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Post by Father on Oct 31, 2018 16:36:59 GMT 1
How all these ladies had a way of intercepting knights on their way to the fields and pretend that was not their intent is one of life's greater mysteries, but she seems very happy to see him. "Ser Roland, on your way to make the dream of Lady Janna to be crowned Queen come one step closer to reality?" she seems as smiling and light of heart as ever, but with some small chatter out of the way, her mind wanders to more serious things. "Thoughts have filled my mind like dark clouds of late, ser. I have no intention of marrying Lord Eldon, and I am finding this life of mine to be one I do not want to live, but the alternatives are shrouded in darkness. Returning to Yronwood where I have not been for over twenty years? To a father that may no longer recognize me as his daughter? Will they expect me to take the vows to the seven which I do not wish? Hastily wed to some sworn sword of Highgarden? Would that I were a knight free to make my own choices in life, and have the chance to win my own fortunes, than at the mercy of the whims of lords not accustomed to asking a lady who must seem a burden to them as to what she might wish for"
Punching this out now because it would be nice to have this resolved before a certain D9 event coming in. Intrigue Iniative: 4d6 17Free Deception: 6d6k4 20 +2 ID ID: 15 DR: 2 Composure 12 Objective: Get Roland to offer to marry her so that she might safely break the betrothal with Eldon and believing this to be his idea. That's sufficiently ground shaking that PC veto rights applies. Convince (Act): 5#7d6k5+1 27 26 17 12 22Opening with 2x4DoS for 16-1(?)=15, |
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Oct 31, 2018 18:54:33 GMT 1
Roland greeted Lady Alicent with a smile and a bow.
"I had suggested a meeting with my namesake in the later rounds when I asked Lady Janna for her favour a week past, and a knight should keep his word, no?"
He had but a slim chance of defeating Redtusk, and an even smaller chance of winning the whole tournament, but he was proud of what he had achieved so far.
His heart begin to race as Alicent spoke.
Here is a chance to save my beautiful friend once more, and in an enduring fashion rather than temporary safety from assassins. To be a true knight by my actions, rather than merely play at such in going through the expected forms with the young Lady Janna.
"Second sons have that freedom my lady. You know I am your knight in conscience and deed."
"If I could spare you from the fates you describe by some word or deed you have but to ask. I am no closer to unpicking the knot of your ill-made betrothal than I was when we last discussed the matter."
He gestured to Hugh to hurry along, keen to aid Alicent to the best of his abilities. Little heed was paid to the risk that the previously indifferent Lord Merryweather would prove vengeful at having a potential plaything ripped away.
I cannot offer her a grand hall nor the status one of her beauty and birth deserves, but if we were wed I could at least offer her freedom.
[OOC: yield sorted in personal forum to avoid delaying other D9 events.]
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Post by Father on Oct 31, 2018 22:55:09 GMT 1
"If I dare make the plunge this very day, the doors of my gilded cage will be flung open for me to fly free into the night, but what will I find with the sunrise, ser?" She pauses with uncertainty in her gaze. "A groom that seems gallant and kind, but in his chambers turns out to be wicked and delights in violence? Or one that finds himself drawn to his own children in ways most terrible and fails to resists such lust. One hears of the most horrid things at Highgarden, and not all of them from the most unreliable of mouths ever to have spoken in the hundred halls of Highgarden, over the years it adds up, ser. There are far too few men like you, men that you can know in your heart to be honorable and kind, of most you can only take a leap of faith with and hope that they are as they appear."
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Oct 31, 2018 23:37:32 GMT 1
Roland moved closer, his voice dropping quieter than his usual declamatory manner.
"My lady, let me be the agent of your deliverance then."
"If you have the means to spring yourself from your cage but fear for what comes next, let me dispel such fears for you. I had hoped to free you from your constraints, but would be happier still instead to be the one to give you shelter. I would sooner be your constant companion than your one time rescuer."
He wanted to reach out to her, to cradle her from the violence that had threatened her but could not, here before the tourney fields with half the Reach coming and going.
"There would not be the stout keep and warm halls that you deserve, not yet at least. But I would give you a stout heart and the freedom to find a warm hearth."
"Together."
There was no distracted reach for his shorn hair, no clutching at his Seven pointed star necklace for reassurance. Only certainty.
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Post by Father on Nov 2, 2018 12:55:53 GMT 1
"I would like that, ser" She smiles, and stops herself from initiating an unseemly display of affection before any onlookers might notice. "But no more hair-shirts or shaved heads. I want my children to have a knight as a father, not half a septon for that would be half a sin."
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Nov 2, 2018 13:15:05 GMT 1
Roland smiled - Alicent had a way with words and a skill at deflating his tendency toward what he regarded as appropriate seriousness and others more accurately named pomposity.
Like many jokes it hid a truth - what was virtue in a septon was like to be vice in a husband.
"Too true, I will not make a sinner of you by putting on a Septon's manner. Let me be the Warrior and then Father if you will be Maiden and then Mother in turn. My heart is yours, and after the joust I shall set-aside what I have only just put on."
He would have to inform Septon Abelar that the garment had already served its purpose, although its rapid donning and removal might spark interest from the sharp eyed at court.
"The shaved head is the one element I cannot promise you dear Alicent, for my hair shall go when I have failed to honour my vows. Know this - it shall return as I rebuild my honour and I aim to continue to wear it long."
He swiftly outlined the matter with the hooded man and his own part in it, and his desire to spare some of Ser Daeron's shame by sharing in it.
It did not do for a man to be too yielding to his wife, and Roland wished to retain such gestures for when honour demanded it.
[/scene after any parting words as we've served this scene's main purpose and appreciate there are lots of demands on your time!]
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