Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
This is sure an hard choice...go unarmed seems a dangerous choice since we don't know how much Hishi can be trusted however take a weapon with us will probably make any possible negotiations much more harder (and more now than ever our heroes need help)
Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
[Argue to take a weapon with you] Oh hell nah! I don't trust anyone in Oldtown - certainly not a mysterious character that none of the group knows basically anything about.
Great part, but I'm nervous - this feels like a suicide mission, and infiltrating the labyrinth can go right only so many times before someone gets fucked.
Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
Jaron
“Careful”, Harpy exclaimed, as she rushed to Taria's side, in the attempt to help her up. The young woman rolled her eyes, reddened… more from crying, and she managed to show a small smirk. “You don't have to wet-nurse me”, she mumbled and grimaced as she put a bit too much weight onto her damaged shoulder. “It's not like I'm going to give birth any second” She glanced down onto her flat belly. “Or at any time during the next months”, she added and her smirk faded. “I just wish Ayden could be here”
“We're finding him”, Harpy reassured her. “If he managed to get away, we're going to find him” Taria shook her head and closed her eyes. “If”, she said. “He promised to marry me, you know. Promised me that our child wouldn't be a bastard” Jaron glanced up and at her. She caught his glance and her expression grew sorrowful. “I'm sorry”, she quickly said. “It's just...”
“I know”, Jaron answered empathetically. “Ayden is a fighter. He had thr… [view original content]
I wasn't expecting this choice to be as clear as it was in the end, but perhaps you did the right choice. I can definitely understand why you decide not to be so trusting, especially as the person they are going to meet is known for utmost secrecy. Perhaps this was a wise choice. At the same time, they are quite in need of help and with a bit of bad luck, they end up screwing their chances now. It'll all be revealed in the next Jaron part, which I am very excited to write.
The next part is going to be out today. It will feature PoV's from Arthur and Kersea, both of which hadn't had a part in this chapter yet. The last time we saw Arthur, he had a talk with his father, the commander, about their next moves. Hackor revealed to him that he suspects a merchant from White Harbour, a certain Helenys Bellward, to be in league with the assassins, as she owns a number of suspiciously empty warehouses in Raylansfair and coincidentally has been announced to be on her way to Raylansfair just shortly after part of her property got damaged in the warehouse fight between the city guard and Clayton's group in Chapter 5. Though, in Lucas final part in Chapter 6, it has also been revealed by Harris that he intends to sell her the wildfire John found, which might be another reason for her timely arrival in Raylansfair, although one that is currently unknown to Arthur. Chapter 7 will start for him on the next day, waiting for the arrival of this merchant. Meanwhile, Kersea and Clayton have successfully assassinated Septon Corbin in the last chapter, although Kersea managed to anger Clayton once more. When they returned to their hideout, they were confronted by another group of assassins, led by Clayton's rival, Rayden, who was sent to Raylansfair by Butterfly to support them after their past failures, concerning Jenna and Wolfius. He also brought new orders from Butterfly, to steal something of great value, something they will need the extra manpower for. However, his arrival greatly angered Clayton, who has a serious grudge against him and who immediately started to conspire to kill him, which is something Kersea decided to help him with.
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was galling.
“Power play”, Valarr Roux mumbled. He was one of the two guardsmen Hackor had assigned to assist Arthur, as if he wasn't even able to greet an important guest to the city on his own. Valarr was a few years older than Arthur, a relatively new member of the city guard, but experienced enough to be someone Arthur could rely on. His face was round and plain, unassuming and in itself, utterly, almost dangerously unmemorable, while his hair had a common, brown colour. If Valarr would have been a criminal, he would have probably been highly successful, for his complete lack of visually outstanding features. The only thing that truly set him apart from the other men Arthur worked with on a daily basis was his eloquence. He was someone to carefully choose his words, a persuasive and cunning man. Despite this, Arthur knew that many other guards had their differences with Valarr.
“She's asserting her dominance”, the man explained and Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Lady Helenys is our guest”, he answered. “Why should she feel the need to prove her dominance over us, by letting us wait on purpose?” Valarr shrugged. “Perhaps there's more to her visit than a simple transaction. Do you remember what the commander said?”, he spoke.
“You mean she is working with these killers?”, Arthur asked. Again, Valarr shrugged. “If she is, you'll be the first to find out, Nathamer”, he said with the hint of a smirk that was somewhere between mocking and genuine. Before Arthur could answer, the other man raised an eyebrow. “Where's Ermo, by the way?”, he asked.
Arthur glanced over his shoulder and sighed. As if he had heard them, the third member of their welcoming party was running towards them, though perhaps running was the wrong term here. Arthur was by nature not someone to judge, but even he had to admit that Aldus Ermo wasn't the most competent member of the city guard. He was a young man and highly overweight, which made a target of regular mockery from the more cruel guardsmen, with a puffy, round face and almost three chins. A patchy stubble was starting to grow on the third chin and his long, brown hair flew in the wind as he rushed towards them.
“Wonderful”, Valarr mumbled and Arthur shot him a glare. “Hold back with your comments this time, Valarr”, he warned him sternly. Physically, Aldus was in a catastrophic shape. His weight made it impossible for him to perform the more physical tasks of a city guard, which meant that Hackor mostly used him to guard the headquarters. On top of that, he was a known coward.
This however did not mean that Arthur approved of the mockery the young man was subjected to. He one other trait, which made him highly valuable in Arthur's eyes, a trait men like Valarr did not possess. He was compassionate, had a good heart. In situations where other guardsmen would chase after a fleeing criminal, Aldus would stay with their victims, to comfort them until help would arrive. In Arthur's eyes, this alone was reason enough to need a man like him in the guard and Aldus' continuing presence among them, despite his shortcomings, proved without a doubt that Hackor thought similarly.
“I would have rather had a man like Stratford at my side now. At least Daemion knows how to hold a sword correctly”, Valarr continued and Arthur gave him a curious look. “Do you expect a fight?”, he asked and the man shook his head. “As you said, she is our guest. I just like to be prepared”, he answered and grinned. “Though, I suppose if things go awful, we can always hide behind Ermo”
“Guys!”, Aldus shouted from the distance. “Guys, wait for me!” Valarr shook his head. “Sure”, he said in a mocking tone. “After all, I have nothing else to do than to wait for a moving mountain of meat” He sighed and glanced back towards the carriage.
Gasping for air, Aldus stopped next to them. His chubby face was reddened from exhaustion and for a moment, Arthur was afraid the young man would just faint. He and Valarr certainly weren't able to carry him back all the way to the headquarters in such a case.
“Hey... guys...”, he gasped and Valarr rolled his eyes. Arthur gave him a friendly nod. “Good morning Aldus”, he greeted him and the young man smiled brightly. “I'm not too late”, he said as he spotted the carriage in the distance.
“Must be a new feeling for you”, Valarr mumbled and Aldus' smile faded. With a stony face, he focussed on the carriage, while Arthur sighed. Perhaps his father gave him Valarr and Aldus for a reason. Perhaps he wanted to test him, wanted him to prove his worth, as unlikely as it sounded. Or perhaps he really just didn't care.
Finally, Arthur got a clean look on the man who was driving the carriage. He was young, with the typical pale skin and dark hair of a true Northerner. He was lean, a bit on the skinny side, with crystal blue eyes and small sideburns. Like the carriage he was driving, he was clothed in black.
“Good day”, Arthur greeted him, as the carriage got slower until it stopped in front of them. The young man gave him a nod. “Greetings!”, he answered and Arthur finally got a good look on the strange crest painted on each side of the carriage. He gulped, as he recognized the formerly unidentifiable object that was painted onto the human heart as some sort of insect, small, but deadly looking, with a sting that directly pierced the heart.
“Uh... my name is Arthur Nathamer, son of the commander of Raylansfairs city guard”, he introduced himself. “We have been sent to welcome Lady Helenys Bellward in the city” The man smiled, it was an open and friendly smile that did not fit to the eery carriage he was driving. “Then you have the right people, Ser”, he said. “My name is Aren Charlton, I am Helenys' servant. The lady is sitting in the carriage. I believe Lord Castellan Harris is expecting her”
“Correct”, Arthur confirmed, before he, Valarr and Aldus stepped aside to make way for the carriage. “The commander sent us to escort you to the castle” A pleased look formed on Aren's face, as the carriage started moving again, through the city gates, with Arthur and Aldus to the right and Valarr to the left.
While Aren himself focussed on navigating the carriage through the streets, which was hard enough at this time of the day, Arthur tried to get a look inside the carriage, to no avail, as the windows were nothing but tiny holes that allowed not even the tiniest glimpse inside.
Without encountering any hindrance, the procession made their way through the streets and up the road that led to the castle. Finally, Aren brought the carriage to a stop a few metres in front of the castle gate. “We're here, mylady”, he said loudly. Just a moment later, the door of the carriage got opened from the inside.
The woman that stepped out of it was older than Arthur had expected. Her hair had the colour of snow, the purest white Arthur had ever seen, it was tied to a thick braid that lay on her shoulder and her pale skin gave her away as a Northerner. While her face had remarkably few wrinkles, the high arch of her eyebrows and the piercing look in her brown eyes almost made it seem as if she was frowning. She was clad in a lavish display of wealth, a dress consisting entirely out of different shades of purple and gold. In her hand, she was holding a small, wooden box.
Arthur and Aldus immediately bowed in front of her, though Aldus' bow was a bit clumsy. “Lady Helenys, it is my pleasure to welcome you in Raylansfair”, Arthur greeted her politely. “My name is Arthur Nathamer, son of Commander Hackor Nathamer”
“The pleasure is all mine”, Helenys answered with a smile, her voice was clear and pleasant. She took a step towards Arthur and Aldus, momentarily glancing at the overweight guardsman, before she handed him the small, wooden box she was carrying. “You seem to be a careful man”, she explained and the compliment took Aldus by surprise. “Please, carry this for me. Be careful, it contains something that is of unspeakable and personal value to me”
The young man smiled shyly. “May I ask what it is?”, he asked and Helenys gave him a patient nod. “His name is Taros and he is my friend and companion”, she answered and slightly lifted the top of the box. In curiosity, Arthur and Aldus both took a glance into it and immediately, the overweight man got pale as snow. Inside the box, unmoving but watching them with black, unnerving eyes, sat an insect, the very same insect that was visible on Helenys' crest. It had a shining green colour, six legs, a pair of wings and a long sting. What was really unsettling though was the strange, almost human-like face it had.
“Is that a man... man...”, Aldus stuttered and Helenys smiled. “A manticore”, she stated casually. “Don't be afraid, he is tame and no danger to you” Aldus was afraid though, it was clear to see. Even though the wooden box separated him from the manticore, his legs were shaking and he was pale, as if he was about to faint.
Helenys did not seem to notice, though she did not know Aldus as good as Arthur did. The young man was close to a panic, now that he knew about the dangerous animal he was holding. “Please, young man, follow Aren. Once I received a room from your lord, I would like you to bring Taros there”, Helenys explained, looking at Aldus. “Aren will accompany you. Be gentle and you shall be rewarded”
Then, she looked at Arthur, with a friendly smile. “And you, son of the commander, would you do me the honour of escorting me to Lord Harris?” Arthur gulped and glanced at Aldus. Surely, escorting her would be the polite thing to do, exactly what his father and the lady were expecting of him. At the same time, he was afraid that Aldus would panic, being so close to the manticore. He could take the box from him, could take on his duty, though perhaps the lady could see it as rude if he'd ignore her wishes.
