37 Welcome Banquet at Sunspear

Victor walked down the gangway of his ship while looking at the many people waiting for him. Some were respectful, some fearful, but most of them were aggressive and even murderous. As the loser of the biggest war in recent years the loss in wealth, fame and power was immense. Victor walked straight to Oberyn.

"Long time no see Oberyn. Did you miss me?" Victor joked around with his friend, ignoring all the other people around.

"You are as self-righteous as always Victor. Welcome to my home, Sunspear. There is a big banquet prepared for you, the young hero of Lys. But don't eat something poisonous by mistake, I don't want to get scolded by Aunt Isabella." Oberyn replied with his signature smirk, but sincerely a little afraid of Victors mother.

Victor only responded by hugging his friend in front of the audience. Many people were surprised about the close relationship between the two, as they were rumors that they had a a big fight and Oberyn suddenly left the island of Lys afterwards.

It didn't take long before they arrived at a big banquet hall in the Sunship. Here Victor met most of the nobles of Dorne and Oberyn's family for the first time. Oberyn's mother looked quite old already, but she still had the charm of a ruler that has been in power for a long time. As a woman that supported House Martell for such a long time and went through many physical pains to birth and raise her three children, even after two infants of her died, Victor respected her a lot, not only as a ruler but also as an elder. But Victor was most interest in Oberyn's older brother Doran.

Doran was the first-born child of his parents, and thus heir to his mother, the Princess of Dorne. For years, he was an only child, as his mother had several miscarriages. While he would have four siblings, Mors and Olyvar, both died in the cradle. Doran spent several years of his childhood at the Water Gardens, and by the age of nine, he was a squire to Lord Gargalen at Salt Shore. While there, his mother gave birth to his sister, Elia. As Elia had been born one month premature, Doran was convinced that his sister too would die, as their brothers had done before, but she survived. A year later, Doran's brother Oberyn was born.

As a young man, Doran took a tour through the Free Cities. He visited Volantis and next went to Norvos, where he met his future wife, Lady Mellario. They fell in love and Mellario returned to Dorne with Doran, where they were betrothed and would soon after marrying. Areo Hotah escorted Mellario and entered the service of House Martell. In 273 AC, when his mother, her consort, and Doran's two younger siblings traveled through the south of Seven Kingdoms on a quest to find suitable matches for Elia and Oberyn, Doran stayed behind as castellan of Sunspear, with Mellario. Although Mellario was highborn enough to become his wife, most marriages between nobles in Westeros are political. A love match is very uncommon. In 276 AC, Doran and Mellario's first child, Arianne, was born.

Even though Mellario and Doran had married for love, it was not a good marriage. Half of their marriage, Mellario, and Doran spent arguing with each other. The customs in Dorne were much different from those in Norvos, including the fostering away of children. When Doran sent their eldest son, Quentyn, to be fostered by Lord Anders Yronwood in the future to fix the relationship that Oberyn destoryed before, Mellario heavily protested. Norvoshi did not foster out their children, and Mellario believed her son to be much too young. Doran would send Quentyn away regardless, and Mellario never forgave him. When Doran planned to send their daughter, Arianne, to Tyrosh, to serve as the Archon's cupbearer, Mellario threatened to harm herself, should Doran steal another one of her children. This time, Doran relented, and Arianne remained in Dorne.

Despite this, however, the issues in their marriage were still unsolved. Since divorce in Westeros is uncommon, Mellario eventually returned to Norvos. There's some bitterness about this from Mellario, as Doran was the Prince of Dorne, which enabled his children to stay with him, while she had to leave them behind.

But at least right now both were still deeply in love, despite their regular arguments. They seemed like the perfect pair and Doran made the impression of a very capable heir for House Martell.

The welcome banquet went a lot better than expected. Even though many people tried to argue with Victor during the banquet or even infuriate him, House Martell blocked all those offensives for him. As Victor didn't even try to start the topic of peace talks and never reacted once someone talked about it, everybody understood that the little fox of House Di Natale didn't want to start negotiations today. But the banquet was by no means a waste of time as Victor got to taste the most luxurious cuisine of Dorne. Even though he had access to the most luxurious things in the Known World in Lys, the craftsmanship of the ruling house of a specific region was irreplaceable. He also got to taste some of the finest and rarest wines ever produced by Dorne. Luckily, he did bring some very rare and expensive gifts for Oberyn's family, or he would even feel guilty by receiving such a great hospitality. But the delivery of those gift would have to wait until the official business is over, as the representatives of the free states would probably get really mad otherwise.

After the end of the banquet Victor followed Oberyn towards his private residence, protected closely by his personal guards. The friends that didn't see each other for over three years had much to say to each other. But Victor didn't know that before they could talk, he had to overcome a great trial first.