Wonderful Announcement

After bathing and dressing up with the help of many maidservants Ashara was led into the large banquet hall in the main courtyard of House Di Natale. Even though she had a cold and distant personality towards people she didn't know and wanted to always keep her composure, the wealth and luxury she had seen along the way kept her in awe. Probably not even the Red Keep would be so enchanting. She could see many beautiful pieces of art, gold, and silver everywhere and large jewels or old artifacts. Everything screamed of wealth and debauchery. Many people might guess a traditional noble family would not act like that. But Victor was uncomfortable with the living standards of Westeros compared to the world he was living in. He wanted everything to be at the absolute highest standards and didn't mind spending unholy sums of money on it. What the people of Westeros and Essos might consider extremely luxurious to an absurd extent, Victor considered on the level of a 5-star hotel in his previous life. People of this world couldn't even comprehend what real luxury really was.

But for Ashara, coming from a noble but not wealthy family of Dorne, this seemed like a fairyland. Everybody was extremely well clothed, even the maids had costumes more expensive and of higher quality than her regular attire. Ashara and Isabella arrived roughly at the same time than Victor and his two little sisters. Their brother already explained to them that Ashara was most likely to stay for a couple of years and she would be their teacher. The two little girls were deeply curious about the beautiful sister with the purple hair and purple eyes. Ashara was quickly overwhelmed by their enthusiasm and Isabella had to stop the sisters from disturbing her too much. When Victors grandparents took their seats at the top of the large front table, Victor started to get up and explained the gains of his trip towards Dorne.

"Thank you all for your enthusiastic welcome today. I feel proud and happy that my family remembers me and everybody living in Canahs is concerned about my well-being. Thanks to the protection of our family guards, I was able to complete this journey and my first political quest flawlessly. To this I would like to express my deepest appreciation. Cheers to the heroes that protect our family in the shadows. Long live House Di Natale!"

All the close guardians and their family were very happy about the appreciation the young heir of the family had for them and started cheering for a while. Victor improved the treatment of the family guardians by a lot over the years. They were having better lives than many poor noble families in Westeros. This bounds the interests and loyalty of the private soldiers of House Di Natale very close together. The quality and commitment towards this interest group reached his biggest heights today. Every slave, every maid, every soldier and even every gladiator raised by House Di Natale knew that there was a chance to climb up the latter. If they survived and brought honor to the family Victor Di Natale would not forget them. The family rules were hard but fair, cruel but full of hope. For many this might seem unfair or even undesirable, but for the slaves and poor free folk of the Known World, this was everything they ever wanted.

"Today I have great news to announce. I know all of you in this room have seen me grow up and only have my happiness in mind. I am already close to reaching my tenth birthday next year. As a family heir and the sole male person of this generation it is my honor and duty to continue the family line. My grandparents and parents have always given me great freedom to appoint my marriage partner if they fulfilled certain conditions. I am very glad to announce that on my trip to Dorne I was able to reach an agreement with Prince Doran, the future heir of House Martell. We concluded an engagement between me and Arianne Martell, the oldest daughter of Prince Doran, who is currently three years old. The official marriage will happen in roughly ten years, by the time I am 20 years old. This marriage will bring together the interests of House Di Natale and House Martell and will hopefully achieve a strong alliance and a promising future for both families."

This time everybody was extremely surprised, as Victor had not announced this decision to his close family yet. But his mother reacted very quickly and hugged her son, with a proud smile on her face. Marrying the oldest daughter of the future heir of Dorne was an excellent choice for her daughter-in-law and showed just how great and promising Victor's future would be. The whole crowd was amazed by this announcement and the cheers never stopped. Ashara was extremely surprised by this news as the announcement was not yet made public and would stay a secret for the next few months.

"House Dorne not only concluded a marriage contract with House Di Natale but also are celebrating the engagement of Elia Martell, the aunt of Arianne and younger sister of Prince Doran, with Rhaegar Targaryen, the crown prince and future king of Westeros. This results in the future queen of Westeros being the aunt towards the future mistress of House Di Natale."

This time the cheers were extremely loud and even Isabella exclaimed while being extremely surprised and elated. Today there have been endless surprises and good news for the family.

"Before I conclude my speech, I want to introduce you to a person who will be a guest of honor at House Di Natale for the coming weeks, maybe even years. Her name is Ashara Dayne, she is the younger sister of the famous Arthur Dayne and was supposed to be the handmaid for Princess Elia. To guarantee and even improve the relationship between the noble families of Lys and the noble families of Dorne she will stay as a guest at our family and teach my little sisters the rules and etiquette of Westeros. I hope you welcome her as a part of the family and give her the same treatment and respect as everybody else in Canahs. Thank you and may you have a happy time today!"