Sorry the question Liquid but I'm too curious:do you have already decide which Pov will not have anymore a part during this chapter (no spoiler please )?Characters like Ilish,Sadie and Alys will have another part?
As much I like the new relation being created between Harrington and Raenna, we came here with Terroma, agreeing to help him in this mission. I don't want Terroma to have doubts regarding Raenna's priorities, when it comes to helping not him at first, but just met "stranger".
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
During the finale of Chapter 4, he fought against Leonard and prevented him from helping Lucas and Lunett. This fight ended when Leonard received a nasty leg wound, which still affects him in the current chapter.
Yes, I have made a plan about this. Sadie, Ilish and Alys are all going to have another part. In fact, Sadie is going to be featured in the next part, together with either Richard or Marak. I'm leaning a bit more in favour of Richard at the moment. Most of the PoV's are going to have at least one more part, although there are two whose storyline in the current chapter is already over. Since I plan to finish the chapter in the next two weeks at most, more finished storylines will soon follow.
Sorry the question Liquid but I'm too curious:do you have already decide which Pov will not have anymore a part during this chapter (no spoiler please )?Characters like Ilish,Sadie and Alys will have another part?
[Help Terroma] It's not that I don't like Harrington, but Raenna just met him whereas Terroma is basically a father figure to her. And it's kinda hard to forgive that he worked for Butterfly, no matter what his motive was. I do hope that Harrington survives though, because obviously we need him to save Briar. I trust he is badass enough to take on three thugs alone.
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
During the finale of Chapter 4, he fought against Leonard and prevented him from helping Lucas and Lunett. This fight ended when Leonard received a nasty leg wound, which still affects him in the current chapter.
[Help Harrington] Again, I'm not choosing this choice since Samuel is my character, but because Samuel has the bigger chance of being killed. From what we have seen, Samuel is good, but he isn't as good as Terroma or even Raenna. Anyway, I do like the reveal of Samuel's past to the audience and I hope they are connecting with him like I have. Another thing I like is how cheap and devious he can be. XD
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Are you really still salty about that? No offense, but that fight was long ago and it shouldn't matter anyway since Leonard is safe and sound at the moment. Plus, you do remember most of the shit Leonard has been is thanks to Jaylon, who messed him pretty badly as a hostage. So hold your grudge against Jaylon instead.
Are you really still salty about that? No offense, but that fight was long ago and it shouldn't matter anyway since Leonard is safe and soun… mored at the moment. Plus, you do remember most of the shit Leonard has been is thanks to Jaylon, who messed him pretty badly as a hostage. So hold your grudge against Jaylon instead.
This is indeed true. It should also be noted that, while Samuel was responsible for the initial wound Leonard received, he also spared his life. Jaylon ordered him to kill Leonard and Samuel took deep offense to that, because Jaylon has no right to give him an order. So, he consciously chose to end the fight nonlethally and to spare his opponent, in order to spite Jaylon for his earlier insult. While he definitely hasn't spared Leonard out of the kindness of his heart, he also never wounded him out of maliciousness.
Are you really still salty about that? No offense, but that fight was long ago and it shouldn't matter anyway since Leonard is safe and soun… mored at the moment. Plus, you do remember most of the shit Leonard has been is thanks to Jaylon, who messed him pretty badly as a hostage. So hold your grudge against Jaylon instead.
Harrington is a cool guy, but I feel that Raenna is much closer to Terroma. Plus, we have known Terroma much longer, even though that doesn't play much of a factor in my perspective. But like someone else mentioned, this was Terroma's mission we agreed to go on, and I would feel shitty if we got him killed because of it and kind of leave him behind, for lack of better wordage.
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
But we must remember that Samuel making himself an obstacle to Lucas and Leonard give an huge help to make Lunett died in a horrible way,plus at his own first appearence inside the story he was ready to kidnap (and probably bring to death)a young little girl (aka Ellena) and he even kill an innocent sailor that try to rescue the young girl.
Short story:it's true that now Samuel is helping Raenna and Terroma to rescue Briar but let's remember that he do that just because he want to know the truth about his own brother location.Plus I will put this reflection:if Mullendore hadn't lied about the brother Samuel now will had probably continue his life following the orders of the Butterfly without many regrets.
PS:I want to say that I like that the author give importance to many characters of the fanfic showing their backstories and motivations however I'm not the type to magically forgive all the wrong doings of a character just because he start to be "nice" (just for the record I've the same opinion about Jaylon,that with the last part reach the point of no return, inside this fiction and Jamie Lannister inside the original books)
This is indeed true. It should also be noted that, while Samuel was responsible for the initial wound Leonard received, he also spared his l… moreife. Jaylon ordered him to kill Leonard and Samuel took deep offense to that, because Jaylon has no right to give him an order. So, he consciously chose to end the fight nonlethally and to spare his opponent, in order to spite Jaylon for his earlier insult. While he definitely hasn't spared Leonard out of the kindness of his heart, he also never wounded him out of maliciousness.
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Well... that was a very close choice. Both options gained an almost equal amount of votes, and ultimately, Harrington won by only one vote. Personally, I would have probably leaned a little bit more in favour of Terroma, but considering how close this choice was, I am ultimately very pleased. It was meant to be a tough choice and judging by your differing opinions on this, it was a tough choice indeed. Raenna is going to have at least one more part in this chapter (or two, depending on how much I manage to put into one part) and I hope you're going to enjoy.
The next part is most likely going to be out today. It is going to be a part with PoV's from Sadie and Richard, both of which haven't been seen in a while. This is especially bad for Sadie, because well, it is her first chapter and the time that passed between her parts has been far too long. I hope to give her parts at a more steady pace in the coming chapter. The last time we saw her was also the second time we saw her. She and her companion, the merchant Dan Ornon, were in the tavern/brothel of the shady Gyles Gomblinger, who apparently holds Sadie's sister as a slave. In the attempt not to arouse any suspicion, both of them decided to bet on one of two fighters that were having a fist fight for the amusement of the guests. Dan decided to bet on Baelor, the champion and commander of the local garrison of soldiers. Sadie decided to bet on the smaller, more agile Blane, a sellsword in service of Gyles. Ultimately, she lost some money here, because Baelor soundly thrashed Blane. She also noticed that this apparently went against Gyles' plans, who was visibly unhappy about Baelor's victory, before basically throwing the man out. He and Blane had a short talk with Sadie and Dan, before both left their table again. Dan came up with the plan to win Blane's trust, in order to have someone close to Gyles who might be able to help them. For this, he wanted to use Sadie to gain Blane's attraction. However, Sadie preferred to keep her dignity and decided to seek out Baelor instead, counting on his recent argument with Gyles and hoping to win his help.
Meanwhile, Richard met up with a couple of other farmers from around Raylansfair. Next to his neighbour and nemesis Roman, he met up with Hal Recton, brother of the castle guard captain Nora, as well as the farmers Edefilec Magabaz and Than. Roman had called them here because of the beast that roams around the forest. Over the past week, he, Richard and Than had been victims of the beasts attacks, loosing quite a bit of livestock, and in Roman's case his mother, to it. Roman, consumed with vengeance, decided to gather the other farmers at the fair, to talk to them about what they could do. He revealed that he wants them to meet a skilled monster hunter, Vaasrand of Lys, who agreed to help for the right price. To gather this right price, Roman asked for money. Richard was left with the choice to either give him some of his meagre savings, or to contribute by fighting alongside the others instead. He decided to keep his money, which is certainly not going to amuse Roman.
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't around anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would be reunited and...
The thought pained her. Being reunited with her sister was something she yearned for. At the same time, there have been things that happened, things that affected Melanie as well, which she didn't even know about yet, things so terrible that she even hid them from Dan. Some of these things have been Sadie's fault and she dreaded the moment she had to confess them. Her father... her mother...
Momentarily lost in thoughts, she almost bumped into the massive man in front of her. He was walking a lot slower than her and she just managed to stop in time for her to avoid a collision. He turned around, giving her the first good view she ever had on Baelor Bloodbane.
“Can I help you?”, he asked and she forced herself to ignore the dark thoughts that had bothered her. “Yes. Ser Baelor, is that correct?”, she said with a friendly smile. The man shook his head. “You must be mistaken”, he answered. “I am no Ser” He extended his hand and gave her a firm handshake. “Baelor Bloodbane, commander of Maybros' garrison”, he formally introduced himself. “I've never seen you before. How can I help you?”
She politely bowed her head in front of him, which seemed to please him. “My name is Kelly”, she introduced herself. Even though she wanted to win his help, she didn't really know him. As she did with Gyles earlier, she tried to avoid any suspicion by mentioning her real name. At the very least, she was going to avoid being linked to her sister. If anything would go wrong, she'd make sure that Melanie wouldn't pay the price for it. “I have seen you fighting earlier”, she explained and a grin formed on Baelor's face. “That was... certainly something”
“Are you a peace offer from Gyles?”, he asked and laughed as she raised her eyebrows. “Just joking. Your handshake is firm and strong, not like Nilanne's or Melanie's, or whatever his girls are called”
The mention of her sister caused Sadie to press her lips together and his smile faded. “Have I upset you, mylady?”, he asked. “Not my intention. You want something, now's your chance” She shook her head. “Your words haven't offended me”, she clarified. “As a matter of fact, it is Gyles I want to talk about”
“So you are a peace offer?”, Baelor asked again, this time in genuine surprise. She decidedly shook her head. “I'm no one's peace offer, though I am here to make an offer of some sorts”, she explained. “This Gyles... I saw you and him getting into an argument”
“Aye”, Baelor answered with a nod. “I haven't thought anyone actually paid attention, but aye. That bastard built me up as a champion for years now. Today, he wanted me to loose on purpose, against his bloodhound nonetheless”
“I guess you took offence to that”, Sadie deduced and he chuckled. “You bet your ass I have”, he answered. “Hell, for one moment I was about to bash his head in, just as he was certainly about to stab me to death”
“What stopped you?”, she asked out of curiosity. He shrugged. “I know what stopped him. He's a coward at heart and he wouldn't have dared to attack me, because he knows I would destroy him”, he explained. “As for me... well, I'm not sure if you know much about Maybros' current situation”
“Can't say I do”, Sadie confirmed and Baelor's grin returned. “Lord Turnberry is old and weak. His sons, twins, are fighting at the Golden Tooth against the Ironborn. If Turnberry dies, they'd rather fight against each other in the attempt to win the city”, he explained. “The only one that gives Maybros even a little bit of stability is Gyles Gomblinger. He's shady, he's disgusting, but he keeps this city together”
His words disheartened Sadie, who sighed noticeably. She was afraid of this. If Baelor wouldn't help her, she could only hope and beg for another chance with Blane, even though she wasn't sure if that one would work any better. There was only one thing she could still try. She had met soldiers like Baelor before, during her time in Durrandon's army. He was pragmatic, but she was sure even he had his limits.
