Chapter Text
"Your braids are all done," Rhaenyra said, stepping back to admire her handiwork. She had braided Elia's hair in the shape of a crown, as a nod to her being a Dornish Princess and the future Queen of Westeros.
"Can I see it?" Elia asked. Nodding, Rhaenyra handed her a mirror. "It's beautiful, Rhaenyra, thank you. I assume the crown is for my status as a princess?"
"Yes, but also because you will one day be queen," Rhaenyra answered.
Elia frowned. "By Dornish law, you should be the future queen, not I."
"This is not Dorne," Rhaenyra reminded her, smiling sadly. "Besides, Aerys would never replace his son as heir, especially not with me, the daughter of his enemy Elizabeth Redwoods and his elder brother. The very existence of my siblings and I makes him a usurper. He believes that were he to choose one of us as heir, we would have him killed."
Elia blinked. "That's ridiculous."
Rhaenyra shrugged. "He will never change," she said.
"Do you want the Iron Throne?" Elia asked.
Rhaenyra hesitated. "I don't want another Dance."
"But do you want it?"
"It doesn't matter."
Elia frowned. "Doesn't it?"
"It won't happen anyway, what does it matter if I want it or not? The only ways it would happen are if there would be a Second Dance, or if Rhaegar gives me the Crown after Aerys's death and I don't think either is likely."
Elia nodded. "I understand. It can't have been easy to reconcile the Aegon that killed you and the one you grew up with, after you remembered."
"No," Rhaenyra agreed. "It wasn't." She brightened. "Let's not think of these things any longer, it's your wedding day."
Elia smiled slightly. "Alright." She tilted her head slightly as a thought came to her. "If you and Rhaegar did start a Second Dance, what would the factions be called, anyway?" She glanced at Rhaenyra's dress. "Would yours be blue? Would Rhaegar's be red?"
"Red?" Rhaenyra asked.
"Well, black has already been used and red is the other Targaryen colour," Elia explained.
Rhaenyra snorted. "Well, it won't happen so we'll never know."
***
The Wedding Ceremony passed without fault and so it was that the Dornish Princess Elia Martell became the wife of the Prince of Dragonstone, Rhaegar Targaryen. But this was hardly the end of their story. In fact, it was only the beginning.