[Escort Helenys to Harris][Take the box from Aldus]
Kersea
As expected, Clayton's knife hit the target. Without missing a beat, he pulled out another knife, took aim and threw it. Again, he hit the centre of the target, the wooden board that was leaning against the wall of their small hideout.
Alysanne yawned with ostentation and smiled, as she looked from Kersea to Clayton. The look she gave Kersea was as genuine as possible with her, while her expression grew considerably more forced the moment she lay eyes on Clayton. “Well done”, she chirped. “Wooden boards from here to Asshai will tremble in fear”
Clayton gave her a displeased glare and Kersea tensed up. He was in a bad mood. Of course, his mood was rarely good, but today he was especially vicious. Ever since Rayden arrived in Raylansfair, Clayton seemed to be in a state of constant brooding and his temper seemed to be shorter than ever.
“I'll get a chance for a live target soon enough”, he snarled and glanced at the door. “I wonder what take him so long” Alysanne grinned, now completely honest, as she looked at the door as well. “I can't wait for it”, she said, in a tone that was almost longingly.
“So, you really want to do it?”, Kersea mumbled and Alysanne looked up. “Oh, puppy”, she said with a smile. “One day, you're going to get yourself killed for your softness. Trust me, Rayden deserves everything that's coming to him. He's a real bastard” She glanced at Clayton. “Well, so are you, Clay”, she said without flinching.
Clayton gave her a cold glare. “I'm going to kill this man tonight”, he growled. “What was Butterfly thinking when he sent him to... to help me?” He shook his head. “It was foolish to send Rayden here. He sent him to his death” His hand moved to the scarred flesh where his eye used to be and a grim, bloodthirsty and outright cruel smirk formed on his face. “Today I'll be taking back what's mine, twice. I'll blind him, take a few other things as well”
“No doubt you will”, Kersea said, not even bothering with hiding her disinterest in Clayton's sick vengeance fantasies. He noticed the bored tone in her voice and shot her a glare. “Can I count on you?”, he asked. Kersea gave him a simple, quick nod and nearly flinched when he jumped up.
“I asked you a question and I expect to get an answer”, he growled and crossed the distance between them in two steps. His hand grabbed her lower jaw, painfully squeezing it in an instant, while sudden, almost murderous rage flared up in his eyes. “Yes...”, she pressed through her teeth. “You can count on me”
His grip did not grow any weaker, instead she felt as if it got only stronger, more painful. Compared to what he usually did, it was nothing, but the unexpectedness of this outburst was terrifying to her. “Clayton...”, Alysanne hissed coldly, before she rose from the bed she was sitting on. Clayton threw a glance at her and what he saw was enough for him to let go of Kersea.
“I... apologize. It's just... I'm sorry”, he said. Of course he wasn't honest, but it seemed to be enough for Alysanne to lower the throwing knife she was casually holding in her hand. Kersea wasn't sure if her friend was unable to tell the difference, or if it had been honest enough for her.
“Aren't you a sweetheart”, Alysanne said with a grin. “That said, I am looking forward for today. It's been a while since I killed someone who really had it coming” She glanced at the small knife in her hands. “One of his men, the Summer Islander, I want him for myself. While you were away playing with the Septon, he said some pretty unflattering things about my thighs” With these words, she chuckled. “Do you think my thighs are ugly, puppy?”
Kersea looked up, stunned by the very question. “I... you...”, she stuttered, before she regained her composure. “I think you have lovely thighs”, she answered and slightly blushed at the private nature of the question. Alysanne smiled brightly, as she turned around, throwing the knife at the door. The blade hit the wood, piercing deeply into it. “That is the only opinion that matters to me”, she said and her smile faded. “The only one in the entire world”
Clayton coughed to regain the attention. He was leaning against the wall now, his arms crossed. “Then there is only one thing left to discuss, before we can prepare to kill Rayden and his men”, he declared. “We are going to need a plan. A good one”
“Surely you already thought of something?” Kersea asked. Once more, she couldn't care less for Clayton's sick wishes. She was doing this to get back into his good graces. With a bit of luck, she could keep him away from Briar until they would be back in Oldtown. This time, she would try to free her little sister. Perhaps Alysanne would even help. Once Briar was free, she'd be done with Clayton, done with Butterfly. Until then, she would continue to be Clayton's weapon. The thought alone made her shiver, but it was the only word she deemed appropriate for her situation.
“Of course I have”, Clayton confirmed. “I don't care for his men. They have to die of course, to prevent Butterfly from ever learning the truth, but they can die quickly. Rayden though...” He paused and smiled. “They brought the wildfire to the old lighthouse and they are guarding it carefully”, he explained. “This means, our first task, coincidentally the one we need Rayden for, will be to defeat the guards. However, I also think the fight that is inevitably breaking out is out best chance to take down this smug bastard and his two fuckboys”
“In the middle of the fight?”, Alysanne asked and raised an eyebrow. Kersea wasn't sure if her friend was approving of such a plan or not. Clayton gave her an enthusiastic nod. “I plan to make it look as if they were killed by the enemy. With a bit of luck, Rayden and his men won't notice a thing until it is too late. And if we're even more lucky, the guards will be confused as well, at least enough to make it easier for us to kill the rest of them”
“With a bit of luck...”, Alysanne mumbled and clicked her tongue. “You know, I really don't approve of this. You're relying an awful lot on your luck” She put two fingers onto her left eye and Clayton narrowed the one he still had. “When it comes to Rayden, luck never really worked out for you, love”
A low growl forced its way out of Clayton's throat and he shook his head. “Then what do you suggest, Alysanne?”, he asked in a harsh, bitter tone. Alysanne leant back on the bed, slightly moving her burned shoulder. Her wound was healing nicely and while she was still clearly affected by it, she was able to move better and better with each passing day. Kersea had no doubt that her friend was able to kill again.
“We use them first. Let them fight the guards. We're going to help them, but we'll hold back. Let them have the bulk of the fight and then, when we reached our goal for Butterfly and when Rayden and his men are exhausted, we strike. We toy a bit with them, you get to do whatever you want to do with Rayden and we can all go home happy”
“Never thought you'd ever advise me to hold back”, Clayton remarked and she smiled. “Never thought you'd underestimate your opponent”, she countered and looked down onto her bandaged shoulder. “I don't deny that I was a bit too... confident in the warehouse. But I know Rayden well enough to know that fighting him and the city guard at the same time is going to be suicide”
“Don't forget that they fight each other as well”, Clayton argued. “If anything, it is safer to strike while they are distracted” This time, Alysanne shook her head. “If there is one thing I know, it's the mind of a killer. Tell me, Clayton, would you be distracted by such a fight? I know, I wouldn't. I know, if you'd try to kill me while I'm fighting someone else, it would end with both of you dead”, she answered. “Now, if I'm exhausted on the other hand, if I already killed someone and just got out of the frenzy again, that is when I'm vulnerable. That is when you are vulnerable and that is when Rayden is vulnerable”
“I don't get in a frenzy when I fight”, Clayton countered. “I'm not exhausted that easily. And as much as I hate Rayden, I don't think we'll be able to take him by surprise with your plan. I even think it will be harder for us to kill him if we wait until he has only us to concentrate on. We need a distraction”
“A distraction would be nice, but sadly, your distraction would try to kill us as well”, Alysanne argued, before she sighed. “I don't think this is going to lead to anything good. You have your point, I have mine, you're a stubborn bastard and you probably think the same about me” She glanced at Kersea. “Puppy, what do you think? How would you like to kill these people?”, she asked in a casually friendly tone and Clayton chuckled. “You're asking Kersea now?”, he snarled and his intense glare hit Kersea. “Sure, go ahead, my dear, enlighten us. Which plan would you rather follow?”
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
[Support Clayton's plan] Firstly, I prefer Clayton over Alysanne. I just feel like Kersea have this previous hate for Clayton for no real reason. Like a part way back, when he tried to be kind and Kersea just said Fuck! You! I don't understand.
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
[Escort Helenys to Harris] Probably the best option since take the box from Aldus will put Arthur in a bad light not only wih the other guardsman but even with the guests
[Support Alysanne's plan] It's the best plan even if it make Clayton hate/love us more
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
I just feel like Kersea have this previous hate for Clayton for no real reason. Like a part way back, when he tried to be kind and Kersea just said Fuck! You! I don't understand.
Sorry if I'm direct but do you remember the story so far?Clayton deserve everything that the girl said to him!
[Take the box from Aldus]
[Support Clayton's plan] Firstly, I prefer Clayton over Alysanne. I just feel like Kersea have this previous ha… morete for Clayton for no real reason. Like a part way back, when he tried to be kind and Kersea just said Fuck! You! I don't understand.
Besides, I hate Alysanne, soo.
I just feel like Kersea have this previous hate for Clayton for no real reason. Like a part way back, when he tried to be kind and Kersea just said Fuck! You! I don't understand.
The problem with Clayton, and one of the reasons she hates him so much, is that he puts her through a great deal of constant abuse, physical and mental. Her storyline in each chapter features at least one moment where he beats her, sometimes just for the most minor offenses. If he isn't physically hurting her, he is fond of asserting his dominance in some other way, by playing sadistic mind games with her or by indirectly threatening to harm her little sister, Briar, if she does not follow his orders. Said little sister used to be in Oldtown, where she was held prisoner by Maron Mullendore, whom Clayton is working for. Unbeknownst to Kersea, Mullendore got actually rather fond of the girl and likely wouldn't have harmed her, which is a fact Clayton failed to inform her of. Also, Briar has been freed by Kersea's former mentor Terroma at the end of last chapter, which is something Kersea and Clayton are currently unaware of.
So, from Kersea's point-of-view, things are actually pretty simple. Clayton forces her to work for him, not any kind of work, but assassin work, which is something she despises and she literally only follows his orders because he keeps her little sister as a hostage. Then there is the abuse she suffers at his hands, which slowly but steadily threatens to break her. She also blames him for the death of her parents, who were murdered by a former member of his group. You see, there are plenty of reasons why Kersea hates him so much. Meanwhile, things are a bit more complicated from Claytons PoV. He has a mad crush on Kersea and feels entitled to have her, so her constant rejection, for the abovementioned reasons, is triggering the worst and most sadistic part of his personality. He, more or less, sees himself as the victim here, though objectively he does everything he can to justify Kersea's hatred for him. Sometimes, he tries to be nice and kind towards her, though these moments are not always genuine and Kersea is simply not buying it. Your mileage may vary as to how much his genuine, if twisted love for Kersea counts as a redeeming feature, but it is pretty much the only thing speaking in his favour. In turn, there are plenty of reasons to hate him and his previous actions were definitely not meant to portray him in a sympathetic light. Though, I can tease that this chapter may change your opinion on him. He's going to be at his absolute worst this time.
Meanwhile, Alysanne is a complicated character. Like Clayton, she has sadistic tendencies, though in her case she is less fond of mentally breaking someone and more fond of influcting pain during a physical fight. Behind that, she is not evil per se, but a horribly damaged, broken person, in many ways a warning of what Kersea is in danger of becoming. As a result of the damage inflicted upon her, she has the emotional maturity of a preteen and Kersea once compared her to a sociopath, which is not entirely untrue. She finds it hard to understand and deal with complex emotions, like friendship or love. For that reason, Kersea pities her and out of this pity, they eventually formed a weird friendship. This friendship is perhaps Alysanne's strongest redeeming trait. It is as genuine as possible for her and unlike Clayton, she would never do anything to harm Kersea. Out of the two, Clayton and Alysanne, Alysanne is by far the more positive relationship in Kersea's life.
[Take the box from Aldus]
[Support Clayton's plan] Firstly, I prefer Clayton over Alysanne. I just feel like Kersea have this previous ha… morete for Clayton for no real reason. Like a part way back, when he tried to be kind and Kersea just said Fuck! You! I don't understand.
