“No, it would not have been fair,” she agreed with a soft sigh, “but if the Princess had not married Willas, then she would not have had to go through what she went through.” It made her wonder what her life would be like, if her Uncle’s arranged marriage for her had been kept. What sad life would Donna be living now? What of her cousin Margaery? “I just wish this whole mess had not happened,” she had hoped that her family would know peace.
HIs remarks concerning her defending Willas had her frown deepening. She was not defending Willas because she thought he needed her to, she defended him because he was her cousin, her family. “Neither do you, but I defend you just as vehemently,” she stated, because she always had, regardless of what her Grandmother said, of what others said about Oliver, Donna remained steadfast in her believe in her cousin. No one spoke ill of her cousin within earshot, and it was the only times she ever dared to speak up to her Grandmother. “It is my choice to defend him and you, whether either of you want it or like it,” she stated determinedly. They were both her cousins and she loved them both, flaws and all, “and I will continue to defend you both.”
At the mention of their Grandmother, Donna winced, because she had hoped that things could be different now. Sometimes, Donna still had nightmares of Margaery’s wedding. Oh, she knew what her Grandmother had asked her to do, knew theoretically, what would happen, but it had all been for Margaery’s safety, right? The part she played on that day was something between Grandmother and her, and she wished she could forget it.
“I know you are not surprised at Grandmother’s scheming,” because Donna had expected better from Willas, she knew he could do better, although he had yet to prove it. When it came to Grandmother, however, nothing about her planning surprised her - Donna had just hoped that whatever plan she had put together would have led to happy people. “After all, I am quite aware that the reason why my previous engagement was easily dismissed was because being married to the Lord Paramount sounded better than being joined to House Florent.”
“You cannot blame what Helaena endured on the act of marriage itself, cousin,” Oliver told her. It had not been the marriage that hurt her so deeply. “Grandmother and Aunt Alerie knew what they were doing when they chose to lay blame for Highgarden’s lack of heir upon Helaena’s shoulders.”
Oliver had learned of such a thing those few months at court before Queen Daenerys had given birth to her twin daughters. Helaena had been at court then, there to support her sister where possible, while he and Dinah had been present to report upon the rebuilding of the royal fleet as well as happenings within the Vale. The admission had come a moon turn after Helaena’s arrival from Highgarden, weeks after Oliver and Dinah had begun to spend their days with her and mere days before their nights were given to her too.
Thinking back on that day, when Oliver had found out what had been transpiring, briefly sparked his temper. There was something more, though, that had angered him more than anything.
“Willas was aware of what he was taking part in as well when he chose to not defend his own wife and allowed Grandmother and Aunt Alerie to continue to lay blame upon Helaena.” It was such treatment that angered him most of all. Even now, over a year past, it still angered him. That Willas had then attempted to have Helaena forsake her own heritage to give Daenaira the Tyrell name against her wishes had merely been the final straw.
Pausing in front of a pair of doors, Oliver pushed them open to reveal his solar. One of his attendants had already drawn the curtains away from the balcony doors across the room, allowing the early morning sun to shine through the glass. A fire had also been lit, filling the space with warmth.
“I’ve never attempted to cover my transgressions or my sins, Donna,” he said. There were a thousand different choices that Oliver had made in the past that could have very well ruined him and the whole of House Redwyne. He’d never once shied away from reaping the ramifications of such actions. “You’re defending Willas, and by association his actions, yet he would never defend you were your roles reversed.” If Willas had not even been man enough to defend his own wife against the sharpened tongues of his own family, Oliver would not expect him to defend anyone else.
Donna could defend Willas if she wished. It was something that Oliver had done once, though there had been little to defend then. He would not allow himself to do so again. Not now that he knew his cousin’s true nature.
“Grandmother seeks power,” Oliver said, sitting down at the chair behind his desk with Allison perched on his knee. A single shell, pale pink in color with shimmering pearlescent edges, had been set upon the harvest reports from about the island that Oliver had been reviewing only the day before. It was a silent greeting, one that announced another’s arrival, that he’d grown used to in recent months. “There is nothing that she can do that will ever surprise me when it comes to her pursuit of power.”
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