"They began when I reached my tenth year. At first, I didn't believe them either. Dreams were just dreams. It took months for me to recognize those were foolish words, traded between big fools, to help each other fool themselves. The things I see are real. I can tell the difference between a regular dream and a true dream. When I dream true, I see things that shake me. There's usually death, sometimes so much of it that I awaken sick to my stomach. Sometimes, I see fire. I've had dreams surrounded by beasts who look at me in ways I can't describe. Once, I dreamt of darkness." Teora's eyes were hollow. "It was black and it was everything. But it was true. There was no mistaking the feeling. That one… It scared me worst of all."
At first, Percy was quiet. It took so much effort to get Teora talking that he wanted to make sure he wasn't interrupting her, or else she might not start again. Once it was clear she was done, he asked his questions.
"What about me?"
At first, Teora was silent.
"You said that I was of the sea," Percy reminded her. "You aren't wrong. I want to know what you saw. Why are you scared of me?"
Teora flinched slightly. Instead of running, the way Percy was scared she would, she held out her hand, pointing a line finger at the ocean.
Slowly, Teora lifted her arm.
"Water, up to here." She was pointing into the sky. "Blood everywhere. It colors the water and lets the ground drink, until the ground can drink no more, so it starts to pool. The night is dark. It's not like the darkness I dream of sometimes, which eats everything. Here, even though it's night, I can see you. You're standing in the middle of the death. Your head is back. You scream, and the water eats it all. You're a disaster! A monster! You're—!"
Teora bent forward. She took a very deep breath, right on the cusp of being retching. Percy put a reassuring hand on her back, which helped, until she realized who the hand belonged to. Still, the fearful look she gave to him was better than spilling her lunch across her kneecaps.
"What are you?" Teora's voice was low and strangely tame.
"You already named me. I'm the Son of the Sea."
It was as true in this world as it had been in his last one. After all, while this world didn't have Poseidon, the seas had birthed him all the same. It was where he came from, swimming to shore like a man reborn.
If he wasn't the Son of the Sea, he couldn't have done this.
The waves were usually tame against the beach below them. The sea here lacked the bite of the ocean. Very late, Teora noticed that the dull and repetitive slaps of water had been replaced. There was a crash, then another, and then—
As a monster wave fit for a storm broke against the beach, Percy caught its spray. He lifted his arm the way that Teora had done to demonstrate what she saw in her dreams.
Today, there was no wall of water, nor was it colored by blood. Perhaps a tub's worth of water hung in front of them, glittering high in the air, its descent slowed until it was floating like a leaf. Finally, while Teora watched breathlessly, the water dipped below the cliff and returned to its regular speed. The faint sound of a splash told them when it hit the pebbles below.
"You…" Teora's eyes were wide as she looked at him. He hadn't seen them in so much detail since he appeared in the courtyard. Her irises were hazel, with pupils so wide they almost appeared dilated. "You really are…"
"I can control water," Percy said. "Along with a few other kinds of magic, you can consider that my birthright. Where I come from, there are other people with powers like mine, and all of us have something in common. Sometimes, our dreams aren't dreams at all. Dreams can have meaning, they can hold power, and no one who thinks so is considered crazy. The only crazy ones are the people who ignore what they see."
"I… I'm like you?" Teora asked. The tremor in her voice made Percy's heart thump with sympathy. He knew a thing or two about feeling different from everyone around you.
"You're probably not like me. Do you know both of your parents?"
"Of course. Although Father died two years ago, I grew up with him."
"Then you're a bit different," Percy said. "I'm not sure there's anyone like me in Westeros. I know there are others like you. The Targaryens, for one."
Teora gaped for a few seconds, until she could gather herself. "There are no Targaryens in Westeros!"
"Not anymore, I guess," Percy acknowledged. "There have to be some others like them, though. People who get dreams that are more than dreams. You're here, aren't you? It can't just be you and the old dragon riders. I'm sure there are more out there."
"Then I'm… normal?" Teora asked.