Besides, I hate Alysanne, soo.
[Take the box from Aldus] I think Arthur would care more about the job being done well over being worried about offending a Lady.
[Support Alysanne's plan] As Alysanne said, Clayton's plan depends too much on luck. He's pretty angry and vengeful so he's not really thinking straight.
"I think you have lovely thighs" XD I love Alysanne!
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
[Support Alysanne's plan] I like the idea of the assassins using the city guard to tire Rayden and his men, then pounce when their energy is drained to catch them off guard.
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
I am relatively neutral about both options here. The first one, I feel, is going to be a bit better for character development in Arthur's storyline, so that's a nice thing. Meanwhile, I have both routes for Kersea's storyline planned, although I have planned the outcome of Alysanne's plan in slightly more detail, so I am quite happy with this outcome. Kersea's next part will show you if this was a wise thing. It might be a bit of a wait until her next part happens, but this chapter in general is going to be extremely important for her.
The next part is going to be out today. It is going to be a part with PoV's from Samantha and Jenna and it will start both of their storylines in this chapter. In the last Chapter, Samantha only had few parts of her own, which is going to change in this one. The last time we saw her, she had the ungrateful task of informing Aylard of his daughter's death, which ended up with her on the ground and him storming off to confront Lucas and Leonard. In the last John part, Janae revealed that she had sent her to a mission out of the city, together with Sasha, Jaro and I'lian. The sellsword John and Janae had captured at the end of Chapter 5, a young woman who goes by the name Lenrianda, has agreed to reveal information about what the Second Sons are planning in Raylansfair and whom they are working for, if John's group helps her with finding a friend of hers, who is currently in a camp in the forest. To give her something to do, Janae decided to assign Samantha to this find this friend. Meanwhile, Jenna met with the alleged servicemaid Saerya Waters, who turned out to be a spy in service of House Targaryen. Saerya revealed to her that she has the current goal to bring down Sherryl, whom she sees as a danger to her mission and to the city. This caused Jenna to ally with her. In the chaos caused by the Stormlander's arrival in Raylansfair, Saerya now tasked Jenna to search through Sherryl's room, to hopefully find something incriminating, something that might shed more light on her true goals.
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was… more an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was g… [view original content]
The only thing both, Samantha and Sasha, were quite saddened about was the fact that they had no horses to ride on. Other than that, even Sasha had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Samantha had never been in this part of the Reach before. The forest near the place she grew up in was highly different from the forest she was now marching through.
Back home in the North, the trees were tall and dark, most of them conifers. The forest here was equally dark, though it had a haunting beauty at the same time. The autumn was already starting to touch the leaves upon the trees, painting the entire scenery in a greenish yellow colour. It could have been a relaxing walk.
“Hey Sam, over here”, I'lian said and she sighed. It could have been a relaxing walk, if not for the company. Jaro and I'lian were with them, as well as the captured sellsword, Lenrianda, whose hands were tied behind her back. Jaro kept close to her at all times, while I'lian scouted the deeper underbrush to their left, to make sure that they wouldn't be surprised by anything.
She glanced at him, just in time to raise her hands and catch the object he was throwing at her. For a moment, she shot him an angry glare, before she realized what she was holding in her hand now. “An apple?”, she asked and I'lian gave her a nod. “And there's plenty more. Wild apples, as sweet as a dornishwoman”, he answered and rose his hand again, another apple ready to throw. “Here's one for you too, Grumpy”
With these words, he threw another apple towards Sasha, who was quick-witted enough to catch it. “Grumpy?”, she said and I'lian smirked. “You really could smile more often, mylady”, he said diplomatically.
“I never thought I'd ever say that, but I agree with I'lian”, Samantha said and grinned as Sasha glared at her. “I'm not grumpy”, she insisted. “I smile when there's a reason to” Jaro cleared his throat. “Well, it is a beautiful day, the landscape is lovely and we're all alive and healthy”, he interjected. “Do you need an additional reason?”
Sasha shrugged, before she took a bit out of the apple. “Not bad”, she reluctantly admitted and now, a small, but genuine smile formed on her face. Samantha had to admit that it was very pretty. She looked down at the fresh apple I'lian just gave her and with a smirk, she took a bite out of it, enjoying the sweet taste of the fruit.
I'lian raised an eyebrow, apparently waiting for her judgement. “Sweet as a dornishwoman”, she confirmed and both shared a grin. I'lian walked past her and next to Lenrianda, who had watched their interaction in silence so far. With a suave smile, he pulled another apple out of his bag. “May I, sweet lady?”, he asked, as he pulled a small knife from his belt. With quick movements, he started to cut the apple, while Lenrianda rolled her brown eyes. “Do you plan on feeding me?”, she asked with a mocking tone in her voice. “You know, I could do it myself if you'd just untie my hands”
“Yeah...”, Jaro answered in his brothers stead. “Not going to happen” I'lian at least gave her an apologetic shrug. “I'm sorry, but I'm not the one calling the shots here. Janae's orders have been clear” Now, the mocking look on Lenrianda's face faded. “I heard as well, you know”, she said. “I also heard that Jaro here is going to put a knife in my back if I'm going to lead you into a trap”
“Janae has always been good at motivating others”, I'lian answered. “Don't you worry, no one plans to put a knife in your back” He sternly looked at his brother. “Isn't that right, Jaro?” The other man gave him a hasty nod, which seemed to please him.
“That is good for you”, Lenrianda answered. “See, Nym wouldn't be happy if anything happens to me” I'lian raised an eyebrow. “Ah yeah, Nym. Nymeria Aspys, isn't that right? The dornish nobe lady?”
Lenrianda chuckled. “Technically”, she answered. “Though aside from her name, Nym is not much of a noble lady. I bet she could kill you with her bare hands, sweetheart” She paused. “She's also not much of a dornishwoman, at least not like you probably imagine them”
This caused I'lian to grin. “Well, mylady, how do you think I imagine a dornishwoman?”, he asked. Lenrianda reciprocated the grin. “She's probably a bit paler than you imagine her”, she started to explain. “I know pale dornishwomen”, I'lian answered. “You know, even the dark ones are not tanned everywhere” While Jaro let out an annoyed sigh, Lenrianda chuckled, though it sounded more forced than amused. “Trust me, Nym's a bit paler than you imagine her”
At this point, Samantha took another bite out of her apple, before she looked ahead, spotting Sasha. Her friend was walking in front of them, but during the brother's conversation, she had slightly fastened her pace, now walking a few metres ahead of them. With a concerned frown, Samantha struggled to catch up with her.
“Hey”, she said and Sasha glanced over her shoulder. “Hey”, she answered likewise and slightly slowed down, so that they could walk next to each other. “You okay?”, Samantha asked and Sasha gave her a slow nod. “I think so”, she answered and looked down at the apple she was still holding. “It's just... am I part of this group now?”
Without hesitating, Samantha gave her a nod. “You're part of my group”, she assured her and now, a slow smirk formed on Sasha's face. “That's good enough for me”, she answered. “It... has been some time since I last had people to rely on”
“You can rely on me”, Samantha said and glanced over her shoulder. “Jaro and I'lian are good people as well. I know, they can be a bit much at times, but you can rely on them as well” She sighed as she watched I'lian doing a grimace to mock his brother. “Most of the time at least”, she added reluctantly and now, Sasha chuckled.
“I think I can get used to that”, she answered, though she hesitated. Her smile faded. “What if it doesn't last though?” Now, Samantha gave her a curious look. “What do you mean”, she asked in return.
Sasha glanced over her shoulder. “I don't doubt that you have good people around you”, she said and took another bite out of her apple. “It's just... what if it doesn't last? What if I don't get along with... with the one-eyed guy for example”
“Whom?”, Samantha asked. “John or Temari?” Sasha shrugged. “Does it matter?”, she asked in return. “Let's say it's John. What if I don't get along with the leader of your group?” Now, Samantha sighed. Both women fastened their pace a little bit, to get some distance between them and the others.
“You and me, we've been through a lot”, Samantha answered. “Come to think of it, we've been through more than me and John. Sure, there have been a couple of small skirmishes, but nothing... fuck, nothing like Oldtown. I couldn't have done it without you” She looked at Sasha and smiled. “You're always part of my group”, she repeated.
Finally, Sasha seemed to relax. The words visibly calmed her down. “I... I think I can get used to that”, she said. “Before we teamed up, I was used to work alone. I liked it that way and I was good at it. There was no one I could disagree with and no one I could loose. There was no one to care for, but myself, no one to look out for, but myself”
Samantha glanced over her shoulder again, where Jaro was talking to Lenrianda. I'lian had vanished into the underbrush again. “Perhaps it's time to change that”, she advised her. “Perhaps”, Sasha agreed and momentarily, Samantha had the feeling as if she had moved slightly closer.
“Eyes on me, sweethearts”, the voice of Lenrianda sounded. The soft hint of a smile on Sasha's face disappeared at once. “Perhaps”, she repeated sternly, before she turned around and stopped walking. Samantha did the same, though she did so with a frown.
“What is it?”, she asked. To her left, I'lian returned from the underbrush, a curious look on his face. Lenrianda was playing with a strand of her black hair, while she made sure that everyone was paying attention to her. Finally, she cleared her throat. “We're almost here. Nym should be somewhere in this area”
“So, you're saying?”, Jaro asked and Lenrianda raised her hands. “The ties”, she said. “See, there is one problem... Nym can be a bit... hot-headed. If she sees me walking through the forest as your prisoner, she could get the wrong impression. Perhaps she's even going to make the wrong decision”
“Nice try”, Sasha said and Lenrianda rolled her eyes. “No need to get sassy at me, grumpy”, she answered and exchanged a playful wink with I'lian, while Sasha frowned. Immediately, she raised her tied hands again. “Hey, listen, I know you don't trust me and you have a good reason for it. In your case, I wouldn't trust anyone either”, she tried to persuade them once more. “I'm just saying, if I wanted to lure you into an ambush, I'd certainly not do it in a way that would leave my own survival up to your mercy” She sighed. “I'm honest with you, believe it or not. Nymeria is my friend, but she can be a stubborn, reckless bitch”, she argued. “All I want is to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. From all I saw, you're decent. Kept me alive for the past week. I don't want you to die, I don't want Nym to die and most importantly, I don't want myself to die. I'm not saying she will attack you, but it will certainly tarnish her opinion on you, her willingness to cooperate, if she sees me as your prisoner”
The first to react was I'lian. He gave Lenrianda a slow nod. “I trust you”, he assured her. “Perhaps trust would be the wrong word, but I believe you. I trust myself and my ability to spot a lie” He looked at Jaro, who shrugged. “Usually, I trust you, brother. I just don't know if I can trust her” Sasha shook her head. “I don't believe a word she says”, she answered and looked at Samantha. “Though I don't lead this mission and I don't get to decide. What do you say?”
[Cut Lenrianda's ties][Keep her tied up]
Jenna
“That means, you want me to break into Sherryl's room?”, Jenna asked, as she looked up at Saerya, who climbed down the ladder that led to the ravenry. The spy gave her a nod. “That's the plan. I make sure no one's going to disturb you”, she answered and jumped down the last rung. A smirk formed on her face. “I have an idea or two on how to do it”
She looked past Jenna, just as noise came from the courtyard. “Something's not right out there”, Jenna said, immediately realizing that she stated the obvious. Saerya walked to the stained windows of the ravenry, glancing out. “Indeed, which is perfect for us”, she answered. With these words, she grabbed Jenna's arm and dragged her towards the door.