“And what if Gyles would be involved in something truly, truly terrible?”, she asked. “Something so terrible that you could drag him into prison?” Baelor raised an eyebrow. “What are you trying to say?”, he asked with barely hidden interest in his voice. “Of course I'd do my duty. He keeps this city together, but that does not mean that I'm willing to let him get away with everything”
“I'm talking about slavery”, Sadie explained bluntly. With satisfaction, she saw that her gamble had paid off. For a moment, Baelor seemed even shocked. “I wouldn't drag him to prison”, he explained. “Because I'd cleanly chop his head off right where he stands. A fucking slaver... though I think that not even Gyles would be able to stoop so low”
This time, Sadie couldn't help but to smile at him in triumph. “He already has”, she answered. She realized that this was the answer he has been hoping for, because a wide grin flashed across his face. “You have evidence?”, he asked. “Oh, I knew this was going to be great. Getting back on that smug swine... priceless”
Evidence... well, that was a problem. “Technically...”, Sadie mumbled. Technically, she killed the evidence in a fit of rage. The slaver that sold Melanie, a Volantene brute. She had cleanly carved his head in after she was done interrogating him. The thought that he might get useful one day only occurred to her weeks later.
“I know that my sister is being held captive by him”, she explained. By now, she was sure that she could trust him, though she still held back on her sister's name. Better safe than sorry... “I know that she's being held in his brothel, against her will”
“That is... better than nothing. Though I was hoping for more”, Baelor admitted. “Perhaps something that could have forced Lord Turnberry to act, that could allow me to outright storm Gyles' fucking whorehouse” He sighed. “But that is not enough. Your word, the word of a stranger, against the most powerful man in Maybros”
“So you won't help me?”, Sadie asked in a defeated tone. Baelor put a hand onto her shoulder. “I never said that”, he reassured her with a smile. “I just said I couldn't do anything official, like gathering my garrison and dragging him to justice. But I believe you. Gyles is capable of such a thing and you... well, you got something about you that seems genuine, even though you're not telling me the full truth”
He put the hand away from her shoulder again and instead onto the hilt of his axe. “Mylady Kelly, this means I do help you”, he agreed and Sadie couldn't help but to sigh in relief. This was good. This was very, very good.
“There's not much I can do officially, but like Gyles, I hold a position of power in this city”, he explained. “That means I can do something... unofficial” This time, a battle-hungry smile formed on his face. “You're a soldier, right?”, he asked and she gave him a baffled nod. “It's the way you stand”, he revealed. “And the look on your face. You've seen terrible things, like me, like all of us. It is my believe that we soldiers must stick together” He leant forwards, still grinning. “So, here's what we're going to do”, he explained. “We go in there, tomorrow evening. We sneak past his guards as long as possible. We find your sister, we bring her to Lord Turnberry” His grin got wider. “We drag Gyles to the gallows, we hang him and burn his whorehouse to the ground”, he chuckled. “It's going to be a-fucking-mazing”
No choices for this part
Richard
With a glance onto his own, barely filled purse, Richard shook his head. “You get my sword, but not my gold”, he declared. Roman narrowed his eyes. “I should have known that you're too miserly to give up some of your precious gold, Harking”, he growled. “It's good that you're at least on our side though”
He took a glance at Irnas the beastmaster, whose whip cracked through the air. On his unspoken command, one of the shadowcats started to jump above the white lion's back. The moment the large feline landed on the ground, it let out a displeased noise, somewhere between a growl and a hiss.
“Our beast is definitely going to be bigger”, Edefilec remarked and Than gave him a nod. “This beast, whatever it is, tore a hole into my barn, ripped the door right out and eviscerated my horse”, he mentioned. “There is no way a shadowcat like this could have destroyed the door to my barn. My father built it and he stood for sturdy craftsmanship”
“It is a shadowcat”, Roman explained and reached to the bag of gold in the middle of their table. “This here says that it is one” He raised it and presented it to everyone. “Not much, isn't it?”, he asked as he glared at Richard. “This monster hunter, he is paid depending on which monster he is going to hunt. This here barely suffices for a shadowcat. With a larger one, he might decline our offer. He might decide to leave us if we can't pay him”
“And now for the grand finale!”, Irnas yelled loudly. His whip cracked even louder and he started to shout some commands in his Ghiscari mother tongue. For Richard, the unfamiliar words almost sounded the the growls of a wild animal.
Another shadowcat slowly walked out of its cage. With a sudden jump, it was on top of the lion, looking into the direction of the other cat. The second animal growled again, before it jumped on top of the lion as well, facing the other direction. Both animals skilfully managed to stay on the larger predator's back, even though Richard saw an almost human-like displeasure in their eyes, below barely controlled beastly ferocity.
The crowd erupted into cheers, which were silenced by the lion, who let out a deafening roar. It wasn't hard to think that a shadowcat would be effortlessly able to kill a human being, but Than was right about one thing. While larger than a wolf, the shadowcats he saw here seemed neither large, nor powerful enough to destroy the door of a barn. Richard knew Than's farm and he knew Than's father. The doors of his barn had been large and sturdy. No matter how dangerous a shadowcat was, Richard had severe doubts that one of them could grow large enough to tear down a solid wooden wall.
“Still, shouldn't he at least know?”, Ed pointed out. “He's the one risking his life after all” Roman pressed his lips together and glared at the younger man as if he was looking at a child. “Listen, Edefilec”, he growled slowly. “I hope you understand this. Even if it is not a shadowcat, we can't tell him. If we do, he might decide that he needs more payment upfront than we can afford” He took another, hateful glance at the shadowcats inside the ring. “Besides, he is a professional. No matter what our beast is, he probably hunted and killed a creature like it before”, he explained. “It doesn't matter if he's ultimately forced to fight something larger than a shadowcat. He can handle it”
“Wait, Roman”, Richard interjected. “What exactly do you intend to tell him? The moment you tell him about the barn, he's going to suspect that our beast is more than just a shadowcat” Roman gave him a nod. “And that's why we won't tell him about the barn”, he simply said. “We tell him that people died. Shadowcats kill people, that shouldn't be anything new. We tell him that it threatens our livestock. Chickens and the like. He doesn't have to know about your fucking horse, Than”
“I don't like this”, Ed mumbled. “Lying to the man that's supposed to help us... nothing good can come out of it” Roman narrowed his eyes. “Then you can always leave”, he offered. “Leave it to us to protect ourselves and our city, while you sit around in your farm, doing nothing of value and waiting for the beast to get you”
Both men glared at each other for a moment, before Ed hung his head in defeat. “You're right”, he agreed. “I don't like it, but it sounds like the only chance we have” Hal let out a sigh and was about to shake his head, when Roman gave him a glare. “Don't you dare, Recton”, he snarled angrily. Hal shivered at these words, before he gave him a nod. “I'm with you, Roman”, he mumbled. “I trust that this hunter will be able to deal with whatever beast we have”
Roman didn't even had to say anything, as he focussed his attention on Than, who was the youngest man on the table. The boy gulped, before he gave him a hasty nod. “I... of course I support you! I won't mention my horse or my barn or anything like that”
“Good”, Roman said calmly, before he looked at Richard. “And now you, Harking. I know we rarely see eye to eye, but today it is necessary that you trust me” His words did not manage to convince Richard. At the same time, they were enough to make him consider his position.
“I don't know, Roman”, he said truthfully. “There's a lot I don't like about this, but I see where you're coming from. I want to meet this hunter and then I will think about lying to him” Roman sighed, but gave him a quick nod. “That's all I can ask for, Richard”, he answered. “But you shouldn't see it as lying. This one's for our own good”
With these words, he raised from his chair. The rest of the farmers followed and finally, Richard did so as well, albeit reluctantly. He threw a glance at the shadowcats in the ring. Fierce and ferocious, they always seemed on the edge, as if they were about to attack their handler. It was unlikely that five simple farmers could take down one of these beasts, not to say, something larger. But the beast, whatever it was, was a serious threat. Richard had no choice but to act.
Led by Roman, the five men walked through the nightly fair. Even now, hundreds of people were present, enjoying the presentations of a small legion of artists. They stepped past a magician's tent, past another tent, where two blonde, bronze-skinned twins showed a dangerous-looking acrobatic act and past a stage, where another man was creating illusions with the help of smoke. If Jenna would have been with him, Richard would have stopped to enjoy the act. But she wasn't and Richard wasn't even sure if she'd ever be here with him again.
Roman stopped in front of a small tent at the edge of the fair. It was dark and quiet inside, but he entered it without hesitating. Richard followed closely Inside the tent, he realized that it was mostly empty, save for a chair and two people.
One of them was a woman, a young, pretty thing with dark eyes, hair and skin. She was massaging the man that sat on the chair in front of her. He was tall, taller than each of the farmers, with a ripped body. It showed, since he was only wearing trousers, not even bothering with covering his upper body. Even in the dim light, Richard was able to see that his body was covered in scars, from small cuts, to deep chunks of missing flesh, all of them healed, but still visible. In a way, the man was handsome, with the silver-white hair of a dragonlord, tied into a ponytail, and their typical, pale skin. Still, his appearance was tarnished by a deep cut above his left eye, that was still about to heal.
As the farmers entered, the man was slightly stroking his short full beard, as he carefully looked at them. The young woman behind him threw a surprised glance at the men. “One customer at a time”, she said.
“I believe they are my customers”, the man said in a stern, serious and somewhat flat tone. Roman gave him a nod and looked at the woman. “Please, young lady, leave us”, he said. “Stay”, the man said in return. The woman glanced from one man to the other, before she shrugged and softly continued to massage her customers back.
This momentarily stunned Roman, who visibly forced himself to smile. “You are the man they call the Serpent, right?”, he asked. The man gave him a nod in return. “Vaasrand of Lys”, he introduced himself. “Roman, I presume?”
“Yes. These are my companions Hal, Ed, Than and Richard”, Roman confirmed. Vaasrand raised an eyebrow in a decidedly unimpressed way. “Fascinating”, he said without any kind of emotion in his voice. “What do you need?”
“You have heard about the beast, yes?”, Roman asked and Vaasrand gave him a nod. “I heard about it”, he confirmed. “If it wouldn't have been for the rumour, I wouldn't have travelled here... Though I expected to work for your lord instead of smallfolk”
Roman raised the purse. “We pay just as well”, he claimed. “Please, Ser Hunter, we need your help in killing the beast” He opened his purse and Vaasrand looked at it. “This is my job. As long as you can pay for my contract, you can consider it done”, he proclaimed. “What kind of a beast are we talking about?”
“A shadowcat”, Roman said decisively. The hint of curiosity appeared on Vaasrand's face. “They claim no one ever saw it before”, he remarked. “You sound pretty sure” Roman gave him a nod. “That is because I am sure”, he explained. “It killed livestock, but more importantly, it killed people. My own mother”
“Many beasts kill people”, Vaasrand said without empathy. “I need more than that to be sure that it's a shadowcat. There are wolves in these forests and bears” Roman sighed. “The wolves here are not that aggressive. Our victim also wasn't killed for food. And bears would have caused more serious destruction”
“Shadowcats usually kill for food”, Vaasrand voiced his doubts. “Although they are cats after all. They are not above cruelty” Finally, he gave him a nod. “You're offering enough for a shadowcat”, he confirmed and Roman relaxed. “I will hunt your shadowcat and I will kill it”
“And we will accompany you”, Roman decided, to which Vaasrand immediately shook his head. “I work alone”, he stated. “And I'd rather not have anyone near me when I start fighting, especially not an amateur” Roman pressed his lips together and both men glared at each other. “Count your money, hunter”, Roman growled. “I will stay out of your way, but I will be with you. I want to be there when we face the beast and I want to take my revenge”
“Revenge on an animal”, Vaasrand said tonelessly, before he sighed. “But fine, it is your call. As long as you stay out of my way, I won't stop you from running into your own doom” Roman smiled at these words. “Good, Ser Hunter. None of us will stand in your way, I promise”, he assured him.
