Next Steps

When Ashara woke up, she felt very comfortable. The short rest helped relax her mood and the beautiful ambient comforted her soul. But she was suddenly wide awake when she noticed a little girl in her arms. The movement woke up little Diane who rubbed her eyes full of confusion.

"Diane? Why are we sleeping in the same bed?" Ashara asked a little absentmindedly.

"I wanted to hug you to sleep! Mum said you shouldn't be alone when you are sad or scared. I thought sister purple was scared. Did I do something wrong?"

"Sister Purple? That's not my name." Ashara smiled and hugged the little girl.

"Sister Purple. Sister Purple. Sister Purple." Diane kept saying, while smiling happily.

Both spent the rest of their morning in the room together, talking about Canahs, Lys and what Diane usually does. A lot of their conversation was about all the tasty things Diane already ate.

When it was finally time for lunch, they met Victor for the first time this day. If Ashara didn't know about the brutal training Victor suffered in the morning, she wouldn't really notice, as he made sure to always bath himself very clean and not smell of any blood. His mood and mind were also quite peaceful, not like someone that just fought and killed people today. Honestly, Ashara was a little afraid of such a double-sided person. On the one hand he loves his family so much, an affection you simply cannot fake, and on the other side you brutally murder, and sacrifice lives every morning, without as much as batting an eyelid.

Victor noticed Ashara's confusion and even a little additional distance she kept from him. His parents already explained what happened in the morning, but it was not a big deal for him. He already expected a little shock and perplexity when she got to know the real him, the complex person behind the facade of "Young Genius of Lys". A real person with complicated emotions and desires.

"I know you heard some things that made confuse you or even scare you a little. There is nothing wrong with feeling this way about a situation you might not be able to comprehend yet. Maybe your brother can relate a little to me, as the feelings and responsibilities of the heir of a noble family are quite complicated and honestly very hard to carry. Everything you need to know right now is that nobody in Canahs nor Lys wants you any harm and that you will always be safe here. Just take your time and spend your day with my little sisters and my mother first. After you get used to the life in House Di Natale and understand our family better, I will gladly answer all the questions you have, and I am sure your doubts will be solved." Victor explained the disturbed little girl patiently.

"Thank you, Victor, for your concern and patience. I am very glad and thankful for the warm welcome I received by your family, and I like your little sisters very much." Ashara reassured Victor and maybe even herself a little bit.

The whole family, even Victor's grandparents, spend a nice lunch together. When the meal was nearing its end Victor decided to talk to his family about his next plans. He needed to use the remaining three years to prepare for the upcoming usurpers war. He didn't believe that his existence and the things he did would change the future. Even if he somehow prevented Rhaegar from coming in contact with Lyanna Stark, he didn't think it would change anything. After the rift appeared between Tywin Lannister and the Targaryen king, he would surely plot something similar like this. Even the Tyrell family would probably join such a political speculation, while staying loyal to the crown openly. There have just been too many people that want to gain benefits by a change of dynasty and the Targaryen family is simply vulnerable without having the overpowering dragons at their side. And to be fair, Peter Baelish is right with his famous saying 'Chaos is a ladder'. Victor needed this war to gain war fortune and plant his interests on the continent of Westeros. If this war wouldn't start the most direct consequence would be him losing Ashara Dayne in a few years and not being able to gain access to Starfall. This would disrupt his whole layout for the future.

"I am glad that we are all able to gather today and have such a nice meal. I truly missed all of this when I traveled to Westeros. During my time there I noticed how different Westeros is from Lys. The political system and the connection of interests between the noble families is on a whole different level than Lys. I don't think our family should get closely involved in the power conflict and political interest of Westeros. At the same time, I noticed that only by improving our wealth, interest and strength can we truly feel safe in this world. I am sure that I would have faced a completely different situation in Sunspear if our fleet and army wasn't as strong. This led to my decision to further invest our profits into army training and ship building. But we don't need to just build more ships but improve our designs and weapons. This will cost a lot of money, maybe even more than we can bear, even though we gained a lot of benefits over the years. This leads to my plan for the next year. I intend to pick up my study of drugs and alchemy again. We gained a lot of profit from the last drug I researched and many of our partners kept asking about new drugs over the years. I think it will take me roughly one year for the development and test of a new drug, maybe a little more, maybe a little less. I just want to say that I will spend more time in the Alchemy guild during the next couple of months. While I am busy, I hope you will take care of Ashara, as she is far away from home, and I don't want her to feel unwelcome or left out in our family."

Victor patiently explained his next course of action to his family and Ashara, while consoling his two little sisters by the way. They only quieted down when Victor promised to spend lunch with the family every day and only work on drugs in the afternoon and evening.