Chapitre 8: Chapter 8
Before Gregor left the city, the stag king had given him a locked chest; Gregor was given the key, but he had instructions not to open the chest until he gave it to Elia.
When Elia opened the chest, she and Gregor found Ser Amory Lorch's head inside. The Princess appeared to accept the chest gratefully, but she was clearly disgusted.
Gregor was just glad Rhaenys and Aegon had not been nearby at the time. He apologized for causing her discomfort, but she did not blame him for that.
There were approximately 800 miles between King's Landing and Sunspear.
Unfortunately, the straightest route was composed neither entirely of land nor entirely of water. Going by boat was the more popular and preferred method of travel.
Once out of Blackwater Bay, the Diligence headed south by southwest. It remained in the Narrow Sea for the majority of the voyage.
The crew had to alter course a few times to avoid a number of obstacles, such as Driftmark, Tarth, and Greenstone.
When they passed Shipbreaker Bay, Gregor and the crew spotted an armada to the west.
That was the Redwyne fleet; the Reachmen were maintaining the blockade of Storm's End.
Luckily, none of Lord Paxter's ships spotted the Diligence.
Gregor was aware that Lord Eddard Stark was currently on his way to lift the siege of Storm's End.
He did not know how long that would take, but Gregor was hoping it would not be done quickly.
After all, he knew where Eddard would be going after he liberated Stannis, and if Gregor really was going to save the aforementioned lives, he had to get there first.
The Diligence had a maximum sustainable speed of 16 knots.
To avoid exhausting the crew or overstressing the vessel, Gregor had the ship keep an average speed of 13.5 knots.
That meant it went approximately 15.53 miles per hour.
Due to the various impedients the Diligence had to evade – as well as abrupt changes in wind or weather – the original distance of 800 miles between King's Landing and Sunspear was nearly doubled in this voyage.
Luckily, the vessel never had to halt. In the end, it only required slightly more than nine days to reach Sunspear.
Gregor took full advantage of those nine days. He spent a lot of that time with Elia in her cabin.
Her ladies-in-waiting remained wary of the Mountain, but her children became comfortable around him.
Aegon never cried when Elia let Gregor hold him, and Rhaenys started to call him "Uncle Gweg."
At first, Gregor's conversations with Elia were casual.
They talked about their homelands, their upbringings, and their families.
Both of them spent a fair amount of time divulging information about their families.
The day before they reached Sunspear, Gregor and Elia were in the latter's cabin.
Her ladies-in-waiting were elsewhere; Elia suspected they were getting acquainted with Chiswyck and Tobbot.
Aegon was asleep on the bed, and Rhaenys was playing in the corner. The Mountain and the Princess were having another of their amiable conversations.
Like the others, it started out as casual, but by the end, it would be anything but.
"Wait until your first meeting with my brothers," Elia remarked, "Doran will wish to shake hands with you personally."
Gregor smiled at that. Then an odd thought entered into his head. "And Oberyn?"
"Oh…" Elia muttered with a devious smirk, "He'll want to give you much more than a handshake."
"I see…" Gregor commented, gazing awkwardly off to the side. He then turned back to the princess and asked "Will he?"
"Only if you permit him to," Elia assured the massive knight.
"But how does one decline an offer such as that?" Gregor thought aloud.
"Cordially and with a lot of bluntness," Elia advised him.
Gregor Clegane nodded in acknowledgment, folded his arms, and said presumptively "So it's true that your younger brother does not… discriminate on basis of gender in anything?"
"Indeed not," the princess affirmed, "He never has."
The Mountain scoffed a bit at that. That caused Elia to raise an eyebrow and inquire "Do you, Ser Gregor?"
Gregor chose his words carefully: "Generally, I do not. I would argue men are no greater than women, nor women than men. Both are capable of ruling a house, and both should be allowed to train in the ways of war."
"The whole of Dorne shares that perspective," Elia proclaimed. She leaned forward and queried "What about your personal interests?"
"If you must know, I respect my fellow man," Gregor revealed, "But I have no desire to share my bed with him."
