Ch. 4 - Thorns

Cyril
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Maester Cyril tended to Lady Vallya and Jonys for days. When they had first returned to Blackbane Hall, the apples had fallen from the trees, but they were blossoming again, heralding another stretch of summer. Jonys was stronger, out of bed and moving about, and while Vallya was weaker, she too showed marked improvement. Life at the hall was quiet. Ser Toby and Lady Florie had, since their return, seemed to suffer an attack of religious fervor, and so both of them spent a great deal of time in the sept. Cyril began to settle into his new duties, and began to be comfortable at the hall. One morning as he tended the ravens, two arrived within moments of each other, with little tubes capped in green and silver wax. The carefully stamped leaded sheet inside was an invitation to a tourney at Highgarden to be held in honor of Lady Olenna Tyrell. Cyril took the invitations and went to find Florie. She was in the sept of course, with Toby on the other side, both silent.

When Florie read the invite, her face went a little ashen, and she explained to Toby what it was, and he frowned. "Well, we can't go," he said bluntly, as if that answered the issue entirely. Florie pointed out that the entire family would be expected to attend, and that nobody attending at all would be a slap in the face to their lords. The two began to argue, and Cyril just stood back and tried not to look like he was taking sides.

"Are you ordering me, Toby?" Florie was saying when Jonys stepped in and asked what was going on. Florie hesitated, then showed him the invitation, which had Toby glaring at her. He started listing the reasons why it was a bad idea. At the very least, it would leave the hall itself weak, not to mention the travel being a danger to Vallya and Jonys. He and Jonys began to argue too, but then, in chilly tones, Jonys said that although Florie had been left in charge of the household and Toby in charge of the garrison, Jonys was by right of birth the lord of Blackbane if his father was not present, and they would all be going. Toby went still, as if he had been struck, and his next answers were in clipped formal tones. When Toby and Florie had huffed off in different directions, Jonys stepped close to Cyril. He asked the Maester to make him some sort of tonic which would give him more energy and the appearance of liveliness for the tournament. Cyril tried to convince the young lord that it would not be in his best interests, but Jonys insisted, and Cyril agreed to try, at least.

It also fell to the maester to speak to Lady Vallya about the trip. She asked if he was there to feed her the "dreadful powder" that was her treatment, and he said that he was, but that he was also there to tell her that they would be traveling to Lady Tyrell's birthday.

"Lady Olenna has a birthday?" Vallya asked in indistinct tones.

"Er, yes, once a year, I've heard," Cyril responded as he mixed her medicine.

A wicked little gleam came to Vallya's eyes. "It's surprising the woman was ever born, I always imagined her carved of briarwood." Cyril blinked a little, unsure of how to respond to that, but she continued. "I'm surprised her children weren't born covered in splinters."

The cattiness was uncharacteristic, and Cyril was a little taken aback by it. Then Vallya asked him the same thing Jonys had, for him to make some potion that would help her get through her time at Highgarden, because she would have duties to fulfill, and it was important to impress the Tyrells. He agreed, reluctantly, to try and make her something, and left. He caught Florie in the hall and described her mother's odd reaction, and asked if it was normal, or if the sickness made her speak that way sometimes. Florie gave a tired laugh and asked, "Have you ever /met/ Lady Olenna Tyrell?"

With that to add to his unsettling thoughts, Cyril returned to his quarters and began working on the potion both of his patients had requested. Against his better judgement, his job was still to serve the will of the house.

Tobias
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Ser Tobias grudgingly got his things together and chose a guard to travel with them to Highgarden. They had to leave right away, for it would be slow going. The Felswards owned a larger-than-normal wheelhouse, and Lady Vallya would be traveling in it. Everyone thought Jonys should as well, but he insisted on riding, and said he felt fine. And clearly, nobody ranked high enough to argue with him. So they began travel, and after a while, the damn fool Jonys nearly fell off of his horse, and was finally persuaded to rest in the wheelhouse with his mother. The travel was at least quiet, and when they got to Highgarden, the walls were surrounded by colorful pavilions filled with merchants and food vendors of all kinds. Right before they arrived, Cyril dosed both Jonys and Vallya with their new medication, and by the time they were at the gates, Jonys was on his horse and snapping orders. He seemed angry, and his eyes were a little wild. He kept yelling at Florie, which didn't sit well with Toby, but he knew it wouldn't be good to speak up now.

As they approached the gates of Highgarden, someone called their names, and Zel Flowers rode up, looking surprised to see them. Florie greeted the highwayman warmly and made him promise to meet them later, and then they all went to greet their hosts. Lady Tyrell was in a cordial mood, and greeted them all with refreshments. It was difficult not to be struck by the beauty of Higharden. It was solid and well-defended, but elegantly built, and it sat on lush lands. Inside, it was opulent and prettily decorated; the vaulted ceilings elegant in a way that Blackbane simply couldn't be. Toby caught Florie looking around with something like longing in her eyes from time to time.

Once the pleasantries were done with, they went back out to shop around while their pavilion was being set up. Florie kept trying to ask what Toby needed, but he brushed off her questions, saying that he was adequately provided for. After a while, she stopped talking to him. Zel rejoined them after a time, looking a little sad and saying he'd nearly bought a horse. Then, as they rounded a corner, they heard a bit of commotion in front of them, and a knight stood angrily in front of a smith, shouting that the smith was a thief, had stolen his armor, and it nearly came to blows, but Toby stepped in and got between them, demanding to know what it was about. The knight said that he had agreed upon an amount to pay the smith for repairs to his armor, but now the smith would only accept a greater amount, and would not give back the armor until he was paid. The smith countered that the knight had told him only minor work was needed, but the expense of the work had been far greater than that, and so he was owed more money. Between Toby and Florie, they got the men calmed down, and got the smith to accept what the knight had originally offered-- it seemed to be all he had-- and the matter was done with.

