Arianne II

Princess Arianne has been dispatched by her father to meet with Lord Jon Connington and Prince Aegon, as Prince Doran was informed of their arrival in Westeros in Ariannes previous chapter. She is accompanied by a Dornish retinue that includes Elia Sand the eldest of the younger four Sand Snakes, Oberyn Martells daughters by Ellaria Sand and Daemon Sand, the Bastard of Godsgrace, who appeared in ASOS as Oberyns squire and was noted in AFFC to have been Ariannes first lover. Nymeria and Tyene have also left Dorne, with Princess Myrcella and 300 spears. Ariannes brother Trystane remains safe at the Water Gardens. While en route to Griffins Roost, Arianne contemplates whether or not Quentyn ever reached Daenerys and married her. She thinks about how Dany is but a young maiden, and thinks that Quentyn, who is unremarkable-looking and not very dashing, is unlikely to impress someone Danys age. Still, Arianne thinks Dany will want Dorne enough to marry Quentyn; she wonders if she will have to call her brother King Quentyn, which she thinks sounds rather silly. Shes shaken out of her reverie when she realizes her cousin Elia has been missing for awhile, and goes to look for her. Elia is in a cave catching fish with her bare hands in a pool. Arianne is furious with her for running off, and Elia gets a bit petulant because she doesnt think that she did anything wrong. Arianne makes her promise to behave, as shes supposed to be pretending to be one of the Princesss maidservants. She shouts at Elia that the girl could have died in the cave, and died echoes ominously three times against the walls. Arianne confides in Elia that she often wishes Oberyn had been her father instead of Doran. On the walls of the cave they find carvings left behind by the Children of the Forest. The party is met by two Golden Company men, Young John Mudd and Chain. They wont tell Arianne much, but eventually she gets Chain to admit that Connington has left for Storms End. Arianne thinks thats preposterous, as she considers the various castles in Westeros and proclaims that Storms End would be the most difficult to capture. Despite their earlier talk, Elia continues to misbehave; Arianne catches her making out with a servant named Feathers who is twice her age. Arianne yells at her and Elia protests that it was just kissing; Arianne reminisces privately about losing her virginity to Daemon at the same age. The two women argue over who would be a more attractive hostage, and then Elia promises again to behave. Golden Company spymaster Lysono Maar meets the party and begins to lead them. Arianne does not care for him, and describes him as looking like a Targaryen. Lysono and Arianne debate Aegon vs. Dany. Lysono says that Aegon has Dornish blood, to which Arianne replies that so does Daenerys. He then proclaims that Aegon is the Dragon, to which Arianne replies that Daenerys has three. Along the way Arianne contemplates whether Connington is worthy of Dornes assistance; she believes he will need the Dornishmen to take Kings Landing. Upon arrival at Griffins Roost, Arianne is informed by Haldon Halfmaester that Connington has not only already left for Storms End, but has successfully conquered it; the Tyrell armies are coming from Kings Landing now to try to take it back. Arianne is stunned at Conningtons success. Haldon tells her that Connington and Aegon want to meet her at Storms End, and Daemon begs her not to go into danger. Arianne rebukes him, saying that she must be her fathers true heir and go to meet this Dragon.