The Wizard of Fury Chapter 40 (Patreon)

He gave three sharp knocks at her door. The Dornish guards that surrounded the chambers of the noble house of Martell stood wary, watching Harry with their hands upon their scabbards. He offered no threat to any of them—killing within the Red Keep would lead to his ultimate demise—but they still acted like he was a criminal coming to visit their most precious treasure.

On the floor above, her father and mother were sure to know of his approach. Yet, neither sent envoys down to meet him. Whether they trusted him to visit their daughter securely or if they simply didn’t care, Harry wasn’t quite sure. However, neither of their motivations were upon his mind as he came upon Arianne’s chambers.

All he wanted to know was why he’d seen her face when he’d been with Margaery.

His first knocks received no reply, so he did so again.

“It might be time for you to leave, my lord,” one of the guards said, but Harry ignored him and knocked again.

Just as the guards began to get restless, the door creaked open, revealing Arianne hiding behind it. Only her face was visible, and it was strangely flush and nervous.

“I apologise, but I’m indisposed at the moment,” she told Harry, but he saw through the lie easily.

Glaring at her, Harry expressed his sentiments through his facial expressions. “We should speak now.”

Arianne looked pained to agree with him. For a moment, she teetered between slamming the door shut and swinging it wide open. In the end, she left it open just a crack and stepped away. Harry followed her in and closed the door firmly behind him, ignoring the warning looks the guards sent towards his back.

Her chambers were far more opulent than his or his father’s were. Shaded curtains hung over the open windows, letting in some reddish-brown-coloured light onto the elaborate bedspread and open wardrobe that was filled with fine silks. A hot bath had been drawn that was still steaming while a floral fragrance sprang out from it. Arianne trudged back to a chair by the lone window that wasn’t covered up. It stared out over the sea, bringing in some salty air into the mixture of scents in the room. She sat down gingerly and stared out distantly.

“I didn’t do it,” she told him bluntly. “And I have no clue how it happened.”

“I might,” Harry admitted, making Arianne’s head turn sharply in his direction.

“So, you did—”

“No,” Harry cut her off before she could continue that line of thinking. “I’ve never heard of any type of magic before that lets people do whatever we did, but that’s not saying much. There’s more magic than anyone could learn in a lifetime. But, I do know that strong emotions can alter or will magic into existence.

“When I was quite young, I was running away from… some people. I knew that I had to get away, but I wasn’t fast enough. The moment I had that realisation, all of this helpless frustration poured over me, and the next thing I knew, I was standing on a roof.”

“But how?” Arianne asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

“It’s called apparition,” he told her. “You can move from one place to another in an instant, even if it’s over great distances. But forget about that for a minute. What’s important about this story is that I didn’t know how to apparate before then—in fact, I still don’t. But my emotions made it happen.”

The guilty expression that set upon Arianne’s face told him that she understood exactly what he was getting at. “So it really was my doing,” she murmured.

Harry didn’t get angry or frustrated with her. Instead, he showed her understanding. “You did, but in a sense, it’s not really your fault. You just really wanted that to happen.”

“Does that mean that we actually had sex?” Arianne asked.

Harry shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think that you felt what Margaery was experiencing. From what I could sense with my magic, you weren’t really there.”

An odd look crossed Arianne’s face, but she eventually nodded. “Does Margaery know about this?”

“Not yet, but she will today,” Harry told her. It’d taken a fair bit of thought before he decided on telling Margaery the truth. On one hand, he didn’t want to worry her over something that hadn’t actually happened, especially given her previously hesitant reception towards Harry teaching Arianne magic, but he also didn’t want to keep anything more from her than he already was about his past life. “She’s to be my lady wife, and there will be no secrets between us. I assure you that I’ll be quite gentle in my retelling and do my best to explain that there were no ill intentions on your part.”

“There’s clearly some,” Arianne muttered.

“What was that?”

“You heard me,” Arianne said, raising her chin as she found her courage to tackle this topic head on. “If what happened was because of my emotions, then it should be clear that my affections for you are strong.”

“I love Margaery and am promised to her,” Harry pointed out plainly before she could develop her thoughts any further.

But Arianne practically ignored his words and kept going. “Even if I don’t understand magic the way that you do, it seems quite peculiar to me that you’d also feel and see me if you didn’t have any affections towards me either.”

“First of all, I didn’t feel you,” Harry corrected her. “I only saw your face. Second, a witch or wizard can impose their will onto others and allow them to see things that they want them to see. It doesn’t require a mutual connection.”

Arianne looked annoyed at that. It wasn’t the answer that she wanted, and she didn’t have the expertise to be able to argue against him in any way. For all she knew, he could be lying to her right now, and she’d have no way of proving it.

