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Post by Father on Jul 8, 2018 19:48:41 GMT 1
A lady in waiting found Lady Lysette with a message shortly after the ceremony in the sept that Lady Margaery would be very happy to receive her if the lady could be bothered to come and see her in, well, now, while there was still time before the grand parade, for surely the lady would not wish to miss on such things. If Lysette agrees, the older woman, Ashara Flowers, leads her through the halls and corridors of Highgarden, clearly knowing the fastest route to the palatial inner castle, if Lysette were to navigate herself, it would like as not take twice as long. They walk through the gateway in the Great Hall where the Tyrells use to emerge from, and climb a broad staircase up into a marbled hallway that must be part of the private quarters of House Tyrell, to Lysette they seem fit for kings, which indeed they once were meant for. The doors at each end are open, allowing a cool breeze to flow through, the two make their way out through one of them into an airy garden with a view to the Mander glittering in the sunlight and rolling hills beyond. An old woman in a simple green dress sits on a cushioned bench, she seems half asleep, another lady in waiting by her side plays a relaxing melody on a handheld harp.
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Post by Lysette Starling on Jul 9, 2018 5:47:20 GMT 1
Lysette finds herself practically tiptoeing to the elderly woman's side, as if she were in a library full of readers. The harpsong is as sweet and balmy as the day is, and she has no wish to interrupt it with loud footfalls or hamhanded attempts to introduce herself.
Once the song comes to a finish, she says softly, "Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Lady Margaery. The Lady Tyrell recommended you as a source of great wisdom and experience...and I suffer from a shortage of both, it seems."
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Post by Father on Jul 9, 2018 9:45:29 GMT 1
"That's a polite way of saying I am old, child." Margaery gives her a good long look. "Ah, they must really like you, even if there was a brother to inherit, they would fight for the Ribbon to wear. And if Lord Willem is anything like my grandson portrays him at, he did nothing at all to prepare his daughter for the day when everyone wants to marry their second son into lordship of Kingsbridge."
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Post by Lysette Starling on Jul 9, 2018 14:56:08 GMT 1
"In his defense," Lysette replies, "I've never asked him to. I made a game of it, leading suitors in circles, convincing everyone I was on top of it all. Maybe too well."
She drew in a deep breath and looked away, out the window. "Now the end of the game draws close though, and I realize I committed the classic blunder. I mastered the mid-game, but never thought long on the finish. In the end, I fooled even myself."
"I do not seek marriage for my own wish, but accept what must be done for the sake of my House." Lysette sighs. "Or so I tell myself. But every time I find myself seriously trying to consider a man as a husband, my stomach clenches and...all I can see are the reasons why not."
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Post by Father on Jul 9, 2018 16:08:03 GMT 1
"I see, it is an important choice dear, one you must expect to live with for your remaining days, although in my case it has been three years with him and five and sixty or so without." she seems observant, curious. "The intriguing question for you, my lady, is if you want a husband that rules House Starling in your name or if my lady wants to have the last word in such decisions as will shape the future of House Starling? Most ladies never face this choice, the very thought alien to them. And let us not forget that many a suitor have strong opinions regarding our present King and his natural brother, and if they do not, their fathers may very well have. Disagreeing with your husband to be, or his father, may prove poisonous. Most ladies are thought to make their minds one with that of their husbands in matters of import, I know of no knight to ever have received similar instruction."
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Post by Lysette Starling on Jul 10, 2018 2:02:28 GMT 1
Yes, but if we started enumerating all the expectations on women that men don't share, I'm afraid you might expire before we were done, Lysette thought...but of course wouldn't say that to the old woman's face. It was just the frustration and tension talking anyway.
Aloud, she said, "Yes, I suppose I can't separate out that sort of politics, though I'd rather hoped to. I didn't realize how...widespread these sentiments were. That does complicate things further."
She paced away a few steps before continuing.
"To answer your question though, I would once have said that I want a husband I can trust to run the House competently so I can focus on the pastimes I love most. One who will simply be content with the task of being lord and leave me well enough alone. But now...now I could wish for the opposite. Someone content to leave running the House to me. Who can I trust with my father's legacy?"
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Post by Father on Jul 10, 2018 9:30:06 GMT 1
"Trust is a difficult thing to come by, often you must take a leap of faith first and then later learn whether that faith was misplaced or not, but by then it is often too late to turn back. It might be easier to pick a man that my lady already knows well, it is not uncommon for one in my lady's circumstances to marry a cousin, sometimes to keep power within ones family, but also because one tends to know ones family."
"It is easier, perhaps, to discover who might find it tolerable to simply be a Lord Protector and only concern himself with the martial responsibilities. Still your suitors may claim to be accepting of such things, and yet turn out not to be, that is why a clever lady finds allies and informants to research such knights as she might find interesting."
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Post by Lysette Starling on Jul 10, 2018 14:23:58 GMT 1
"Informants," muses Lysette with a little frown. "Spies." She sighs. "A little distasteful, but your point is well taken. Far less distasteful than the consequences of a poor choice. And there's too many suitors for me to handle individually in time without seeming to favor one over another."
Marry a cousin? How...awkward at the very best of times. A little Targaryen perhaps. Still...there were other options perhaps? A Companion, perhaps? Though at least some of them had joined expressly to seek her hand, so who could say what was in their hearts?
Ugh, what a mess.
Ashara Starkwood rose in her mind's eye, unbidden. Spies and informants, hm? There was someone who might know more of that. She seemed rather...worldly.