"I could've told you that as soon as we met," Percy said. "You've always been normal. You've just got a gift, which is at least a little rare. The things you can see are important. I've never heard of true dreams that ended up not mattering. You're an important, normal girl. Or a normal important girl if you like the sound of that better."
Teora wanted two things— to know she wasn't alone, and to hear that her dreams mattered. It was a little tricky because wanting to be special and fit in was a delicate balance. Percy thought he might've nailed it as Teora started to laugh.
"I like the sound of that! Oh, Toman will be livid when he hears about this! The princess's man believes me! Why, Toman might need to choke on his own medicine to calm down! And that's to say nothing of mother's face, or the look Valena will wear! They'll have to decide again, which one of us has always been crazy?"
Gradually, Teora's bubbly laugh tapered off. Percy had been watching her with a smile. His face grew serious as he noticed the same change in hers. A chilly wind blew off of the water, mimicking the quick shift in Teora's countenance. She scooted further away.
"My dreams are true, then," she said.
"They are."
"Then what I saw will happen. All those people are going to die. And you're the one who will do it."
Instead of taking offense, Percy stuck his legs out straight. He leaned back, supporting himself with his hands, burying his palms in the grass.
"Where I'm from, these kinds of dreams are more common. Lots of people get them, and over time, we've learned two things. The first is that dreams never lie. Whatever you see, it'll come true. But the second thing we learned is that just because dreams are true, doesn't mean they can't trick you."
"I don't understand." Teora sounded curious, while maintaining distance between them.
"We don't get context. Say that you have a dream and you see yourself throwing a puppy out a window. You wake up in a sweat. Why would I do that? Am I going to grow up into some cruel, evil person? Then, after a little time, your house catches on fire. You have to throw your dog out so he won't get burned. The drop isn't that far. The puppy hurts its leg, but it's still alive. Just like that, the dream came true, and it turns out you were never going to turn evil in the first place."
"You're trying to confuse me," Teora said. "So I won't think you're a monster."
Percy held one hand up, silently telling her, I'm still explaining it.
"It's about context. Dreams show us one kind of truth. It's up to us to interpret them. I'll be honest, I'm usually wrong until the very last second. Sometimes people smarter than I am can interpret them better. But you should never assume that dreams are giving you the whole story. Did you see me killing those people?"
"...no. But they're definitely dead, and you're there."
"Then did you see what they might've done? Sometimes, men need to die."
Teora shivered at his bluntness. She was scared, though, not stupid. She knew enough about the world to understand.
"Give me a chance." Percy smiled. "If you still think I'm the kind of person to kill for no reason, then feel free to curse me. Hell, if you kill me in my sleep after that, I wouldn't complain."
The joke made Teora gasp at the poor taste of it. "How can you jest about such a thing?"
"I've risked death enough times to feel comfortable cracking a few jokes about it," Percy said.
This didn't seem to cheer Teora up.
"I've seen so much death in my dreams," she said. "Yet I always wake up with the same cold panic. Am I weak, to not be used to it like you?"
Percy put a hand on her shoulder. The fact that she didn't shy away struck him as promising.
"If you were a weak person, you would've ignored your dreams. You insisted they were real even when you were told they weren't. You argued with Toman, with your sister, with your mom, but you never stopped believing in them." He paused, letting his words sink in. "You've got a talent, Teora. I want you to use it. When I go back to Sunspear, come with me. Arianne will take you as a lady-in-waiting."
It wasn't the kind of offer he should be able to give. Only the power Arianne vested in him for this mission convinced Teora he could pull it off. Lady companions were rarer in Dorne than they were in the Reach or King's Landing, so when one was taken by someone like the princess, it meant even more. As prominent as House Toland already was, this could only be good for the family's standing.
Teora opened her mouth, leaning toward Percy with light in her eyes, before a cloud crossed her features. Her excitement went out like a doused fire. Teora wound a blade of grass around her finger, turning her head downward.
"While I appreciate the offer… and express my gratitude for the faith and patient words you have shown me… I don't believe the princess would be happy to have me."
"Why?" Percy asked. "Because your family is lying to her?"