Vaasrand shook his head. “I doubt it”, he muttered. “Is there anything else you can tell me about this beast? Even minor details can help” As he said this, he glanced at the other men. His eyes narrowed as he spotted Richard, who had his lips pressed together. A shadowcat. Vaasrand was expecting a shadowcat, although Richard was less than sure. A part of him wanted to tell him about Than's barn, about why the beast likely wasn't a shadowcat. Another part remembered Roman's words. This man was a professional and it was unlikely that something larger would be much of a problem for him. However, if he'd tell him the truth, he might refuse to help them...
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
[Tell him about the barn] Roman's an idiot. He can't make the proper preperations if he doesn't know what he's dealing with. We could be getting him killed by telling him it's a shadowcat when it may be something much worse.
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
[Tell him about the barn]I'm tempted to stay silent (Richard has already do a choice that make his fellow farmers upset) however I'm full aware that.if we lie now. we will piss off in the future the only good warrior;plus a lie about the true creature make me think that the surviving rate of the hunt can easily decrease.
About the other PoV even if Sadie's story is clearly only at the beginning I must say that I like how you decide to started it
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't aroun… mored anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would b… [view original content]
No surprise here. Strangely enough, even though this is the option I see as smarter and would have certainly picked myself, my initial plans included the other option, for no particular reason. That said, it won't be hard to change my plans on this one. It would have probably been dangerous to withhold information from Vaasrand, not only for Richard, but also for the other farmers and the hunter himself.
The next part is going to be out today, most likely. This seems like a good moment to announce that I currently have a problem with my PC. It might even be a serious one. Long story short, it is possible that either my power adapter or my graphics card are damaged. As bad as this is for me, this is actually a good thing for you. Currently, I am limited to my laptop. This thing is old and calling it crappy would be an insult to all the truly crappy things in this world. However, it can do exactly two things: It can play background music during my biweekly RPG sessions and it allows me to write stuff, which is exactly what I'm using it for right now. This in turn means that I have nothing else to preoccupy my mind with, which means that I will write more, which results in more frequent parts for you to read. My PC should be repaired on Monday, but until then I will try to release a new part every two days.
Speaking about, the next part is going to include PoV's from Marak and Drent. The last time we saw Marak, he, Noelle and Archmaester Wulvren gathered stuff for one of Noelle's strange rituals, with which she hopes to find someone. Even though Noelle was generous enough to offer Marak a place at her side during this ritual, he wisely declined. Meanwhile, Drent and the rest of the Stormlanders arrived in Raylansfair during their last part. With their heavy armour, they caused mixed reactions among the citizens of Raylansfair, as well as a minor mass panic. Arriving at the castle, Argella decided to do something nice for a change. She ordered Montclair and Tariel to take three soldiers and to share their food with the poor of the city. This caused mixed reactions among her soldiers. Especially Garen was outspoken against this. Montclair chose Drent to choose two soldiers in turn that are going to accompany him while they give food to the smallfolk. After a bit of thinking, Drent chose Edonia and Garen. Marak's PoV is already written, while Drent's should be finished at some point in the next few hours.
“Eh, I'll pass”, Marak growled and crossed his arms. He tried to put on a brave face, even though his arm still hurt, where the needle touched him. By the Drowned God, he hated needles. And he knew, he hated whatever Noelle was going to do there.
“Your call”, she answered, clearly not satisfied with his answer. Then, she turned back to Archmaester Wulvren and gave him a warm smile. “Let us continue, my friend”, she chirped and tightly held his hands. And then... remarkably few things happened. Noelle and Wulvren looked into the fire. Marak yawned.
“Remarkable!”, Wulvren exclaimed, his eyes widely opened. Marak got bored. He yawned louder. “Isn't it?”, Noelle whispered. Now, a smile formed on Wulvren's face, an expression of pure, almost childlike joy. “How is this possible?”, he asked and Noelle reciprocated his smile. “The lord has many gifts for his followers”
Marak started to pick his nose. “Who is she?”, Wulvren asked. Noelle did not answer. Instead, she deeply glanced into the fire, her smile gaining a manic streak. “Do you know this place?”, she asked and Marak inspected a bit of snot on his finger. While he was at it, he continued to clean his ear.
“I... do know the street”, Wulvren mumbled. “Seven Hells, this is here in Oldtown!” He looked away from the flame and a hint of distrust appeared on his face. He even pulled his hands away from her. Marak noticed it, even though the contents of his ear were rather fascinating. “Noelle, what are you planning?”
“Where is the street?”, Noelle asked, ignoring his question. She tried to grab his hands again, but Wulvren quickly took a step back. “I asked you a question”, he growled and she sighed. Marak glanced at his axe. Usually, these sighs meant work for him.
“You know what I told you the last time we saw each other?”, she asked. The Archmaester narrowed his eyes, before he gave her a slow nod. “You told me a lot of nonsense”, he stated. “I also remember that you stole from me”
“Reacquired”, Noelle corrected him. “In the name of the Lord. But do you remember what I told you in particular? About my visions?” Wulvren did not answer immediately and she reached across the brazier, finally grabbing one of his hands and pulling him closer to the flame. “You saw it now”, she said. “Can you still doubt that I am right?”
Wulvren shook his head. “I never doubted that you believed in truly seeing these things”, he answered. “I'm just baffled that I saw them as well. I'm not even a follower of your... god” He noticeably hesitated to say this final word.
“We all follow R’hllor”, Noelle corrected him. “Every living being” Her gaze hardened and got colder than before. “How can you still doubt?” Wulvren similarly glared at her. “I am a man of knowledge, Noelle”, he answered. “It’s part of my nature to doubt everything that’s presented as the truth, especially when it’s presented as the only truth possible, without offering any kind of proof”
“You have proof of his existence”, Noelle insisted and pointed at the fire. Her fingers almost touched the flame. The flame in turn was reflected by her eyes. Wulvren shook his head. “I have proof that something gives you your powers. Just because there’s something out there doesn’t mean that it’s a god” He sighed as he saw her glare. “But I’m too old to debate about religion. I have asked you a question and you have postponed the answer long enough”
Finally, Noelle gave him a nod. “Fine then”, she said. “You have been a great help. You deserve the truth” For one moment, Marak expected her to order Wulvren’s death. Then, her warm smile returned. “I once told you about the war that is coming, do you remember?” Wulvren gave her a nod. “Aye. One of your more believable theories, to be honest. It’s about this dragon king, isn’t it?”
“Yes”, Noelle said with a smile. “I saw it in the flames. He is supposed to lead us. The Lord of Light chose him as his champion, there is no doubt about it” Wulvren sighed. “There should always be doubt”, he mumbled. “And how are your great war and your dragon king connected to this girl I just saw?”
“The fire does not lie. Aegon Targaryen must become king and he will become king, not of the Reach, but of all Westeros”, Noelle explained. “However, R’hllor is merciful. He showed me a way to prevent the war that will lead to Aegon’s victory”
“Doesn’t that kinda prevent his victory as well?”, Wulvren asked and Noelle glared at him as if she was speaking to a child. “He will win one way or the other. But the war can be prevented”, she said. “The moment I saw the bloodshed in the flames, I prayed more than ever, I cried and begged day and night, until the Lord answered”
She paused and sighed. “His mercy comes at a price, but if I succeed, we can prevent the loss of ten thousands of lives”, she said. Wulvren raised an eyebrow and glanced at Marak, who only shrugged. “I suppose I won’t like this price”, he growled.
“The Lord demands a very particular sacrifice”, Noelle said. “One innocent life, so that thousands upon thousands may live” Wulvren gulped and crossed his arms. “And you’re still surprised that I’m not fond of your R’hllor”, he growled. “So... this girl we saw... do you know anything else about her?”
“Everything”, Noelle confirmed. “From her happy childhood, to the tragic turn it took, when her father was murdered by the one-eyed shadow. How she finally started to feel happiness again, in the company of the old flame, not knowing that the flame was lying to her”
“I don’t even pretend that anything of what you said makes sense to me”, Wulvren stated dryly. “Let us come directly to the point where you need to kill her because your god told you so” He said these words with coldness, but not without interest at the same time.
Noelle smirked. “An innocent sacrifice, a young girl”, she explained and Wulvren frowned. “She will be burned in the name of R’hllor. Her absence will alter the events to follow. Those around her will be affected by it, which ultimately will prevent the actions that lead to the war. It’s our only hope”
“You know how insane that sounds, right?”, Wulvren asked. “Here’s the thing: I don’t doubt that you saw this girl and this war and this king. But how can you be so sure that your way is the right one? How can you be so sure that... burning a little girl alive will prevent a war?”
“Because the Lord showed me two different futures. One with the girl and one without her”, Noelle explained calmly. “Wulvren, I need your help. I promise, she won’t suffer” The Archmaester snorted angrily, his eyes narrowed. “You’re talking about burning her alive!”, he growled. “I don’t like to say this, but... how can anyone be stupid enough to think that burning a little girl can achieve anything good? Seven Hells, you make it sound as if she’s the most important person in the world”
“She isn’t”, Noelle clarified. “She’s like us, no one special. But her presence will affect others around her. She’s a small stone in the water, but she draws circles that will shatter our world”
“And you?”, Wulvren snarled as he glared at Marak. “You are okay with this?” Marak gave him an uninterested look. During their entire discussion, he found it hard to stay awake and he had to admit that he wasn’t fully paying attention to it. But he understood the question. He rose from his chair, towering far above Archmaester and priestess.
“Old man”, he growled. “I am here for one thing only. To splinter the skulls of everyone stupid enough to get in the way of the lady in red, who kindly pays me for it. I’m just decent enough to look away when she burns that girl” He sighed. “No, I don’t like this. But I don’t moan around how none of this makes sense. And trust me, none of this makes any kind of sense”, he continued. “I’m not here to complain. I couldn’t care less about war and dragons and little girls. All I care for is golden”
Wulvren shook his head. “Congratulations, Noelle”, he sighed. “You found the most ruthless sellsword in Westeros. I know Solvers who would object to your madness” He glanced at Marak’s axe, firmly held in the Ironborn’s hands. “I take it you’re going to force me to help you either way, right?”
