Ch. 2 - Home to Roost

Tobias
§

Tobias knew that Florie was troubled, but he couldn't comfort her as much as she wanted him to. He could not tell her his thoughts on The Seven. And so he left her sleeping early in the m1. Albuquorning, and went to the top of the tower, and prayed on his own. He held onto his charm, studied the seven glittering bits caught in the copper wire, and thought how things had gone right for him when he had listened to the heresies. On the fifth morning of waking up alone, though, Florie found him there, and she asked him what he was doing. Watching the sunrise, he told her, not wanting to have a fight. Just watching the sunrise. Toby had never been the best liar, though, and Florie didn't believe them. "What is that in your hand?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Toby lied. "Come, let's go get some breakfast."

"Fine," she said, not moving. "Let's go."

After a couple minutes of fruitlessly trying to get Florie to go ahead, and her demanding to know what he was keeping from her, Toby saw what it was coming to. Frustrated, Toby threw the charm so it hit her square in the chest, and fell to the ground. Florie picked it up, and stared at him, and Toby could hardly stand to see the expression in her eyes. Then she tried to walk away, and he called after her that she was a coward if she couldn't face the truth she'd asked for. The fight began in earnest, then. Florie yelled that she had been following the will of the Seven and to commit heresy against them was unthinkable, and Toby yelled that everything good that had happened to them had been in line with the so-called heresies. He told her she was a fool if she couldn't see it, and furthermore, that she had even comitted the heresy of the Maiden by giving herself to him for love. They went back and forth, and at last Toby left her at the top of the tower, and stormed to get his sword and saddle a fast horse. He needed to be away, away from his wife and his unwanted responsibilities. So he rode out and through the valley, with no particular goal in mind. He interrupted some hunters, and his anger dissipated with the slight embarrassment of having missed them, hiding in the grass as they were. Not long after that, Corwin caught up to him, earnest and concerned, and without any other good options, he let the boy come with him. He found a tavern and bought ale for them both, telling Corwin gruffly that he could have half.

There was a commotion outside, and annoyed by the noise, Tobias went outside. He saw two of the traveling people being pushed by a small group of people towards a tree, and the ringleader of the group was carrying a length of rope. Toby stopped them, demanding to know what was going on. They were punishing heretics, the crowd said, and Toby's features hardened. As their lord, he commanded them to stop, and said that in his lands, people could worship as they liked. In silence, he freed the two and took them into the tavern. He talked to them for a while, and assured them he was of their faith, and offered his hospitality to them. They talked as they went home, traveling slowly because Corwin had managed to get rather drunk. He settled them in at home, and learned from the others that Florie had not come down from the tower. He would, he resolved with a heavy heart, send her home to her father the moment she asked. They went in the afternoon to retrieve the cart the young couple had been in when the mob attacked, and then Toby went to one of the rooms to slump into a chair, brooding, trying not to think of Florie.

When it was just getting dark, she stepped into the room, her features pale. "Tobias," she said softly, and he didn't look at her.

"I'll send you home," he said. "To your father. You will be blameless." And Toby would be killed as a heretic.

"I don't want to go home," she said, and he looked at her at last. "I thought today, as I stood at the top of the tower. And I listened. And you were right. All of the signs from the gods have happened out in the world, not in the sept. And if I accept that they have guided me, I must accept this new faith."

Without another thought, Tobias smiled and lifted her into his arms.

Drezielle
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Drezielle had spent an anxious day worrying over Tobias and Florie, worrying at the way Florie stood immobile at the top of the tower, refusing food, and drink and even a cloak to combat the growing chill. Things were, she thought grimly, over. She didn't know where she would end up. But then Florie descended, and went to talk to Tobias, and suddenly they were laughing. There might be hope after all.

In the morning, they all dined with the two travelers, and the man explained that they had not even meant to be in these lands, since it was close to here his sister had been attacked as she traveled with her parents. She had been saved by a knight and his friends, he said. They pulled out the charms they had been given, and showed him, and he said it was indeed his mother's work. Fate had brought him here, he said. Zel noticed that Florie seemed to have regained a keenness in her expression, and it was clear that now she was plotting again. Tobias talked about being willing to fight for their beliefs, and when they had finished with breakfast, Toby and Florie took Zel and Cyril aside and the planning began fresh.

They had always lacked support, and there was no way that they could rally an army from the people of their lands. But now they had something they could use-- the defense of what believers called the True Faith. Those of the Faith were facing extermination, and now that even Florie accepted the new beliefs, they could provide a haven and leadership. They had a great deal to do. The first thing was to establish a presence, and eventually a link between the reclaimation of the Gardener heritage and the True Faith. They would also need to spread the word, quietly, that their lands would harbor those facing persecution. Over the next month, Zel went on numerous small missions to neighboring lands. Her job was to spread the Gardener symbol, a green handprint, as well as caricatures of septons and other symbols supporting the new faith. Zel was also charged with putting these things in unlikely places, and she snuck where she could to do so. People were starting to move into the land, and next, Florie set her sights on her former home. Without Felsward land, and the resources it offered, they were still far too weak to make their move on Highgarden, even though they intended something more secretive than an all-out war. They planned a trip for the end of the month, and Florie seemed resolute that she would convince her father to support the cause, or do what must be done if he would not.