As they stepped outside onto the courtyard, Jenna spotted several people, standing close to the stairs that led up to the lord's tower. They were talking, though she was too far away to understand them. One of them was Harris, another one was Ser Darren. They were the only ones she recognized immediately. The two men glared at each other and at least in Darren's case, the look in his eyes had a streak of hatred.
It took her a moment to recognize the man who was just now rising from the ground. He had blonde hair and she had no doubt that he used to be handsome, until a recent wound claimed one of his eyes and one of his ears. She tensed up as she recognized him and gasped loud enough for Saerya to stop and throw her a questioning glance. “Ser Lucas”, she stuttered and her eyes widened as she remembered the polite and handsome knight. The man next to him was Ser Leonard. He looked less changed, in a physical sense, though he was paler than before, a bit thinner perhaps.
“The knight that left for Oldtown?”, Saerya asked and clenched her hand around Jenna's arm. “Come on, we got to go” Jenna gave her a nod, though she threw another glance at the people. One of them was a knight, a tall, broad-shouldered man with short, dark hair and a tabard that gave his allegiance to House Durrandon away immediately. Between Harris and Darren stood another dark-haired knight, though much younger than the first one, with a somewhat plain face. He wore a silver vest, adorned with a fine, red lion. Finally, there was a young woman, beautiful and raven-haired, in a fine, yellow dress.
“The lion knight is Willfred Reyne”, Saerya explained, as she pulled her away. “Arrived here with his uncle, a general of his army and a small group of soldiers. It's quite fascinating, as it seems that the lion of Castamere allied himself with the fawn of Storm's End”
Jenna only needed a moment to realize what Saerya was talking about. She immediately glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widened. “She's Durrandon's daughter?”, she gasped, stunned by the fact that she just met a princess. Here in Raylansfair, she had never met many nobles until Lord Raylans death and the thought of having laid eyes on a real princess felt surreal.
Saerya gave her a nod. “Argella”, she answered. “Barely twenty and she already acts like a conqueror” She sighed, as she pulled Jenna through a side entrance into the servant's area of the castle. From there, Jenna knew they could make their way to the rooms of the nobility, people like Sherryl. “I almost have pity with the girl”, Saerya mumbled. “She probably thinks Sherryl is her ally and I'm sure it'll cost her dearly” Now, she shook her head. “Then again, a cousin of mine lost his hands because of her, so my pity keeps within a limit”
This gruesome detail sparked Jenna's curiosity and she raised an eyebrow. Saerya caught her glance and sighed. “Corilyan of House Celtigar. Son of my father's sister. Ambassador of the Dragonlord”, she answered and the look on her face grew bitter. “Technically, it was not the princess, but her father who cut off his hands, for what he perceived as an insult. Perhaps it is unfair of me to blame her for it”
She let go of Jenna's arm, now visibly upset. “Then again, Corilyan has always been kind to me, kind to everyone around him. The last time I have been to Dragonstone, his wife was pregnant with their second child”, she mumbled. “It is unfair of me to blame the princess for her father's wrongdoings, but still, a part of me thinks she could have stopped it. A part of me hates her, wishes...”
Saerya did not finish her sentence. She paused as two servicemen walked past them, deep in a conversation of their own. Jenna gave her an understanding nod, even though she did not fully understand. She had never felt hatred. Instinctively, she moved a hand to the scar next to her eye and she shivered. Not even Wolfius...
“So, you are absolutely sure that Sherryl is not working for the Storm King?”, she asked, to lead the topic into a different direction. Saerya gave her a tired nod. “Without a doubt. She informed him of his heritage, that much I am certain of. But she also informed the lord of Mander's Mouth”, she answered.
“Does that mean she is allied with Hobert?”, Jenna asked again and Saerya shook her head almost immediately. “I have even less doubt about that. There's no way she would ally with that man. She's not like that. Not the kind to support the weaker party. The young fawn out in the courtyard has enough power to outright dwarf him without even breaking a sweat”, she answered. “Come to think of it, perhaps I pity him even more. Though... unlike the Storm Princess, I have met the Lord of Mander's Mouth, spoke to him. I know what kind of man he is and I know that he certainly does not deserve any pity”
“I don't like him either”, Jenna admitted and Saerya smiled, even though a hint of the bitterness in her eyes remained. “Clever girl”, she said and the praise caused Jenna to blush slightly. “So, whom do you think Sherryl is working for?”, she asked in curiosity.
This time, Saerya shrugged. “I don't know. It rarely happens that I know nothing about a subject, but when it comes to Sherryl Flowers and her true allegiance, I can only guess. It must be someone more powerful than the Storm King, or else she would have probably allied with Argilac”, she answered and a frown appeared on her face. “This kinda limits the possibilities. From a certain point of view, I guess Harren Hoare could be seen as more powerful. I'd disagree, but I know many who see things that way. He's also the kind of man I could see her working for”
“So, she's working for the Hoare?”, Jenna asked and Saerya shook her head. “I don't know. It's nothing but a theory. Lord Robert's hatred for House Hoare was widely known, but I am not even sure if Harren was aware of his existence” Jenna gulped, as another thought crossed her mind. “What's with your dragonlord?”
Saerya raised both eyebrows. “No”, she stated firmly. “I'd know if she was an agent of Aegon. The Dragonlord is more powerful than the Storm King, but I don't think Sherryl is someone to see things that way. Besides, someone would have told me!” She decisively shook her head. “Harren Hoare is perhaps not the only option, but the most obvious” As if she had read Jenna's mind at that moment, she smirked. “The only thing we have to find out now is why. Why would Harren Hoare, or whomever this unknown power behind Sherryl is, have any kind of interest in Raylansfair?”
With these words, she stopped in front of a door. By now, they stood in a long, cold hallway. To her left, several doors led to the rooms of Raylansfair's noble guests. Back when Lord Robert had still been alive, the rooms had rarely been used, but now almost all of them were taken. To her right, a set of windows allowed a view into the courtyard. Jenna glanced outside, seeing the Stormlander knight talking to a couple of simple men-at-arms. Behind him, Darren and Leonard were talking to Harris. She saw neither Lucas, nor the princess or the knight of Reyne.
“Sherryl's room”, Saerya said and pointed at the door in front of them. Jenna gave her a nod. “How do we get...”, she started to say, but Saerya simply reached into her pocket, revealing a small, iron key. Jenna widely stared at the object. “How have you...”, she said, but once again, Saerya cut her off. “Trust me, it's better if this remains my little secret”, she chuckled, as she went to unlock the door. “The rest will be up to you. I'll make sure no one disturbs you, but you should still hurry”
“Got it”, Jenna confirmed. Saerya seemed pleased with that answer. “Once you're in there, keep it quick. It is unlikely you'll get the time to thoroughly search it, so stick with your intuition”, she answered, as she put a hand onto the doorknob. “The most important thing you got to look for in there is evidence. I plan to expose her for the treacherous serpent she is, but I can't do that if you don't find evidence. Look for anything written down... you can read, can't you?”
Jenna gave her a nod. “My mother taught me”, she answered and Saerya smiled. “Your mother was a wise woman, Jenna Harking”, she spoke softly, before she opened the door. “And now go. Hurry” Jenna took a deep breath, before she stepped into Sherryl's room.
It was smaller than expected, not unlike Harris' own room and much colder in terms of furniture. Fitting, as it was merely a guest room. The bed was large enough for two people and tidily made. A large mirror showed Jenna, pale, thin, frail and grey. There was a large wardrobe next to the small window. Even though it was midday outside, only a few rays of sunlight found their way into the room itself. Instead, a candle, standing on a desk, spent light, allowing her to see that the desk had at least one large drawer. A chest, slightly opened, stood next to the bed, right underneath the window. Finally, a cupboard at the other end of the room contained several drawers. A bottle of wine stood on top of it. Jenna gulped. She had to hurry...
[Search the wardrobe][Search the desk][Search the chest][Search the cupboard]
Samantha
The only thing both, Samantha and Sasha, were quite saddened about was the fact that they had no horses to ride on. Other than t… morehat, even Sasha had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Samantha had never been in this part of the Reach before. The forest near the place she grew up in was highly different from the forest she was now marching through.
Back home in the North, the trees were tall and dark, most of them conifers. The forest here was equally dark, though it had a haunting beauty at the same time. The autumn was already starting to touch the leaves upon the trees, painting the entire scenery in a greenish yellow colour. It could have been a relaxing walk.
“Hey Sam, over here”, I'lian said and she sighed. It could have been a relaxing walk, if not for the company. Jaro and I'lian were with them, as well as the captured sellsword, Lenrianda, whose hands were tied behind her back. Jaro kept close to her at all times, … [view original content]
Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it! Though, to avoid confusion I should clarify, I did not misspell Jaron, as he didn't even appear in this part The guy that appeared in Samantha's part is a different character who is named Jaro, without an n, he is the brother of I'lian and they are both sellswords from John Gutten's group and friends of Samantha. I'lian is the cocky jokester out of the two, while Jaro is more serious and collected, so I guess he left less of an impression.
Samantha
The only thing both, Samantha and Sasha, were quite saddened about was the fact that they had no horses to ride on. Other than t… morehat, even Sasha had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Samantha had never been in this part of the Reach before. The forest near the place she grew up in was highly different from the forest she was now marching through.
Back home in the North, the trees were tall and dark, most of them conifers. The forest here was equally dark, though it had a haunting beauty at the same time. The autumn was already starting to touch the leaves upon the trees, painting the entire scenery in a greenish yellow colour. It could have been a relaxing walk.
“Hey Sam, over here”, I'lian said and she sighed. It could have been a relaxing walk, if not for the company. Jaro and I'lian were with them, as well as the captured sellsword, Lenrianda, whose hands were tied behind her back. Jaro kept close to her at all times, … [view original content]
Samantha
The only thing both, Samantha and Sasha, were quite saddened about was the fact that they had no horses to ride on. Other than t… morehat, even Sasha had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Samantha had never been in this part of the Reach before. The forest near the place she grew up in was highly different from the forest she was now marching through.
Back home in the North, the trees were tall and dark, most of them conifers. The forest here was equally dark, though it had a haunting beauty at the same time. The autumn was already starting to touch the leaves upon the trees, painting the entire scenery in a greenish yellow colour. It could have been a relaxing walk.
“Hey Sam, over here”, I'lian said and she sighed. It could have been a relaxing walk, if not for the company. Jaro and I'lian were with them, as well as the captured sellsword, Lenrianda, whose hands were tied behind her back. Jaro kept close to her at all times, … [view original content]
Samantha
The only thing both, Samantha and Sasha, were quite saddened about was the fact that they had no horses to ride on. Other than t… morehat, even Sasha had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Samantha had never been in this part of the Reach before. The forest near the place she grew up in was highly different from the forest she was now marching through.
Back home in the North, the trees were tall and dark, most of them conifers. The forest here was equally dark, though it had a haunting beauty at the same time. The autumn was already starting to touch the leaves upon the trees, painting the entire scenery in a greenish yellow colour. It could have been a relaxing walk.
“Hey Sam, over here”, I'lian said and she sighed. It could have been a relaxing walk, if not for the company. Jaro and I'lian were with them, as well as the captured sellsword, Lenrianda, whose hands were tied behind her back. Jaro kept close to her at all times, … [view original content]
“Then again, a cousin of mine lost his hands because of her, so my pity keeps within a limit”
This gruesome detail sparked Jenna's curiosity and she raised an eyebrow. Saerya caught her glance and sighed. “Corilyan of House Celtigar. Son of my father's sister. Ambassador of the Dragonlord”, she answered and the look on her face grew bitter. “Technically, it was not the princess, but her father who cut off his hands, for what he perceived as an insult. Perhaps it is unfair of me to blame her for it”
Samantha
The only thing both, Samantha and Sasha, were quite saddened about was the fact that they had no horses to ride on. Other than t… morehat, even Sasha had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Samantha had never been in this part of the Reach before. The forest near the place she grew up in was highly different from the forest she was now marching through.
