Ch. 8 - Last Reaping

Kai

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I saw Rivenka talking with Tom the harper, and as usual, whatever she was saying made him look rather sour. She just kept smiling prettily, and afterward I learned that she was trying to determine why Dynzyl Baratheon was passing through this way in the first place. She told me that the servants wouldn't speak to her, though she was fairly confident that the servant girls, at least, would talk to Tom. He reported back to her the next day that he was traveling towards Long Table to visit his brother Methias, who he was very close to. We wanted to delay that as much as possible – Dynzyl's suspicions about Slaange would only be confirmed when he learned of the illness at Long Table, and the sooner the Baratheons had an idea of how boldly we had acted against them, the worse it might be for us.

We chatted about this for a while (OMG SO MUCH GAME TIME CHATTING), and Odette reminded us that as an anointed night with a passion for sport, he might take well to a hunting trip. We all agreed that at the least, putting him off for a few days would be good, and while he bore no signs of friendship for us, we thought that Lady Ivy would be a pretty enough oddity to make him curious.

We were right. Dynzyl couldn't wait to see a woman with such an interest in hunting. He didn't quite believe she even knew what she was talking about, but when we rode out and Azeline began her usual chatter about which places would be the best for finding game, boar in this case, I saw his expression starting to change. He was interested. And the more interested he was, the more distracted he would be.

Rula

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I'll never quite understand the pageantry of the nobs and their hunting trips. Seems a right production for something that should be simple, but I suppose when it's one of the only ways you can get out into the world without being accused of idleness, it's got a bit more appeal. I wasn't sure what I thought about our noble friends tossing Azeline in front of the Baratheon man, but all's I could do was keep close to her on the hunt. I could focus my energy on that, too, and not have to worry about protecting my brother, as we left him back safely out of sight in Bitter Bridge.

Unfortunately, when Arun stopped and went on point, and when they went off after the boar, I couldn't quite keep up. I could see Dynzyl stop ahead, trying to get Azeline to stay back, and she looked a bit offended, but kept a little behind him. Then they were moving fast again, and when I heard yelling and crashing up ahead, I rather thought the worst, though I'm not at all sure who I thought it for. I got back into sight of 'em in time to see the boar, bloodied and with spears sticking out of him, charge Azeline, and charge right up the spear she thrust through him. The great beast fell on her, and Baratheon, bloodied and fearsome, hauled the dead boar off of her. He had a cut along his side, and Azeline was bleeding from her leg. Both of them seemed rather exultant, though, and he gave her his own kerchief to press to the wound.

We got her back to camp, and her noble cousins immediately fussed over getting her wound dressed and getting her bathed. Dynzyl was telling the story of her heroism in fighting the boar with such enthusiasm, no doubt they saw an opportunity. Odette enlisted me to help wash the girl, and you would have thought we were killing her. Odette wasn't going to be satisfied with her cleanliness until the water ran clear, and it was my unlucky job to hold her down while she got scrubbed within an inch of her life. “More hot water!” Odette kept commanding, until at last either there was no more water anywhere, or it was clear enough to satisfy the terrifying steward. I ended up soaked through and starting to shiver as evening chill set in.

With Rivenka and Florie fussing over Azeline, I stumbled away, and Quaynlis, who had been hovering rather closer than was proper to the bathing, came over and said I should get into something dry. “Should,” I muttered, though I didn't have any more clothes.

“Come, he said. I'll hold a blanket for you while you take your wet things off.” He did, and then wrapped the blanket around me and drew me close by the fire. Wearing nothing but a blanket and pressing up against him, it reminded me how long it had been since I'd been close to someone. I wasn't sure what to think.

I tried to keep my focus on Azeline, who was looking very pretty in a dress and being waited on hand and foot by Dynzyl. She introduced him to her baby falcon, now named Sheldyn, and let him pet Arun. They talked about horses, and about how he had been out at sea during Methias's hasty wedding. Quaynlis did his best to write a song of the hunt, but it didn't have its usual ring to it, and he gave up as everyone started peeling away from the fire and going to their tents.

He was staring at me, sort of strangely. I looked away. He slid his arm around my shoulders and leaned close. “You're just as beautiful as your brother.”

I protested, because it isn't true. Features that on him are handsome are mannish on me. But Quaynlis was so close I could feel his breath. “But... my brother.”

“Oh, yes. You can't tell him about this. He'll probably kill me.” And perhaps I should have pulled away. Should have insisted that he let me go, that he be truer to my brother. But I just stayed where I was, shivering a little although I was no longer cold. His lips curved as he looked at me. “We need to practice your... sneaking... more,” he said, and kissed me. Then he drew me to his tent, and with nothing but a blanket around me, it wasn't long before that fell away, and I spent the night in his arms.

Kai

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Dynzyl insisted on staying at Bitter Bridge until Azeline was fully recovered from her injury. Rivenka and Slaange attended to her, but Dynzyl visited her often. Then Rivenka told me that Azeline had felt well enough to go walking, and she had gone into the gardens with Dynzyl. Rivenka sent Slaange after them, and he had reported that He had started off talking about she wasn't like her friends, and about her devotion to animals, and about her family... and how the way he looked at her changed visibly when he realized that although she was an Ivy, her mother was Susi Gardener.

At that, he stopped, and stepped in front of her, and peered down in evident concern. “Has something scratched you?” He asked her as he lifted her chin. She started to say that nothing had, but then he dipped his head and kissed her. “Forgive my deception,” he whispered, and then they kissed again. And again.

This is dangerous, but it could help us too. We have to keep Azeline close, and make sure that Dynzyl doesn't manipulate her. If he has genuine affection for our young cousin, it may be to our advantage.

Rula

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Azeline burst into my room and told me, cheeks flushing, that Dynzyl had kissed her, and she wanted to know what came next. Mind racing, I tried to give her the best advice I could for what would be expected of someone of her station. She was so happy, I didn't have the heart to say the things I was thinking. This wouldn't be good. Someone was going to use her, and whether it was Dynzyl or one of our own, in the end, it would be Azeline getting hurt. But saying that now wouldn't do any good, so I just made sure she understood how much of her virtue she needed to keep intact, no matter how charming he was to her.