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Post by Father on Jul 22, 2018 16:27:07 GMT 1
Laena would be very naive to believe that Ser Brynden Rivers, known as Bloodraven, would just happen to meet her by accident, it was all too convenient. "Dearest sister of mine, it really has been too long." Too long is a matter of perspective, though they must have been children the last time around, his red eyes and pale skin very much the same. Despite the heat, he wore his black cloak which he used to cover himself from the sun, gloves protecting his hands.
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jul 22, 2018 16:45:23 GMT 1
While she has been doing her best to hide it, Laena has been battling nerves all day. When Bloodraven himself presents himself to her, she could swear her heart skipped a beat. Maybe two. And not due to his beauty.
Still, she doesn't reveal her perturbation overtly, giving a respectful curtsey. "Brother. It has indeed been a long while, though well-spent on your behalf, if half of what I hear is true." As she talks, she takes care to regulate her breathing, keeping it slow and steady, as well as slowly moving to a more discreet location to continue the conversation. She had a sick feeling deep in her stomach that she knew *exactly* what he wanted to talk about, and it was not a subject for discussing openly.
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Post by Father on Jul 22, 2018 18:17:56 GMT 1
"I try to keep myself busy." He shrugs, not caring to dwell on it. "Something that seems to run in the family, my eyes and ears have seen the most interesting things, pieces of a puzzle when put together points in a direction which makes me deeply curious, you are playing a dangerous game dear sister, I think you would not be playing if you knew how dangerous. But I wonder, did you play a hand that nobody saw coming or were you simply bluffing?"
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jul 22, 2018 18:32:59 GMT 1
Fuck.
"I saw a sick dog being fed medicine once," she begins a seeming non-sequiteur. "Like most medicines it tasted bad, so the dog refused to eat it. So, the maester wrapped the medicine in delicious meat before throwing it to the animal, who ate it down with gusto." It doesn't even occur to her to lie. Okay, no, that is a lie, it did. She just realised just how quickly he would see through the lie almost immediately. "And that is the truth. If someone is going to lie, particularly if they are repeating the same lie over and over, they need to be a better liar, regardless of how sympathetic they believe their audience."
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Post by Father on Jul 22, 2018 19:09:57 GMT 1
"I dared almost hope that the meat was the real thing, tender and from the best part of a young ox, cooked to perfection." He sighs. "It shall be interesting to watch how our brother reacts, react he will, he must. Even if only to find some poor knight to blame for such lies and slander so that he might prove the allegations false by the tip of his lance, as I suspect he will. But if the delicious meal my lady prepared was much too close to the original recipe, I suspect that men of low morals will descend upon the camps, looking for any clue as to whom the source of the tale might be."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jul 22, 2018 19:31:28 GMT 1
"While my role in this can go no further, I cannot help but wonder: what if the trail he followed were to lead to a knight whom he did *not* best. Rage may provoke him to try where wisdom would suggest caution. And were he to lose such a fight ..." she shrugs. "It would not be boring."
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Post by Father on Jul 22, 2018 19:53:41 GMT 1
"He would go beg our other brother, the one with a truly impressive sword, and swear upon his life and mother that he did not do such a thing and that the knight in question is a vicious slanderer." Bloodraven snorts. "But will he find such a one? If he is truly clever, he finds a man willing to take the blame so that victory is assured."
"I hope my lady has hidden the ring where none will ever find it?"
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jul 27, 2018 17:33:38 GMT 1
She nods. "Not even me. And with that, I believe all I have left to do is wait, and see if the Stranger finds me through alternate means." She pauses a moment, before finishing off. "I wish you luck in taking advantage of the chaos, brother."
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Post by Father on Jul 30, 2018 16:37:04 GMT 1
"Then someone else knows, or can deduce that it was your face wearing that mask." He does not seem to think that to be a good thing. "I don't like chaos, that is what might make our brother Daemon decide that he must do something, and the longer he does nothing, the easier any uprising will be to overcome. Who else would be likely to know that you and the falcon is the same?"
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jul 31, 2018 13:05:34 GMT 1
She nods. "True, but I am blessed with two people who will absolutely never betray me deliberately, and at least this one is smart enough to not do accidentally. I do not regret turning to that one for aid." She pauses briefly before answering his question, frowning in puzzlement. "I don't object to telling you, but why do you want to know? The only reason I can see is that you wish to help save my life. But we are not close, the truth of the rumour was understandably a disappointment to you, and you've just said that the chaos it may cause is antithetical to your goals. So I feel like I'm missing something." She assesses him as she speaks, and as he responds, trying to make sense of his request. Sweet Sister - Awareness (Empathy): 5d6k4 16
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Post by Father on Jul 31, 2018 23:28:40 GMT 1
"You are not the only one of us who knows the value of information, in particular I would be curious to discover what those knowing the true source of the talk of Ser Daven might use that knowledge for" Bloodraven betrays maybe a certain feeling of superiority, he probably is much better than Laena at this game, but he seems to consider her more of a dabbler than a peer. "And if someone seems like they might be willing to kill you for it, I might very well decide that I am better served by setting up a knight of the proper sympathies to rise a hero than to have such a plot succeed."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 1, 2018 0:14:10 GMT 1
Laena is not the kind of person to take being looked down on easily, at least not by many. But Bloodraven, regarding the game of shadows? He's earned his arrogance, his presence before her so swiftly proving it once again. After a moment's consideration, she nods. "I danced that night with Ser Garth Durwell, Ser Paxter Crane, Lord Marq Durwell, and The Stranger, who I don't know the true identity of, but from the quality of his costume, he is wealthy, and allegedly his wife isn't a good dancer, and it had been many years since he'd put his dancing skills to such use. Not much to go on, and given that I was subtly feeding him misinformation about my identity, it would be naive to assume that's all true. Of those, I am only aware of Lord Marq knowing my identity. We had spoken too much this tourney for it to be otherwise. Of course, the others may have deduced it, and not let on, but I've not interacted with any of them other than then, so I doubt it." A flicker of a smile, though not a particularly happy one. "An ... interesting man to hold my life in his hands. I, too, am interested in seeing what he does with it."
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Post by Father on Aug 4, 2018 20:56:52 GMT 1
"Interesting is indeed the word, if his choice of riding for Lady Tanda's favor is a signal of intent, he might tell Lord Gormon, and then everyone we wouldn't want to know will soon do exactly that." Bloodraven seems to focus on some point behind Laena, in thought. "But I suspect he plays a different sort of game, I imagine that The Peake's would give him her hand if he asked, and he knows that. Either he is waiting for a better offer or something else entirely."
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Post by Laena Pyre on Aug 4, 2018 22:00:21 GMT 1
Laena gives a soft smile. "If I know the man at all, then what he appears to be doing on the surface is the one thing you can be sure he is not actually doing.
"Not to say that he wouldn't give away my identity, but I highly doubt jousting for Lady Tanda would play any part in his decision."
She shrugs, and stretches her arms. "I guess we'll see. Now, lovely as it has been to see you again, I'm sure you have far more important things to be doing than catching up with a sister with an underdeveloped sense of self-preservation."
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