“Correct”, Noelle confirmed flatly. “Wulvren, I value your friendship. From the evenings I watched her, I even grew fond of the girl. But this is above my personal feelings. R’hllor chose me for this mission. This is greater than me and it does not matter if I like it. I don’t doubt the visions and I know what’s at stake”
“I will help you”, Wulvren finally mumbled, glaring at Marak. He had no choice in this but to agree. Still, Marak was glad that he wasn’t going to beat him into submission. The old man wasn’t exactly the kind of person he’d enjoy beating up. That wouldn’t be good sport. “Under one condition”
Marak looked up again, in newfound interest. “I want to accompany you. I want to look you in the eye when you burn that girl. I want to see what kind of person you truly are”, Wulvren said. “Because so far I thought you were decent. Misguided maybe, but always with good intentions”
“My intentions are the purest of them all”, Noelle explained. “But I agree to your condition. Accompany me and see the truth. Together, we will change the future” Wulvren sighed, without even looking at Noelle. “Who is she?”, he finally asked. “The girl I saw. Do you know her name?” Noelle gave him a nod. “The one you saw is named Ellena Terys, only child of Ellyrio and Laraya Terys”, she explained. “However, she’s not the one we’re going to kill”
This time, even Marak was interested, if only because he heard the word ‘kill’. “Our target is in the company of the old flame, the half-dragon and the fanged shadow. Ellena Terys is the bait, the one we’re going to trade for our target. She’s so important for the old flame, that he won’t even have a choice in this”, she clarified. “The one we have to kill is named Briar Catelins”
No Choices for this part
Drent
“You made the right decision, Golton”, Garen complimented him coldly. He was still distant and displeased, but obviously happy to accompany them. And Drent had the feeling that Tariel’s company played a part in this. Garen looked at her like a hungry wolf would look at a helpless doe. “Of course, what we’re going to do is still utter bullshit”, he continued. “Just giving our food away like that. What’s with our people? They should come first, not these... beggars. Giving this little girl command was a horrible idea”
With the last word, Edonia turned around. She had taken her helmet off, as well as the heavy pauldrons and the gloves. When she argued that they weren’t here to intimidate the smallfolk, Montclair had allowed it and Drent and Garen had thankfully followed her example. Now, she was pushing a strand of auburn hair out of her face, while sending a glare at Garen.
“Oh my gods...”, she sighed. “Are you always complaining that much?” Garen narrowed his eyes. “Don’t test me”, he snarled. “I have the right to voice my opinion” Edonia gave him a nod. “So do I”, she answered. “And my opinion is that you’re doing nothing aside from complaining and being sulky all day long. Now, I get it. Being the bad boy is part of your appeal. That’s what Tariel sees in you”
Tariel, leading the group, threw an alarmed look into her direction. “I...”, she started, but Edonia cut her off. “Honey, everyone can see it”, she said softly, before her gaze hardened again as she glared at Garen. “We’re on a mission here and we all have to pull our weight. The last thing we need is someone who complains about everything”
“I don’t complain about everything, I criticize the stupid course of our leader”, Garen clarified and Edonia shook her head. “Princess Argella is not perfect, but she tries”, she answered. “But you’re ridiculous. You’re criticizing every single decision of hers”
“That’s because every single decision of hers if fucking stupid”, Garen protested. Again, Edonia simply shook her head. She opened the large bag she was carrying, containing enough bread to feed a dozen men for a week. Drent and Garen were carrying similar bags, while Montclair even had a small wheelbarrow. “We’re feeding the poor. We’re winning their trust What’s bad about that?”, Edonia clarified. “If anything, it shows that she deserves more credit than you’re willing to give her”
“Enough now”, Montclair growled, effectively ending the conflict. “Both of you, shut up. Remember, you’re representing the Stormlands now” Edonia gave him a nod, while Garen only glared. “Of course, Ser”, she said. Montclair gave her the hint of a smile. “Though I agree with you, Bernile. I admire your morals”, he complimented her. “Garen, you shut up in particular”
While Garen fastened his steps, Edonia fell back a little bit, so that she was able to walk next to Drent, who was the last in line. “You okay?”, he asked, glancing at her reddened face. She smirked. “Yeah”, she answered. “The sergeant was right. I... got carried away a little. Should have just ignored that jerk, but sometimes enough is enough” She gave him a curious look. “What’s your opinion on this?”, she asked. “Do you think we do the right thing?”
“Absolutely. These people are starving and the least we can do is helping”, Drent confirmed and Edonia smiled. “Garen sees it differently, but he does his duty” Her smile faded again. “I hope so”, she answered.
“This is it”, Tariel said. She wasn’t smiling at all. Instead, she looked around the buildings with a haunted look on her face. She glanced at Garen, who crossed his arms without looking at her, as if she wasn’t existing, save for a short, predatory glare that lacked any warmth. “A good spot. Lots of poor people live here”, Tariel explained and hesitated. “I was born here...”
Montclair gave her a nod. “Thank you, mylady”, he said kindly. “I know this is not easy for you. Perhaps it’ll change when you see their reactions” He put his barrow down. “Gather around, everyone!”, he yelled with a booming voice. “Smallfolk of Raylansfair, come closer!” Indeed, Drent started to see several people appearing. Soon, there were at least two dozen of them.
“Come closer!, Montclair offered. “In the name of Princess Argella of House Durrandon, we are here to help! Everyone that is starving shall receive food, from our personal stock. Argella wishes to help the people of Raylansfair!”
While he said this, a thin young girl slowly came closer. Edonia gave her a kind smile, as she reached into her bag, to hand her a loaf of bread. In turn, the girl gave her a wide smile and clinged to the bread as if she had received some sort of treasure.
With this action, the spell was broken. More and more people came. Soon, Drent found himself handing out food as well. Even Garen followed his orders, albeit reluctantly. The only one who wasn’t helping out was Tariel, who stood next to him, her face completely emotionless. If Drent knew her better, he could have told wether or not she was holding back tears.
“Tariel?”, a female voice sounded. Drent looked into the direction and saw a young, beautiful woman approaching them. Her hair was chestnut brown and flew down her back, while her eyes were emerald green. If it weren’t for the look of cold shock in them, she’d be captivating. “Tariel Flowers?”
Tariel frowned at the mention of her full name, but her eyes widened as she saw the woman. “Aditha...”, she mumbled. A shy smile formed on her face, but it faded immediately again. “I... it’s been a while. How are you? And Arthur and your father...”
“None of your business”, Aditha growled. “You have quite the nerve to come here, after what you did!” Tariel’s smile was fully gone by now and the look in her eyes somewhere between sorrow and pain. “I... Aditha, that was years ago. I am here to help you...”
“Cut the shit”, Aditha hissed angrily. “You should have never returned! What you did... do your new friends even know about it?” Before Tariel could answer, a large, burly man with greying blonde hair stepped forwards. “Tariel Flowers?”, he asked. “I didn’t even recognize you at first, with that fine clothing and fancy hairdo. Still think you’re something better, huh? Looks like you’ve been whoring around. Got yourself a stag king, eh? Or perhaps that brick-faced shithead over there” He pointed at Montclair, who narrowed his eyes.
“I...”, Tariel stuttered. “I have... friends now. I want to help you” Her usual confidence seemed to shatter in front of these people. Now, Drent was sure that she was trying to hold back her tears. She gave Garen a pleading look, but he only gave her a glare of cold indifference in return.
“Friends? That would be something new”, the man growled. “That bitch Sherryl hasn’t been here in years and I don’t recall you having anyone else” He threw a glance at Edonia, who was the only one still handing out food. “Perhaps that sweet ginger whore over there? Are you whores together now, Tariel?”
“Ludin, that is enough”, Aditha hissed and grabbed his upper arm, but he immediately broke free from her grip. “I don’t think so”, he growled in return. “You know what she did and now she has the guts to return with stags. Fucking stags, Aditha!”
Again, Tariel threw a glance at Garen. She was shivering now, but the sellsword was still doing his best to ignore her. Instead, he was paying more attention to Aditha, whom he was eyeing carefully in a decidedly inappropriate way.
The man followed her glare and a dirty smile appeared on his face. “Or that silver-haired bastard?”, he chuckled. Now, Garen narrowed his eyes. “What have you just called me?”, he growled in a dangerous tone and the man’s smile faded. Now, he gulped, seeing the look in Garen’s eyes. “I... uh...”, he stuttered. “Let’s just go”, Aditha hissed.
But the man stayed, as if he was frozen in place. Garen took a step towards him and now it was Tariel who stepped into his way. “Garen, calm down”, she said, her voice still shivering. “He did not mean... he’s angry at me, not at you” Instead of answering to her, Garen stopped in front of her and put a hand onto her shoulder. Then, without saying a word, he shoved her aside, to continue his slow way towards the man. “You take that back, or I’ll cut you down!”, he said loudly.
“Hold it right there, Garen”, Edonia said and stepped between them. She put one hand onto the man’s chest and the other one in Garen’s direction. “We’re here to help, not to start petty fights”, she stated. “We’ve all been insulted by this guy, but do you see any of us throwing a tantrum about it?”
Garen now viciously glared at her and Drent saw his hand twitching into the direction of his sword. Montclair saw it as well and he stepped towards the sellsword. “Garen, you’re out of line. Resume your duties”, he ordered him. Garen did not seem to follow the order. Instead, he took another step towards Edonia, until her outstretched hand touched his chest. “Get out of my way, red fox”, he snarled.
Drent was about to intervene, but Tariel stopped him by grabbing his arm. “No”, she urged him in a whisper. She glanced around, looking at dozens of hollow faces. “He just has a bad day, he’s stressed, but he does not mean to...”, she urged him, but stopped, biting her lower lip. She sighed. “Edonia and the sergeant can calm him down. You don’t have to intervene. Please, if you step in as well, things might escalate. You know how he thinks about you. Garen is a good man, he just has a temper, please don’t go”
The look on Garen’s face seemed to be more than a temper in Drent’s opinion. Edonia was still standing between him and the burly man, who was frozen in fear, while Montclair was shouting orders. He could intervene, could help them and perhaps he could defuse the situation. Or perhaps he’d make things worse...
Marak
“Eh, I'll pass”, Marak growled and crossed his arms. He tried to put on a brave face, even though his arm still hurt, where the nee… moredle touched him. By the Drowned God, he hated needles. And he knew, he hated whatever Noelle was going to do there.
“Your call”, she answered, clearly not satisfied with his answer. Then, she turned back to Archmaester Wulvren and gave him a warm smile. “Let us continue, my friend”, she chirped and tightly held his hands. And then... remarkably few things happened. Noelle and Wulvren looked into the fire. Marak yawned.
“Remarkable!”, Wulvren exclaimed, his eyes widely opened. Marak got bored. He yawned louder. “Isn't it?”, Noelle whispered. Now, a smile formed on Wulvren's face, an expression of pure, almost childlike joy. “How is this possible?”, he asked and Noelle reciprocated his smile. “The lord has many gifts for his followers”
Marak started to pick his nose. “Who is she?”, Wulvren asked. N… [view original content]
More and more crazy vibes from Noelle, awesome Oh, and I was 100% sure the girl would be Ellena, but you managed to surprise again!
[Don’t intervene] After what happened earlier between Garen and Drent, I don't think he is the right man to calm him down. Although I kinda hope Garen will just kill that guy and result a mob I wonder what the hell Tariel and Sherryl did...
Marak
“Eh, I'll pass”, Marak growled and crossed his arms. He tried to put on a brave face, even though his arm still hurt, where the nee… moredle touched him. By the Drowned God, he hated needles. And he knew, he hated whatever Noelle was going to do there.
“Your call”, she answered, clearly not satisfied with his answer. Then, she turned back to Archmaester Wulvren and gave him a warm smile. “Let us continue, my friend”, she chirped and tightly held his hands. And then... remarkably few things happened. Noelle and Wulvren looked into the fire. Marak yawned.
“Remarkable!”, Wulvren exclaimed, his eyes widely opened. Marak got bored. He yawned louder. “Isn't it?”, Noelle whispered. Now, a smile formed on Wulvren's face, an expression of pure, almost childlike joy. “How is this possible?”, he asked and Noelle reciprocated his smile. “The lord has many gifts for his followers”
Marak started to pick his nose. “Who is she?”, Wulvren asked. N… [view original content]
Marak
“Eh, I'll pass”, Marak growled and crossed his arms. He tried to put on a brave face, even though his arm still hurt, where the nee… moredle touched him. By the Drowned God, he hated needles. And he knew, he hated whatever Noelle was going to do there.
