Ch. 2 - Autumn Harvest

Drezielle
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Zel rode towards Highgarden, getting to travel for the first time in weeks at the speeds she was accustomed to. She thought as she went about her abandoned post, how she would have to send in a resignation and make it formal. She thought of how she had decided she would follow Florie, risk losing absolutely everything in order to have a place in the world. Maybe it was madness, but her course was set now. The caterpillars she carried carefully with her in the sack Cyril had prepared were testament to that. So Zel found a promising town called Greenvale and went to the bakery to start asking questions about granaries. It occurred to her that she really didn't have the faintest idea what one even looked like, so when the baker pointed her towards the Master of the Stores, she decided the first thing she must do would be to make a visit.

At the house, she was greeted by a dour woman who said that the master was not up yet and that Zel would have to wait. She gave the woman a false name and settled into the dark parlor she was led to. At last, the woman came out, and said, "The master will see you, but he does not know your name."

"Why, didn't you tell him?" Zel asked with a smirk, and the woman gave a huff and showed her to another room. Greenvale's Master of Stores was a big man, and seemed to be constantly trying to suck something out from between his teeth. Zel made up a story about her own master being a retired soldier in King's Landing who was looking to move to the south to be a miller. Zel had been sent, she said, to check on the quality and supplies of grain. The man bought her story, and made her wait while he got dressed, which ate into more of the morning. When he emerged, he looked like all the trends in fashion had been mashed together out of Free Cities brocades and lace. He had a wig, and he could hardly move. The stiff cloth and his own fat made for interesting difficulties, and Zel tried not to laugh.

Her mirth died down, though, when they approached the granary. It was a large one, and its size meant it was well-defended. The walls were high, and made of stone. Guards were posted around, and she realized that to sneak into a granary of the size they wanted would not go well for her. Nonetheless, she decided to learn what she could, to move on and try somewhere else. The large beehive-shaped towers of grain were nearly full, something the master was very proud of. Even without ample notice of approaching winter, Highgarden would have quite a lot to work with. That made her mission all the more vital. She spoke about her master's business as they toured and left Greenvale with a better idea of what she needed to do. Buying, selling, and tithing would get grain in and out of the granaries, and Zel would never have to set foot in them. Heartened by this, she rode to the next town, rented a cart, and bought a load of grain. She fed the worms in the sack and transferred some of them to one of her boxes of grain. She bred them as she went, stopping closer and closer to Highgarden, and trading grain as she went, sending in caterpillar-infested boxes of grain, buying more, and starting the process new.

Zel hadn't expected the men at the gates of Highgarden to ask what she carried in the sack, but she put on her most cheerful country bumpkin smile and said "Worms! Bought 'em off a gypsy what said they'd be good in a stew!" The guard looked a little ill and waved her on. Once in the city, Zel got rid of the rest of her grain as a tithe, and took the last of her worms to the industrial districts. Cyril had said they would eat other things too, cloth and leather, and certainly an infection in the city would help. The warehouses would be guarded too, but Zel found a likely one and went into the alley where there were windows and perhaps even small gaps in the wood, and set the open bag where it would not get stepped on. There was refuse there for them to feed on, and with any luck, they would spread from there. Task accomplished, Zel headed for Blackbane.

Tobias
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Toby woke up with Florie snuggled against him. Not just Florie, he thought, but his wife. He should have been tired, but he was elated, and even more so when her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him. He knew it was time to leave her room, so nobody would see that they had been together, but he waited a bit, not wanting to leave now that at last, he was with her. He waited long enough that apparently the maester was anxious they would be found out, because Cyril was suddenly knocking on Florie's door and saying pointedly that Toby wished to speak to her and would be waiting in the sept. Toby kissed Florie once more, then hurried to get dressed. The next few days passed much the same. During the days, they dealt with business of the house. Florie sent off a letter to Lord Florent, explaining their plans for Highgarden and the need for action in Duskendale. They got the house in order for Garon's return, and let things settle. The nights, they spent together, with Cyril helping to make sure the household was none the wiser. For those few days, they were happy newlyweds.

