allyria sand đ€ how the bastard of sunspear came to be .
allyriaâs mother was the lady alys ashford of ashford in the reach. a minor noble family, but a proud one. when her parents learned that she had become pregnant out of wedlock, with the prince of dorne no less, they completely cut her off from the family. alys sought refuge from the father of her child at sunspear, who welcomed her in spite the impropriety.Â
while lady alys did survive the birth of her daughter, allyria was only three years old when her mother fell ill and passed away. the only memories she has of her feel as if they were only a distant dream, the lilac scent of her perfume and the sound of her lullabies. prince nymor hardly spoke of her mother after her death, but whenever she asked when he was in a particularly good mood, he spoke very fondly of her.
although a bastard, allyria was raised amongst her half-siblings as a martell in all but name. she never grew to know the woes of her fellow bastards, never felt different besides the rare comment she let slide right off her shoulders. when she was young, she was bright-eyed and joyful. nowadays, she would call herself naive.
when she grew to be a teenager, she longed more and more to know of her mother. princess lyra was relatively kind to her, raising her alongside her children, but the older allyria got, the less it felt true.
so, when she turned six and ten, she rode for the reach to meet her family still living in ashford, not knowing their treatment of her mother all those years ago. when she arrived, her uncle mathis was now the ruling lord of ashford. when he met her at the gates, laying eyes on his niece for the first time, he immediately saw his late sister in her features. he welcomed her in with open arms for alysâ sake, but not everyone within would feel the same way.
setting foot in ashford for the first time felt like magic. the wind smelled of lilac, golden suns beaming down from the great orange banners just like the home she grew up in. she felt as if it were fate that had brought her there. but as we all know, the fates are cruel.
allyriaâs grandmother still lived, and to her, her mere existence was an offense. not only was she a blatant reminder of the man who stole her daughter away, but she was a reminder of why that daughter was no longer with her. the dowager lady ashford loathed allyria, and made that very clear.
her uncleâs wife was no kinder. she felt as if her husbandâs acceptance of this dornish bastard as a ward in their home was an embarrassment and a stain upon their house. she poisoned the image of her for her children as well. allyriaâs cousins never accepted her as one of them, always leaving her out or picking on her whenever their father wasnât around.
still, she was protected by her uncleâs charity and blessing, and nothing could be done to her under his rule. she traveled with the family, sat in court and attended tourneys and balls. yet she felt more and more like an outsider with each strange look she received.
then, her uncle passed suddenly in a hunting accident. ashford was inherited by his eldest son, and all at once her protection was gone. the dowager ladies wanted her banished from the holdfast immediately. she tried to seek refuge from friends she had made in the reach and beyond, but none would accept the plea for help from the shunned dornish bastard. she was left to make the journey back to dorne all on her own.
it was a dangerous road, and with every tribulation she endured, she made a new silent vow. dorne was her true home, the only place she would be accepted. and westeros would pay for the way they had manipulated both her and her homeland into submission.
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