Ch. 5 - Bad Faith, cont.

Cyril
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Cyril's morning routine consisted of feeding the ravens in the rookery and checking for new messages, and usually, it was an easy task. The birds seemed on edge, though, probably because of the arrival of three newcomers, each bearing a message. One of the ravens was of poor temperament, and scratched him across the face as he retrieved the message. In a somewhat poorer temper, he unrolled the scrolls and read them. The first was a message from the Citadel. It was a routine message, checking to know if he had detected any signs of winter in his lands. The second was a notice from the High Septon. It addressed the dangerous new heresy being spread, and that for a period of three moons, any heretic could visit a sept, renounce the heresy, and be cleansed. After that, all heretics were to be put to death. Moreover, it was decreed that any remaining godswoods be felled and burned. The third scroll was a message bearing Targaryen colors, and it said that it had come to light that Lord Darklyn was a heretic, which meant that he was absolutely a traitor. Cyril tucked those away for delivery and as it was early yet, he penned his response to the Citadel first. No, he told them. There had been no signs of winter's approach.

When Cyril made his way to deliver the messages to Lord Felsward, Tobias and Florie were already present, and a dirty man who looked to be one of the smallfolk. The man was clearly petitioning, but it was not to Felsward he spoke. It was to Tobias. Cyril listened as he introduced himself as Lannon Rivers, from near Tynker Tower. He said there had been a band of Dothraki raiders going through the countryside. They killed, pillaged, and burned buildings and crops to the ground. Thousands, he said, and would Lord Ore come and put them down? Toby looked a little taken aback by it all, but he said he would, and Lannon took his leave. Garon turned to Toby and his daughter, and they talked about leaving for Tynker. Since they had not had time to amass forces of their own, Garon said he would send a hundred men and fifty archers with them to deal with whatever threat this was. That it was truly a group of Dothraki was inconcievable, but clearly, it was a frightening force. Cyril presented his messages then, and it did not escape his notice that as he relayed the septon's message, Toby looked a touch uneasy, and raised his fingers to a little leather string around his neck. Cyril had kept the heretical charm himself, as an academic matter, but it was tucked away in his things. He wondered how long Toby would secretly wear his.

After a little more discussion, it was decided that Cyril would accompany the two to their new home as well, since Jonys's medications were well in order, and Cyril had proved a valuable help to them before. He was relieved, because it put him close to his partners in crime, as it were. He got his things together and soon, the party was off. Zel traveled with them, since she was more theirs than Garon's, and one again, it was the four of them wandering off to deal with an unknown problem.

Drezielle
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The group stopped at the same inn where they had first learned of trouble at Tynker, and once again, the feel of the place was tense and unhappy. The people they spoke to supported the story they had heard, that hundreds of Dothraki were attacking anything in their path. They did, however, get some new information--the last farmstead known to be attacked. So they left the men to camp and Zel rode with the others to investigate the Colton's farmstead. Their house and fields were nothing more than ash. This was not a Dothraki trait, and Zel was glad of that. Whoever these men were, they weren't to be feared the way real Dothraki would be. And here, there were signs of which direction the riders had gone, hoofprints and other indication of the passage of many horses. Zel offered to use her skills to scout, and meet the others back where they were camped.

Zel bid farewell to the others and rode Smoky along the path the riders had taken. She studied the tracks, counting. There might be as many as a hundred of them, and they were all headed southwest, which, overland, was the direction of the gorge where Tynker Tower sat. It was not a promising sign. And as the tracks continued in the direction of the tower, Zel started moving more cautiously. She didn't want to accidentally catch up with this group, whomever they might be, and find herself dead. It was a good thing that she tied Smoky and started scanning the trees, because sure enough, there were lookouts. She was stealthier, though, and was able to spot them before they could spot her. She moved along slowly, and found the lookouts posted at steady intervals, their placement suggesting what they had feared. The bulk of the group must be at the tower. Unable to get any closer with ease, Zel returned to her horse and rode back to meet the others.