The words took a few seconds to properly penetrate Teora's mind. Once she realized what he said, her reaction was immediate. She whipped her head up, scattering strands of her thick dark red hair. Her pupils had, if anything, gotten even bigger than they were earlier.
"W-What do you mean?" she said. "You ruled in our favor against Lord Santagar!"
"Well I definitely didn't rule in his favor," Percy said. "He lied to us too, not to mention the way he disrespected Arianne. That was probably on purpose, though, since his job was to give Arianne an easy way out. If she accepted his offer to fake the investigation, she definitely would've failed this test."
Teora was very quiet, and very still. She was moving even less than when she accused Percy of being a monster. If anything, she looked like she might be more afraid now.
"In the first place, it was never about who was lying," Percy said. "You know, since there was never a dispute in the first place."
"How did you know?" Teora asked quietly.
Percy put his hands above his head, stretching. He yawned at the same time. Every second that he delayed made Teora twitch a little more. He had to force himself not to chuckle. While teasing her was fun, he didn't want to cause her actual distress.
"Let's see." Percy started to count on his fingers. "The river was higher until recently, so it was true that Symon Santagar diverted it. There weren't really any problems with that, though. There's no water shortage here. The family I had lunch with had plenty of water to live off of, they just had to go further to fetch it. The son even said there was plenty of water in the river still and looking at it, I agree with him. His father is the one who told me there was a shortage. Weirdly, he didn't know anything about a new canal. All he could tell me was that water was short and it was the Santagars' fault. He knew exactly as much as the notice your family sent into town. No less and no more."
"Smallfolk can be ignorant," Teora said quietly. "They aren't educated the way that we are."
"Sure. It makes them easy to convince. Why would their liege lords lie to them?"
Teora was even quieter this time, staying silent entirely.
"Well, I don't hold it against you. Arianne won't either. When Prince Doran gives an order, it's not like Lady Toland and Lord Santagar can refuse. There was no harm done, really. Although I can't say I entirely appreciate the attempt to trick Arianne."
Something about his voice made Teora flinch. Percy hurriedly smiled. His intent hadn't been to scare her.
"Doran wanted a problem for his daughter to solve, so he made one. She's close to the Santagars through Sylvia. Symon played the role of a lord in the wrong, probably to see if Arianne could rule against her friend's house when necessary. Meanwhile, House Toland would be a little unfriendly when she arrived — that's why you and Valena were the only ones on greeting duty — but would ultimately be in the right. Honestly, you set it up pretty well."
"Yet you figured it out," Teora said. "In a day, from lunch with a family of smallfolk."
"It wasn't that alone," Percy said. "Valena is friends with Sylvia. She did her best to hide it. Her lips just got a little bit loose when we went on a walk. Sylvia only lets friends tease her about her freckles, I know that much from Arianne. If someone she hated called her Spotted Sylvia, she'd have murdered them ages ago. I can't even take full credit in the first place. Before I even got here, someone gave me a huge hint."
Teora pulled the grass she'd been playing with out of the ground, holding it so the tip stuck up in the air. It was still wound around her finger, except for the last third, which she blew on. The tip fluttered around until she ran out of air in her lungs. By the end, the deep exhale had turned into a sigh.
"You got us," she said. "I don't know if Prince Doran is the one who ordered it, just that my mother acted exactly as you said. There is no feud. The river was diverted because we had more than enough water—our peppers grow on very little. Lord Santagar needed water for his orchards. It was all agreed before this fake feud was drawn up, they just used it as a pretense. If supporting us is the answer Lady Martell was meant to reach, then I understand why you wrote to her as you did."
Percy looked blankly at her. Noticing this, Teora's brow furrowed. "Why are you looking at me so?"
"I wrote to Arianne to tell her everything," Percy said.
"You mean… to tell her what you just said to me?"
"She told me to get to the bottom of it. I wasn't going to lie about what I found."
"Impossible!" Teora turned around, leaning toward Percy with her hands on the ground. "Mother would surely have read what you sent! She said that she would!"
"And she did."
"Then how—?"
"Just because she read it, doesn't mean she understood what it meant," Percy said. "Arianne is bright enough to pick up on what I meant."
