"Arianne is your uncle Doran's heir, so she has to bear more. As for the rest of you, things will be much easier."
"I understand, Father."
Oberyn had once taught his bastard daughters to be free. Dorne's heir was different from her cousins.
"Remember what I told you. If you want to marry, marry. If you don't, find your own pleasure. There's little enough pleasure in this world, after all. But remember one thing: choose carefully. If you get tangled up with a fool or a brute, don't come to me for help. I've given you the tools to deal with them yourselves."
"But Arianne, infatuated as she is with the king, has no chance. Your sister Tyene might still have one." The Red Viper glanced at his glass wine cup. "The women around the king are all exceptional beauties."
Gendry appeared to have no interest in Arianne. Perhaps he disliked women whose conduct was so loose, and Arianne was rather short, too.
The king liked women as well, but he placed more importance on looks and substance. He was not like Robert, who took anyone without the slightest discrimination.
"Perhaps that time hasn't come for you yet." The Red Viper glanced at his scholarly daughter. "I feel you love reading more than romance."
"Perhaps I'll go looking for love, too," Sarella said.
"That's your freedom. You can choose anyone. A king, a knight, even a mercenary, but you'll have to handle them yourself. If the king likes you, that's a testament to your own ability."
"That will have to wait until the business at the Citadel is over."
"Keep playing your game, Sarella. War is my game. I'll go into the Lion's Den to kill the lion. Perhaps all I'll get is a dead lion. Tywin won't compromise."
"But