The tone of everything changed dramatically when Lord Felsward came back, victorious. He was in a good mood, and picked Florie up like she was a little girl, and inquired about how everything had gone in his absence. He wasn't exactly pleased when he learned of the trip to Highgarden, but he let it go, and cheerfully got everyone settled in for a victory feast. Tobias had been busy making sure everything was ready, and he hadn't gotten to talk much to Florie. Now that they were surrounded by people, they could only sit close to one another and exchange bits of small talk and uncomfortable looks. Despite their certainty about the secret marriage, neither had any idea how they were going to keep it up. And then Toby noticed something. There was a man sitting next to Lord Garon. A man who was not from Blackbane. He saw that Florie noticed the same, and even Cyril, and anxiety knotted his stomach. He knew what this meant, and when Garon stood to toast his victory, and Jonys's marriage, and then went on to say there was more happy news, Toby tried not to look ashen. Garon said he had made his daughter a match, and that she would be wed to Ser Osgrey Meriweather of Longtable. Florie let her father draw her to her feet with a frozen smile on her face, and Toby could do nothing but watch as Garon put his daughter's hand in Ser Osgrey's. Then Florie swooned, out of sheer stress, or perhaps by design. Toby couldn't tell, and though he surged from his seat, it was Garon who caught her.

The next few days, Toby tried to be patient. He knew that Florie was helpless at the moment, that keeping their marriage secret was vitally important, but it still grated at him that Osgrey never left her side. He was not an old man, not exactly, but he was showing signs of age, and that was irritating too. Occasionally, though he knew better, Toby crept after them as he walked, anger bubbling up whenever Osgrey so much as touched her hand. One day, the two went walking in the orchards. Toby saw them, a ways away. He couldn't tell what they were talking about, and all curiosity about that vanished when he saw Osgrey pull Florie to him and tug her chin up so he could kiss her. Another man kissing his wife was more than Toby could bear, and before he could think better of his actions, he picked up a rock and hurled it at the back of Osgrey's head. The improvised missile met its target, and Toby flung himself behind a tree. He heard Osgrey yelling angrily, and coming closer. So Toby took off running, trusting his youth to give him speed that the older knight wouldn't have. He found a place to hide and waited a bit, then circled back to the hall.

Without catching his breath, he hurried to Cyril's room, flinging himself in and explaining what he had just done.

Cyril
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Cyril wished he knew what to say to help Tobias, but the precariousness of their situation did seem at times to be overwhelming. He didn't blame the knight for his anger, though it would certainly be easy if Toby learned to keep his wrath in check. He was mostly intent on calming the knight down so that nobody would see just how agitated he was. Then there was a pounding on his door, and a servant calling his name. "Come quickly," the boy said. "It's Lady Vallya!" Knowing enough now to fear worse than another attack of illness, Cyril hurried towards the lady's room with Toby in tow. He turned a corner and there were Ser Osgrey and Florie, who were both taken aback by the urgency in the maester's features. Cyril told Florie it was her mother, and Florie hurried after.

Even with all that had passed before, Cyril was not prepared for what awaited them in Lady Vallya's chambers. Vallya had that mad, impassioned look in her eyes that they'd come to associate with her more frightful behavior, and her gowns were not all in place, baring a little too much of her skin. Before her, she had Holly Greyfell, and the nurse had been strung up to the bedposts with sheets. She was almost entirely naked, her clothing in tatters, and she was bleeding in places. She had been gagged with something frilly, and a sheet around her neck kept her head up and had her nearly choking. Vallya had a delicate but very sharp little knife in her hand, and she turned, irritated, to see who was intruding. Cyril could only stare for a moment. "Lady Vallya..."

"Maester," she said, her eyes lighting a little. "Maybe you can help me deal with this."

