Layna Martell

Princess Layna Martell is the eldest and only daughter of the former Prince of Dorne Milio Martell and his wife Quintana Jordayne, and the eldest sister of Prince Qoren Martell and Prince Deocar Martell. Despite being the eldest child, her father, Prince Milio, considered Layna unfit to reign and arranged her marriage with Lord Rudolt Baratheon, with whom she has two children, Garet and Milia Baratheon. 
Layna uses her husband's name and power to meddle into political affairs, as well as managing to become one of her brother's political advisor, until she joins the Blacks.
==Biography==
===Background===
Layna was born to Prince Milio Martell and his wife, Quintana Jordayne on 95 AC, the eldest of the couple’s 3 children. Layna grew up hoping one day she would become the Princess of Dorne, as she was Milio’s eldest child. She was interested in her father’s political’s affairs and as a child, she always found ways to sneak into council meetings.
===House of the Dragon: Season 1===
Layna's father and current Prince of Dorne, Milio Martell, gathers his 3 children to tell them that he's decided to name Qoren, the middle child, the rightful heir, instead of following the line of succession. This decision upsets Layna as she had expected to one day become Princess of Dorne; and it’s only made worse by Milio’s threat to marry her off anytime soon since she’s almost of age. 
After the news of the death of King Viserys Targaryen’s wife, Aemma Arryn, reach Dorne, Milio takes Layna with him to a trip to King’s Landing, in an attempt to marry Layna to the recently widowed king. Milio returns to Dorne before leaving Layna with Ser Otto Hightower, who promises to take care of her. Instead of presenting Layna's hand in marriage to King Viserys, as was promised to Milio, Otto offers his own daughter and Layna’s new friend, Alicent Hightower. Ser Otto attempts to marry Layna to the Baratheons, with Lord Boremund Baratheon accepting the offer and taking Layna in, planning to marry her to his second son, Rudolt Baratheon. Layna is displeased with the idea of marrying a man older than her, but Lord Boremund reminds her that she’s a young woman in a foreign place and there isn’t much she can do. Layna writes to her father about the news and accepts her fate.
Rudolt Baratheon introduces himself to Layna and shows her around Storm’s End, promising that if she takes him as her husband, this will be her home soon. Layna realizes that even if her father stripped all the power from her by not making her Princess of Dorne, she might gain some by marrying a Lord. She agrees to the marriage, even though it was already decided from the start. Layna and Rudolt's wedding is held at Storm's End, with all of the Baratheons and their families in attendance. With almost no notice, Layna's family barely makes it to the Stormlands, all with the exception of her father. Layna pretends to be unaffected by this, but eventually breaks down crying after the wedding ceremony.
3 years later, Layna gives birth to her firstborn and the child's birth is celebrated by the Baratheons once they realize it's a male, as Lord Borros Baratheon, head of the House and Lord of Storm's End, only has daughters, meaning that in case both Borros and Rudolt were to pass, the child would be the rightful heir. Layna allows for her husband to name the child, with Rudolt choosing to name him Garet.
==Physical Description==
Layna has long wavy dark hair, big brown eyes that she shares with her brothers and medium brown skin. Layna's father constantly mocked her appearance during her childhood, telling her no man will take an ugly woman like her. While her brothers were rewarded for their tan skin and full eyebrows, in Layna's case they became an insecurity. Out of the 3 Martell siblings, Layna is the one with a darker skin tone, a trait she inherited from her mother. Layna has a slender frame and is much shorter than the rest of her family. As she grows up, her sunken cheeks are more noticeable as well as the bags under her eyes, consequence of her weight loss after having her children.
Layna cares about her looks and it's something she puts effort in, braiding her hair in elaborate hairstyles and always carefully choosing her clothing. During her first months in Storm's End, Layna attempted to dress in proper Baratheon attires, often copying her mother in law's way of dressing, but after an occasion where she wore one of her traditional Dorne outfits and Rudolt got irritated over this, Layna wears her usual Dornish clothes on a daily basis. She adorns herself with jewelry, a trait she shares with her brother Qoren. 
