great chapter glad to see that Lewyn is so much more complicated than I first thought, love to see what it is that drives him and what he hopes and the reality that he believes is meant for him at the moment, looking forward to see where you decide to go :) I wonder if he will meet Dany if he will have to make a choice that will be easy and one that will be hard, I wonder if his distant dragon blood can help him... that he can change of the game of thrones in any way :)

loved this chapter and how she imagined Lewyn will be her sword in the future

I do look forward to the next chapters :)

love that you deviated from the cannon storyline yay :)

great chapter :)

loved it greatly written :)

love how he came to Sansa's aide, but I wonder if he will get in trouble for this?

love when you write from Sansa's POV it shows the kindness that Lewyn is capable of and I wonder what he is truly planning, each chapter has me leaving with more questions

great love this chapter, love the mystery behind Lewyn's ulterior motives great work. Ned is asking all the questions that the readers are asking and that does very well for the storyline

yes yes I love it I hope you deviate from the storyline :)

love love that you showed this from Sansa's point of view I have so many questions and I am mystified to the reason why he is so clever to be amongst Lions when he seeks their fall, very well, very clever, I thought he would stay away, and go to Dany and try to marry her and bring down the Baratheon King and Tywin, but I surprisingly like that he is playing the other side of what I envisioned,

great start I love the fighting with his cousin Obara, and how strong he feels toward family and what was done to Dorne, love to see it from this point of view well done

love the beginning you have me hooked :)