"Perhaps I can," Cyril said carefully, edging closer and making sure Tobias was with him. Vallya started talking about betrayal, and how Holly needed to be interrogated, and Cyril feigned compliance so that he could get close, and so that he could take the attention off of Toby so that he could get behind her. Vallya's apparent madness made her inattentive, and Cyril made a show of inspecting Holly to find out how to make her talk more effectively, and at last Tobias had a chance to grab Vallya from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. Cyril cut Holly loose, and hurried over to Vallya. It took three of them-- Toby, Cyril, and Osgrey-- to force the lady's mouth open and drip milk of poppy down her throat. They held her still until she was subdued, and got her to the bed. Florie was crouched next to Holly, murmuring soothing things to her, helping get her more covered up. Then Lord Garon arrived, hurrying over to see what was going on. Florie pulled him aside, out into the little garden beside her mother's room, and Cyril heard their voices, but not what was said. He also didn't miss the way Tobias and Osgrey were eyeing each other, like two wolves from rival packs, not quite ready to fight, but waiting for a reason.

Cyril was considering finding a way to intervene, but then Garon emerged with Florie behind him, her eyes cast down. Garon strode up to Cyril and began questioning him about the medications he had given, questioning his methods, and then biting out that the maester now answered only to him in regards to what was given to his wife and son. Taken aback by the implicit accusations, Cyril managed agreements, then watched Garon clap Tobias on the shoulder and lead him out of the room. Osgrey guided Florie out, and Cyril was left to tend to Holly and Vallya.

Later on that night, Toby came to see him again, and Zel came by too. Toby looked a little pale, and said that Lord Felsward had tried to gift Tynker Tower and the accompanying lordhood to him, and that he had tried to refuse, but that his refusal didn't seem to be taken seriously. They couldn't talk much, though, before Jonys burst in, complaining about his own fortunes, about his sister having to marry that old man, and insisting that they all go and get drunk. Cyril sighed. He could tell already it was going to be a long night.

Florie
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Florie knew that Osgrey had hoped the stress would make her vulnerable and more amiable to his attentions. She knew that he hoped he could get her into bed while he was here, and had worked to maintain an even more chaste image than usual. So when he led her away from her mother's room with his arm around her, she said that she was unsettled by these things and would like to rest. He took her to her room with a pleased little smile that she detested, and she said to pardon her, but she would like to be alone. She was a perfect lady in her dismissal, and at last she shut the door and had some time to herself. She wanted to talk to her friends, but she couldn't wander out without her father's chosen suitor finding her and trying to be charming.

Alone with her thoughts, Florie sorted through the mess everything had become. They kept thinking they were doing all right, and then returning to Blackbane only to find their accomplishments diminished. Blackbane made everything seem smaller somehow, worse overall. Then Florie thought of her mother, and went cold. Vallya had cursed the house by killing Colin Florent. The very messenger sent to give her the means to read the message about the secret bloodline. No wonder, Florie thought, that everything seemed so bad now. The boy's blood had seeped into the stones of the place, and nothing would be the same there. The rest of the afternoon, Florie contemplated the paths that had brought them to where they were.

By evening, she had decided she must try to speak with the others. She made sure nobody was outside her room, then moved swiftly to the most likely place-- the maester's room. She had guessed right, for both Toby and Zel were there, and Florie hurried to throw herself into her husband's protective embrace. Then she took a breath and started talking. She outlined how she felt about the way their house was cursed, and how surely, it was a gods-given sign that they should pursue the Gardener line. Why else, she said, would they know before even the Citadel that winter was coming? Why else would the destructive caterpillars have come into their hands so easily and safely? The Seven meant for it to be so, and they could not sit and let their confidence seep away. The others agreed, but Cyril pursed his lips and said that this meant decisions. He asked what Florie intended to do about it now, with her new engagement, and Tobias's new lordship. Florie didn't know quite what to say. They discussed options, but none of them seemed satisfying, and she promised to think on it, to pray, and to answer tomorrow whether they would flee Blackbane and its curses, or try to make allies of her family. Toby held her close, and asked if Cyril would spare them his room for the night, and sleep in Toby's instead. Florie blushed, but cuddled closer as Cyril and Zel left them alone. Tonight, she desperately needed this comfort.