== Personality and traits==
Layna is a smart, headstrong and cunning woman.
==Relationships==
===Romances===
====Rudolt Baratheon====
Rudolt Baratheon is Layna's husband. Their marriage was arranged by Rudolt's father, Boremund Baratheon and Ser Otto Hightower, who was in charge of Layna during her stay in King's Landing, following the orders of Milio Martell. Layna was 15 when the marriage took place and although she spent the first years of her relationship resenting her father and everyone involved, she soon realized she could take advantage of the marriage. When they first married, Layna had no feelings for her husband and although when she's older she keeps telling herself that, she has grown fond of Rudolt. 
When Layna learned Rudolt had been unfaithful to her, she threatened to take the children with her back to Dorne, affirming they would be well received by her brother's family. After this threats, Rudolt has remained faithful to his wife.
====Otto Hightower====
Hey guys :-) 
===Family===
====Milio Martell====
Milio is Layna's father and the former Prince of Dorne. 
====Quintana Jordayne====
Quintana is Layna's mother.
====Qoren Martell====
Qoren is Layna's younger brother and the new Prince of Dorne.
====Deocar Martell====
Deocar is Layna's youngest brother. They were always very close with each other, despite Layna being the oldest and Deocar the youngest. When Layna left Dorne for King's Landing and subsequently, for the Stormlands, she attempted to bring Deocar with her, as he would be the one family member she would miss the most; but their father had different plans for Deocar. 
====Garet Baratheon====
Garet is Layna's son through her marriage to Rudolt Baratheon and her eldest child. 
====Milia Baratheon====
Milia is Layna's daughter through her marriage to Rudolt Baratheon, the couple's youngest child and only daughter. Despite no having a great relationship with her father, Milio Martell, and often giving signs that he hated him, Layna named her daughter after him. Milia is a mirror of Layna's image as she inherited all of her physical qualities: opposite to her brother, Milia has darker brown skin similar to Layna's and is the reason of why she chose to use a Dornish name for her. While not explicitly said, Layna clearly dislikes how similar Milia looks to herself, as she sees her Dornish looks as a disadvantage in the Stormlands. 
Layna and Milia don't have a great relationship and this is made obvious from the start, since right after Milia's birth, Layna immediately rejected the baby, claiming that she wasn't hers. As the children grew up, Layna favored Garet over Milia, often acting cold and distant towards her own daughter. Milia spent more time with the maids than with her own mother. 
Milia was originally intended to be betrothed to Aemond Targaryen, but after the fallout between Layna Martell and Alicent Hightower, the marriage was called off. Layna view this as a failure on Milia's part 
====Cassandra, Maris, Ellyn and Floris Baratheon.====
Cassandra, Maris, Ellyn and Floris are Layna's nieces, the daughters of her brother in law, Borros Baratheon. 
====Alyandra, Coryanne, and Qyle Martell.====
Alyandra, Coryanne and Qyle are Layna's nieces and nephew, the daughters of her brother, Qoren Martell.
===Friends===
====Alicent Hightower====
Layna and Alicent first became friends when Layna was brought to King's Landing and left to be taken care of by Otto Hightower, Alicent's father. The two remained friends even after their respective marriages took place, with Alicent often requesting Layna's presence at King's Landing. 
This friendship abruptly ended when Layna chose to support Rhaenyra's claim to the throne.
====Cecelia Cole====
Cecelia is Layna's handmaiden at Storm's End. Cecelia used to be the handmaiden for Lady Baratheon, Boremund's wife, and subsequently to Lady Elenda Baratheon before becoming Layna's handmaiden. They become friends after spending some time together and realize their motivations are similar, with Cecelia being almost as hungry for power as Layna is. Cecelia is an informant for Layna, often spying other's conversations as she tries to get information through them. 
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