“The day had dawned brightly, and the sun burned as fiercely as it did in Dorne”
The Long Summer, it is called. Which means it is inevitable that a Long Winter, the longest one in centuries, would follow.
“his Father had never been overly fond of tourneys”
In the very, very well-written fanfic entitled ‘Times Like These’ (written by ariel2me), there is a scene in which Oberyn Martell participates in a tourney in King’s Landing. He wins the joust, picks up the Crown of Love and Beauty, and places it on his sister Elia’s head. Elia’s husband Rhaegar Targaryen was seated next to his wife. Oberyn directed a very blatant and hostile glare toward Rhaegar as he rode over to his sister and placed the crown on her head, maintaining said glare for a very long moment that made everyone present uncomfortable. Oberyn’s behavior in that scene is clearly a gigantic middle finger to Rhaegar for the latter’s actions in the Grand Tourney at Harrenhal.
“tourneys were expensive to host”
I wonder how many Dornishmen and women thought less of Prince Doran for disliking tourneys.
“he did not mind competing in them every now and again”
In my opinion, Lewyn may grow up to become even more dangerous than his father. The potential is already there.
“his uncle who had taught him how to use a lance”
Oberyn probably never even in his wildest dreams imagined Lewyn killing Gregor Clegane via lance. Lewyn’s impulsive and hot-headed decision to kill Gregor will have devastating consequences for him and for others. People whom he knows and cares about may suffer or die because of what he had done.
“Whenever Sunspear did host a tourney…Lewyn had always done fairly well at them”
Because he is skilled, or because his opponents feared the consequences of injuring their future ruler?
“ever in the back of his mind there was always the tiniest grain of doubt”
Would Lewyn Martell break free of his father’s shadow? Perhaps he already has and doesn’t realize it.
I wonder what Lewyn would think if he were to learn of Tywin Lannister doing something like starting a freaking war over his second son (Tyrion) being arrested.
“In the half a year…there had been eight tourneys”
…that’s too much. Robert’s spending is insane. It says something even House freaking Lannister, arguably the wealthiest noble family in all of Westeros, could not keep up with King Robert’s extravagance and indulges.
I am very curious to read fanfics in which Robert becomes Lord of Storm’s End and Paramount Lord of the Stormlands instead of King. In my opinion, he would have driven his own family into bankruptcy; any children that he may have would have little to nothing to inherit from him save his numerous debts.
“this was nothing like any of the others that he had ever taken part in”
I suspect that in a way, Robert knew that Jon Arryn dying meant that his own reign would soon follow; as Hand of the King, Jon was the one doing all the true ruling, governing and administrating while Robert neglected his kingly duties to feast, watch tourneys, get drunk and sleep around with women.
That, coupled with the grief of losing his foster father, and Robert probably went crazy, hence the insanely big and expensive tourney.
In my opinion, one of the most underrated moments of ASOIAF is Lord Eddard Stark openly and fiercely opposing King Robert’s command to have Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen assassinated, so much so that Eddard attempted to resign from the Hand of the King in protest. In my opinion, Jon Arryn would not have done the same (I suspect that Jon Arryn is not as kindly or as benevolent as he lets on; there is an intelligence and cunning there that many people tend to overlook)
“a larger presence of crownlanders”
How many of them secretly support the Targaryens who are currently in Essos?
“From the Reach had come almost double”
Beware of allowing armed men to march among you. Mace Tyrell covets the Iron Throne…
“Not when there were any lack of reasons to criticize men from the Reach”
(sigh) It’s not like the Dornish don’t have their flaws either. In my opinion, Lewyn’s values and stances are far from perfect.
“Dorne had ever been apart from…since his aunt and his cousins had been put to the sword”
Thousands of Dornishmen died fighting for King Aerys II, all because House Martell was tied to House Tagaryen through marriage…and then the newly-crowned King Robert rewards House Lannister for murdering Elia and her children rather than punish them. How many Dornish men and women voted to raise their banners in rebellion against the Usurper?
“Lewyn coming to court had been the first attempt to mend a bridge”
You can bet that both Baelish and Varys have taken particular note of Lewyn swiftly disappearing from King’s Landing at around the same time that Lord Eddard Stark was being arrested and his bannermen put to the sword.
“sent him to be a spy”
A very dangerous gamble; one misstep and House Martell loses its heir. I wonder if Doran had had Arianne and/or Quentyn undergo training and tutelage just in case anything were to happen to Lewyn. Doran strikes me as someone who doesn’t take unnecessary risks. If it makes him a coward in the eyes of others, so be it. All that matters is that you win in the end.
For all I know, in Canon installing Myrcella Baratheon on the Iron Throne as a puppet-ruler may be what Doran wants, but him stopping Arianne is because he feels that her way of attempting it would not work.
“Everywhere you looked in King’s Landing the golden lion of House Lannister was flying from every high place in the city and the Red Keep”
…Robert is a goddamn fool. Tywin, Cersei, Jaime and Joffrey ruling Westeros? We all know how that turns out; we get to see it in Canon, as House Lannister swiftly makes enemies of EVERYONE in the realm, becoming the most hated family in all of Westeros.
“Lewyn was going to kill all of them the same”
I wouldn’t be surprised if Tyrion Lannister already recognizes Lewyn as a great threat to his family. In my opinion, Tyrion may put two and two together and correctly deduce that the Stark sisters are currently in Dorne. Currently, House Lannister has NOTHING to keep Robb Stark from marching south towards King’s Landing; they have zero hostages or leverage, nothing at all to bargain with save perhaps House Stark’s ancestral greatsword Ice and Ned’s remains.
In Canon, Catelyn Stark (nee Tully) makes the extremely foolish decision of having Jaime Lannister released from captivity in the hope that it would placate the Lannisters into releasing her daughters. I am curious of what may happen in this story. Perhaps the Lannisters may attempt to lie to the Starks and claim that they hold Sansa and Arya.
“it was what he knew that he was going to do”
I suspect that Stannis Baratheon, Master of Ships, had been keeping an eye on Prince Lewyn during the six months that Lewyn spent at court. I get the feeling that Doran does NOT want to become Stannis’ enemy; that is the man who held Storm’s End for a year and who smashed the Ironborn fleet off Fair Isle. How many people can claim to have defeated an Ironborn fleet in a sea battle?
“laid them before the Iron Throne as a gift to the new king”
…Tywin didn’t even try to hide that he is responsible for Elia, Aegon VI and Rhaenys’ deaths. The man is a goddamn monster. He wants his daughter on the Throne, and we all know that Tywin never stops until he gets what he wants.
“Robert Baratheon had grinned and called two innocent babes who had done nothing to anyone dragonspawn”
