11 The Birth of the Red Viper

Just a few days after Victor finally made the decision to change his working attitude and start to enjoy his childhood something happened that slightly changed his plans.

An old friend suddenly visited him.

After Oberyn Martell left the free state of Lys, he was punished by his mother for running away from home. Nonetheless, he still needed to visit the noble houses of Westeros together with his mother, the current ruler of Dorne, and his sister. Elia accompanied her mother and brother Oberyn on a visit to Casterly Rock. While there, Elia and Oberyn were eager to see the monster that had just been born, Tyrion Lannister. Cersei finally showed them the baby, but the Martell siblings were somewhat disappointed to see that Tyrion was just a baby, and somewhat disturbed by Cersei's already strong hatred of him. 

Elia Martell is a name deeply engraved into Victor's mind for the tragedy this poor woman would suffer in the future. In 5 years, she would be bethrowed to Rhaegar Targaryen and marry him a year later. They would even have a son and a daughter together.

When Robert's Rebellion erupted, Elia was retained in King's Landing by King Aerys to ensure the loyalty of House Martell during the conflict- a measure the Martell's considered unnecessary, as they would always fight for whichever side Elia was on and had no intention of breaking their oaths of loyalty to the Targaryen's. Ultimately Rhaegar was killed by Robert at the Battle of the Trident, leaving Elia a widow. A few weeks later during the Sack of King's Landing, Tywin's army betrayed the Targaryen's and overran the city. The Mountain burst into the royal chambers and before Elia's eyes, bashed her infant son's head against a wall, killing him instantly. Rhaenys was killed after she was found hiding under Rhaegar's bed. Covered in the blood and gore of her children, the Mountain proceeded to brutally rape Elia, finally killing her by crushing her head.

Victor had truly complicated feelings while watching the still young Oberyn Martell passionately talking about his travels and the disgust, he had towards the Lannister's and how he was deeply hurt by their disdain for the Martell family. According to Oberyn, his mother had planned to wed either Oberyn to Cersei Lannister, or Elia to Jaime Lannister, or both. Lord Tywin Lannister, however, was unreceptive of the suggestion, stating that his daughter would marry Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. He offered the newborn Tyrion Lannister as a husband for Elia instead, which was seen as an insult.

The reason for Oberyn's unannounced appearance left Victor speechless for quite a while, even though he already knew it was likely going to happen. Even his adventure to the colosseum of Lys did not change the fate of Oberyn Martell and Edgar Yronwood, who still died after the duel with Oberyn. To make peace with the house of Yronwood the house Martell send Oberyn in exile to Lys and Prince Quentyn Martell was sent as a ward to Yronwood. Prince Quentyn Nymeros Martell, better known simply as Quentyn Martell, is a knight from House Martell. He is the second child and eldest son of Doran Martell, Prince of Dorne, and Lady Mellario of Norvos.

Oberyn will spend the next months in Canahs as a guest to the House of Di Natale. 

"Oberyn my dear friend, I truly admire your shamelessness! Sleeping with a man's woman and killing him afterward. You are truly one of a kind. To preserve our friendship let me make this crystal clear. If you ever get within one meter of my sister in the future, I will burn Sunspear down." Victor says jokingly.

Oberyn burst into laughter as a response. "Don't worry my friend. I don't like children anyways. Man or woman I don't care, but I am not perverted to the point of touching children. I have many faults, but I am certainly a loyal person. You helped me once a year ago and even now offer me a helping hand and a home. Oberyn Martell is a frivolous viper, but certainly not a forgetful one."

"Do you have any plans for the future? Even if you were to return to Dorne in the far distant future, you would only ever be the second son and your big brother is going to rule Dorne. Don't get me wrong I have no fight between brothers in mind, but does the Red Viper of Dorne not want to leave a name in history books?"

Oberyn was intrigued. He took the young boy quite seriously, as since his birth the fortune of the Di Natale family is constantly increasing. He would never believe that this was a coincidence. He met Emilio and Amando Di Natale, both honest and great warriors, but not great leaders to a noble family. 

"What do you have in mind my friend? I certainly don't mind a little adventure." Oberyn retorted.

Victor patiently explained his idea: "As you know the Di Natale family trains mercenaries for major companies in Essos. I was thinking of building my own mercenary regiment once I grow older, but that will honestly take at least 10 years. So much time would be wasted and so many opportunities be missed. But there is no other leader available in the Di Natale family. My father needs to take care of the daily business in the family, and I can't really send my grandfather out as a mercenary, as my mother would probably beat me with a stick in the end."

Victor and Oberyn busted out in laughter at the same time.

Oberyn interjected. "So, you want to use the Red Viper of Dorne as your spear head. You can not only set up a mercenary regiment for the Di Natale family, inject the power of your family in Essos but also do it under the shadow of the Dorne family. Truly an ingenious idea, my friend. And even I would benefit in the end, right? I could train a few loyal soldiers, gain fame in Essos and have a great adventure for myself."

Victor reached out his hand. "And collect the most beautiful men and women of Essos, how about it?"

A partnership to shake Essos was founded.