Chapter Text
The island mirages in the distant sun as a glimpse of paradise. From the distance, the buildings of the resort can be seen, a villa so white it seems to shimmer, bracketed by palm trees and other greenery. The little harbor from which the boat departed, had seemed equally peaceful. A less generous term might be sleepy. The waves lap at the boat’s bow and even the engine seems aware of its surroundings as it hums softly. It is a wonderful day and the heat of the sun is balanced with a soft breeze that is not strong enough to set sunhats aflight. It is the sort of thing that postcards are made of.
A backdrop for a holiday that will have everyone else green with envy.
Olenna Tyrell is almost fooled by these sights before her. She would have been, if not for the four others on the boat.
The police boat.
It took her all the forceful charm she had to convince them that she needed to be on board. That there was no other place to go and that she had been so long underway already. What is she but a frail old lady?
She observes them. The oldest among them is a bald man, who was referred to earlier as Doctor Varys. The youngest is a spry-looking girl with an impressive camera on her breast. The other two she would assume to be around thirty years old. The woman has her dark hair stuck up in a knot and a grave expression on her face. The others call her Detective Maegyr. From the way they defer to her, she is clearly responsible. Even the man who is steering their boat listens to them. He looks like any sailing man.
A little wild.
His long hair, the floral print of his shirt, the defiant, somewhat cheeky expression on his face, it is hard to see him as a police officer. If she had not been introduced to him as Detective Naharis, Olenna never would have considered him to be on par with the others. She has to concede that he is attractive. Surely her grandson Loras would blush in his presence.
The photographer girl is called Ygritte, but despite the mesmerizing play of colors on the water, she has not taken a single photograph. She appears tense too, staring at the island in front of them without pause.
They do not speak much and Olenna wonders if it is because of her presence. In any other case, she would attempt smalltalk, but it is clear that something happened. Everybody on board knows what, except for her.
Something happened on the island where her grandchildren have been vacationing for a month. The presence of a doctor is disconcerting. Selfishly she hopes her grandchildren are all right.
Olenna opens her bag and fishes out the postcard Margaery sent from their day trip to Volantis. The picture is of a beautiful sea-side city. A harbor with many ships. Essos has many, but swirly lettering informs her that this is the great Southern port of Volantis.
She turns the postcard to read the words scribbled on the back. She has read them often on the way here. They made her smile, but now she reads them and she worries.
Dear Grandmama,
The Starks took us on a daytrip to Volantis! It was very nice! The island is very nice too. We swim a lot! We want to go cliffdiving, but Catelyn won’t let us. Sansa says she is scared that we’ll be a bad example to the younger ones. I’m wearing your necklace by the way, Renly says it colors great with my eyes! He’s so lovely. Everyone is, except for the Lannisters, but we don’t speak to them much. But I like Myrcella, she let me braid her hair! Her grandfather scares me, he is very strict. Luckily we only see him at meals. Renly’s older brother is funny, he laughs a lot and loudly. We cannot wait till you come here!
Love,
Margaery & Loras
Loras has scribbled his name down, but she knows it was Margaery who went through the trouble of buying the card and sending it. That is how it always goes. Her grandson is excellent in all kinds of sports, but he is still very much a silly boy. Despite his seventeen years, he remains surprisingly childish in life.
Irresponsible in a way that only a teenage boy can be, free from any sense of duty.
Both of her grandchildren have had a very blissful childhood and she is happy they did, but at times she does wonder if perhaps they are slightly too sheltered. A couple of years ago they went off to boarding school together, where they met Sansa Stark. A very nice, sensible child, albeit a little spoiled. Margaery would always talk with admiration of her beautiful clothes and it is no surprise that the girls became close friends.
Her twin brother Loras also found a lifelong friend in Renly Baratheon at school. The youngest, by far, of the three Baratheon brothers, is charming and a social butterfly. Of course, Loras met him on the sports fields. She still has a picture taken during their first summer break. Two young boys, tan from always running outside, smiling to the camera.
She figures that the older brother Margaery is writing of must be Robert Baratheon, coincidentally a good friend to the Starks. He is already bordering on middle-aged, and if Olenna understands the gossip correctly, unhappily married to the beautiful Cersei Lannister. She recalls how the press reported their wedding, which was the most expensive wedding event ever at the time. Their oldest son is also in Margaery’s year.
