Ch. 5 - Bad Faith

Drezielle
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Zel watched the wedding guests leave, and soon enough on the day after the wedding, Blackbane was mostly empty. That evening, only the Florents and Osgrey Meriweather remained. Zel kept to herself, knowing that if she was needed, she should be ready. In the morning, she awoke to Florie at her door. She groggily let her friend in and listened as Florie explained that Osgrey had been to her room that morning to press his suit, and she had barely put him off, and had sent him along ahead of her to speak to her father. Florie knew that it might be dangerous for her to follow, so she wanted Zel to go listen at the door. Zel threw on her wig and skirts so that she could go and appear to be cleaning near Lord Garon's door, and listened in as he revealed the truth to Osgrey. Osgrey grew angry, saying Garon had broken his word, and Garon responded that when he had, his daughter was no longer his to give. Zel listened as Garon defended Toby and Florie, and tried to find a way to keep friendly with Longtable, but Osgrey would have none of it, and Zel had to scurry out of the way as he stormed out. Garon stepped out, and sent her to find Flowers. She readily agreed, and changed hurriedly, and was sent again to gather the others.

Garon brought them into the room and shut the door, telling Florie and Toby that he had made their marriage known to Osgrey, and he had ridden off in anger. He paused, his features grim. Osgrey, he continued, must not make it back to Longtable. Cyril and Toby showed surprise, and so did Florie, but less so. Zel had thought, as she was sure the others had, that the scheming in Florie's nature had mostly come from her mother. Clearly, her father was not to be underestimated either, and it was chilling to listen to Garon describe how he would be sending them to kill Osgrey, and that it must be done outside of their land, and be made to look like a bandit attack. He told Florie that she would be going as well, because she needed to see what she had wrought.

Zel hurried to help with the preparations. They would have to ride carefully, to catch up with Osgrey but without his knowledge that they were on the road as well. They planned some as they prepared, and decided that once they were a day or so away, Zel would begin to ride ahead overland to see how far they were from Osgrey. Zel was happy to be riding again, and she tried not to think too hard about their errand.

Cyril
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Cyril rode close to Toby and Florie as they left Blackbane. He listened as Toby recounted how Lord Florent had spoken with him before he left, and how they had agreed to use Tynker Tower as a safer place to send and recieve messages. They had also talked about needing to make a decisive but still secret strike against Highgarden. They all agreed to this, of course, but none of them were sure yet how to go about it. It was not far enough into the season for the caterpillars to have caused much damage, and their resources were small. Still that problem would have to wait. The more immediate issue was what to do to kill Florent. They rode and as evening drew on, they sent Zel ahead. She reported that Florent had left the road to spend the night at a small holding, and they could ride past and be ahead of Florent in the morning.

The next day, they worked to set an ambush. Florie was exhausted, no doubt in part due to it being the first night since the wedding guests arrived that she and Toby had not been forced to separate. Cyril had politely ignored them, but it was no mystery what the two had spent too much of their night on. They rode a little ways, but not yet out of Felsward lands. After some discussion, they decided that they could safely dispatch their target here, and then take him up to the river that bordered their lands and dump him in. The plan they came up with would be enough to stop a few people, let alone one man. There was a curve in the road that bordered a hill, and Toby would armor up and wait just around the curve. Cyril would be up the hill a bit, in the trees, waiting with his arrows. Florie would be safe beside him, and his job would be to shoot the horse and make it stumble. Zel would be in the brush on the other side of the road, throwing daggers ready, and she would be there to aid as needed and prevent retreat. They sent Corwin a little way up the path in the other direction, to keep watch for other travelers.

They waited. Florie was still and silent next to Cyril, and he could only guess at what she felt about this. And then there was no more time to wonder, as the sound of hoofbeats announced Osgrey's approach. Cyril watched, sighting carefully, waiting until the horse had passed the spot they had designated, and then he let loose an arrow. It hit the horse in the flank, and the animal began to rear in panic and pain. He quickly got another arrow and let it fly as Zel came from the bushes and threw one of her knives at the animal. The horse fell, and Osgrey tumbled to the ground.

