raviofthesun

[raviofthesun]

the glimmering ocean just over the way had always provided a place a solitude for the second prince of house martell, now the eldest, with the weight of legacy upon his shoulders. ravi would credit his time in starfall and his rigorous training as a knight to be able to hold such weight, but in truth so much more of his handling matters was simply taking the time he needed to meditate and contemplate. there were little moments in ravi's life where a decision did not have to be made in an instant, and allowed him time to reflect. of course, this did not include any decision of battle, or war, those things, he considered, to be far different circumstances.

a breeze ran itself through unruly dark hair, and he could hear his mother's voice bidding him to find some way to tame it. in his youth he tended to keep it shorter to avoid such matters entirely, but he far preferred it the way it currently was. he recalled how mors was able to manage his own hair, and a pange of anger, guilty, frustration, sadness, seeped into his chest - how a simple thought could bring him back to the memory of his brother, whom as far as he could recall he had a somewhat tumultuous relationship with.

the septs were filled with the patrons of dorne who had flocked to sunspear, sealing their alliances to the martell's, proving that despite the great losses, and not so great loss, the kingdom was not fractured, but unbroken it remained. that, in itself, seemed far to simple a way to put it, so he thought.

feel felt the warmth of the sand beneath them as he tredged along one of the large red dunes, eyes shifting downwards to see a familiar figure, well, he could not make her out entirely clearly, but the color of her lehenga certainly gave her away. for as long a she remembered, ruqaiyah of house dayne had a way of standing out amongst the rest, and he chuckled as he made his way down to greet her, but was met with a question he did not expect.

"there will be plenty other gatherings, perhaps you and i will make up the time later when it is not quite so filled to the brim." he suggested light-heartedly, for truly his reasoning for wandering off was in that, he wanted to get a bearing on his own mind before presenting himself before the whole of sunspear. his absence would be noticed, but he believed he had reputation enough for seeking his prayers on his own time that it would not be entirely surprising.

hands crossed comfortably behind his back as he allowed the tide to wash over his feet, the coolness of the water seemingly washing away what littler worries lingered in his mind so he may focus on the larger challenges. "high noon, a day such as this one. at least, that is what ma had told me, if my memory does not deceive me." he did not think it did, though he made a note to confirm such a thing from the text detailing his birth.

he looked around, a grin on his face as he made a point to silently say there was no one around them, now. "well, it seems now is the time to ask whatever you wish to, without other onlookers." he stated.

who: @raviofthesun when and where: two days following lady ruqaiyah dayne's arrival to sunspear from starfall, she crosses paths with the oldest surviving son of house martell - also being her betrothed from their early youth. context: these two have known one another for many years, considering there was some time where ravi lived at starfall to train with baashir during the time of him being a second son.

feigning exhaustion and borderline sickness from the journey across the breadth of dorne had worked in the favour of the lady of starfall; even if she had needed to put her ability to dramatise anything and everything into good use, as though the journey was not one that was done regularly both in the past and the present. the daynes had ventured to the great sept of sunspear alongside the other courtiers of those who swore to be unbowed, unbent and unbroken; a moment of respite from the close monitoring she had been dealing with by her mother and brother alike.

and so the moment the door had shut behind her quarters, an entitled amethyst gaze had immediately turned toward the guard that remained in her room…who now remained a watchful eye on this golden sandy beach in the shadow of the fortress of sunspear and the shadow city itself.

the wonders of giving instructions with no falter or stammer, with the sound logical reason of fresh air helping her fight off the impending sickness she felt at the back of her entirely clear throat. truthfully, her stay in sunspear had been tarnished by a certain ghost's reappearance across from her at a circle table - and this trip was an important one, for a multitude of reasons. the daynes would need to cement their position, in more ways than one. one of such ways would end in her and ravi of the sun circling the marital flames a total of seven times.

but things were different; and as much as she wished to simply be able to navigate herself into his sphere to find a way to close the distance that was some months of business and distance, sunspear and the dornish sun were his halls. and he somehow seemed more of a prince here than in any other place. a part of her grew irritated with the fact she could not smoke under the gaze of the starfall guard, though now she knew this place existed, she would no doubt find some way to slip here.

and when a distant figure appeared upon one of the sand dunes, she narrowed her amethyst gaze, using her hand to shield herself from the glare of the sun behind it to try and see who it was that was walking toward her. feet remained in the sparkling intense blue of the ocean, silver anklets submerged, and pastel pink silk swirling at her feet. the sun continued to blind her, and she began to step forward from the sea kissing at her feet, when the dots connected.

"skipping the sept too, your highness?" she asked, her voice trailing over the soft sound of the waves as she walked too. and whilst she could comfortably refer to ravi as her friend, he was her prince too; especially in such a setting, and so she dropped into a graceful curtsy, not deep enough for it to be strange, but enough to signify respect and a comfort in doing such things. they knew the way their worlds worked - and whilst she complained of many things, he was not one of them. "i have been meaning to ask you what time you were born."

"but you are surrounded each time i see you." she had not realised how much the political situation had changed until she had seen it. rav was not a second son anymore, and a small part of her began to wonder. wonder what she had not wondered before. would marrying another, that was not her, make more sense?

#☼ — ravi martell (conversations.) #ruqaiyah 001

[raviofthesun]

Dev Patel as Gawain in The Green Knight (2021) dir. David Lowery

#☼ — ravi martell (visage.)

[raviofthesun]

setting : sunspear, just before the dornish court leaves to the westerlands, starter for @lorduller

soft footsteps could be heard echoing across the grand halls of sunspear, with vibrant colors and light that shown through the large windows lining the long stretch of hall to the council chambers. there was no true formality in his meeting with the uller lord, only simply trying to understand the other man’s nature. it were not his court, but his niece’s, and there was instinct to try and understand better those who frequented it. ravi when best to observe someone, keep those he distrusted close, but also, perhaps foolishly, offer them opportunity to earn their way. he did not love the idea of marking someone’s character based on the reputation of their household.

but…this was an uller.

ravi found himself sitting upon one of the velvet seats, the smell of incense burning and the sound sitar strings being being plucked filling the quiet of the room until doran uller arrived and the prince stood to greet the man. “my lord.” he stated, before taking his seat again, acknowledging the one across him for the other man. “i want to inquire about the west, if there were any whispers, any hesitations about our arrival there.”

ravi would not let false rumors strike fear upon the dornish court, for their were powerful as the rays of the sun and to remain put in their own lands did not sit right with him out of fear, despite his distrust in the western court especially. still, opportunities were present when occasions such as these came to be, and he would be remiss if he advised his goodsister that they might consider skipping the occasion.

“things have been quite tense as of late, within our own halls, especially. i want to ensure nothing has been overlooked, overheard.”

#☼ — ravi martell (conversations.) #doran 001

[raviofthesun]

♛ → DORNE presents RAVI MARTELL, the PRINCE of DORNE. when the dragons danced in the sky they DID NOT CARE WHO would still fly, but in the blink of an eye, they would all die. the THIRTY-ONE year old MALE who was PROFOUND & GENUINE before they saw the first of the flames, is now INFLEXIBLE & DISTANT after seeing the last. through the ash, now they struggle to find the smell of incense and a sitar playing inside a dimly lit room, the sun beaming from a simple smile, the murmuring of sacred vows. ( dev patel. )

bio | connections | spotify | pinterest

#☼ — ravi martell (conversations.) #☼ — ravi martell (visage.) #☼ — ravi martell (musings.) #☼ — ravi martell (aesthetic.) #☼ — ravi martell (answered.)