“Then what about those sensations we keep feeling?” Arianne asked, desperate to find anything to latch onto. “It felt like a storm rising up inside of me when I first saw you in the Great Hall. And I know that you felt the same way then. I can’t even begin to try to explain what it was other than something that must be magical, but it feels like we formed a connection back then. Until I felt that, I was terrified of you. But then I suddenly began to feel so much more.”

How could he begin to try to explain this to her when he had no conception of it himself? He’d felt that magical connection with Arianne just as he’d felt it with Margaery. No one else in all of his years, even when he was alive back in Britain, had elicited such a response from him.

But whereas he’d come to know Margaery through letters they’d written each other over the years, he didn’t truly know Arianne. She was someone new here, and he’d barely interacted with any of the Dornish visitors in the capital.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t feel some attraction to Arianne, but that didn’t matter. He loved Margaery more. He needed to shut this down before it became a problem.

“Whatever you think you feel for me, you need to stop it,” Harry told her firmly.

“Why?” Arianne challenged him.

“Because I don’t feel the same way about you!” Harry snapped.

Whether it was a half-truth or a half-falsehood, the words still had their intended effect. Arianne recoiled back sharply and turned away from him so that he could no longer see her face. He regretted having to do this, but he couldn’t jeopardise his life with Margaery over a pretty woman.

“I still want to teach you how to control your magic,” Harry said more gently after a moment had passed. “I intend to try to craft my own wand soon, and I’d like it if you were there to learn how to do it with me and—

“Get. Out.” Arianne’s cold voice interrupted him.

Harry made no movements as he stared at her with a mixture of pity and hopefulness. If she could just understand why he couldn’t do this and dedicate herself to learning to control her magic—

“GET! OUT!” Arianne shouted.

The door to her chamber was thrown open and a golden-haired woman stepped inside. Despite the small smile on her lips, there was venom in her eyes as she looked at Harry. He noticed her gaze flicker down, looking for any weapons at his waist.

“Princess Arianne has made her wishes clear,” the woman said softly. She gestured to the doorway. “If you would.”

Harry gave a jerky nod. “Forgive me. I didn’t intend on causing such a disturbance. Princess, if you would wish to speak with me further, you know where you can find me.”

He swiftly made his way out of the room, and the woman shut the door pointedly behind him. A quartet of guards now stood outside of Arianne’s chambers, glaring at him harder than before. Their hands were on their hilts, ready to strike at a moment’s notice should Harry do or say the wrong thing. Harry walked past them all, keeping his hands pointedly away from the hilt of the blade on his hip.

Before he could descend down the stairwell though, he found an amused face staring down at him from a few steps up.

“I had wondered what could trouble my precious niece so badly,” Prince Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, smirked. “I feared that my dear brother had found another horrific match for her. Ironic that it is still men who trouble her so.”

“My apologies, Prince Oberyn,” Harry said with a slight bow.

“Please, none are necessary,” Oberyn said as he languidly started down the stairs to meet Harry on even footing. “My niece can be as dramatic as any man or woman I’ve met, always concocting these grand schemes in her mind and then throwing a fit when they do not go her way. May I enquire as to what plot of hers she was trying to involve you in.”

Harry glanced back at the guards over his shoulders. “That wouldn’t be for me to say.”

“Then let me say for you,” Oberyn smiled. “She wishes to marry you, yes?”

Harry’s silence answered the question promptly.

Oberyn clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “The princess always tries her hardest to get what she wants. Shame that you are already engaged and her wiles and beauty are not enough to convince you to break off the engagement. I fear that this won’t be her last attempt on you.”

“Perhaps we should speak of this somewhere more private,” Harry said pointedly. “I’d rather not discuss a lady’s business so openly.”

“And yet she seems keen to shout hers from the rooftops,” Oberyn chuckled. “You do know that she made it quite clear to many eligible men that she intends on leaving the capital with a husband in tow, no? But I suppose those are her wishes and you have your own for privacy. Come, we’ll find somewhere quiet to speak.”

Most men would be labelled as fools for going off somewhere alone with the Red Viper. It is said that his appetite for men and women alike is only second to that of his lust for blood. He was a notable battle commander, a seasoned knight, and a deft hand with poisons should the rumours be believed. Oberyn was a man as likely to stab you in the belly while laughing in your face over a poor jest as he was to buy a round of drinks in your name after a back-alley brawl. But, so long as your last name wasn’t Lannister, he was likely to have no prejudices against you.

Oberyn made small talk about the tourney as they descended. He’d participated in the joust and performed quite well until he was unseated by Ser Barristan Selmy himself, but he was still keen on entering the single-combat melee as Harry was. He spoke surprisingly gently for a man with such a dark reputation, but Harry remained on his guard.

They reached the ground floor but then continued down the stairs a level to find a large storage room with a different set of stairs continuing further down and a pair of doors along the far wall. Oberyn casually opened the second of them, revealing a room that looked more like a dungeon cell than the bedroom it was currently made up to be.