"I have always sought facts from written words, which are solid and unchanging," Lysette confides. "It's a little unnerving to seek the counsel of informants. The list of people I feel I could trust with such a duty is...slim. And there we come to the same ravine. Is selecting a spy any easier than selecting a husband?"
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Post by Father on Jul 10, 2018 15:58:18 GMT 1
"And you trust the written word, my lady?" Margaery smiles knowingly at her. "If I were to lie through my speech, one could try and read the sincerity of my face, subtle clues in my voice, the hesitation as I must make up words on the fly. But if I wrote a letter, the only way to discern it's truthfulness would be to investigate it's claims."
"Have my lady never wondered why there is no tome in the Libraries of Highgarden that does not contradict the histories of House Gardener to be filled by only the most virtuous and beautiful daughters and knights of great gallantry and prowess? Surely the long line cannot have so many deserving of such praise while lacking a similar number that would be remembered with shame. It is as if someone had an interest in embellishing the good and removing the bad, now who would have wanted that I wonder?
"Spies and informants are different things, one can learn a lot by simply asking people knowing those one is interested in, or have a friend do it for you."
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Post by Lysette Starling on Jul 12, 2018 4:44:55 GMT 1
Lysette felt her cheeks color, and she wanted to defend herself...explain of course she didn't just accept everything she read as infallible truth, there was a process to it, comparing different works by different people, or at least fitting each book into its appropriate context...but none of that was why she was here. And for what it was worth, the Lady did have a point.
She nodded and looked at her hands.
"It's a strange thing how being free can feel a burden sometimes. To have this choice, which so many ladies do not, is frightening. If father simply matched me himself, I would wail on and on about how unjust it was, and how awful it was going to be...but I would be spared any of the blame. I would, in my own mind, simply be a victim."
"Now if it all goes wrong, I have only myself to blame. No injustice but that I make for myself...unless I wait too long, and my father is forced to act."
Slowly Lysette shook her head. "I think maybe I was almost hoping he would, while I dragged my feet. Without thinking about it, I wanted to be absolved. But I suppose it's foolish to turn power aside... Foolish to let a random wind blow me away when I could have a hand on the rudder."
She closed her eyes and let her breath out...then drew another in and gazed at the Lady Margaery.
"Thank you, Lady. You've given me much to think on."
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Post by Father on Jul 12, 2018 15:55:09 GMT 1
"Lord Willem is like to equate jousting ability as all that is ever needed in a son, one married into the family in this case." Margaery snorts. "I suppose that might be all well and good if my lady would like to make all the decisions and the knight of great prowess is fine with that."
"Lord Marq Durwell might be a good friend for my lady to have in this quest, if a man of high enough birth is good enough at the lists for Lord Starling to approve of the choice, Lord Marq is likely to know him, and he has a good eye for character. But my lady should also be aware that the man is among the most skillful players of the courtly game, perhaps even the best. It is not his style to be dishonest if my lady asks about specific candidates or wishes a suggestion, but my lady should also expect to reveal more than she would like to a man that she hardly knows, possibly being unaware of this fact."
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Post by Lysette Starling on Jul 13, 2018 16:48:39 GMT 1
"Lord Durwell...something of an enigma himself," muses Lysette. "But if I went to him as I am, I'd be throwing myself on his mercy...knowing nothing of what he, or his House, wants."
She rests her gaze on the Lady Margaery again and says, "I hope I have even half your wisdom should I live to see your age."
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Post by Father on Jul 13, 2018 18:27:10 GMT 1
"Sometimes, my lady, I wonder if he even knows that himself" Margaery muses with a knowing look. "Chiefly, I think Lord Marq is highly aware of his worth in the times ahead, I may be wrong of course, but I suspect him to not be particularly enthused either for or against the campaign that Bittersteel and Fireball wants to field. At a speculative guess, I imagine that his chief concern is to maintain good relations with such lords as are reasonable and forgiving once the fires dies out, he may not be the one first in the line when the victors hands out rewards of course, but nor is he likely to suffer more than the indignity of bending the knee and beg forgiveness should he join the losing side."
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Post by Lysette Starling on Jul 15, 2018 3:41:59 GMT 1
"A thin line to walk. Trying to be inoffensive to each side could well make him seem duplicitous to both." Lysette shakes her head to herself. "Then again, it also means there will almost certainly always be more pressing matters to attend to than punishing his House. Still, that strategy will definitely prove easier for some than others."
And which way House Starling, Lysette found herself wondering. If her father, or her, tried to toe that line...or simply declared for the King...would the Companions follow? Knights were often creatures of ideals after all. Once they decided which side was right, they would follow that decision with little regard for the consequences.
Or was she wrong about them? Marq Durwell was a knight too, wasn't he?
It was a good reminder though, that it wasn't enough to simply consider her own heart and mind on this subject...she had to consider how brewing conflict affected other Houses as well. Would they seek to profit and gain from this, or simply duck down and hope to avoid the conflagration? What would that desire make them do?
She needed to get more involved in these affairs...and that was frightening.
"I wonder, Lady Margeary, if you might know of someone I could ask to introduce me to Lord Durwell? He's notoriously hard to catch in an unguarded moment."
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Post by Father on Jul 15, 2018 10:23:01 GMT 1
"It is far easier to make one side of a cause entirely you own, and to define all others as allies or enemies accordingly, my lady." Margaery seems to prefer the strategy she suggested that Lord Durwell follows. "Or easier still to do nothing and hope one is left alone by everyone else, but the one who do certainly will stand alone."
"With him, I think always being on the move and having some matter to attend is a more apt description, my lady. Lord Marq is known by many, my lady's father and he has met multiple times in the joust in the past and Lady Laena Pyre appears to have made a connection."
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