Back home in the North, the trees were tall and dark, most of them conifers. The forest here was equally dark, though it had a haunting beauty at the same time. The autumn was already starting to touch the leaves upon the trees, painting the entire scenery in a greenish yellow colour. It could have been a relaxing walk.
“Hey Sam, over here”, I'lian said and she sighed. It could have been a relaxing walk, if not for the company. Jaro and I'lian were with them, as well as the captured sellsword, Lenrianda, whose hands were tied behind her back. Jaro kept close to her at all times, … [view original content]
[Cut Lenrianda's ties] She is right, if we're meeting a friend of hers nothing good will come from having her tied her up. Plus I already like her.
[Search the desk] If we're looking for something wriiten down, the desk would be where to find it. The chest might have something valuable but it's slightly open which seems to hint that Sherryl isn't too concerned about whatever's in there so it can't be that important.
Samantha
The only thing both, Samantha and Sasha, were quite saddened about was the fact that they had no horses to ride on. Other than t… morehat, even Sasha had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Samantha had never been in this part of the Reach before. The forest near the place she grew up in was highly different from the forest she was now marching through.
Back home in the North, the trees were tall and dark, most of them conifers. The forest here was equally dark, though it had a haunting beauty at the same time. The autumn was already starting to touch the leaves upon the trees, painting the entire scenery in a greenish yellow colour. It could have been a relaxing walk.
“Hey Sam, over here”, I'lian said and she sighed. It could have been a relaxing walk, if not for the company. Jaro and I'lian were with them, as well as the captured sellsword, Lenrianda, whose hands were tied behind her back. Jaro kept close to her at all times, … [view original content]
Comments
[Argue to take a weapon with you]
Despite their injuries it's good to bring something to defend themselves just in case.
[Argue to take a weapon with you] You can't trust people in Oldtown.
This is sure an hard choice...go unarmed seems a dangerous choice since we don't know how much Hishi can be trusted however take a weapon with us will probably make any possible negotiations much more harder (and more now than ever our heroes need help)
[Go to the meeting unarmed]
[Go to the meeting unarmed]
[Argue to take a weapon with you]
[Argue to take a weapon with you] It's incredibly unwise to travel unarmed, especially now. This 'Hishi' must think we're stupid.
[Argue to take a weapon with you] Oh hell nah! I don't trust anyone in Oldtown - certainly not a mysterious character that none of the group knows basically anything about.
Great part, but I'm nervous - this feels like a suicide mission, and infiltrating the labyrinth can go right only so many times before someone gets fucked.
[Argue to take a weapon with you]
(Argue to take a weapon with you)
The Voting is closed!
Jaron is going to argue to take a weapon with him
I wasn't expecting this choice to be as clear as it was in the end, but perhaps you did the right choice. I can definitely understand why you decide not to be so trusting, especially as the person they are going to meet is known for utmost secrecy. Perhaps this was a wise choice. At the same time, they are quite in need of help and with a bit of bad luck, they end up screwing their chances now. It'll all be revealed in the next Jaron part, which I am very excited to write.
The next part is going to be out today. It will feature PoV's from Arthur and Kersea, both of which hadn't had a part in this chapter yet. The last time we saw Arthur, he had a talk with his father, the commander, about their next moves. Hackor revealed to him that he suspects a merchant from White Harbour, a certain Helenys Bellward, to be in league with the assassins, as she owns a number of suspiciously empty warehouses in Raylansfair and coincidentally has been announced to be on her way to Raylansfair just shortly after part of her property got damaged in the warehouse fight between the city guard and Clayton's group in Chapter 5. Though, in Lucas final part in Chapter 6, it has also been revealed by Harris that he intends to sell her the wildfire John found, which might be another reason for her timely arrival in Raylansfair, although one that is currently unknown to Arthur. Chapter 7 will start for him on the next day, waiting for the arrival of this merchant. Meanwhile, Kersea and Clayton have successfully assassinated Septon Corbin in the last chapter, although Kersea managed to anger Clayton once more. When they returned to their hideout, they were confronted by another group of assassins, led by Clayton's rival, Rayden, who was sent to Raylansfair by Butterfly to support them after their past failures, concerning Jenna and Wolfius. He also brought new orders from Butterfly, to steal something of great value, something they will need the extra manpower for. However, his arrival greatly angered Clayton, who has a serious grudge against him and who immediately started to conspire to kill him, which is something Kersea decided to help him with.
Arthur
Standing at the eastern road, illuminated by the midday sun, his arms crossed, Arthur watched the carriage in the distance. It was an enclosed carriage made out of wood that was painted black, although Arthur spotted an unknown crest on each side. From the distance, it looked like a human heart painted on each side, together with something else, which Arthur was unable to identify. Two black horses were carrying it, proud and strong animals.
“She's late”, he mumbled and yawned. For the past four hours he had been standing here, waiting for Lord Harris' merchant to arrive. A job he was well-suited for, as his father told him. For some reason, this was the one thing that made him truly angry. Just a week ago, he saved the lives of Lyria and Rosalie Mettel. He probably saved even more by arresting Wolfius. Perhaps he wasn't the one who caught him, but he brought him in and the lack of recognition he received from the commander was galling.
“Power play”, Valarr Roux mumbled. He was one of the two guardsmen Hackor had assigned to assist Arthur, as if he wasn't even able to greet an important guest to the city on his own. Valarr was a few years older than Arthur, a relatively new member of the city guard, but experienced enough to be someone Arthur could rely on. His face was round and plain, unassuming and in itself, utterly, almost dangerously unmemorable, while his hair had a common, brown colour. If Valarr would have been a criminal, he would have probably been highly successful, for his complete lack of visually outstanding features. The only thing that truly set him apart from the other men Arthur worked with on a daily basis was his eloquence. He was someone to carefully choose his words, a persuasive and cunning man. Despite this, Arthur knew that many other guards had their differences with Valarr.
“She's asserting her dominance”, the man explained and Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Lady Helenys is our guest”, he answered. “Why should she feel the need to prove her dominance over us, by letting us wait on purpose?” Valarr shrugged. “Perhaps there's more to her visit than a simple transaction. Do you remember what the commander said?”, he spoke.
“You mean she is working with these killers?”, Arthur asked. Again, Valarr shrugged. “If she is, you'll be the first to find out, Nathamer”, he said with the hint of a smirk that was somewhere between mocking and genuine. Before Arthur could answer, the other man raised an eyebrow. “Where's Ermo, by the way?”, he asked.
Arthur glanced over his shoulder and sighed. As if he had heard them, the third member of their welcoming party was running towards them, though perhaps running was the wrong term here. Arthur was by nature not someone to judge, but even he had to admit that Aldus Ermo wasn't the most competent member of the city guard. He was a young man and highly overweight, which made a target of regular mockery from the more cruel guardsmen, with a puffy, round face and almost three chins. A patchy stubble was starting to grow on the third chin and his long, brown hair flew in the wind as he rushed towards them.
“Wonderful”, Valarr mumbled and Arthur shot him a glare. “Hold back with your comments this time, Valarr”, he warned him sternly. Physically, Aldus was in a catastrophic shape. His weight made it impossible for him to perform the more physical tasks of a city guard, which meant that Hackor mostly used him to guard the headquarters. On top of that, he was a known coward.
This however did not mean that Arthur approved of the mockery the young man was subjected to. He one other trait, which made him highly valuable in Arthur's eyes, a trait men like Valarr did not possess. He was compassionate, had a good heart. In situations where other guardsmen would chase after a fleeing criminal, Aldus would stay with their victims, to comfort them until help would arrive. In Arthur's eyes, this alone was reason enough to need a man like him in the guard and Aldus' continuing presence among them, despite his shortcomings, proved without a doubt that Hackor thought similarly.
“I would have rather had a man like Stratford at my side now. At least Daemion knows how to hold a sword correctly”, Valarr continued and Arthur gave him a curious look. “Do you expect a fight?”, he asked and the man shook his head. “As you said, she is our guest. I just like to be prepared”, he answered and grinned. “Though, I suppose if things go awful, we can always hide behind Ermo”
“Guys!”, Aldus shouted from the distance. “Guys, wait for me!” Valarr shook his head. “Sure”, he said in a mocking tone. “After all, I have nothing else to do than to wait for a moving mountain of meat” He sighed and glanced back towards the carriage.
Gasping for air, Aldus stopped next to them. His chubby face was reddened from exhaustion and for a moment, Arthur was afraid the young man would just faint. He and Valarr certainly weren't able to carry him back all the way to the headquarters in such a case.
“Hey... guys...”, he gasped and Valarr rolled his eyes. Arthur gave him a friendly nod. “Good morning Aldus”, he greeted him and the young man smiled brightly. “I'm not too late”, he said as he spotted the carriage in the distance.
“Must be a new feeling for you”, Valarr mumbled and Aldus' smile faded. With a stony face, he focussed on the carriage, while Arthur sighed. Perhaps his father gave him Valarr and Aldus for a reason. Perhaps he wanted to test him, wanted him to prove his worth, as unlikely as it sounded. Or perhaps he really just didn't care.
Finally, Arthur got a clean look on the man who was driving the carriage. He was young, with the typical pale skin and dark hair of a true Northerner. He was lean, a bit on the skinny side, with crystal blue eyes and small sideburns. Like the carriage he was driving, he was clothed in black.
“Good day”, Arthur greeted him, as the carriage got slower until it stopped in front of them. The young man gave him a nod. “Greetings!”, he answered and Arthur finally got a good look on the strange crest painted on each side of the carriage. He gulped, as he recognized the formerly unidentifiable object that was painted onto the human heart as some sort of insect, small, but deadly looking, with a sting that directly pierced the heart.
“Uh... my name is Arthur Nathamer, son of the commander of Raylansfairs city guard”, he introduced himself. “We have been sent to welcome Lady Helenys Bellward in the city” The man smiled, it was an open and friendly smile that did not fit to the eery carriage he was driving. “Then you have the right people, Ser”, he said. “My name is Aren Charlton, I am Helenys' servant. The lady is sitting in the carriage. I believe Lord Castellan Harris is expecting her”
“Correct”, Arthur confirmed, before he, Valarr and Aldus stepped aside to make way for the carriage. “The commander sent us to escort you to the castle” A pleased look formed on Aren's face, as the carriage started moving again, through the city gates, with Arthur and Aldus to the right and Valarr to the left.
While Aren himself focussed on navigating the carriage through the streets, which was hard enough at this time of the day, Arthur tried to get a look inside the carriage, to no avail, as the windows were nothing but tiny holes that allowed not even the tiniest glimpse inside.
Without encountering any hindrance, the procession made their way through the streets and up the road that led to the castle. Finally, Aren brought the carriage to a stop a few metres in front of the castle gate. “We're here, mylady”, he said loudly. Just a moment later, the door of the carriage got opened from the inside.
The woman that stepped out of it was older than Arthur had expected. Her hair had the colour of snow, the purest white Arthur had ever seen, it was tied to a thick braid that lay on her shoulder and her pale skin gave her away as a Northerner. While her face had remarkably few wrinkles, the high arch of her eyebrows and the piercing look in her brown eyes almost made it seem as if she was frowning. She was clad in a lavish display of wealth, a dress consisting entirely out of different shades of purple and gold. In her hand, she was holding a small, wooden box.