“Your call”, she answered, clearly not satisfied with his answer. Then, she turned back to Archmaester Wulvren and gave him a warm smile. “Let us continue, my friend”, she chirped and tightly held his hands. And then... remarkably few things happened. Noelle and Wulvren looked into the fire. Marak yawned.
“Remarkable!”, Wulvren exclaimed, his eyes widely opened. Marak got bored. He yawned louder. “Isn't it?”, Noelle whispered. Now, a smile formed on Wulvren's face, an expression of pure, almost childlike joy. “How is this possible?”, he asked and Noelle reciprocated his smile. “The lord has many gifts for his followers”
Marak started to pick his nose. “Who is she?”, Wulvren asked. N… [view original content]
Comments
Sorry the question Liquid but I'm too curious:do you have already decide which Pov will not have anymore a part during this chapter (no spoiler please
)?Characters like Ilish,Sadie and Alys will have another part?
[Help Terroma]
As much I like the new relation being created between Harrington and Raenna, we came here with Terroma, agreeing to help him in this mission. I don't want Terroma to have doubts regarding Raenna's priorities, when it comes to helping not him at first, but just met "stranger".
(Help Terroma)
During the finale of Chapter 4, he fought against Leonard and prevented him from helping Lucas and Lunett. This fight ended when Leonard received a nasty leg wound, which still affects him in the current chapter.
Yes, I have made a plan about this. Sadie, Ilish and Alys are all going to have another part. In fact, Sadie is going to be featured in the next part, together with either Richard or Marak. I'm leaning a bit more in favour of Richard at the moment. Most of the PoV's are going to have at least one more part, although there are two whose storyline in the current chapter is already over. Since I plan to finish the chapter in the next two weeks at most, more finished storylines will soon follow.
[Help Harrington]
[Help Terroma] It's not that I don't like Harrington, but Raenna just met him whereas Terroma is basically a father figure to her. And it's kinda hard to forgive that he worked for Butterfly, no matter what his motive was. I do hope that Harrington survives though, because obviously we need him to save Briar. I trust he is badass enough to take on three thugs alone.
[Help Terroma]
Right I remember now. I always remembered the event but not the exact characters involved.
[Help Harrington] Again, I'm not choosing this choice since Samuel is my character, but because Samuel has the bigger chance of being killed. From what we have seen, Samuel is good, but he isn't as good as Terroma or even Raenna. Anyway, I do like the reveal of Samuel's past to the audience and I hope they are connecting with him like I have. Another thing I like is how cheap and devious he can be. XD
Are you really still salty about that? No offense, but that fight was long ago and it shouldn't matter anyway since Leonard is safe and sound at the moment. Plus, you do remember most of the shit Leonard has been is thanks to Jaylon, who messed him pretty badly as a hostage. So hold your grudge against Jaylon instead.
Oh don't worry, I have a grudge against Jaylon too.
But I don't trust Harrington, and until Leonard's leg is fully healed I will be voting against him, unless he redeems himself completely in my eyes.
This is indeed true. It should also be noted that, while Samuel was responsible for the initial wound Leonard received, he also spared his life. Jaylon ordered him to kill Leonard and Samuel took deep offense to that, because Jaylon has no right to give him an order. So, he consciously chose to end the fight nonlethally and to spare his opponent, in order to spite Jaylon for his earlier insult. While he definitely hasn't spared Leonard out of the kindness of his heart, he also never wounded him out of maliciousness.
[Help Terroma]
Harrington is a cool guy, but I feel that Raenna is much closer to Terroma. Plus, we have known Terroma much longer, even though that doesn't play much of a factor in my perspective. But like someone else mentioned, this was Terroma's mission we agreed to go on, and I would feel shitty if we got him killed because of it and kind of leave him behind, for lack of better wordage.
[Help Harrington]
I like Harrington, not to say I don't like Terroma, but I like Harrington.
Great part!
[Help Harrington]
But we must remember that Samuel making himself an obstacle to Lucas and Leonard give an huge help to make Lunett died in a horrible way,plus at his own first appearence inside the story he was ready to kidnap (and probably bring to death)a young little girl (aka Ellena) and he even kill an innocent sailor that try to rescue the young girl.
Short story:it's true that now Samuel is helping Raenna and Terroma to rescue Briar but let's remember that he do that just because he want to know the truth about his own brother location.Plus I will put this reflection:if Mullendore hadn't lied about the brother Samuel now will had probably continue his life following the orders of the Butterfly without many regrets.
PS:I want to say that I like that the author give importance to many characters of the fanfic showing their backstories and motivations however I'm not the type to magically forgive all the wrong doings of a character just because he start to be "nice" (just for the record I've the same opinion about Jaylon,that with the last part reach the point of no return, inside this fiction and Jamie Lannister inside the original books)
[Help Terroma]
[Help Harrington]
Finally caught up again.
The Voting is closed!
Raenna is going to help Harrington
Well... that was a very close choice. Both options gained an almost equal amount of votes, and ultimately, Harrington won by only one vote. Personally, I would have probably leaned a little bit more in favour of Terroma, but considering how close this choice was, I am ultimately very pleased. It was meant to be a tough choice and judging by your differing opinions on this, it was a tough choice indeed. Raenna is going to have at least one more part in this chapter (or two, depending on how much I manage to put into one part) and I hope you're going to enjoy.
The next part is most likely going to be out today. It is going to be a part with PoV's from Sadie and Richard, both of which haven't been seen in a while. This is especially bad for Sadie, because well, it is her first chapter and the time that passed between her parts has been far too long. I hope to give her parts at a more steady pace in the coming chapter. The last time we saw her was also the second time we saw her. She and her companion, the merchant Dan Ornon, were in the tavern/brothel of the shady Gyles Gomblinger, who apparently holds Sadie's sister as a slave. In the attempt not to arouse any suspicion, both of them decided to bet on one of two fighters that were having a fist fight for the amusement of the guests. Dan decided to bet on Baelor, the champion and commander of the local garrison of soldiers. Sadie decided to bet on the smaller, more agile Blane, a sellsword in service of Gyles. Ultimately, she lost some money here, because Baelor soundly thrashed Blane. She also noticed that this apparently went against Gyles' plans, who was visibly unhappy about Baelor's victory, before basically throwing the man out. He and Blane had a short talk with Sadie and Dan, before both left their table again. Dan came up with the plan to win Blane's trust, in order to have someone close to Gyles who might be able to help them. For this, he wanted to use Sadie to gain Blane's attraction. However, Sadie preferred to keep her dignity and decided to seek out Baelor instead, counting on his recent argument with Gyles and hoping to win his help.
Meanwhile, Richard met up with a couple of other farmers from around Raylansfair. Next to his neighbour and nemesis Roman, he met up with Hal Recton, brother of the castle guard captain Nora, as well as the farmers Edefilec Magabaz and Than. Roman had called them here because of the beast that roams around the forest. Over the past week, he, Richard and Than had been victims of the beasts attacks, loosing quite a bit of livestock, and in Roman's case his mother, to it. Roman, consumed with vengeance, decided to gather the other farmers at the fair, to talk to them about what they could do. He revealed that he wants them to meet a skilled monster hunter, Vaasrand of Lys, who agreed to help for the right price. To gather this right price, Roman asked for money. Richard was left with the choice to either give him some of his meagre savings, or to contribute by fighting alongside the others instead. He decided to keep his money, which is certainly not going to amuse Roman.
Sadie
“Where are you going?”, Dan asked as Sadie raised from her chair. She turned around and lowered her voice. While Gyles wasn't around anymore, she still saw Nilanne, who was talking to a customer nearby. “Looking for Baelor”, she informed him. Dan sighed, before he shook his head. “Sadie, that is risky”, he warned her, but she already turned around.
While she walked to the door, she took a glance at Blane. In his own way, he was handsome without a doubt. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind spending some time with him, getting to know him better. However, right now there would always be the thought standing between them, that she'd only do it for her sister and not out of genuine interest. It felt cheap and it felt unfair to him.
As she left the tavern and took a breath of the air outside, a smile formed on her face. Perhaps there would be time for this later, after everything would be done. After she and Melanie would be reunited and...
The thought pained her. Being reunited with her sister was something she yearned for. At the same time, there have been things that happened, things that affected Melanie as well, which she didn't even know about yet, things so terrible that she even hid them from Dan. Some of these things have been Sadie's fault and she dreaded the moment she had to confess them. Her father... her mother...
Momentarily lost in thoughts, she almost bumped into the massive man in front of her. He was walking a lot slower than her and she just managed to stop in time for her to avoid a collision. He turned around, giving her the first good view she ever had on Baelor Bloodbane.
“Can I help you?”, he asked and she forced herself to ignore the dark thoughts that had bothered her. “Yes. Ser Baelor, is that correct?”, she said with a friendly smile. The man shook his head. “You must be mistaken”, he answered. “I am no Ser” He extended his hand and gave her a firm handshake. “Baelor Bloodbane, commander of Maybros' garrison”, he formally introduced himself. “I've never seen you before. How can I help you?”
She politely bowed her head in front of him, which seemed to please him. “My name is Kelly”, she introduced herself. Even though she wanted to win his help, she didn't really know him. As she did with Gyles earlier, she tried to avoid any suspicion by mentioning her real name. At the very least, she was going to avoid being linked to her sister. If anything would go wrong, she'd make sure that Melanie wouldn't pay the price for it. “I have seen you fighting earlier”, she explained and a grin formed on Baelor's face. “That was... certainly something”
“Are you a peace offer from Gyles?”, he asked and laughed as she raised her eyebrows. “Just joking. Your handshake is firm and strong, not like Nilanne's or Melanie's, or whatever his girls are called”
The mention of her sister caused Sadie to press her lips together and his smile faded. “Have I upset you, mylady?”, he asked. “Not my intention. You want something, now's your chance” She shook her head. “Your words haven't offended me”, she clarified. “As a matter of fact, it is Gyles I want to talk about”
“So you are a peace offer?”, Baelor asked again, this time in genuine surprise. She decidedly shook her head. “I'm no one's peace offer, though I am here to make an offer of some sorts”, she explained. “This Gyles... I saw you and him getting into an argument”
“Aye”, Baelor answered with a nod. “I haven't thought anyone actually paid attention, but aye. That bastard built me up as a champion for years now. Today, he wanted me to loose on purpose, against his bloodhound nonetheless”
“I guess you took offence to that”, Sadie deduced and he chuckled. “You bet your ass I have”, he answered. “Hell, for one moment I was about to bash his head in, just as he was certainly about to stab me to death”
“What stopped you?”, she asked out of curiosity. He shrugged. “I know what stopped him. He's a coward at heart and he wouldn't have dared to attack me, because he knows I would destroy him”, he explained. “As for me... well, I'm not sure if you know much about Maybros' current situation”
“Can't say I do”, Sadie confirmed and Baelor's grin returned. “Lord Turnberry is old and weak. His sons, twins, are fighting at the Golden Tooth against the Ironborn. If Turnberry dies, they'd rather fight against each other in the attempt to win the city”, he explained. “The only one that gives Maybros even a little bit of stability is Gyles Gomblinger. He's shady, he's disgusting, but he keeps this city together”
His words disheartened Sadie, who sighed noticeably. She was afraid of this. If Baelor wouldn't help her, she could only hope and beg for another chance with Blane, even though she wasn't sure if that one would work any better. There was only one thing she could still try. She had met soldiers like Baelor before, during her time in Durrandon's army. He was pragmatic, but she was sure even he had his limits.