Tobias
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Tobias waited out of sight, listening as his companions took Osgrey from his horse. Then he rode out. Osgrey had only a moment for recognition to set in, and no time at all to react, to even draw his sword. Toby swung at him as he rode by, and Osgrey's head fell from his shoulders and rolled on the ground.

They all came down to the path to help clear the scene. They carried the body to a campsite they'd selected nearby, where they hung it up for the blood to drain like an animal they had hunted. Grisly as it was, it was necessary if they were to carry the body to the river without being in danger of discovery. It was a long, tense night, and in the morning, they rode the rest of the way to the river, dumped the body in, as well as his sword, shield and armor. The body would soon be unrecognizable, and the metals would quickly rust at the bottom of the river. Westeros could be a dangerous place, everyone knew. Nobody would be able to suspect them for Osgrey's disappearance. The journey back to Blackbane was relatively quiet, with each of them wrapped in their own thoughts.

Once back, they all went directly to Garon to report. He confirmed with them that Osgrey had been seen travelling home, and that the killing had gone swiftly and efficiently. Toby reported the facts quietly and gravely, and as he did, he saw Garon watching Florie. Her features were set and, Toby had to admit to himself, a little cold. He knew they should not be surprised. This was not the first death she had seen, and her resolve to see her actions through had never wavered. Still, it was disturbing to see, and clearly even more disturbing to Garon, who told her roughly that Osgrey had been a good man, and that she should pray to the Maiden for forgiveness. She dipped her head in acquiesence, and left quietly, with her father staring unhappily after her. Then Garon turned his attention back to the group. He spoke with Toby about the need to act while the eyes of the kingdom were turned on Duskendale, and how unready they really were. Toby agreed, and they concluded that if at all possible, they must find a way to put their influence on the Duskendale situation again, to extend it as long as possible. With this to think about, they concluded the meeting. Garon sent Cyril off to tend to Jonys, and then he looked at Zel for a while, and charged her to think about what she was to the house, as she would need a title. She departed in another direction, and after they had all departed, Tobias went to join his wife in the sept.

Florie
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Florie knew she should feel an appropriate grief about Osgrey. She knew that she should feel horror that they had killed a man in order to keep themselves from condemnation and suspicion. Somewhere in herself, these feelings did flicker through, but they were locked away. Her father had ordered her to pray to the Maiden for forgiveness, and she did. She prayed too that the Seven would continue to guide her footsteps, as they had so far. This newfound coldness in her must have its place. And, she knew, there were personal prices to be paid for her ambition and her will. Certain softer feelings could not stay in the same place as her resolve.

Later, once again in her own bed with Tobias beside her, Florie should have slept soundly. But even under the covers, even next to her husband's warmth, she was freezing cold. With that cold came uneasiness, and she knew that if she kept tossing and turning, Toby would wake, so she let him sleep and she got out of bed, shivering, and went to walk the halls. For some reason, she hadn't thought to put on slippers for some reason, and the stones were frigid under her bare feet. She passed by an open door, and realized an even colder draft was coming from within. She realized it was her mother's room. She stepped in, and realized that the door to the garden was open, that autumn chill was seeping into the hall this way. Florie hurried forward to close the door, and saw that the moonlight made the overgrown roses look black and frosted over. The whole garden looked eerie and cold. Florie's hand touched the door, but she stopped, staring, as she realized that she was not alone. There was a figure sitting on her mother's garden bench, and no soo$945 ner had she registered this that she realized from size and build that it was Colin Florent. Dark blood still oozed from his neck wound. As Florie watched in horror, he turned his ruined face to her.

She awoke with a muffled sob, disoriented as she realized that her walk through the hall and all that followed had been a dream. Just a dream. But she was still freezing, her body as cold as if she had been out of bed. Unable to bear the feeling alone, she shook Toby awake, curled into him and mumbling that she'd had a bad dream. He comforted her, and built up the fire to warm the room. He asked what the dream had been, and she couldn't tell him. In the firelight, safe beside him, her alarm seemed silly. She knew it would sound so. So she said it was about the coming winter, and left it, and Tobias held her close, and sang an old ballad to her, and she started to feel warm again. She made him promise that they would leave soon to conduct their affairs from Tynker Tower. She wanted to be free of Blackbane and its cursed and bloodied stones. At last, with these assurances, Florie slept again.