Florie
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Now that Florie's conversion was complete, she felt renewed, as if she were at last seeing clearly those things that had been obscured before. Her day in the chill on Tynker Tower, staring over the land and listening to the birds and the wind, had made her realize everything she supported meant supporting what she had thought to be heresy. She was right, though, she knew, so it could not be heresy, not in the eyes of The Seven. Now, she knew things that must be done, and she could not permit herself to waver.

Florie tried not to let her nerves overtake her as she traveled with the others to see her father. She would have to resolve to fight him if he would not act with them, come what may. The others were tense too, she could tell, but it was plenty warranted. She was pointing them on what was swiftly becoming a revolution. She had originally thought to take Highgarden from the Tyrells, to use that seat of power to force the other major families to accept the shift. But now they seemed to be drawing a firmer line, and she had to accept that now, achieving their goal would mean a major split in Westeros. The kingdoms had been united by force, after all, and what they were promising was a return to older ways, to a world where Gardeners had been kings and queens of the Reach, a time before the forced merging of the kingdoms. It was a heady thought, but when Blackbane hove into view, something in Florie shrank back. Not so long ago, she had been a little girl chasing butterflies in the fields here. Now, she was pretending to have power she did not, rebelling against every authority she had grown up with. She did her best to steel herself as their party was admitted carefully into Blackbane.

She started talking with her father, and from the beginning, it did not go well. Garon was offended by the request, because it implied that they were not being subservient to him, their lord. Florie tried to sidestep it, but it was a sticking point for him. She was going to take another tactic when she had a shock. Jonys showed up at the door asking if there were guests, and the way he stared and felt his way into the room showed him to be mostly blind. Garon said the Maester should look to him. Jonys no longer bled, he said, but now he could barely see. Florie hugged her older brother carefully. Like everything here, he seemed diminished, and not just because of his ailments. She steeled herself, and told her father again that the uprising was coming, and that she would be at the front of it, as the Seven had guided her. Her father spat something about the heresy, and tried to persuade her that Argent would hate her for her sins. Florie couldn't help it; she lost what calm she had, and they were nearly shouting at each other when at last it was too much for her. She put her head in her hands, in tears. "You're right," she mumbled. "Of course you're right."

"Florie!" Toby hissed.

She knew everyone was looking at her, but she could barely breathe for tears. How could she have thought she could really go through with this?

Cyril
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Cyril knew he could not permit Florie to let her father think he had won here, but the girl wouldn't seem to listen to anyone now. He could not help her until the situation was changed, and luckily he knew how to do it. Though he had helped in the last month of planning, he had also spent time alone with his kits, working out a few secrets he knew he should have. Florie and Tobias were ardently faithful, and though Cyril would not make the mistake of calling his friends credulous, he knew that religion made people inclined to believe what they might not otherwise. Cyril knew you couldn't count on distant gods, even the more personable variations promised by the "true faith," for the signs their followers craved. To motivate a group of believers, especially one being asked to go to war, miracles might be necessary. Cyril did not believe there were any miracles, and perhaps there never had been. But he did know arts that would appear miraculous, and he set to work to make sure that for his lord and lady, he could secretly produce miraculous occurrences.

Now, with Florie a wreck and Garon looking a touch triumphant, Cyril reached discreetly into one of his pockets and took out a small jar. Behind him was the fireplace, and deftly, he emptied the jar's contents into the fire. The flames suddenly flared brilliant green, and slowly, everyone's attention turned to the firelight. "It's a sign," Cyril said, voice certain. "Look, the gods speak even now, the fire burns Gardener green."

Garon stared, and Cyril could see he had taken the bait. They could change the situation now. Garon surged up, and said that he saw now, that he would use the miraculous fire to purge Blackbane of its curse. He thrust a torch into the flames and went down the hall to Vallya's room, and through it, to her garden. He set the drying plants ablaze, and then began taking her things and fueling them into the fire. Cyril helped, and as he did so, he dosed the fire with more of his powder so it would keep its color. The others helped fling things in, and they muttered conversation as they passed one another. Could Garon be trusted to change? This was a step, but he could lose his nerve and turn them all in before they could fight back. Florie managed to compose herself a little, but Cyril didn't trust her for level-headed decisions, not in this house, with her family. He agreed very quietly with Toby. Something should be done.

Jonys came to watch in the doorway, to ask about what was going on. Florie explained, haltingly, but then turned to watch as the last of her mother's things were flung into the fire. Garon went and stood in front of it, his features tinted strangely in the green light. This was the chance to make it all fit, Cyril knew. He would have to trust Tobias and Zel to do what was needed to help. Suddenly, he looked past Florie, as if in alarm. "Jonys!" Nothing was wrong, of course, but Zel, quick on the uptake, rushed to him, tripping him up a bit so he stumbled. Florie turned, eyes wide, to her brother, and as Zel distracted her and they fussed over Jonys, Cyril saw Tobias step close behind Garon before he could wonder what was happening and put a hand over his mout and the other around his shoulders. He wrenched Garon's head around and Cyril was close enough to hear a snap.

Then Toby pushed Felsward into the fire and stepped back, reaching out false astonishment. "Lord Felsward!" They told Florie and Jonys that he had stepped into the fire as if suddenly compelled. It was a neat story, and if Florie could believe it, one that would leave her guiltless. Now their goal was accomplished. Jonys, though technically lord, would be a puppet, malleable in their hands. Felsward lands were theirs.