Fighting For Aire: Dungeons & Damsels, Book 1

Nightmares and Isolation

I had dreamt so peacefully in Oberyn's arms. He held me against him the entire night, like I was a precious lifeline for him. That's why I was surprised when I heard Elson's voice.

"Well well, I knew you were fond of your slave, I didn't know you were this close."

I shook my head. No, this was a nightmare. I'd never dream about him. Still, it was unmistakably Prince Elson's voice. "I suppose I can see now why you've been so reluctant to marry me. Get up, Princess, time to face your shame."

I opened my eyes and saw my estranged fiance standing at the foot of my bed. Oberyn was rising from beside me. 

"Don't talk to the princess like that. How dare you barge into her room without permission!" Oberyn crossed his arms.

"What, does it offend you that I'm here to see my betrothed and find her in bed with another man?" Elson snarled. "But wait- you're not a man. You're a slave!"

Oberyn's expression turned gravely stormy. "Better a slave than a r****t!" He spit.

"r**e?!" Elson laughed. "No, we had a deal. Just because she was with someone other than you doesn't mean she was forced. She chose to marry me. No one forced her. She agreed to the terms of my very generous offer, and showed me a lovely time." His tone was mocking. "She obviously likes me. Maybe she's just covering up the fact that she's a slut."

No sooner than that word was out of his mouth, Oberyn's fist collided with Elson's cheek. It made a loud crack, then a thump as the prince hit the floorboards.

I gasped in shock, feeling my eyes well with tears. The tension in the room seemed to have come to a head, and everyone was quiet for a moment. Like we were in the eye of the storm.

Elson grinned up at Oberyn, his hand pressing at a spot of blood under his eye. He didn't look angry, and to Aire, that was terrifying. He looked like someone with a plan.

That’s when my father's handsome bearded face popped into my door frame. King Omyr was followed quickly by a clearly disgruntled King Han.

"Aire? Are you still in bed? It's near mid day!" Omyr started. Then he spotted Elson. "Oh my! What on earth-"

Three guards poured in behind him. I pulled my blankets to my chest, mortified. 

Elson turned to face the door, the portrait of a victim. "Your highness! I came by to visit my beloved to make sure she was okay after her outburst yesterday. I felt just so terrible that I made her upset. But instead of surprising her, she surprised me! In bed with her slave! And then, to add insult to injury, her slave attacked me!"

King Omyr glanced over at me, eyes wide. "Is this true?"

Oberyn didn't even try to deny it. His face was bitter and expressionless, full of suppressed feelings. It broke my heart. King Han turned red with rage, and jabbed a finger at the archfiend.

"Lock him in his room till I decide what to do with him!" He said to the guards. They rushed forward to grab my steward.

"No! No please! It’s not what you think." I yelled out, grabbing for Oberyn. One of the guards blocked my path.

King Han turned his angry finger on me. "That's enough out of you! To bed your slave on the same night as you made a most sacred bond to Elson. Despicable.”

Omyr clung to his husband. “We raised you better than this.” he said softly, but I was barely listening to them. I was staring at Oberyn.

Tears streaming down my cheeks, I fought to get away from the guard, to get to Oberyn. He looked at me over his shoulder, sad gold eyes twinkling for just a moment. Then, the guards roughly pulled him from my room. His eyes narrowed at Elson and he smiled sinisterly.

---

I spent the entirety of the that day trying to get my parents to see reason. I tried to tell King Han what Elson had done, but was met with a brisk “That’s enough Aireynor!” 

I tried to tell Omyr about my feelings for Oberyn, but he looked like I was causing him physical pain. Catching their daughter in bed with a man was every father's worst nightmare, and I had made both of them distraught.

I didn’t want to break my father’s hearts. I had to make them understand, but I feared that would take days for them to calm down enough. I returned to my room, resolved to the fact that Oberyn was stuck for now.

Instead, I focused my energy on making a plan to sneak into his room. I needed to see him. I wanted to make sure he was okay, and to tell him how I felt. I wasn’t going to marry Elson. Oberyn was the only person I wanted, and I needed to tell him that. However, that meant finding a way to distract the guard that my father would have placed outside his room.

I had another problem as well. My fathers had replaced Oberyn with one of their most obedient slaves, Sheli. Just like Oberyn had a guard watching his room, Sheli was watching me. But obviously my parents didn’t know Sheli as well as they thought, since she was probably seeing half a dozen of the castle guards. In fact, I had seen several different guards leaving her room but never said anything, seeing as I was leaving Oberyn’s room myself. Even if I had any interest in outing one of our servants, I wouldn’t be able to explain why I was in their quarters in the middle of the night without spilling the beans about my magic training.

However, this was exactly the kind of information I could use to my advantage. After dinner, I asked Sheli to run my bath. 

I sat on the edge of the stone tub in a robe, lounging boredly as Sheli started the furnace. “I hope my fathers made the right choice…” I pondered out loud, catching the maid’s attention. Her eyes flicked over to me twice, expressing interest, but darted away without her saying anything. “I just don’t think it is wise to have one of their most notoriously good looking guards watching over Oberyn’s room. So close to the maid’s chambers. Just asking for trouble. Don’t you think?” I asked Sheli, hoping she didn’t think it was suspicious that I was interested in the castle gossip all of a sudden.

“That is unwise.” Sheli said, bitterly. “One of our maidens might fall victim to his charms. Which guard is it?”

“I think his name was Ramond or Rome or Roman?”

Sheli’s eyes brightened as she took the bait, and I tried not to grin. She quickly finished my bath and excused herself, likely going to ask around and see if I was telling the truth about a handsome guard. In all likelihood, just the rumor that the guard watching Oberyn was ‘notoriously good looking’ would be enough to drive Sheli into his arms, no matter who he was. Hopefully he really was good looking, for Sheli’s sake.

I slid down into the water, soaking my apprehension away. Why was I so nervous? Oberyn felt the same way about me, right? I thought about the way he held me and felt certain it was true. Then I thought about what Elson said, and how solemn Oberyn had looked as he left and I wasn’t so sure.

Running my hands through my hair, I dipped my head under the water to cry out in frustration. The muffled sound erupted around me in a barrage of bubbles. Once I was sufficiently cleaned up, I dried myself off and headed into my closet.

I slipped on a black cotton robe. It was long, silky soft, and looked like a dress in dim light. I gathered up all my light hair and tucked it into a bun. Then I turned all the lights off, and climbed into bed and awaited Sheli’s return.