At Harry’s look, Oberyn shrugged. “You wished for privacy,” he shrugged.

Stepping inside, Harry realised that this was a woman’s room. Perhaps one of the servants, or maybe one of Oberyn’s many bastard daughters. He sat down in a chair as Oberyn took the seat next to him.

Leaning forward and clasping his hands together, Oberyn looked terribly amused as his eyes examined Harry’s face closely. “I must admit that you are Arianne’s type. Lady Margaery must be quite the woman for you to not be tempted for even a night together with my niece.”

“I’ve told her my opinion on the matter,” Harry said plainly. “Margaery is to be my wife, and I will not change my mind on that.”

“If only you lived elsewhere where polygamy was more acceptable,” Oberyn laughed. “The Faith of the Seven can be so strict in their rules and laws that it can become tricky to find any wiggle room.”

“And is that what you’re trying to find? A little wiggle room?” Harry asked Oberyn. “It is quite curious that you seem so interested in your niece’s affairs.”

“I’ve been asked to look after her by her father,” Oberyn replied. “He is worried about her, and he believes only one as rash as I could be there to stop her before she does something rash herself. It has been quite the task to subtly enquire into the men she’s been potentially interested in, and I must admit that you are perhaps the only man I might deem acceptable for her. There was another… but things don’t always quite work out as intended.

“I will caution you that my niece will come forward with future ideas about how the two of you could become one. The laws of Westeros will not allow for it while you are with Lady Margaery, and I do not believe my niece is the type to try to kill your wife-to-be just to secure her own place at your side, but there are other ways that she could find her way into your bed.”

“Like her becoming my paramour?” Harry asked, recalling the commonplace practice in Dorne that allowed for lords and ladies to have lovers as well as a husband or wife. “They aren’t accepted well outside of Dorne, as I’m sure you well know. It would certainly cause a lot of trouble for me.”

“And a lot of pleasure too,” Oberyn winked. “But I understand what you are saying. I’m not trying to convince you to do anything different than you already are; rather, I’d see you prepared for what Arianne has in store for you.”

“Strange that you are so concerned about my well being,” Harry noted. “Warning me against your niece’s future actions doesn’t exactly seem like a normal thing for an uncle to do without an ulterior motive.”

Oberyn raised his hands in surrender with a sly grin. “You’ve caught me. There is something I want in exchange for helping you to manage my niece.”

“Who says I need your help?” Harry asked.

“I do,” Oberyn said. “And besides, you may be interested in what I’m asking for.”

Harry gestured for him to go on ahead.

“You may not be surprised to hear of this, but several important people in the capital have made note of your family’s recent meeting with the Tyrells and Starks. A few wild rumours have been struck up in court about what this could all mean, but if Lord Stannis Baratheon’s reputation fits the man he is today, then I suspect that your meeting was about dealing with these brigands and raiders. Am I right?”

If he knew that much, then there was no sense in lying. It irked Harry that what had been a relatively secret meeting seemed to have leaked so easily that multiple people knew about it, according to Oberyn at least.

“Close enough,” Harry replied evasively.

Oberyn gave a toothy smile as his face lit up with intrigue. “I’d be interested in joining the hunt for these villains. And, should the opportunity arise again, a chance to join you all for any future meetings.”

“Is this because they attacked your family on the way to King’s Landing?” Harry asked, fearing that he knew the answer already due to Oberyn’s reputation.

“More yes than no,” Oberyn answered. “I have reasons of my own for this, but the insult to my family cannot be taken lightly. I am sure that you have heard what happened to the last Martell who spent much time in King’s Landing.”

His sister, Harry thought gravely. Princess Elia Martell, the wife of the crown prince, Rhaegar Targaryen, who’d been butchered by Lannister men during the Sack of King’s Landing at the very end of Robert’s Rebellion. She’d been brutally killed along with her infant son and young daughter. Everyone had heard the tale here in King’s Landing.

“I do not intend for my family to continue to suffer insults while we are here,” Oberyn said, his voice suddenly turning quite serious. “And I will have it known amongst everyone in the capital that regardless of how long it takes, House Martell will enact retribution upon any who have injured them.”

A dangerous Dornish prince with a love of violence and a desire for revenge? What could go wrong inviting him to this alliance?

Harry nearly snorted at the thought but held himself back so as to not potentially insult Oberyn, but the longer he thought about it, the more intrigued with the idea he became. He didn’t feel like he needed any help protecting himself from Arianne and her affections, but having another helping hand against those who would harm his family would be quite a boon, especially seeing as Oberyn was from one of the Great Houses of Westeros.

A strong and capable fighter such as him could help Harry and his father purge any enemies from King’s Landing. If it truly was someone on the Small Council or one of the King or Queen’s men who had anything to do with this plot, then having another Great House on his family’s side would be of tremendous value.

“Do you know anything about the tunnels beneath King’s Landing?” Harry asked with a smile.