Olenna has never met Joffrey Baratheon, but from both Loras and Margaery she has gleaned that the boy is unpleasant and arrogant. Always flaunting his family’s wealth and status in the faces of his fellow pupils. Of course at this particular boarding school no pupils are truly poor, but even so, his behavior has made a bad impression far beyond the classroom walls.
She wonders if it is the bad marriage of his parents that is affecting him in this way. Her own husband passed even before the twins were born. She sighs. Their poor mother died of childbirth complications and her son, never the most apt of people, had been at a loss. She is closer to her grandchildren than many of her friends are to theirs.
She played a significant part in raising them. It is the cause of any disagreements she has with her son. He was the one who was insistent that they be sent to one of the more exclusive schools in Westeros. The Tyrells of Highgarden have never been poor, but still Olenna thought this to be an unnecessary extravagance. She never went to a school when she was younger, as it was the time in which girls from certain families had governesses. The first time she made friends of her own age outside of her family was at carefully chaperoned parties.
Only later in life did she learn that other people led different lives and while she has tried to teach this to her grandchildren, it would have been better if not all their friends were as fortunate as they are.
Recently, Margaery and Renly Baratheon started dating. Olenna was not surprised as her granddaughter had grown into a stunning young rose. Coupled with Renly’s charm and easy demeanor, it was to be expected. However, she has not spoken to Loras since Margaery wrote her the news. Her grandson, for all his boyish attitude, is still a sensitive child and she worries that he might feel jealous of his twin sister.
She is also not entirely sure that he has figured out yet why he might be jealous of his sister.
Olenna has seen the way that he blushes at handsome men.
During this past spring, the Starks were invited by Robert Baratheon to spend the summer months on an island close to Volantis. With pleading and arguing, the children convinced their parents to invite the Tyrells as well. Olenna is still unsure how it came to be that she was included too, but she readily agreed to stay some weeks at the island.
This island has been visited by the Lannister family for years and she was eager to study this infamous family up close. The only member she ever met was Tywin Lannister and that was many decades ago. A clever man, very ambitious. She wonders if he would remember her.
Probably not.
She is unlikely to be the only woman he has ever argued with at a ball.
They have almost reached the island. Its cliffs rise high from the ocean. From the distance, the white buildings of the resort could be seen, amidst prospering foliage. However, as they get closer, the black rock of the cliffs is all that remains to be seen. The island casts a shadow on the water and as the boat leaves the sun, Olenna shivers.
While she wraps a scarf around her neck, the small harbor bay at the foot of the cliffs comes into sight. Detective Naharis steers the boat past the treacherous rocks in a manner that is clearly practiced even though his expression is one of disinterest.
A couple of people are standing on the docks. Their expressions are grave. There is no one present Olenna recognizes. Their attire suggests work, rather than leisure, so this is probably the staff of the resort.
With smooth motions, Detective Naharis moors the boat and ties the ropes tightly. Ygritte and Detective Maegyr lower the gangplank and Olenna sets foot on the island. The doctor helps her with her luggage.
As she stands on the dock, Detective Maegyr breezes past her. She goes straight towards a ferrety-looking man and they have a brief conversation.
Onella slowly makes her way off the wooden docks. The waves have made it a slippery surface and she is not about to bust her hip. She only hears the last thing that is said by Detective Maegyr.
“No one can leave the island until we are done with our investigation.”
They go up to the top of the island in an elevator. The entire way up, they stand in silence. Aside from the ferrety man, there are two women dressed in red dresses. One of them is older, but while her wrinkles betray her age, she is still beautiful in a way that can only be achieved with creams and mirrors. The other woman appears barely older than Margaery and while she looks grave, Olenna suspects that she is very kind.
Both of these women have the dark hair that Westerosi associate with Essos.
When the elevator doors open, her breath stilts at the sight of so much beauty. The buildings are stunningly white and invite their beholder to come closer to the many doors. Palm trees and incredibly colored flowers in the flowerbeds line the paths that cross the greenery. In the distance the blue of a pool shimmers.
It seems like a place where laughter never leaves.
Only it is silent. The paths, the patios, the pools are deserted. No playing children are to be seen anywhere.
It is now that she is truly convinced something horrible happened.
Where are her grandchildren?
They enter the lobby in the main building and relief fills Olenna as she sees Margaery in a colorful sundress and Loras in his shorts.
Immediately, the girl throws herself in her grandmother’s embrace.
She is crying.
“Margaery? What’s the matter?”
“They murdered someone,” she says in between sobs.