Inside the Council Hall of the Prince's Residence, the air still held the tension of the earlier confrontation. Even the breeze felt sluggish.
Daenerys still stood where she was, her knuckles white from clenching her hands, her violet eyes filled with the anger Arianne had provoked.
A mocking smile curled Arianne's lips. She cast Daenerys a sidelong glance, utterly dismissive of this young dragon princess's presumptuous talk of great affairs.
"Dignity?" Arianne's voice was languid, but every word cut sharply. "Princess Daenerys, you still haven't understood. In these troubled times, nothing is more useless than the dignity that only weighs you down."
She looked at Daenerys and continued slowly, openly appraising her. "Your brother Viserys has nothing but the title of king. Under house arrest, he can't even fend for himself, let alone help restore his family. He's merely a burden who needs others to clean up after him."
"And you-"
Her gaze swept over the document in Daenerys's hands, then her face, stubborn only through sheer effort. Her scorn deepened. "You have the blood of the true dragon, yet you can't even sort out this sordid little slave trade in Lys. You hit a wall at every turn and still have to ask others for advice. So young and powerless, and you think you're fit to speak of House Targaryen's dignity?"
"Dignity is won through strength. An old agreement and a few accusations won't uphold it."
Arianne believed in strength and reality. Nothing irritated her more than Daenerys's immaturity, all good intentions without the iron hand to enforce them.
She never softened her words. Her thoughts were filled with Dorne's future and her own plans. In her eyes, Viserys and Daenerys were nowhere near Aegon's equal. Before strength and self-interest, the so-called marriage agreement was merely a worthless scrap