"Oberyn would call that ignorance," Elia said cheekily, "All the same, he and I both think every person is entitled to choose their own tastes."
"I must concede there, as well," Ser Gregor declared.
There was a moment of silence. It ended when Elia stated "I assume you like women?"
"You assume correctly, Your Grace," Gregor replied, seemingly nonchalant, despite the strangeness of that question.
"Have you ever lain with one?" Elia enquired abruptly.
Gregor could not fathom what prompted that question. He was not very certain how to answer it, either.
As Gregory Welch, he had been intimate with a few women on more than a few occasions.
As the Mountain, he had yet to do so even once.
He was certain that Elia Martell had not been the original Gregor's first, though.
Ultimately, he admitted to the princess "Alas, I have not. Yet, I mean."
"Most men who enter Dorne as virgins do not leave as such," Elia informed him, "If you are not heedful, that may be the case with you, Ser Gregor."
"I will take your warning seriously, Your Grace," Gregor pronounced, "After all, I have heard tell that the most beautiful women in the realm are from Dorne."
Elia grinned in a sly manner and asked "What do you say to that?"
"Well, pardon my forwardness, Your Grace," Gregor contended, "But if the rest of the Dornishwomen look anything like you…"
He stopped himself there. Up until this point, he and the princess had simply been engaging in friendly banter.
Even the remarks about Gregor's… personal life had been relatively informal. But he had inadvertently begun to flirt with Elia.
That was a very unwise idea for several reasons. For one thing, Elia was twenty-six years old; he was only seventeen.
Furthermore, she was a princess of Dorne and the former Crown Princess of Westeros. He was just the heir to a third-generation knightly house in the Westerlands.
It would not do well for him to seek such companionship so far above his station in this life.
Aside from that, even if Elia ever did remarry, she would never be able to give her second husband children, and the continuation of one's line was the primary concern of every lord.
Fortunately, Elia did not seem offended in any way.
She merely giggled at the expression across the massive knight's countenance and told him "Thank you, Ser Gregor."
"I only speak the truth, Your Grace," Gregor assured her.
He had been meaning to address a certain topic with Elia ever since she came aboard. He had not gotten around to it yet, as he had never found the right opportunity.
He realized that due to the nature of this conversation, this was perhaps the perfect opportunity. So he decided to address that topic.
He spoke very cautiously with "On that subject… I've also heard that in Dorne, marriage is not as strict as it is everywhere else."
"That is true," Elia professed, "Husbands and wives often take paramours, but doing so is not regarded as unfaithfulness."
"Do you agree with that sentiment?" Gregor said inquisitively.
Now it was Elia's turn to look stunned. Raising an eyebrow, she inquired "Why do you ask?"
"There is something occupying my mind, Your Grace," Gregor informed her, "Does the phrase 'the dragon has three heads' hold any familiarity with you?"
Elia seemed taken aback by that question. She enquired anxiously "Where did you hear that?"
"Your husband told me it when I met him," Gregor claimed.
That was not true, but only Rhaegar could prove it false. "He never explained it. But I'm beginning to understand what he meant."
"What do you believe he meant?" Princess Elia asked, definitely interested.
Gregor did not give a clear answer right away. Instead, he started his explanation with: "As I recall from my history lessons, several of the Targaryen Kings had two wives. That includes Aegon the Conqueror himself, who wed his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys."
"This is true," Elia Martell coincided with a sigh, "Two of those three people were my children's namesakes. If Rhaegar and I managed to have a third child, we would have named her Visenya."
"I'm sorry that you will never have a third child," Gregor stated sincerely.
Based on his emphasis of that word, Elia could tell that he was not referring to both her and Rhaegar.
Even so, she did not think much of what he was insinuating. She pointed out "Rhaegar never will either."
"Unless…" Gregor said in response.
He had no intention of finishing that sentence; he just wanted to ensure that Elia would listen to him closely and take him totally seriously.
That single word had that intended effect.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
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hmmm... maybe power stone...?
Thanks.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
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