Arthur and Aldus immediately bowed in front of her, though Aldus' bow was a bit clumsy. “Lady Helenys, it is my pleasure to welcome you in Raylansfair”, Arthur greeted her politely. “My name is Arthur Nathamer, son of Commander Hackor Nathamer”
“The pleasure is all mine”, Helenys answered with a smile, her voice was clear and pleasant. She took a step towards Arthur and Aldus, momentarily glancing at the overweight guardsman, before she handed him the small, wooden box she was carrying. “You seem to be a careful man”, she explained and the compliment took Aldus by surprise. “Please, carry this for me. Be careful, it contains something that is of unspeakable and personal value to me”
The young man smiled shyly. “May I ask what it is?”, he asked and Helenys gave him a patient nod. “His name is Taros and he is my friend and companion”, she answered and slightly lifted the top of the box. In curiosity, Arthur and Aldus both took a glance into it and immediately, the overweight man got pale as snow. Inside the box, unmoving but watching them with black, unnerving eyes, sat an insect, the very same insect that was visible on Helenys' crest. It had a shining green colour, six legs, a pair of wings and a long sting. What was really unsettling though was the strange, almost human-like face it had.
“Is that a man... man...”, Aldus stuttered and Helenys smiled. “A manticore”, she stated casually. “Don't be afraid, he is tame and no danger to you” Aldus was afraid though, it was clear to see. Even though the wooden box separated him from the manticore, his legs were shaking and he was pale, as if he was about to faint.
Helenys did not seem to notice, though she did not know Aldus as good as Arthur did. The young man was close to a panic, now that he knew about the dangerous animal he was holding. “Please, young man, follow Aren. Once I received a room from your lord, I would like you to bring Taros there”, Helenys explained, looking at Aldus. “Aren will accompany you. Be gentle and you shall be rewarded”
Then, she looked at Arthur, with a friendly smile. “And you, son of the commander, would you do me the honour of escorting me to Lord Harris?” Arthur gulped and glanced at Aldus. Surely, escorting her would be the polite thing to do, exactly what his father and the lady were expecting of him. At the same time, he was afraid that Aldus would panic, being so close to the manticore. He could take the box from him, could take on his duty, though perhaps the lady could see it as rude if he'd ignore her wishes.
[Escort Helenys to Harris] [Take the box from Aldus]
Kersea
As expected, Clayton's knife hit the target. Without missing a beat, he pulled out another knife, took aim and threw it. Again, he hit the centre of the target, the wooden board that was leaning against the wall of their small hideout.
Alysanne yawned with ostentation and smiled, as she looked from Kersea to Clayton. The look she gave Kersea was as genuine as possible with her, while her expression grew considerably more forced the moment she lay eyes on Clayton. “Well done”, she chirped. “Wooden boards from here to Asshai will tremble in fear”
Clayton gave her a displeased glare and Kersea tensed up. He was in a bad mood. Of course, his mood was rarely good, but today he was especially vicious. Ever since Rayden arrived in Raylansfair, Clayton seemed to be in a state of constant brooding and his temper seemed to be shorter than ever.
“I'll get a chance for a live target soon enough”, he snarled and glanced at the door. “I wonder what take him so long” Alysanne grinned, now completely honest, as she looked at the door as well. “I can't wait for it”, she said, in a tone that was almost longingly.
“So, you really want to do it?”, Kersea mumbled and Alysanne looked up. “Oh, puppy”, she said with a smile. “One day, you're going to get yourself killed for your softness. Trust me, Rayden deserves everything that's coming to him. He's a real bastard” She glanced at Clayton. “Well, so are you, Clay”, she said without flinching.
Clayton gave her a cold glare. “I'm going to kill this man tonight”, he growled. “What was Butterfly thinking when he sent him to... to help me?” He shook his head. “It was foolish to send Rayden here. He sent him to his death” His hand moved to the scarred flesh where his eye used to be and a grim, bloodthirsty and outright cruel smirk formed on his face. “Today I'll be taking back what's mine, twice. I'll blind him, take a few other things as well”
“No doubt you will”, Kersea said, not even bothering with hiding her disinterest in Clayton's sick vengeance fantasies. He noticed the bored tone in her voice and shot her a glare. “Can I count on you?”, he asked. Kersea gave him a simple, quick nod and nearly flinched when he jumped up.
“I asked you a question and I expect to get an answer”, he growled and crossed the distance between them in two steps. His hand grabbed her lower jaw, painfully squeezing it in an instant, while sudden, almost murderous rage flared up in his eyes. “Yes...”, she pressed through her teeth. “You can count on me”
His grip did not grow any weaker, instead she felt as if it got only stronger, more painful. Compared to what he usually did, it was nothing, but the unexpectedness of this outburst was terrifying to her. “Clayton...”, Alysanne hissed coldly, before she rose from the bed she was sitting on. Clayton threw a glance at her and what he saw was enough for him to let go of Kersea.
“I... apologize. It's just... I'm sorry”, he said. Of course he wasn't honest, but it seemed to be enough for Alysanne to lower the throwing knife she was casually holding in her hand. Kersea wasn't sure if her friend was unable to tell the difference, or if it had been honest enough for her.
“Aren't you a sweetheart”, Alysanne said with a grin. “That said, I am looking forward for today. It's been a while since I killed someone who really had it coming” She glanced at the small knife in her hands. “One of his men, the Summer Islander, I want him for myself. While you were away playing with the Septon, he said some pretty unflattering things about my thighs” With these words, she chuckled. “Do you think my thighs are ugly, puppy?”
Kersea looked up, stunned by the very question. “I... you...”, she stuttered, before she regained her composure. “I think you have lovely thighs”, she answered and slightly blushed at the private nature of the question. Alysanne smiled brightly, as she turned around, throwing the knife at the door. The blade hit the wood, piercing deeply into it. “That is the only opinion that matters to me”, she said and her smile faded. “The only one in the entire world”
Clayton coughed to regain the attention. He was leaning against the wall now, his arms crossed. “Then there is only one thing left to discuss, before we can prepare to kill Rayden and his men”, he declared. “We are going to need a plan. A good one”
“Surely you already thought of something?” Kersea asked. Once more, she couldn't care less for Clayton's sick wishes. She was doing this to get back into his good graces. With a bit of luck, she could keep him away from Briar until they would be back in Oldtown. This time, she would try to free her little sister. Perhaps Alysanne would even help. Once Briar was free, she'd be done with Clayton, done with Butterfly. Until then, she would continue to be Clayton's weapon. The thought alone made her shiver, but it was the only word she deemed appropriate for her situation.
“Of course I have”, Clayton confirmed. “I don't care for his men. They have to die of course, to prevent Butterfly from ever learning the truth, but they can die quickly. Rayden though...” He paused and smiled. “They brought the wildfire to the old lighthouse and they are guarding it carefully”, he explained. “This means, our first task, coincidentally the one we need Rayden for, will be to defeat the guards. However, I also think the fight that is inevitably breaking out is out best chance to take down this smug bastard and his two fuckboys”
“In the middle of the fight?”, Alysanne asked and raised an eyebrow. Kersea wasn't sure if her friend was approving of such a plan or not. Clayton gave her an enthusiastic nod. “I plan to make it look as if they were killed by the enemy. With a bit of luck, Rayden and his men won't notice a thing until it is too late. And if we're even more lucky, the guards will be confused as well, at least enough to make it easier for us to kill the rest of them”
“With a bit of luck...”, Alysanne mumbled and clicked her tongue. “You know, I really don't approve of this. You're relying an awful lot on your luck” She put two fingers onto her left eye and Clayton narrowed the one he still had. “When it comes to Rayden, luck never really worked out for you, love”
A low growl forced its way out of Clayton's throat and he shook his head. “Then what do you suggest, Alysanne?”, he asked in a harsh, bitter tone. Alysanne leant back on the bed, slightly moving her burned shoulder. Her wound was healing nicely and while she was still clearly affected by it, she was able to move better and better with each passing day. Kersea had no doubt that her friend was able to kill again.
“We use them first. Let them fight the guards. We're going to help them, but we'll hold back. Let them have the bulk of the fight and then, when we reached our goal for Butterfly and when Rayden and his men are exhausted, we strike. We toy a bit with them, you get to do whatever you want to do with Rayden and we can all go home happy”
“Never thought you'd ever advise me to hold back”, Clayton remarked and she smiled. “Never thought you'd underestimate your opponent”, she countered and looked down onto her bandaged shoulder. “I don't deny that I was a bit too... confident in the warehouse. But I know Rayden well enough to know that fighting him and the city guard at the same time is going to be suicide”
“Don't forget that they fight each other as well”, Clayton argued. “If anything, it is safer to strike while they are distracted” This time, Alysanne shook her head. “If there is one thing I know, it's the mind of a killer. Tell me, Clayton, would you be distracted by such a fight? I know, I wouldn't. I know, if you'd try to kill me while I'm fighting someone else, it would end with both of you dead”, she answered. “Now, if I'm exhausted on the other hand, if I already killed someone and just got out of the frenzy again, that is when I'm vulnerable. That is when you are vulnerable and that is when Rayden is vulnerable”
“I don't get in a frenzy when I fight”, Clayton countered. “I'm not exhausted that easily. And as much as I hate Rayden, I don't think we'll be able to take him by surprise with your plan. I even think it will be harder for us to kill him if we wait until he has only us to concentrate on. We need a distraction”
“A distraction would be nice, but sadly, your distraction would try to kill us as well”, Alysanne argued, before she sighed. “I don't think this is going to lead to anything good. You have your point, I have mine, you're a stubborn bastard and you probably think the same about me” She glanced at Kersea. “Puppy, what do you think? How would you like to kill these people?”, she asked in a casually friendly tone and Clayton chuckled. “You're asking Kersea now?”, he snarled and his intense glare hit Kersea. “Sure, go ahead, my dear, enlighten us. Which plan would you rather follow?”
[Support Clayton's plan] [Support Alysanne's plan]
[Take the box from Aldus] It's a cool thing.
[Support Clayton's plan] More death oh yeah.
Alysanne I forgot how much I hated you.
[Take the box from Aldus] I smell Aldus failing and loosing it. Better not to risk it.
[Support Alysanne's plan] She have a point there.
[Take the box from Aldus]
[Support Clayton's plan] Firstly, I prefer Clayton over Alysanne. I just feel like Kersea have this previous hate for Clayton for no real reason. Like a part way back, when he tried to be kind and Kersea just said Fuck! You! I don't understand.
Besides, I hate Alysanne, soo.
[Take the box from Aldus]
[Support Clayton's plan]
[Escort Helenys to Harris] Probably the best option since take the box from Aldus will put Arthur in a bad light not only wih the other guardsman but even with the guests
[Support Alysanne's plan] It's the best plan even if it make Clayton hate/love us more
Sorry if I'm direct but do you remember the story so far?Clayton deserve everything that the girl said to him!
The problem with Clayton, and one of the reasons she hates him so much, is that he puts her through a great deal of constant abuse, physical and mental. Her storyline in each chapter features at least one moment where he beats her, sometimes just for the most minor offenses. If he isn't physically hurting her, he is fond of asserting his dominance in some other way, by playing sadistic mind games with her or by indirectly threatening to harm her little sister, Briar, if she does not follow his orders. Said little sister used to be in Oldtown, where she was held prisoner by Maron Mullendore, whom Clayton is working for. Unbeknownst to Kersea, Mullendore got actually rather fond of the girl and likely wouldn't have harmed her, which is a fact Clayton failed to inform her of. Also, Briar has been freed by Kersea's former mentor Terroma at the end of last chapter, which is something Kersea and Clayton are currently unaware of.
