see reason to have stuck with her. Amina pushed him, glaring at him, "I can practically smell her on you."

He didn't have to ask who her was.

Victoria was finally looking at him once more, Amina taking a stance beside and nodding her head, "I will say this once, take her and run. If you travel by night and ride through the sand dunes you'll find safe passage through my boarders, but it is only cause of Marcella. Your family owes my children a debt, and it will be repaid. Goodbye Jamie."

|•|•|•|

So sorry about the wait!!! This chapter was hard to write mainly cause I'm so excited to get to the following one. Please leave me your comments thoughts and predictions.

-Ash 🤍🤍