They debated that evening about what to do, and whether their forces were enough to retake the tower. None of them believed that a horde of Dothraki had really come to settle here, but it was clear these men were a formidable force. The tower was defensible, but it also made retreats difficult. They decided that if they attacked quickly and relentlessly, they could make it into the tower, and prevent their enemies from using their numerous horses to their advantage. With this in mind, they rode towards the tower.

Tobias
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Toby sent Zel ahead of them to see if they could spot lookouts. They wouldn't be able to keep the passage of their small army secret for very long, but any extra time would be advantageous for them. When Zel found a lookout, she took Cyril along since he was the better marskman, and Cyril felled the first easily. They found another, a little further along, and Toby's first indication that something had gone wrong this time was Cyril's scream of pain. Toby spurred his horse over the hill he'd sent them off to, and found Zel dragging Cyril back out of range. He had an arrow sticking through his shoulder, the tip coming all the way out the other side. He was bleeding and pale, and now they had been spotted, so there was precious little time to move. Zel helped Cyril back onto his horse, and Toby couldn't stay to worry. He had to lead them to the tower.

Tobias was far more used to single combat than to leading an army, but he was still confident in doing so, and their plan was as solid as they could make it. With Cyril injured, Zel would hang back to watch over him and Florie, and Toby would be in the middle of it. He hadn't even wanted Tynker Tower, but like it or not it was his now, and all the dubious honors that came with it. Like it or not, he had to protect it now. He had men coming up through the valley, with archers at the sides. He wanted to move in on the tower quickly, so that the bandits wouldn't have time to get on their horses to ride against Toby's unmounted forces. The company moved in and the fight was on. The men certainly were not Dothraki, not even close. They were ordinary thugs, and they fell quickly.

At the top of the tower next to a tattered banner made of multicolored strips of cloth, and a man rose up next to the banner and called for a halt, and that they surrendered. With the battle raging strong around him, Toby almost pressed on as if he had not heard, and called his men back. "Come down from there!" he yelled to his opponent. Several minutes later, the leader of the bandits emerged, and he, unlike the others, looked as if he might be Dothraki, though the two men who stepped forward with him certaily were not. He introduced himself as Maves Dothrak, and he eyed Toby for a few moments before speaking.

"So you would be Lord Tynker," he said.

"Ore," Toby responded.

Maves puzzled a moment, anger and confusion warring in his features. "Or what?"

"Lord Ore," Toby corrected. "But this is my tower."

Tobias considered what to do. This would be an awful lot of men to put to death, but he didn't want them anywhere nearby. He pulled back a bit as Florie and the others rode forward, and they spoke in low voices about the merit of sending these men away and unleashing them on someone else. They decided that it would be best to send them north, out of these lands, and to where they might be a further distraction, drawing eyes away from the south. He told Maves that he and his two lieutenants could ride out, and that the rest of their men would be on foot. They would travel north, and would not attack until they were out of Felsward lands.

Florie
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Florie, after the hastily hissed discussion over what to do with these men, rode a little closer to watch Maves as Toby gave his order. Boldened by seeing a smaller force ahead of him than he initially had, Maves started to argue. She listened to a little bit, and to a few insults traded back and forth between Maves and Zel, and finally, she'd had enough. Who was this man to presume that his ugly banner actually meant something to them? Didn't he see that to leaving with his life and the life of his men was a mercy? She speared him with a look, and repeated her husband's instructions, her voice smooth and cold. He tried to say that it was like asking a wild animal, or even a trained one, not to hunt, but he was looking at her with a different expression now. She smiled coldly and said that any animal could be brought to heel. She repeated the instruction, and said that he would travel until he was someone else's sorrow. Florie heard the quiet that her voice had brought, and saw something like fear in Maves's eyes.

The rest of it was a matter of organization, and seeing that the raiders didn't try anything as they left along the canyon. Then Florie shook herself, and began work on the more mundane matters of seeing the extent of the repairs needed in the tower, getting the men working towards fixing the place up to be livable. They took Cyril in and Toby tended to his wound, and the next week was busy with repairs and recovery. By that time, Florie was was anxious. There was no sept at Tynker, and she was feeling its loss keenly. She knew the others didn't understand her need, didn't quite see things as she did. But she knew she needed that space, so she had the men start work on creating a small sept for her in the tower. It would have to be enough.