“And what if Gyles would be involved in something truly, truly terrible?”, she asked. “Something so terrible that you could drag him into prison?” Baelor raised an eyebrow. “What are you trying to say?”, he asked with barely hidden interest in his voice. “Of course I'd do my duty. He keeps this city together, but that does not mean that I'm willing to let him get away with everything”
“I'm talking about slavery”, Sadie explained bluntly. With satisfaction, she saw that her gamble had paid off. For a moment, Baelor seemed even shocked. “I wouldn't drag him to prison”, he explained. “Because I'd cleanly chop his head off right where he stands. A fucking slaver... though I think that not even Gyles would be able to stoop so low”
This time, Sadie couldn't help but to smile at him in triumph. “He already has”, she answered. She realized that this was the answer he has been hoping for, because a wide grin flashed across his face. “You have evidence?”, he asked. “Oh, I knew this was going to be great. Getting back on that smug swine... priceless”
Evidence... well, that was a problem. “Technically...”, Sadie mumbled. Technically, she killed the evidence in a fit of rage. The slaver that sold Melanie, a Volantene brute. She had cleanly carved his head in after she was done interrogating him. The thought that he might get useful one day only occurred to her weeks later.
“I know that my sister is being held captive by him”, she explained. By now, she was sure that she could trust him, though she still held back on her sister's name. Better safe than sorry... “I know that she's being held in his brothel, against her will”
“That is... better than nothing. Though I was hoping for more”, Baelor admitted. “Perhaps something that could have forced Lord Turnberry to act, that could allow me to outright storm Gyles' fucking whorehouse” He sighed. “But that is not enough. Your word, the word of a stranger, against the most powerful man in Maybros”
“So you won't help me?”, Sadie asked in a defeated tone. Baelor put a hand onto her shoulder. “I never said that”, he reassured her with a smile. “I just said I couldn't do anything official, like gathering my garrison and dragging him to justice. But I believe you. Gyles is capable of such a thing and you... well, you got something about you that seems genuine, even though you're not telling me the full truth”
He put the hand away from her shoulder again and instead onto the hilt of his axe. “Mylady Kelly, this means I do help you”, he agreed and Sadie couldn't help but to sigh in relief. This was good. This was very, very good.
“There's not much I can do officially, but like Gyles, I hold a position of power in this city”, he explained. “That means I can do something... unofficial” This time, a battle-hungry smile formed on his face. “You're a soldier, right?”, he asked and she gave him a baffled nod. “It's the way you stand”, he revealed. “And the look on your face. You've seen terrible things, like me, like all of us. It is my believe that we soldiers must stick together” He leant forwards, still grinning. “So, here's what we're going to do”, he explained. “We go in there, tomorrow evening. We sneak past his guards as long as possible. We find your sister, we bring her to Lord Turnberry” His grin got wider. “We drag Gyles to the gallows, we hang him and burn his whorehouse to the ground”, he chuckled. “It's going to be a-fucking-mazing”
No choices for this part
Richard
With a glance onto his own, barely filled purse, Richard shook his head. “You get my sword, but not my gold”, he declared. Roman narrowed his eyes. “I should have known that you're too miserly to give up some of your precious gold, Harking”, he growled. “It's good that you're at least on our side though”
He took a glance at Irnas the beastmaster, whose whip cracked through the air. On his unspoken command, one of the shadowcats started to jump above the white lion's back. The moment the large feline landed on the ground, it let out a displeased noise, somewhere between a growl and a hiss.
“Our beast is definitely going to be bigger”, Edefilec remarked and Than gave him a nod. “This beast, whatever it is, tore a hole into my barn, ripped the door right out and eviscerated my horse”, he mentioned. “There is no way a shadowcat like this could have destroyed the door to my barn. My father built it and he stood for sturdy craftsmanship”
“It is a shadowcat”, Roman explained and reached to the bag of gold in the middle of their table. “This here says that it is one” He raised it and presented it to everyone. “Not much, isn't it?”, he asked as he glared at Richard. “This monster hunter, he is paid depending on which monster he is going to hunt. This here barely suffices for a shadowcat. With a larger one, he might decline our offer. He might decide to leave us if we can't pay him”
“And now for the grand finale!”, Irnas yelled loudly. His whip cracked even louder and he started to shout some commands in his Ghiscari mother tongue. For Richard, the unfamiliar words almost sounded the the growls of a wild animal.
Another shadowcat slowly walked out of its cage. With a sudden jump, it was on top of the lion, looking into the direction of the other cat. The second animal growled again, before it jumped on top of the lion as well, facing the other direction. Both animals skilfully managed to stay on the larger predator's back, even though Richard saw an almost human-like displeasure in their eyes, below barely controlled beastly ferocity.
The crowd erupted into cheers, which were silenced by the lion, who let out a deafening roar. It wasn't hard to think that a shadowcat would be effortlessly able to kill a human being, but Than was right about one thing. While larger than a wolf, the shadowcats he saw here seemed neither large, nor powerful enough to destroy the door of a barn. Richard knew Than's farm and he knew Than's father. The doors of his barn had been large and sturdy. No matter how dangerous a shadowcat was, Richard had severe doubts that one of them could grow large enough to tear down a solid wooden wall.
“Still, shouldn't he at least know?”, Ed pointed out. “He's the one risking his life after all” Roman pressed his lips together and glared at the younger man as if he was looking at a child. “Listen, Edefilec”, he growled slowly. “I hope you understand this. Even if it is not a shadowcat, we can't tell him. If we do, he might decide that he needs more payment upfront than we can afford” He took another, hateful glance at the shadowcats inside the ring. “Besides, he is a professional. No matter what our beast is, he probably hunted and killed a creature like it before”, he explained. “It doesn't matter if he's ultimately forced to fight something larger than a shadowcat. He can handle it”
“Wait, Roman”, Richard interjected. “What exactly do you intend to tell him? The moment you tell him about the barn, he's going to suspect that our beast is more than just a shadowcat” Roman gave him a nod. “And that's why we won't tell him about the barn”, he simply said. “We tell him that people died. Shadowcats kill people, that shouldn't be anything new. We tell him that it threatens our livestock. Chickens and the like. He doesn't have to know about your fucking horse, Than”
“I don't like this”, Ed mumbled. “Lying to the man that's supposed to help us... nothing good can come out of it” Roman narrowed his eyes. “Then you can always leave”, he offered. “Leave it to us to protect ourselves and our city, while you sit around in your farm, doing nothing of value and waiting for the beast to get you”
Both men glared at each other for a moment, before Ed hung his head in defeat. “You're right”, he agreed. “I don't like it, but it sounds like the only chance we have” Hal let out a sigh and was about to shake his head, when Roman gave him a glare. “Don't you dare, Recton”, he snarled angrily. Hal shivered at these words, before he gave him a nod. “I'm with you, Roman”, he mumbled. “I trust that this hunter will be able to deal with whatever beast we have”
Roman didn't even had to say anything, as he focussed his attention on Than, who was the youngest man on the table. The boy gulped, before he gave him a hasty nod. “I... of course I support you! I won't mention my horse or my barn or anything like that”
“Good”, Roman said calmly, before he looked at Richard. “And now you, Harking. I know we rarely see eye to eye, but today it is necessary that you trust me” His words did not manage to convince Richard. At the same time, they were enough to make him consider his position.
“I don't know, Roman”, he said truthfully. “There's a lot I don't like about this, but I see where you're coming from. I want to meet this hunter and then I will think about lying to him” Roman sighed, but gave him a quick nod. “That's all I can ask for, Richard”, he answered. “But you shouldn't see it as lying. This one's for our own good”
With these words, he raised from his chair. The rest of the farmers followed and finally, Richard did so as well, albeit reluctantly. He threw a glance at the shadowcats in the ring. Fierce and ferocious, they always seemed on the edge, as if they were about to attack their handler. It was unlikely that five simple farmers could take down one of these beasts, not to say, something larger. But the beast, whatever it was, was a serious threat. Richard had no choice but to act.
Led by Roman, the five men walked through the nightly fair. Even now, hundreds of people were present, enjoying the presentations of a small legion of artists. They stepped past a magician's tent, past another tent, where two blonde, bronze-skinned twins showed a dangerous-looking acrobatic act and past a stage, where another man was creating illusions with the help of smoke. If Jenna would have been with him, Richard would have stopped to enjoy the act. But she wasn't and Richard wasn't even sure if she'd ever be here with him again.
Roman stopped in front of a small tent at the edge of the fair. It was dark and quiet inside, but he entered it without hesitating. Richard followed closely Inside the tent, he realized that it was mostly empty, save for a chair and two people.
One of them was a woman, a young, pretty thing with dark eyes, hair and skin. She was massaging the man that sat on the chair in front of her. He was tall, taller than each of the farmers, with a ripped body. It showed, since he was only wearing trousers, not even bothering with covering his upper body. Even in the dim light, Richard was able to see that his body was covered in scars, from small cuts, to deep chunks of missing flesh, all of them healed, but still visible. In a way, the man was handsome, with the silver-white hair of a dragonlord, tied into a ponytail, and their typical, pale skin. Still, his appearance was tarnished by a deep cut above his left eye, that was still about to heal.
As the farmers entered, the man was slightly stroking his short full beard, as he carefully looked at them. The young woman behind him threw a surprised glance at the men. “One customer at a time”, she said.
“I believe they are my customers”, the man said in a stern, serious and somewhat flat tone. Roman gave him a nod and looked at the woman. “Please, young lady, leave us”, he said. “Stay”, the man said in return. The woman glanced from one man to the other, before she shrugged and softly continued to massage her customers back.
This momentarily stunned Roman, who visibly forced himself to smile. “You are the man they call the Serpent, right?”, he asked. The man gave him a nod in return. “Vaasrand of Lys”, he introduced himself. “Roman, I presume?”
“Yes. These are my companions Hal, Ed, Than and Richard”, Roman confirmed. Vaasrand raised an eyebrow in a decidedly unimpressed way. “Fascinating”, he said without any kind of emotion in his voice. “What do you need?”
“You have heard about the beast, yes?”, Roman asked and Vaasrand gave him a nod. “I heard about it”, he confirmed. “If it wouldn't have been for the rumour, I wouldn't have travelled here... Though I expected to work for your lord instead of smallfolk”
Roman raised the purse. “We pay just as well”, he claimed. “Please, Ser Hunter, we need your help in killing the beast” He opened his purse and Vaasrand looked at it. “This is my job. As long as you can pay for my contract, you can consider it done”, he proclaimed. “What kind of a beast are we talking about?”