"Ser Ore," a man said from somewhere behind them. "That's a rare sight, seeing you help an honest man keep his property." Tobias turned and saw a tall, lanky knight eating a hunk of some greasy meat.

Toby asked what he meant, but the man seemed largely interested in mocking him. Florie stepped forward to try, clearly frustrated at the way her knight was being called names. "I beg you, sir--" she started, but he laughed.

"Yes, please do. You look good like that, begging. On your knees, maybe, and--" He got no further before Toby took a swing at him, but he caught Toby's hand and forced it down, calling him a thief. It was then that he introduced himself as Mikel Mynot, a cousin to the Tynkers. He said that the Felswards and their dishonorable knight had stolen his inheritance, that Tynker Tower and its riches should have been his, but they had pillaged it. Then he challenged Toby in the joust, and though Toby had not intended to sign in for the event, he accepted, knowing his honor was at stake.

Drezielle
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Before rejoining the Felswards, Zel had managed a fairly productive trip to commission better armor, and a very unproductive horse-buying excursion. Zel had found a little horse that was beautiful, a fast creature with a small build. The seller was a Dornish man who had auditioned her to see if the horse would even take to her, and the little mare did, but the price he asked was too dear for Zel. She had been unable to bring herself to haggle at the high prices he asked, and even though the horse might well be worth it, it was just too much.

Though she had promised to spend some time with Florie, Zel wasn't terribly comfortable with the Felswards at the moment. Lady Felsward looked as if she might fall over at any moment, Jonys seemed angry, and both Tobias and Florie were clearly on edge. Nevertheless, Zel could see that Florie was desperate for female companionship, however poor a representation of a girl Zel was, so she stayed on with them, and later found some time to talk to Florie alone. The young noblewoman was agitated, and she at last started to talk haltingly about something that had been bothering her. She told Zel that her mother carried a secret bloodline, and they seemed to be the last of its progeny. Zel could see Florie felt she was taking a risk, since Zel was both a Targaryen bastard an in the employ of the king. She assured Florie that her secret was safe, though. Zel was no politician, certainly, and her own acts in the guise of the king's service were not spotless, either.

The others gathered back at the tent towards the end of the day, and it was clear that Jonys and Vallya had only gotten worse. Jonys sent the maester for large amounts of food, thrusting money at him as if he would just as soon be rid of it, and then later demanding to know where it had gone. Zel ended up next to Lady Felsward, who was looking wide awake, but the way she was regarding Zel was nearly predatory. Zel tried to move away, but Vallya beckoned her back.

"Highwayman Flowers," she said. "Let me see your hand." Reluctantly, Zel thrust out her hand and Vallya examined it, lips curving. "Your fingers are slender... two should do."

First confused and then horrified by the implication, Zel stammered some excuse and fled the pavilion. Maester Cyril found her outside an hour or so later, and he didn't look much better than she felt, and when he offered to go have a drink with her, Zel didn't think twice. By the time she was good and tipsy, they decided to head back, but Zel went in a different direction than the maester, certain she knew a shorter way. She got rather lost, and heard someone in a tent murmuring about the Crone's lantern lighting the way... the way the heresy was supposed to go. But she couldn't locate the speaker, so she went on. Her feet had led her to the stable with the horse that should have been hers. She heard the little mare close by, felt her snuffling, but then she decided to withdraw. No good would come of lusting after what she had already found at too high a price.

Florie's Journal, Excerpt
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Dear Argent,

Until I can reach you, I can only write to you as if I have somewhere to send these letters. You may get them all in a bundle, and I apologize. Mother and Jonys have been taking a dreadful tonic of the maesters that makes them act terribly strange. It seems to make their passions, all of their passions, run too hot. And it is entirely discomforting. Here at the Highgarden tournament, it's all we can do to help Jonys make an appearance and yet keep him out of the events. When both Mother and Jonys were fast asleep in the morning after a bad night, a visitor came. It was Axel Florent, and I told him to come back later, when Mother would be feeling better. I can only forestall the meeting so far, and I have no idea what I hope will come of it.

The other nasty shock of the morning was a visit from Bethany Redwyne. This one, Mother was well enough to attend, but she does not have the spark that she once did, and I ended up doing most of the talking. Bethany seemed intent on getting us to admit that something was wrong with Jonys. But you know as well as I do how important it is to get him married and bedded, now more than ever. I sidestepped her questions as well as I could, and played that with Jonys as the only man of the family present, we had begged him not to enter the dangerous sports of the tournament. I think I did our gift for silver tongues credit, because in the end, she was swayed, enough to set a quick date for the wedding so as not to delay their happiness. Jonys will be married two months hence.

But there is more to come from this wretched tournament,, for after being challenged in the joust by a knight who would have inherited Tynker Tower, another knight approached Toby and challenged him in the melees. It turns out that we have made a very definite enemy of Ser Ilyn Payne, the father of that whining brat who made our lives so difficult back at the engagement party. It seemed so simple then, but I am seeing more and more how our history has a way of catching up to us...