So, from Kersea's point-of-view, things are actually pretty simple. Clayton forces her to work for him, not any kind of work, but assassin work, which is something she despises and she literally only follows his orders because he keeps her little sister as a hostage. Then there is the abuse she suffers at his hands, which slowly but steadily threatens to break her. She also blames him for the death of her parents, who were murdered by a former member of his group. You see, there are plenty of reasons why Kersea hates him so much. Meanwhile, things are a bit more complicated from Claytons PoV. He has a mad crush on Kersea and feels entitled to have her, so her constant rejection, for the abovementioned reasons, is triggering the worst and most sadistic part of his personality. He, more or less, sees himself as the victim here, though objectively he does everything he can to justify Kersea's hatred for him. Sometimes, he tries to be nice and kind towards her, though these moments are not always genuine and Kersea is simply not buying it. Your mileage may vary as to how much his genuine, if twisted love for Kersea counts as a redeeming feature, but it is pretty much the only thing speaking in his favour. In turn, there are plenty of reasons to hate him and his previous actions were definitely not meant to portray him in a sympathetic light. Though, I can tease that this chapter may change your opinion on him. He's going to be at his absolute worst this time.
Meanwhile, Alysanne is a complicated character. Like Clayton, she has sadistic tendencies, though in her case she is less fond of mentally breaking someone and more fond of influcting pain during a physical fight. Behind that, she is not evil per se, but a horribly damaged, broken person, in many ways a warning of what Kersea is in danger of becoming. As a result of the damage inflicted upon her, she has the emotional maturity of a preteen and Kersea once compared her to a sociopath, which is not entirely untrue. She finds it hard to understand and deal with complex emotions, like friendship or love. For that reason, Kersea pities her and out of this pity, they eventually formed a weird friendship. This friendship is perhaps Alysanne's strongest redeeming trait. It is as genuine as possible for her and unlike Clayton, she would never do anything to harm Kersea. Out of the two, Clayton and Alysanne, Alysanne is by far the more positive relationship in Kersea's life.
[Take the box from Aldus] I think Arthur would care more about the job being done well over being worried about offending a Lady.
[Support Alysanne's plan] As Alysanne said, Clayton's plan depends too much on luck. He's pretty angry and vengeful so he's not really thinking straight.
"I think you have lovely thighs" XD I love Alysanne!
[Escort Helenys to Harris]
[Support Clayton's plan]
[Take the box from Aldus] fucking want this
[Support Clayton's plan] still love clayton
[Take the box from Aldus]
[Support Alysanne's plan] I like the idea of the assassins using the city guard to tire Rayden and his men, then pounce when their energy is drained to catch them off guard.
[Escort Helenys to Harris]
[Support Alysanne's plan]
[Take the box from Aldus]
[Support Alysanne's plan]
[Escort Helenys to Harris] [Support Alysanne's plan]
[Escort Helenys to Harris]
[Support Alysanne's plan]
[Take the box from Aldus] He can still accompany her with the manticore can't he?
[Support Alysanne's plan]
[Escort Helenys to Harris] To avoid a public embarrasement for the city guard.
**
[Support Alysanne's plan]** The smartest choice imo.
**[Take the box from Aldus] **
[Support Alysanne's plan]
The Voting is closed!
Arthur is going to take the box from Aldus
Kersea is going to support Alysanne's plan
I am relatively neutral about both options here. The first one, I feel, is going to be a bit better for character development in Arthur's storyline, so that's a nice thing. Meanwhile, I have both routes for Kersea's storyline planned, although I have planned the outcome of Alysanne's plan in slightly more detail, so I am quite happy with this outcome. Kersea's next part will show you if this was a wise thing. It might be a bit of a wait until her next part happens, but this chapter in general is going to be extremely important for her.
The next part is going to be out today. It is going to be a part with PoV's from Samantha and Jenna and it will start both of their storylines in this chapter. In the last Chapter, Samantha only had few parts of her own, which is going to change in this one. The last time we saw her, she had the ungrateful task of informing Aylard of his daughter's death, which ended up with her on the ground and him storming off to confront Lucas and Leonard. In the last John part, Janae revealed that she had sent her to a mission out of the city, together with Sasha, Jaro and I'lian. The sellsword John and Janae had captured at the end of Chapter 5, a young woman who goes by the name Lenrianda, has agreed to reveal information about what the Second Sons are planning in Raylansfair and whom they are working for, if John's group helps her with finding a friend of hers, who is currently in a camp in the forest. To give her something to do, Janae decided to assign Samantha to this find this friend. Meanwhile, Jenna met with the alleged servicemaid Saerya Waters, who turned out to be a spy in service of House Targaryen. Saerya revealed to her that she has the current goal to bring down Sherryl, whom she sees as a danger to her mission and to the city. This caused Jenna to ally with her. In the chaos caused by the Stormlander's arrival in Raylansfair, Saerya now tasked Jenna to search through Sherryl's room, to hopefully find something incriminating, something that might shed more light on her true goals.
Ignore this. Just seeing if I am able to post on this thread again. It did not work last time.
Samantha
The only thing both, Samantha and Sasha, were quite saddened about was the fact that they had no horses to ride on. Other than that, even Sasha had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Samantha had never been in this part of the Reach before. The forest near the place she grew up in was highly different from the forest she was now marching through.
Back home in the North, the trees were tall and dark, most of them conifers. The forest here was equally dark, though it had a haunting beauty at the same time. The autumn was already starting to touch the leaves upon the trees, painting the entire scenery in a greenish yellow colour. It could have been a relaxing walk.
“Hey Sam, over here”, I'lian said and she sighed. It could have been a relaxing walk, if not for the company. Jaro and I'lian were with them, as well as the captured sellsword, Lenrianda, whose hands were tied behind her back. Jaro kept close to her at all times, while I'lian scouted the deeper underbrush to their left, to make sure that they wouldn't be surprised by anything.
She glanced at him, just in time to raise her hands and catch the object he was throwing at her. For a moment, she shot him an angry glare, before she realized what she was holding in her hand now. “An apple?”, she asked and I'lian gave her a nod. “And there's plenty more. Wild apples, as sweet as a dornishwoman”, he answered and rose his hand again, another apple ready to throw. “Here's one for you too, Grumpy”
With these words, he threw another apple towards Sasha, who was quick-witted enough to catch it. “Grumpy?”, she said and I'lian smirked. “You really could smile more often, mylady”, he said diplomatically.
“I never thought I'd ever say that, but I agree with I'lian”, Samantha said and grinned as Sasha glared at her. “I'm not grumpy”, she insisted. “I smile when there's a reason to” Jaro cleared his throat. “Well, it is a beautiful day, the landscape is lovely and we're all alive and healthy”, he interjected. “Do you need an additional reason?”
Sasha shrugged, before she took a bit out of the apple. “Not bad”, she reluctantly admitted and now, a small, but genuine smile formed on her face. Samantha had to admit that it was very pretty. She looked down at the fresh apple I'lian just gave her and with a smirk, she took a bite out of it, enjoying the sweet taste of the fruit.
I'lian raised an eyebrow, apparently waiting for her judgement. “Sweet as a dornishwoman”, she confirmed and both shared a grin. I'lian walked past her and next to Lenrianda, who had watched their interaction in silence so far. With a suave smile, he pulled another apple out of his bag. “May I, sweet lady?”, he asked, as he pulled a small knife from his belt. With quick movements, he started to cut the apple, while Lenrianda rolled her brown eyes. “Do you plan on feeding me?”, she asked with a mocking tone in her voice. “You know, I could do it myself if you'd just untie my hands”
“Yeah...”, Jaro answered in his brothers stead. “Not going to happen” I'lian at least gave her an apologetic shrug. “I'm sorry, but I'm not the one calling the shots here. Janae's orders have been clear” Now, the mocking look on Lenrianda's face faded. “I heard as well, you know”, she said. “I also heard that Jaro here is going to put a knife in my back if I'm going to lead you into a trap”
“Janae has always been good at motivating others”, I'lian answered. “Don't you worry, no one plans to put a knife in your back” He sternly looked at his brother. “Isn't that right, Jaro?” The other man gave him a hasty nod, which seemed to please him.
“That is good for you”, Lenrianda answered. “See, Nym wouldn't be happy if anything happens to me” I'lian raised an eyebrow. “Ah yeah, Nym. Nymeria Aspys, isn't that right? The dornish nobe lady?”
Lenrianda chuckled. “Technically”, she answered. “Though aside from her name, Nym is not much of a noble lady. I bet she could kill you with her bare hands, sweetheart” She paused. “She's also not much of a dornishwoman, at least not like you probably imagine them”
This caused I'lian to grin. “Well, mylady, how do you think I imagine a dornishwoman?”, he asked. Lenrianda reciprocated the grin. “She's probably a bit paler than you imagine her”, she started to explain. “I know pale dornishwomen”, I'lian answered. “You know, even the dark ones are not tanned everywhere” While Jaro let out an annoyed sigh, Lenrianda chuckled, though it sounded more forced than amused. “Trust me, Nym's a bit paler than you imagine her”
At this point, Samantha took another bite out of her apple, before she looked ahead, spotting Sasha. Her friend was walking in front of them, but during the brother's conversation, she had slightly fastened her pace, now walking a few metres ahead of them. With a concerned frown, Samantha struggled to catch up with her.
“Hey”, she said and Sasha glanced over her shoulder. “Hey”, she answered likewise and slightly slowed down, so that they could walk next to each other. “You okay?”, Samantha asked and Sasha gave her a slow nod. “I think so”, she answered and looked down at the apple she was still holding. “It's just... am I part of this group now?”
Without hesitating, Samantha gave her a nod. “You're part of my group”, she assured her and now, a slow smirk formed on Sasha's face. “That's good enough for me”, she answered. “It... has been some time since I last had people to rely on”
“You can rely on me”, Samantha said and glanced over her shoulder. “Jaro and I'lian are good people as well. I know, they can be a bit much at times, but you can rely on them as well” She sighed as she watched I'lian doing a grimace to mock his brother. “Most of the time at least”, she added reluctantly and now, Sasha chuckled.
“I think I can get used to that”, she answered, though she hesitated. Her smile faded. “What if it doesn't last though?” Now, Samantha gave her a curious look. “What do you mean”, she asked in return.
Sasha glanced over her shoulder. “I don't doubt that you have good people around you”, she said and took another bite out of her apple. “It's just... what if it doesn't last? What if I don't get along with... with the one-eyed guy for example”
“Whom?”, Samantha asked. “John or Temari?” Sasha shrugged. “Does it matter?”, she asked in return. “Let's say it's John. What if I don't get along with the leader of your group?” Now, Samantha sighed. Both women fastened their pace a little bit, to get some distance between them and the others.
“You and me, we've been through a lot”, Samantha answered. “Come to think of it, we've been through more than me and John. Sure, there have been a couple of small skirmishes, but nothing... fuck, nothing like Oldtown. I couldn't have done it without you” She looked at Sasha and smiled. “You're always part of my group”, she repeated.
Finally, Sasha seemed to relax. The words visibly calmed her down. “I... I think I can get used to that”, she said. “Before we teamed up, I was used to work alone. I liked it that way and I was good at it. There was no one I could disagree with and no one I could loose. There was no one to care for, but myself, no one to look out for, but myself”
Samantha glanced over her shoulder again, where Jaro was talking to Lenrianda. I'lian had vanished into the underbrush again. “Perhaps it's time to change that”, she advised her. “Perhaps”, Sasha agreed and momentarily, Samantha had the feeling as if she had moved slightly closer.
