[Phase 1] Won't You Sit a Spell [Balon & Mikel]

        "Your father's prowess was undeniable, and your brother and yourself seem to share that quality."

        "After a small tourney I had been enjoying a drink.  A brawl broke out between two men, a Blackwood and  a Bracken.  I had not seen the start but I had heard them shouting at each other before the violence started.  It didn't last long and I had moved so that I could see the end of it.  The Blackwood man went out hard.  It isn't uncommon to see the man down take another few blows in a bar brawl, but if I said that's what happened next it wouldn't do the scene justice.  Otho took a few seconds to gain his composure and then moved to stand over the man.  He raised a foot and started stomping his face in.  I pushed past the men between me and what was going on to pull Otho away, but he didn't like that any.  Before our brawl could start the others in the room finally took action and pulled us apart.  The Blackwood man died the next morning.  There was a trial and I stood witness against him - nothing came of it.  Except for his men briefly hunting me once I departed."

        "No offense taken, Ser.  It is a fair question.  It is something I think about from time to time but I have trouble finding the words to suit what drives me.  Otho murdering a man - don't get me wrong, I know men can die in bar brawls- but what happened there was the murder of a man who was defenseless after the fight.  Ser Simon beating on his squire - a boy who couldn't protect himself against him - is not quite as severe but of a similar cut.  And as for Eldon's men, I believed another woman was going to be used against her will.  The thread I see is men being cruel simply because they can.  Might makes right and immunity by station over the victim, it is simply wretched.  And some part of me feels that if I can have an effect, and my death is not guaranteed, what am I if I do not try?  Certainly no Knight.  Not even a man."

          Answering Balon's question of 'why' had transformed the conversation into something serious.  When Balon then showed suspicion when Mikel confessed watching him, it helped to bring back the light heartedness for Mikel.  "Lady Laena Pyre.  I was with her when she offered you condolences at your fathers vigil, and so when she asked me to help her understand your actions it did not seem unusual.  Lady Pyre is quite a woman, and may I say you are fortunate to have caught her eye Ser."  He held up his cup to toast and enjoyed another drink.  It was good wine.  "Is it true there is a possibility of a closer future between the two of you?"  Mikel had heard of the wedding proposal and that it did not find any support.  However with Laena on her own he wondered if the possibility still existed.  The little he knew her he did not believe she would have even made such a proposal if it did not personally benefit her - whether it be the promise of station, wealth, or perhaps even true love - not that he thought that could be it.

            The conversation seemed to be going well.  Balon seemed to care for small talk as much as Mikel and he appreciated the direct questions.  Mikel had questions of his own but decided to hold them just a bit longer.  He was interested in what Balon would have to say to the answers he had given, and things Mikel had a mind to speak of would spring easily from there.

            After complimenting the bright future of his brother Vortimer, Mikel found himself responding to what Balon said about persepective, the Bracken's and Ulbert Blackwood.

            "Before the subject of Otho Bracken is left behind I confess I was surprised to have seen you - anyone who isn't a Bracken really - fighting beside Otho.  More to it, you seemed to be more then simply on the same melee team.  Might I pry and ask how that came to be?"

          "Before the brawl began I had asked her multiple times if she was there by her own choice.  I had even made it clear if she was, it wasn't my business and I would forget about them all.  Her lack of an answer, posture and eye contact led me to believe that she was not, I imagined she drank too much and was unable to make even the most simple resistance.  Then once it had begun I saw her walk around all the participates to Lord Eldon's side."  Mikel shook his head.  "It would have saved me some aches and pains if she'd just told me to get lost."  He shrugged, in hindsight there was an absurdity to the situation.  "Looking back if I knew she was willing I would have moved along and thought no more of it.  If nothing else, I hadn't had a little dust up like that in awhile, and without being beat on now and then its easy for a man to think he is bigger than he really is."

"Well, we share a taste certainly but it seems I hold the advantage of being able to enjoy a wider selection - not that you would call it an advantage. I have known men who feel the same Dornish as you do, but it does not extend to their women. Iwonder if their greater...mm, sense of self that they are allowed offends you? And ifthat is it would you feel the same about some of the women of the North who share that quality?"

"I would love to hear about your fight with Gwayne Corbray if you feel like sharing?  And just as if we were speaking of an encounter with a woman, as much detail as you can recall please!"

After listening and carefully to Balon's recollection of their contest Mikel added a question.  "I can point a lance but am not much of a rider, not compared to most Knights.  I imagine when you were not jousting you had been watching, so I ask you, if you can recall seeing me in the lists do you have any advice?"