…and there it is; more than the fragile ego, more than the emotional abuse and neglect toward his younger brother Stannis. This, in my opinion, is what Lyanna Stark saw in Robert and what Eddard either failed to spot or willfully ignored. Robert truly lives up to his House’s words: Ours Is The Fury. However, in my opinion Stannis lives up to them too, just in a different way.
“He would have to serve them all the pain and grief that he had felt”
If Lewyn thinks he hates the Lannisters, he has clearly never met Tyrion.
“a time to be the viper an…a time to be the grass”
I love this. Lewyn is an awesome character, and I love most of all that he is still relatively young and inexperienced for all his skills, knowledge and training. I firmly believe that killing Gregor was a mistake on Lewyn’s part, and he deserved to be called out on it by practically everyone.
Also, in my opinion, if something like, say, Lewyn sleeping with and impregnating Sansa were to happen, the consequences would be devastating. Lewyn is now infatuated with Sansa, and he is aware of it and of the dangers said infatuation may put him and his family in. It doesn’t help that Arianne supports the match…
“his aim with one had never been more than…serviceable”
(looks at Theon Greyjoy) Hmm.
“but on that he had hoped that he would not hear again”
HA! I like Loras already!
“Lewyn had to fight the desire to groan out loud”
Loras Tyrell is, to put it mildly, a complete and total prat. A talented fighter, but with so much pompousness, arrogance and cockiness that he makes Renly look humble. No wonder Renly fell for him; Loras is quite possibly the only other man in Westeros who is more arrogant and pompous than he is.
The big difference between the Tyrells and the Baratheons, of course, is that for all their faults, the Tyrells love and care for each other; Loras is fiercely protective of Margaery while Robert and Renly have very dysfunctional and toxic relationships with Stannis.
“None of it was a lie”
Highgarden is beautiful indeed, and the food is so plentiful that the Reach exports provisions to virtually every other kingdom in Westeros.
“Willas Tyrell should not have been on that horse”
Mace hates Dornishmen…I’m guessing he did not want Oberyn to win the tourney.
“His uncle had jumped from his horse and had been the first to reach him”
Oberyn and Willas became friends afterward. I suspect that Oberyn was very surprised that Willas did not hold him to blame for what happened.
“a twisted one and he now had to walk with a stick”
(sigh) Accidents happen at tourneys. I’m sure Oberyn was likely cursing both himself and everything else after he managed to gain some privacy following the ill-fated tourney.
“being exiled”
And that only made Oberyn more dangerous; he went to live in Oldtown and studied the arts and skills of the maesters at the Citadel.
“Yronwood was a sour subject”
Why did Oberyn do what he did? His actions could very well have started a civil war in Dorne, and Doran was forced to send his second son Quentyn to be fostered for years in order to stave off any further anger from House Yronwood. His decision worsened his relationship with his wife Mellario. Oberyn is not a monster, but good Lord does he have problems.
“That incident was to blame for why he had almost no bond with his younger brother”
…why do I suddenly have a very bad feeling about House Yronwood? If Lewyn and Arianne are removed from succession, that means Quentyn would become the heir to Sunspear…
“there was always a wall between him and Quentyn”
Bad feeling increasing…
“his mood was not improved when he spoke again”
Lewyn carries a lot of stress, anger, sadness and pain within him. Is he at times foolish or downright stupid? I say yes. I don’t WANT main characters who are always perfect and badass and have a right/correct solution to every problem.
“Loras’s face twisted into something ugly”
A Tyrion Lannister Loras is not. Loras can give but cannot receive…just like Robert Baratheon, actually. Tyrion on the other hand is a MASTER of rolling with and countering insults and japes with his own.
Lord Janos Slynt: ‘I will not have my honor questioned by an IMP!’
Tyrion Lannister: ‘I am not questioning your honor, Lord Janos. I am denying its existence.’
I’ll say this now, DiscordantSymphony; Lewyn has skill and training, and I’d wager some experience…but Bronn would kill him in about ten seconds in a duel. That only makes the story more interesting in my opinion; Lewyn being far from a superb fighter OR politician.
“threatened to inform her son of what they had done together when they had both been girls”
If she did that, then the dowager lady might as well have deliberately poisoned herself.
“would he still have a brother or would he have an enemy instead?”
…
“if they bare one another no ill will then why should we do it for them?”
Well-spoken, Prince Lewyn.
“you look like you’ve seen a ghost”
I wonder if Allrick knew that as soon as Lewyn learnt that Gregor is competing, he would try to kill the man in the joust.
“But underneath his father’s words, he could hear his uncle”
Oberyn blames himself for what Lewyn did, didn’t he? After all, it’s what Oberyn would have done.
“go to sept of Baelor and plead to the gods for forgiveness”
I wonder how many people are now grateful to Prince Lewyn Martell for killing Gregor.
“Oh, he never wanted anything more in the world”
I can imagine Tyrion chastising/criticizing Lewyn.
Max Payne: ‘I had blindly gone after the first guy on my hit list when I should have been aiming further up the ladder, at the head of the Punchinello family.’
“An accident, of course”
Gregor is an absolute psychopath, and Tywin clearly did not order him not to kill anyone at the tourney. Killing that Vale knight would only sour House Lannister’s relations with the Vale…not that Tywin seems to care.
“as gentle and quiet as ever”
I love that Lady now seems to like Lewyn even more than Sansa. And people say that direwolves are loyal only to the Starks.
“The man looked ridiculous”
I love the Tyrells.
“the dirty look that Ser Loras gave him”
(sigh) This would only embitter Loras toward Lewyn even more. The two really don’t like each other.
“Sandor Clegane had already sent the Kingslayer into the dirt”
Sandro does not like any of the Lannisters. Not that I can blame him. No wonder Sandor is so irritable and angry. Imagine having to serve the goddamn Lannisters every day of your life and being a personal bodyguard to Joffrey of all people.
“All knew what it was that he had done, and none of them had cared at all?...Where was the justice for them?”
There’s no such thing as justice, Lewyn. You know that. How many people wanted justice for the atrocities committed by the Wyl of Wyl during the First Dornish War?
“what worried him the most was the look on Sandor Clegane’s face”
…big mistake, Lewyn, perhaps the biggest one you have made in your life so far. And I doubt it would be the last.
“I yield”
I am very scared of Sandor now. The man is a wildcard and has nothing to lose. He doesn’t care about his own life, and THAT is the sort of person who should be feared.
“His Queen of Love and Beauty”
Kills the Mountain, wins the tourney, crowns Sansa of all people the Queen of Love and Beauty. Lewyn Martell just made himself famous. If people didn’t know about him before, they certainly will now. This is the sort of event that people make and sing songs about.

This was an interesting chapter and you can actually see that Lewyn is far more like his father than he wants to think he is.