"If she knows it all, then what will happen next?" Teora asked.
"Dunno."
Teora didn't know what to say to that. She barely understood the meaning of the cobbled together word, more fit to be spoken by a smallfolk tradesman than a household knight. Percy figured that if there was a time he could forget about Nymeria's lessons for a bit, it was a private chat like this one.
"You don't know?" Teora finally said.
"This is where my job ends and hers starts," Percy said. "I got the details for her. Now, it's her turn to make a decision. That's the job of the princess. Even I don't know exactly what she'll do. But if you're that concerned about keeping your family in her good graces, I can think of an open position where you could help do just that."
O-O-O
Dinner that night was a funny affair. After thinking about it long and hard, Teora made the call to keep what Percy said a secret. Telling her sister and mother wouldn't change anything, there was nothing either of them could do, so she stayed quiet.
It created a dinner environment less festive than the night before, but much more amusing to Percy. There were no singers this time and only a fraction of the retainers. Valena spoke candidly to Percy, enjoying her seat next to him. Lady Toland ate largely in silence, while offering a few vaguely-smug lines about Symon Santagar, each of which Percy met with a smile or a chuckle. Meanwhile, amidst it all, Teora ate quickly in a studious silence. Everyone else assumed she was still upset about her dreams. Percy knew better.
The next morning, the last that Percy had planned to stay for, he went for another walk with Valena. They went later in the day this time, accompanied by her two usual servants. The girls trailed them at a slight distance. Far enough to give the appearance of privacy, close enough that they could hang on every word.
The morning sun was heating the ramparts in its glow when Percy stopped, shielding his eyes with his hand. Valena stopped beside him. They were above Ghost Hill's gate, looking into the distance. Her servants came to the edge and did the same thing.
Dust was rising off of the road.
More than two dozen riders pushed their mounts hard, spewing grit in their wake. "Who on earth…?" Valena said.
Percy knew the moment a horse broke away from the others. It was a beautiful stallion with a sandy coat and bulging muscles along its limbs. Some of the other riders tried to match this horse's burst of speed, to no avail. The sandy stallion was too powerful. His name was Myrnos. The moment that Percy saw him, his suspicions were confirmed.
For all his power, Myrnos stopped on a dime the moment his reins were pulled. He tossed his head, turning his body sidelong to the guards at the gate, while his rider threw back her riding hood. Black curls exploded from containment, framing a perfect tanned face. Arianne jutted her chin, looking at the keep like she was waiting for the stones themselves to kneel to her. At a slow trot, Symon Santagar rode his own horse to a stop behind her, surrounded by his guards as well as Arianne's.
"Lady Arianne Martell, Princess of Dorne, has come to put an end to this business!" Arianne said. "Raise the gate and bring Lady Toland! Between the three of us, we have matters to discuss."
Arianne looked back, fixing Symon Santagar with a look from the corner of her eye. Valena had already turned to the nearest guard, barking at him in the harshest voice Percy had heard out of her. "Do not stand there! Fetch mother, immediately!"
The guard tore off at a suitable speed for someone who'd just been yelled at by his young lady. Valena turned to Percy with a question on her tongue. It died before it left her lips.
Percy was leaning on the ramparts, putting his weight almost precariously over the edge. Supported by his elbow, he gazed at Arianne with a sappy smile. The light shone against her hair, making it glitter like onyx held up to the light. Her voice had cut cleanly across the distance when she offered her demands. Percy sighed as he took her in.
Valena slowly closed her mouth.
They took a staircase down to the courtyard, arriving just after Arianne's procession and just before Nymella Toland arrived from the keep, pulling her younger daughter and surrounded by a hastily-assembled greeting party.
"Princess Martell!" Lady Toland said. "I didn't expect your arrival, or else I would have prepared a better welcome! I confess, your company is an even greater surprise."
She was unbalanced, looking at Symon Santagar. The Lord of Spottswood had his shoulders held high, yet something about his countenance gave the impression of a scolded child.
"You have nerve to show your face here, Lord Santagar, after what you've caused," Lady Toland said.