“A shadowcat”, Roman said decisively. The hint of curiosity appeared on Vaasrand's face. “They claim no one ever saw it before”, he remarked. “You sound pretty sure” Roman gave him a nod. “That is because I am sure”, he explained. “It killed livestock, but more importantly, it killed people. My own mother”
“Many beasts kill people”, Vaasrand said without empathy. “I need more than that to be sure that it's a shadowcat. There are wolves in these forests and bears” Roman sighed. “The wolves here are not that aggressive. Our victim also wasn't killed for food. And bears would have caused more serious destruction”
“Shadowcats usually kill for food”, Vaasrand voiced his doubts. “Although they are cats after all. They are not above cruelty” Finally, he gave him a nod. “You're offering enough for a shadowcat”, he confirmed and Roman relaxed. “I will hunt your shadowcat and I will kill it”
“And we will accompany you”, Roman decided, to which Vaasrand immediately shook his head. “I work alone”, he stated. “And I'd rather not have anyone near me when I start fighting, especially not an amateur” Roman pressed his lips together and both men glared at each other. “Count your money, hunter”, Roman growled. “I will stay out of your way, but I will be with you. I want to be there when we face the beast and I want to take my revenge”
“Revenge on an animal”, Vaasrand said tonelessly, before he sighed. “But fine, it is your call. As long as you stay out of my way, I won't stop you from running into your own doom” Roman smiled at these words. “Good, Ser Hunter. None of us will stand in your way, I promise”, he assured him.
Vaasrand shook his head. “I doubt it”, he muttered. “Is there anything else you can tell me about this beast? Even minor details can help” As he said this, he glanced at the other men. His eyes narrowed as he spotted Richard, who had his lips pressed together. A shadowcat. Vaasrand was expecting a shadowcat, although Richard was less than sure. A part of him wanted to tell him about Than's barn, about why the beast likely wasn't a shadowcat. Another part remembered Roman's words. This man was a professional and it was unlikely that something larger would be much of a problem for him. However, if he'd tell him the truth, he might refuse to help them...
[Tell him about the barn] [Stay silent]
[Tell him about the barn]
I wanna piss of Roman badly.
[Tell him about the barn] There's no point in lying.
[Tell him about the barn]
(Tell him about the barn)
[Tell him about the barn] Well, well, well. Doesnt he just look like Geralt of Rivia? Hehe, for me surely he does! ☺
[Stay silent]
[Stay silent]
Damn, Baelor sure is eager to help
I hope we are not teaming up with a maniac here...
[Stay silent] Meh, let's just get to the hunting without anymore arguments
[Tell him about the barn] Roman's an idiot. He can't make the proper preperations if he doesn't know what he's dealing with. We could be getting him killed by telling him it's a shadowcat when it may be something much worse.
[Tell him about the barn]I'm tempted to stay silent (Richard has already do a choice that make his fellow farmers upset) however I'm full aware that.if we lie now. we will piss off in the future the only good warrior;plus a lie about the true creature make me think that the surviving rate of the hunt can easily decrease.
About the other PoV even if Sadie's story is clearly only at the beginning I must say that I like how you decide to started it
[Tell him about the barn]
[Tell him about the barn]
[Tell him about the barn]
The Voting is closed!
Richard is going to tell Vaasrand about the barn
No surprise here. Strangely enough, even though this is the option I see as smarter and would have certainly picked myself, my initial plans included the other option, for no particular reason. That said, it won't be hard to change my plans on this one. It would have probably been dangerous to withhold information from Vaasrand, not only for Richard, but also for the other farmers and the hunter himself.
The next part is going to be out today, most likely. This seems like a good moment to announce that I currently have a problem with my PC. It might even be a serious one. Long story short, it is possible that either my power adapter or my graphics card are damaged. As bad as this is for me, this is actually a good thing for you. Currently, I am limited to my laptop. This thing is old and calling it crappy would be an insult to all the truly crappy things in this world. However, it can do exactly two things: It can play background music during my biweekly RPG sessions and it allows me to write stuff, which is exactly what I'm using it for right now. This in turn means that I have nothing else to preoccupy my mind with, which means that I will write more, which results in more frequent parts for you to read. My PC should be repaired on Monday, but until then I will try to release a new part every two days.
Speaking about, the next part is going to include PoV's from Marak and Drent. The last time we saw Marak, he, Noelle and Archmaester Wulvren gathered stuff for one of Noelle's strange rituals, with which she hopes to find someone. Even though Noelle was generous enough to offer Marak a place at her side during this ritual, he wisely declined. Meanwhile, Drent and the rest of the Stormlanders arrived in Raylansfair during their last part. With their heavy armour, they caused mixed reactions among the citizens of Raylansfair, as well as a minor mass panic. Arriving at the castle, Argella decided to do something nice for a change. She ordered Montclair and Tariel to take three soldiers and to share their food with the poor of the city. This caused mixed reactions among her soldiers. Especially Garen was outspoken against this. Montclair chose Drent to choose two soldiers in turn that are going to accompany him while they give food to the smallfolk. After a bit of thinking, Drent chose Edonia and Garen. Marak's PoV is already written, while Drent's should be finished at some point in the next few hours.
Marak
“Eh, I'll pass”, Marak growled and crossed his arms. He tried to put on a brave face, even though his arm still hurt, where the needle touched him. By the Drowned God, he hated needles. And he knew, he hated whatever Noelle was going to do there.
“Your call”, she answered, clearly not satisfied with his answer. Then, she turned back to Archmaester Wulvren and gave him a warm smile. “Let us continue, my friend”, she chirped and tightly held his hands. And then... remarkably few things happened. Noelle and Wulvren looked into the fire. Marak yawned.
“Remarkable!”, Wulvren exclaimed, his eyes widely opened. Marak got bored. He yawned louder. “Isn't it?”, Noelle whispered. Now, a smile formed on Wulvren's face, an expression of pure, almost childlike joy. “How is this possible?”, he asked and Noelle reciprocated his smile. “The lord has many gifts for his followers”
Marak started to pick his nose. “Who is she?”, Wulvren asked. Noelle did not answer. Instead, she deeply glanced into the fire, her smile gaining a manic streak. “Do you know this place?”, she asked and Marak inspected a bit of snot on his finger. While he was at it, he continued to clean his ear.
“I... do know the street”, Wulvren mumbled. “Seven Hells, this is here in Oldtown!” He looked away from the flame and a hint of distrust appeared on his face. He even pulled his hands away from her. Marak noticed it, even though the contents of his ear were rather fascinating. “Noelle, what are you planning?”
“Where is the street?”, Noelle asked, ignoring his question. She tried to grab his hands again, but Wulvren quickly took a step back. “I asked you a question”, he growled and she sighed. Marak glanced at his axe. Usually, these sighs meant work for him.
“You know what I told you the last time we saw each other?”, she asked. The Archmaester narrowed his eyes, before he gave her a slow nod. “You told me a lot of nonsense”, he stated. “I also remember that you stole from me”
“Reacquired”, Noelle corrected him. “In the name of the Lord. But do you remember what I told you in particular? About my visions?” Wulvren did not answer immediately and she reached across the brazier, finally grabbing one of his hands and pulling him closer to the flame. “You saw it now”, she said. “Can you still doubt that I am right?”
Wulvren shook his head. “I never doubted that you believed in truly seeing these things”, he answered. “I'm just baffled that I saw them as well. I'm not even a follower of your... god” He noticeably hesitated to say this final word.
“We all follow R’hllor”, Noelle corrected him. “Every living being” Her gaze hardened and got colder than before. “How can you still doubt?” Wulvren similarly glared at her. “I am a man of knowledge, Noelle”, he answered. “It’s part of my nature to doubt everything that’s presented as the truth, especially when it’s presented as the only truth possible, without offering any kind of proof”
“You have proof of his existence”, Noelle insisted and pointed at the fire. Her fingers almost touched the flame. The flame in turn was reflected by her eyes. Wulvren shook his head. “I have proof that something gives you your powers. Just because there’s something out there doesn’t mean that it’s a god” He sighed as he saw her glare. “But I’m too old to debate about religion. I have asked you a question and you have postponed the answer long enough”
Finally, Noelle gave him a nod. “Fine then”, she said. “You have been a great help. You deserve the truth” For one moment, Marak expected her to order Wulvren’s death. Then, her warm smile returned. “I once told you about the war that is coming, do you remember?” Wulvren gave her a nod. “Aye. One of your more believable theories, to be honest. It’s about this dragon king, isn’t it?”
“Yes”, Noelle said with a smile. “I saw it in the flames. He is supposed to lead us. The Lord of Light chose him as his champion, there is no doubt about it” Wulvren sighed. “There should always be doubt”, he mumbled. “And how are your great war and your dragon king connected to this girl I just saw?”
“The fire does not lie. Aegon Targaryen must become king and he will become king, not of the Reach, but of all Westeros”, Noelle explained. “However, R’hllor is merciful. He showed me a way to prevent the war that will lead to Aegon’s victory”
“Doesn’t that kinda prevent his victory as well?”, Wulvren asked and Noelle glared at him as if she was speaking to a child. “He will win one way or the other. But the war can be prevented”, she said. “The moment I saw the bloodshed in the flames, I prayed more than ever, I cried and begged day and night, until the Lord answered”
She paused and sighed. “His mercy comes at a price, but if I succeed, we can prevent the loss of ten thousands of lives”, she said. Wulvren raised an eyebrow and glanced at Marak, who only shrugged. “I suppose I won’t like this price”, he growled.
“The Lord demands a very particular sacrifice”, Noelle said. “One innocent life, so that thousands upon thousands may live” Wulvren gulped and crossed his arms. “And you’re still surprised that I’m not fond of your R’hllor”, he growled. “So... this girl we saw... do you know anything else about her?”
“Everything”, Noelle confirmed. “From her happy childhood, to the tragic turn it took, when her father was murdered by the one-eyed shadow. How she finally started to feel happiness again, in the company of the old flame, not knowing that the flame was lying to her”
“I don’t even pretend that anything of what you said makes sense to me”, Wulvren stated dryly. “Let us come directly to the point where you need to kill her because your god told you so” He said these words with coldness, but not without interest at the same time.
Noelle smirked. “An innocent sacrifice, a young girl”, she explained and Wulvren frowned. “She will be burned in the name of R’hllor. Her absence will alter the events to follow. Those around her will be affected by it, which ultimately will prevent the actions that lead to the war. It’s our only hope”
“You know how insane that sounds, right?”, Wulvren asked. “Here’s the thing: I don’t doubt that you saw this girl and this war and this king. But how can you be so sure that your way is the right one? How can you be so sure that... burning a little girl alive will prevent a war?”
“Because the Lord showed me two different futures. One with the girl and one without her”, Noelle explained calmly. “Wulvren, I need your help. I promise, she won’t suffer” The Archmaester snorted angrily, his eyes narrowed. “You’re talking about burning her alive!”, he growled. “I don’t like to say this, but... how can anyone be stupid enough to think that burning a little girl can achieve anything good? Seven Hells, you make it sound as if she’s the most important person in the world”
“She isn’t”, Noelle clarified. “She’s like us, no one special. But her presence will affect others around her. She’s a small stone in the water, but she draws circles that will shatter our world”
“And you?”, Wulvren snarled as he glared at Marak. “You are okay with this?” Marak gave him an uninterested look. During their entire discussion, he found it hard to stay awake and he had to admit that he wasn’t fully paying attention to it. But he understood the question. He rose from his chair, towering far above Archmaester and priestess.