“Eyes on me, sweethearts”, the voice of Lenrianda sounded. The soft hint of a smile on Sasha's face disappeared at once. “Perhaps”, she repeated sternly, before she turned around and stopped walking. Samantha did the same, though she did so with a frown.
“What is it?”, she asked. To her left, I'lian returned from the underbrush, a curious look on his face. Lenrianda was playing with a strand of her black hair, while she made sure that everyone was paying attention to her. Finally, she cleared her throat. “We're almost here. Nym should be somewhere in this area”
“So, you're saying?”, Jaro asked and Lenrianda raised her hands. “The ties”, she said. “See, there is one problem... Nym can be a bit... hot-headed. If she sees me walking through the forest as your prisoner, she could get the wrong impression. Perhaps she's even going to make the wrong decision”
“Nice try”, Sasha said and Lenrianda rolled her eyes. “No need to get sassy at me, grumpy”, she answered and exchanged a playful wink with I'lian, while Sasha frowned. Immediately, she raised her tied hands again. “Hey, listen, I know you don't trust me and you have a good reason for it. In your case, I wouldn't trust anyone either”, she tried to persuade them once more. “I'm just saying, if I wanted to lure you into an ambush, I'd certainly not do it in a way that would leave my own survival up to your mercy” She sighed. “I'm honest with you, believe it or not. Nymeria is my friend, but she can be a stubborn, reckless bitch”, she argued. “All I want is to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. From all I saw, you're decent. Kept me alive for the past week. I don't want you to die, I don't want Nym to die and most importantly, I don't want myself to die. I'm not saying she will attack you, but it will certainly tarnish her opinion on you, her willingness to cooperate, if she sees me as your prisoner”
The first to react was I'lian. He gave Lenrianda a slow nod. “I trust you”, he assured her. “Perhaps trust would be the wrong word, but I believe you. I trust myself and my ability to spot a lie” He looked at Jaro, who shrugged. “Usually, I trust you, brother. I just don't know if I can trust her” Sasha shook her head. “I don't believe a word she says”, she answered and looked at Samantha. “Though I don't lead this mission and I don't get to decide. What do you say?”
[Cut Lenrianda's ties] [Keep her tied up]
Jenna
“That means, you want me to break into Sherryl's room?”, Jenna asked, as she looked up at Saerya, who climbed down the ladder that led to the ravenry. The spy gave her a nod. “That's the plan. I make sure no one's going to disturb you”, she answered and jumped down the last rung. A smirk formed on her face. “I have an idea or two on how to do it”
She looked past Jenna, just as noise came from the courtyard. “Something's not right out there”, Jenna said, immediately realizing that she stated the obvious. Saerya walked to the stained windows of the ravenry, glancing out. “Indeed, which is perfect for us”, she answered. With these words, she grabbed Jenna's arm and dragged her towards the door.
As they stepped outside onto the courtyard, Jenna spotted several people, standing close to the stairs that led up to the lord's tower. They were talking, though she was too far away to understand them. One of them was Harris, another one was Ser Darren. They were the only ones she recognized immediately. The two men glared at each other and at least in Darren's case, the look in his eyes had a streak of hatred.
It took her a moment to recognize the man who was just now rising from the ground. He had blonde hair and she had no doubt that he used to be handsome, until a recent wound claimed one of his eyes and one of his ears. She tensed up as she recognized him and gasped loud enough for Saerya to stop and throw her a questioning glance. “Ser Lucas”, she stuttered and her eyes widened as she remembered the polite and handsome knight. The man next to him was Ser Leonard. He looked less changed, in a physical sense, though he was paler than before, a bit thinner perhaps.
“The knight that left for Oldtown?”, Saerya asked and clenched her hand around Jenna's arm. “Come on, we got to go” Jenna gave her a nod, though she threw another glance at the people. One of them was a knight, a tall, broad-shouldered man with short, dark hair and a tabard that gave his allegiance to House Durrandon away immediately. Between Harris and Darren stood another dark-haired knight, though much younger than the first one, with a somewhat plain face. He wore a silver vest, adorned with a fine, red lion. Finally, there was a young woman, beautiful and raven-haired, in a fine, yellow dress.
“The lion knight is Willfred Reyne”, Saerya explained, as she pulled her away. “Arrived here with his uncle, a general of his army and a small group of soldiers. It's quite fascinating, as it seems that the lion of Castamere allied himself with the fawn of Storm's End”
Jenna only needed a moment to realize what Saerya was talking about. She immediately glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widened. “She's Durrandon's daughter?”, she gasped, stunned by the fact that she just met a princess. Here in Raylansfair, she had never met many nobles until Lord Raylans death and the thought of having laid eyes on a real princess felt surreal.
Saerya gave her a nod. “Argella”, she answered. “Barely twenty and she already acts like a conqueror” She sighed, as she pulled Jenna through a side entrance into the servant's area of the castle. From there, Jenna knew they could make their way to the rooms of the nobility, people like Sherryl. “I almost have pity with the girl”, Saerya mumbled. “She probably thinks Sherryl is her ally and I'm sure it'll cost her dearly” Now, she shook her head. “Then again, a cousin of mine lost his hands because of her, so my pity keeps within a limit”
This gruesome detail sparked Jenna's curiosity and she raised an eyebrow. Saerya caught her glance and sighed. “Corilyan of House Celtigar. Son of my father's sister. Ambassador of the Dragonlord”, she answered and the look on her face grew bitter. “Technically, it was not the princess, but her father who cut off his hands, for what he perceived as an insult. Perhaps it is unfair of me to blame her for it”
She let go of Jenna's arm, now visibly upset. “Then again, Corilyan has always been kind to me, kind to everyone around him. The last time I have been to Dragonstone, his wife was pregnant with their second child”, she mumbled. “It is unfair of me to blame the princess for her father's wrongdoings, but still, a part of me thinks she could have stopped it. A part of me hates her, wishes...”
Saerya did not finish her sentence. She paused as two servicemen walked past them, deep in a conversation of their own. Jenna gave her an understanding nod, even though she did not fully understand. She had never felt hatred. Instinctively, she moved a hand to the scar next to her eye and she shivered. Not even Wolfius...
“So, you are absolutely sure that Sherryl is not working for the Storm King?”, she asked, to lead the topic into a different direction. Saerya gave her a tired nod. “Without a doubt. She informed him of his heritage, that much I am certain of. But she also informed the lord of Mander's Mouth”, she answered.
“Does that mean she is allied with Hobert?”, Jenna asked again and Saerya shook her head almost immediately. “I have even less doubt about that. There's no way she would ally with that man. She's not like that. Not the kind to support the weaker party. The young fawn out in the courtyard has enough power to outright dwarf him without even breaking a sweat”, she answered. “Come to think of it, perhaps I pity him even more. Though... unlike the Storm Princess, I have met the Lord of Mander's Mouth, spoke to him. I know what kind of man he is and I know that he certainly does not deserve any pity”
“I don't like him either”, Jenna admitted and Saerya smiled, even though a hint of the bitterness in her eyes remained. “Clever girl”, she said and the praise caused Jenna to blush slightly. “So, whom do you think Sherryl is working for?”, she asked in curiosity.
This time, Saerya shrugged. “I don't know. It rarely happens that I know nothing about a subject, but when it comes to Sherryl Flowers and her true allegiance, I can only guess. It must be someone more powerful than the Storm King, or else she would have probably allied with Argilac”, she answered and a frown appeared on her face. “This kinda limits the possibilities. From a certain point of view, I guess Harren Hoare could be seen as more powerful. I'd disagree, but I know many who see things that way. He's also the kind of man I could see her working for”
“So, she's working for the Hoare?”, Jenna asked and Saerya shook her head. “I don't know. It's nothing but a theory. Lord Robert's hatred for House Hoare was widely known, but I am not even sure if Harren was aware of his existence” Jenna gulped, as another thought crossed her mind. “What's with your dragonlord?”
Saerya raised both eyebrows. “No”, she stated firmly. “I'd know if she was an agent of Aegon. The Dragonlord is more powerful than the Storm King, but I don't think Sherryl is someone to see things that way. Besides, someone would have told me!” She decisively shook her head. “Harren Hoare is perhaps not the only option, but the most obvious” As if she had read Jenna's mind at that moment, she smirked. “The only thing we have to find out now is why. Why would Harren Hoare, or whomever this unknown power behind Sherryl is, have any kind of interest in Raylansfair?”
With these words, she stopped in front of a door. By now, they stood in a long, cold hallway. To her left, several doors led to the rooms of Raylansfair's noble guests. Back when Lord Robert had still been alive, the rooms had rarely been used, but now almost all of them were taken. To her right, a set of windows allowed a view into the courtyard. Jenna glanced outside, seeing the Stormlander knight talking to a couple of simple men-at-arms. Behind him, Darren and Leonard were talking to Harris. She saw neither Lucas, nor the princess or the knight of Reyne.
“Sherryl's room”, Saerya said and pointed at the door in front of them. Jenna gave her a nod. “How do we get...”, she started to say, but Saerya simply reached into her pocket, revealing a small, iron key. Jenna widely stared at the object. “How have you...”, she said, but once again, Saerya cut her off. “Trust me, it's better if this remains my little secret”, she chuckled, as she went to unlock the door. “The rest will be up to you. I'll make sure no one disturbs you, but you should still hurry”
“Got it”, Jenna confirmed. Saerya seemed pleased with that answer. “Once you're in there, keep it quick. It is unlikely you'll get the time to thoroughly search it, so stick with your intuition”, she answered, as she put a hand onto the doorknob. “The most important thing you got to look for in there is evidence. I plan to expose her for the treacherous serpent she is, but I can't do that if you don't find evidence. Look for anything written down... you can read, can't you?”
Jenna gave her a nod. “My mother taught me”, she answered and Saerya smiled. “Your mother was a wise woman, Jenna Harking”, she spoke softly, before she opened the door. “And now go. Hurry” Jenna took a deep breath, before she stepped into Sherryl's room.
It was smaller than expected, not unlike Harris' own room and much colder in terms of furniture. Fitting, as it was merely a guest room. The bed was large enough for two people and tidily made. A large mirror showed Jenna, pale, thin, frail and grey. There was a large wardrobe next to the small window. Even though it was midday outside, only a few rays of sunlight found their way into the room itself. Instead, a candle, standing on a desk, spent light, allowing her to see that the desk had at least one large drawer. A chest, slightly opened, stood next to the bed, right underneath the window. Finally, a cupboard at the other end of the room contained several drawers. A bottle of wine stood on top of it. Jenna gulped. She had to hurry...
[Search the wardrobe] [Search the desk] [Search the chest] [Search the cupboard]
[Search Desk]
Great part man. Though you misspeled Jaron in one of the first lines.
Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it! Though, to avoid confusion I should clarify, I did not misspell Jaron, as he didn't even appear in this part
The guy that appeared in Samantha's part is a different character who is named Jaro, without an n, he is the brother of I'lian and they are both sellswords from John Gutten's group and friends of Samantha. I'lian is the cocky jokester out of the two, while Jaro is more serious and collected, so I guess he left less of an impression.
[Keep her tied up]
[Search the cupboard]
Is it bad that I am starting to like Argella?
[Cut Lenrianda's ties]
[Search the desk]
[Cut Lenrianda's ties]
[Search the chest]
Nice reference.
[Keep her tied up]
[Search the desk]
[Cut Lenrianda's ties] She is right, if we're meeting a friend of hers nothing good will come from having her tied her up. Plus I already like her.
[Search the desk] If we're looking for something wriiten down, the desk would be where to find it. The chest might have something valuable but it's slightly open which seems to hint that Sherryl isn't too concerned about whatever's in there so it can't be that important.