"I've caused nothing. It's hardly my fault you've made me the object of your slander," he returned.
"Slander implies a lack of truth! Have you seen the sorry state of my river?"
"It's my river as much as yours! Favor the mountains with your biting words, or the sky itself, since your true anger is toward the lack of rain—"
"Enough!" Arianne said.
A loud silence settled across the courtyard. It was broken by Symon Santagar, although his tone couldn't have been more different from a moment before. His shoulders finally slouched.
"She's onto us, Nymella."
"Was keeping one simple act up for a handful of days too much to ask, Symon?"
"I should ask you that same question! It was the letter sent from your keep that gave us away!"
"Impossible," Lady toland said. "I read it myself."
"Then you didn't read it very well. Are you going half blind already at your age?"
"Not in the slightest, though you seem to be dancing with senility. You must have given it away and convinced yourself of the opposite."
"Seriously, woman, you're as impossible as ever!"
While their words were harsh, maybe enough to cause a real scandal, neither of them took anything to heart. Arianne had been silent, simply ignoring them. She scanned the courtyard until she found Percy. When her eyes landed on him, she slid off Myrnos' back.
The way that others watched her pass made Arianne seem a much taller woman than she was. Valena fell to one knee when Arianne got close, followed swiftly by her two servants.
Arianne grabbed Percy's forearm, reaching up to touch his cheek with her other hand.
"You never disappoint," she said.
After a handful of seconds that felt very long thanks with all the eyes on them, Arianne turned back to her captive audience. She wore a beaming smile as she stood just in front of Percy, favoring Lady Toland and Lord Santagar with her attention, both of whom looked like they could have done without it.
"Let's bring this matter to a close, shall we?" Arianne said.
O-O-O
Twenty minutes later saw Arianne seated across from the Lord and Lady. She was in the middle of a couch, Percy standing behind it, while the other two took plush chairs separated by a few feet. There were four knights, two belonging to either household, positioned behind their Lord and Lady similarly to Percy's stance.
A table, low and squat, sat between the couch and the seats. It was covered in snacks, some of which had been cobbled together with haste, given their sloppy presentation. Untouched cups of tea sat within reach of Lady Toland and Lord Santagar. Arianne had a cup in her hands, sipping the tea, unaffected by the atmosphere. The room smelled of leather, wafting off the bindings on shelf-fulls of books along two walls. Light penetrated from one large window, the beam spilling halfway across the table. Arianne set her tea down right on the edge of the sunbeam, crossing her legs.
"I don't hold this against you personally," Arianne said. "It was my father's orders. I'm grateful, on behalf of my family, to see the readiness with which you jumped into action after his request."
"Kind words," Lord Santagar said. He had the bearing of a different man now that the ploy was in the open. He slid a hand through his hair, chuckling ruefully, just once. "Can I say how much you've grown?"
"He means that he's embarrassed you figured him out," Lady Toland said. "So he's decided to couch it in compliments."
"As ever, you see to the heart of me." Lord Santagar's voice was drenched in sarcasm the way Tolands drenched their meat with sauce. "I believe I told you, you are the one they figured out."
"It matters little now, no?" Arianne said. "Who made the mistakes, what gave you away, the game is in the open. I propose that we talk about it. That sounds much more productive than pointing our fingers."
"And what is there to talk about?" Lord Santagar asked in a soft voice, smiling wanly. "There's no matter for you to adjudicate. There never was. We'll relay your sharpness to your father, of course, in whatever words you so choose."
"I disagree that we've no conversation to have," Arianne said. "In fact, I think there's quite a pressing one."
Her smile lasted, meanwhile Lord Santagar tapped his fingers against his seat, and Lady Toland did an admirable job dressing up her tension. Then Arianne put a hand diagonally across her chest, dipping her head.
It couldn't be called a bow. It wasn't deep enough. All the same, the gesture was clearly one of respect.
"It warms my heart that House Martell has such loyal vassals. You both went to such great lengths to fulfill our needs. I can ask only one thing of you— to serve me with such loyalty when it's my time to take the throne, or to instill in your children the values that the two of you possess, so I might trust them at my back."