“Old man”, he growled. “I am here for one thing only. To splinter the skulls of everyone stupid enough to get in the way of the lady in red, who kindly pays me for it. I’m just decent enough to look away when she burns that girl” He sighed. “No, I don’t like this. But I don’t moan around how none of this makes sense. And trust me, none of this makes any kind of sense”, he continued. “I’m not here to complain. I couldn’t care less about war and dragons and little girls. All I care for is golden”
Wulvren shook his head. “Congratulations, Noelle”, he sighed. “You found the most ruthless sellsword in Westeros. I know Solvers who would object to your madness” He glanced at Marak’s axe, firmly held in the Ironborn’s hands. “I take it you’re going to force me to help you either way, right?”
“Correct”, Noelle confirmed flatly. “Wulvren, I value your friendship. From the evenings I watched her, I even grew fond of the girl. But this is above my personal feelings. R’hllor chose me for this mission. This is greater than me and it does not matter if I like it. I don’t doubt the visions and I know what’s at stake”
“I will help you”, Wulvren finally mumbled, glaring at Marak. He had no choice in this but to agree. Still, Marak was glad that he wasn’t going to beat him into submission. The old man wasn’t exactly the kind of person he’d enjoy beating up. That wouldn’t be good sport. “Under one condition”
Marak looked up again, in newfound interest. “I want to accompany you. I want to look you in the eye when you burn that girl. I want to see what kind of person you truly are”, Wulvren said. “Because so far I thought you were decent. Misguided maybe, but always with good intentions”
“My intentions are the purest of them all”, Noelle explained. “But I agree to your condition. Accompany me and see the truth. Together, we will change the future” Wulvren sighed, without even looking at Noelle. “Who is she?”, he finally asked. “The girl I saw. Do you know her name?” Noelle gave him a nod. “The one you saw is named Ellena Terys, only child of Ellyrio and Laraya Terys”, she explained. “However, she’s not the one we’re going to kill”
This time, even Marak was interested, if only because he heard the word ‘kill’. “Our target is in the company of the old flame, the half-dragon and the fanged shadow. Ellena Terys is the bait, the one we’re going to trade for our target. She’s so important for the old flame, that he won’t even have a choice in this”, she clarified. “The one we have to kill is named Briar Catelins”
No Choices for this part
Drent
“You made the right decision, Golton”, Garen complimented him coldly. He was still distant and displeased, but obviously happy to accompany them. And Drent had the feeling that Tariel’s company played a part in this. Garen looked at her like a hungry wolf would look at a helpless doe. “Of course, what we’re going to do is still utter bullshit”, he continued. “Just giving our food away like that. What’s with our people? They should come first, not these... beggars. Giving this little girl command was a horrible idea”
With the last word, Edonia turned around. She had taken her helmet off, as well as the heavy pauldrons and the gloves. When she argued that they weren’t here to intimidate the smallfolk, Montclair had allowed it and Drent and Garen had thankfully followed her example. Now, she was pushing a strand of auburn hair out of her face, while sending a glare at Garen.
“Oh my gods...”, she sighed. “Are you always complaining that much?” Garen narrowed his eyes. “Don’t test me”, he snarled. “I have the right to voice my opinion” Edonia gave him a nod. “So do I”, she answered. “And my opinion is that you’re doing nothing aside from complaining and being sulky all day long. Now, I get it. Being the bad boy is part of your appeal. That’s what Tariel sees in you”
Tariel, leading the group, threw an alarmed look into her direction. “I...”, she started, but Edonia cut her off. “Honey, everyone can see it”, she said softly, before her gaze hardened again as she glared at Garen. “We’re on a mission here and we all have to pull our weight. The last thing we need is someone who complains about everything”
“I don’t complain about everything, I criticize the stupid course of our leader”, Garen clarified and Edonia shook her head. “Princess Argella is not perfect, but she tries”, she answered. “But you’re ridiculous. You’re criticizing every single decision of hers”
“That’s because every single decision of hers if fucking stupid”, Garen protested. Again, Edonia simply shook her head. She opened the large bag she was carrying, containing enough bread to feed a dozen men for a week. Drent and Garen were carrying similar bags, while Montclair even had a small wheelbarrow. “We’re feeding the poor. We’re winning their trust What’s bad about that?”, Edonia clarified. “If anything, it shows that she deserves more credit than you’re willing to give her”
“Enough now”, Montclair growled, effectively ending the conflict. “Both of you, shut up. Remember, you’re representing the Stormlands now” Edonia gave him a nod, while Garen only glared. “Of course, Ser”, she said. Montclair gave her the hint of a smile. “Though I agree with you, Bernile. I admire your morals”, he complimented her. “Garen, you shut up in particular”
While Garen fastened his steps, Edonia fell back a little bit, so that she was able to walk next to Drent, who was the last in line. “You okay?”, he asked, glancing at her reddened face. She smirked. “Yeah”, she answered. “The sergeant was right. I... got carried away a little. Should have just ignored that jerk, but sometimes enough is enough” She gave him a curious look. “What’s your opinion on this?”, she asked. “Do you think we do the right thing?”
“Absolutely. These people are starving and the least we can do is helping”, Drent confirmed and Edonia smiled. “Garen sees it differently, but he does his duty” Her smile faded again. “I hope so”, she answered.
“This is it”, Tariel said. She wasn’t smiling at all. Instead, she looked around the buildings with a haunted look on her face. She glanced at Garen, who crossed his arms without looking at her, as if she wasn’t existing, save for a short, predatory glare that lacked any warmth. “A good spot. Lots of poor people live here”, Tariel explained and hesitated. “I was born here...”
Montclair gave her a nod. “Thank you, mylady”, he said kindly. “I know this is not easy for you. Perhaps it’ll change when you see their reactions” He put his barrow down. “Gather around, everyone!”, he yelled with a booming voice. “Smallfolk of Raylansfair, come closer!” Indeed, Drent started to see several people appearing. Soon, there were at least two dozen of them.
“Come closer!, Montclair offered. “In the name of Princess Argella of House Durrandon, we are here to help! Everyone that is starving shall receive food, from our personal stock. Argella wishes to help the people of Raylansfair!”
While he said this, a thin young girl slowly came closer. Edonia gave her a kind smile, as she reached into her bag, to hand her a loaf of bread. In turn, the girl gave her a wide smile and clinged to the bread as if she had received some sort of treasure.
With this action, the spell was broken. More and more people came. Soon, Drent found himself handing out food as well. Even Garen followed his orders, albeit reluctantly. The only one who wasn’t helping out was Tariel, who stood next to him, her face completely emotionless. If Drent knew her better, he could have told wether or not she was holding back tears.
“Tariel?”, a female voice sounded. Drent looked into the direction and saw a young, beautiful woman approaching them. Her hair was chestnut brown and flew down her back, while her eyes were emerald green. If it weren’t for the look of cold shock in them, she’d be captivating. “Tariel Flowers?”
Tariel frowned at the mention of her full name, but her eyes widened as she saw the woman. “Aditha...”, she mumbled. A shy smile formed on her face, but it faded immediately again. “I... it’s been a while. How are you? And Arthur and your father...”
“None of your business”, Aditha growled. “You have quite the nerve to come here, after what you did!” Tariel’s smile was fully gone by now and the look in her eyes somewhere between sorrow and pain. “I... Aditha, that was years ago. I am here to help you...”
“Cut the shit”, Aditha hissed angrily. “You should have never returned! What you did... do your new friends even know about it?” Before Tariel could answer, a large, burly man with greying blonde hair stepped forwards. “Tariel Flowers?”, he asked. “I didn’t even recognize you at first, with that fine clothing and fancy hairdo. Still think you’re something better, huh? Looks like you’ve been whoring around. Got yourself a stag king, eh? Or perhaps that brick-faced shithead over there” He pointed at Montclair, who narrowed his eyes.
“I...”, Tariel stuttered. “I have... friends now. I want to help you” Her usual confidence seemed to shatter in front of these people. Now, Drent was sure that she was trying to hold back her tears. She gave Garen a pleading look, but he only gave her a glare of cold indifference in return.
“Friends? That would be something new”, the man growled. “That bitch Sherryl hasn’t been here in years and I don’t recall you having anyone else” He threw a glance at Edonia, who was the only one still handing out food. “Perhaps that sweet ginger whore over there? Are you whores together now, Tariel?”
“Ludin, that is enough”, Aditha hissed and grabbed his upper arm, but he immediately broke free from her grip. “I don’t think so”, he growled in return. “You know what she did and now she has the guts to return with stags. Fucking stags, Aditha!”
Again, Tariel threw a glance at Garen. She was shivering now, but the sellsword was still doing his best to ignore her. Instead, he was paying more attention to Aditha, whom he was eyeing carefully in a decidedly inappropriate way.
The man followed her glare and a dirty smile appeared on his face. “Or that silver-haired bastard?”, he chuckled. Now, Garen narrowed his eyes. “What have you just called me?”, he growled in a dangerous tone and the man’s smile faded. Now, he gulped, seeing the look in Garen’s eyes. “I... uh...”, he stuttered. “Let’s just go”, Aditha hissed.
But the man stayed, as if he was frozen in place. Garen took a step towards him and now it was Tariel who stepped into his way. “Garen, calm down”, she said, her voice still shivering. “He did not mean... he’s angry at me, not at you” Instead of answering to her, Garen stopped in front of her and put a hand onto her shoulder. Then, without saying a word, he shoved her aside, to continue his slow way towards the man. “You take that back, or I’ll cut you down!”, he said loudly.
“Hold it right there, Garen”, Edonia said and stepped between them. She put one hand onto the man’s chest and the other one in Garen’s direction. “We’re here to help, not to start petty fights”, she stated. “We’ve all been insulted by this guy, but do you see any of us throwing a tantrum about it?”
Garen now viciously glared at her and Drent saw his hand twitching into the direction of his sword. Montclair saw it as well and he stepped towards the sellsword. “Garen, you’re out of line. Resume your duties”, he ordered him. Garen did not seem to follow the order. Instead, he took another step towards Edonia, until her outstretched hand touched his chest. “Get out of my way, red fox”, he snarled.
Drent was about to intervene, but Tariel stopped him by grabbing his arm. “No”, she urged him in a whisper. She glanced around, looking at dozens of hollow faces. “He just has a bad day, he’s stressed, but he does not mean to...”, she urged him, but stopped, biting her lower lip. She sighed. “Edonia and the sergeant can calm him down. You don’t have to intervene. Please, if you step in as well, things might escalate. You know how he thinks about you. Garen is a good man, he just has a temper, please don’t go”
The look on Garen’s face seemed to be more than a temper in Drent’s opinion. Edonia was still standing between him and the burly man, who was frozen in fear, while Montclair was shouting orders. He could intervene, could help them and perhaps he could defuse the situation. Or perhaps he’d make things worse...
[Help Edonia and Montclair] [Don’t intervene]
[Help Edonia and Montclair]
More and more crazy vibes from Noelle, awesome
Oh, and I was 100% sure the girl would be Ellena, but you managed to surprise again!
[Don’t intervene] After what happened earlier between Garen and Drent, I don't think he is the right man to calm him down. Although I kinda hope Garen will just kill that guy and result a mob
I wonder what the hell Tariel and Sherryl did...
[Help Edonia and Montclair] While Drent may only serve to further anger Garen, I'm not a huge fan of doing nothing. NO INNOCENT BYSTANDERS!
I got a really bad feeling that Marak's gonna die.