Lady Toland and Lord Santagar looked at each other.
"You do us too much credit," Lord Santagar said. "Of course, it's no trouble to agree to that. You ask what we were always prepared to give."
"Unless there's more to this request than it would seem," Lady Toland said. "You speak like a woman with circumstances on her mind."
"Unexpected things can happen at any time. We never know when the worst case might strike," Arianne said. "I anticipate nothing except the world's unpredictability. When faced with troubles, whatever they might be, able helpers are more valuable than any sum of gold."
She raised her head, pulled her hand away from her breast, and leaned forward. She layered arms atop each other and perched them on her knee. "That said, there is one thing which concerns me."
"Pray tell," Lady Toland said. "What might that be?"
"There was no trouble in truth, at least between your houses, yet some were made to suffer, weren't they?" Without changing pitch, Arianne's voice took on an edge. "The lives of the smallfolk were disrupted. Their toil increased, they were made to fear a shortage of water, and worked into a frenzy."
Lord Santagar and Lady Toland looked at each other.
"A small price, all things considered. Wouldn't you say, Princess Martell?" Lord Santagar said.
"Not long ago, I would have agreed," Arianne said. "My education always focused on the lords and ladies who moved men, rather than the men themselves. Recently, however, I took a trip. I imagine that you two have heard about it."
"Bits and pieces," Lord Santagar admitted.
"I made for the Riverlands," Arianne said shamelessly. "With me I brought only a small group from the garrison, most of them lowborn. I prioritized avoiding my father's notice over safety, a choice I learned the folly of when we strolled into an ambush."
"The Boneway Brotherhood," said Lady Toland. Lord Santagar gave her a strange look, confused how she knew that, but Arianne took it in stride.
"That was the name they used," Arianne said. "They threatened me with death, and rape before that."
The older of the knights belonging to Lord Santagar clenched his fist and gnashed his teeth in outrage. The others looked shocked at the sheer daring of these outlaws. Or maybe their reaction was to the blunt way Arianne put it.
"There were two survivors," Arianne went on. "Myself and Perseus. Men I'd exchanged a handful of words with laid their lives down for me. Not one of them hesitated. For my mistake, they paid the dearest price. The only consolation I can offer is opening my eyes."
Arianne got up. No one could take their eyes off her. It wasn't just her beauty, which usually caught the eye of men. As she built up steam she was exuding a gravity that had even grouchy Nymella Toland hanging on her next word.
Arianne approached the window, looking toward the village in the distance. She turned around and pointed at it.
"In war, those are the ones who will march for us. In times of peace, they provide the food that keeps our tables full and our cities at rest. The most brilliant tactician cannot win a war without an army, nor can the most skilled diplomat instill reason in a man who is starving. I am alive today thanks to the loyalty of a band of lowborn men. Give them something to protect and they will fight to the end. Treat them as tools and they will break when you need them most, like a rusted plow at harvest."
"An over-fattened horse loses its ability to run," Lady Toland said neutrally.
"Then feed with care," Arianne said. "But don't starve it."
The lady of the keep dipped her head, acknowledging that, drawing a silence over the room. It lasted only until Lord Santagar left his seat.
He kneeled, bowing forward.
"I think that I've heard enough," he said. "You've behaved better than I believed possible, Lady Martell. You're astute, both in your observations and your lessons. This humble lord has no problems calling his banners beneath yours, no matter what the future holds. If this is all you wish, it will be an honor to provide."
Within moments, Lady Toland had taken the same position.
"Lord Santagar possesses many faults," she said. "His judgement is not among the aspects I question. Know with certainty that you are always welcome here, Princess, and that I offer the same to you that Lord Santagar has. House Toland's place is at the back of the Martells. If you wish anything from us, we will provide."
Arianne didn't answer promptly. She was smiling. A little bit of the confident armor she'd worn into the keep was disappearing as excitement over this result started to shine through.
At the risk of making a slight faux pas, Percy answered Lady Toland's offer himself.
"There was one thing, Lady Toland, that we would like to discuss. It has to do with your daughter…"