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Post by Father on Oct 22, 2018 22:35:36 GMT 1
"Would my lady permit me to steal her away for this one dance." Lord Marq's manners were impeccable as always, with a little extra flourish in his movements to add that little ambiguity as to whether he is just showing off because he can or he simply makes a hidden mockery of traditions. "I suppose that the rules for mortals does not apply to dragons?"
He hopes that Laena might be in the mood for welcoming Lord Lucas Meadows to the family as one more half brother, which of course would imply that Ser Gwayne Meadows actually should be Lord Gwayne Meadows. Perhaps not so sporting to have him breaking out the dices, though.
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Post by Laena Pyre on Oct 22, 2018 23:44:23 GMT 1
Laena smiles as Lord Marq takes her hand. "Of course, my Lord. A pleasure, as always. And please! Tonight, I am merely incinerating mores and laying traditions desolate. The rules are safe from my whims. For tonight, at least." Her tone is light, admitting that she is somewhat exaggerating the impact of her actions.
Yeah, no need for the dice. Let's see exactly what he wants me to do, and then I can consider a 'fair' yield.
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Post by Father on Oct 23, 2018 15:59:09 GMT 1
"My lady should know that wars have been started for less" Unlike most knights that only knows the moves, if at all that, Lord Marq actually knows how to dance. "It seems that the king, those who seek to prop themselves up a pretender and quite a few others are discarding such mores and traditions as do not suit their desires, I was having a hope that my lady and I might throw something else entirely upon the pyre." He smiles and leads on as if it is the most natural way for him to be. "I came across this most delightful little morsel concerning the whereabouts of Lord and Lady Meadows some four and ten years ago, she was at court in King's Landing for a time, he was not. Curious then, how she gave birth only seven months after returning and he grew very ill shortly thereafter? I wonder what might happen, if say, someone felt like making it common knowledge?"
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Post by Laena Pyre on Oct 24, 2018 0:53:18 GMT 1
"The young Lord Lucas? The boy with the platinum hair on his head, but without any such hair on any of his supposed ancestors? I *did* wonder if you intended to do anything with your Ser Gwayne, but it seemed rather rude to just ask.
"Still, you *are* asking me to pick a fight with someone who is, at least for now, the regent of a house. Lady Meadows is far from being without resources, and were I to put the full weight of my name behind such an accusation, the only chance she would have would be to utterly destroy my reputation to where I would be a laughingstock. Desperate people make dangerous enemies, my Lord." From her tone, she's clearly not saying 'no', but there is a definite implication that she requires more than a simple 'please' for her to be willing.
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Post by Father on Oct 24, 2018 14:32:27 GMT 1
"Desperate people make mistakes, my lady" Marq seems to have every confidence of there being no particular danger involved, or maybe that's just none for him. "And I do seem to recall a pretty bird pulling a dragon's tail to make him roar and spit fire, and she is still flying free, the good Lady Meadows may have claws and fangs, but hardly as impressive ones, and her breath is merely uncomfortable for the nose"
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Post by Laena Pyre on Oct 25, 2018 1:38:46 GMT 1
"There is a significant difference between attacking someone in secret, and attacking them out in the open, my Lord." She sighs. "Still, let's not pretend I'm not interested, if the price is right.
"I'm not sure how much you played me with regards to the marriage options you presented me previously, but it all worked out well so far. Lord Bryce is precisely the kind of man I want. We spoke about the matter, and he claims to be considering it. I'm not asking you to deceive him by any means, but if you were willing to gently nudge him towards wanting to marry me, and were willing to use one of your other pawns to step in a bit if the counter-attack is so viscous as to jeopardize my chances of marriage, I suppose I'd be willing to put the full weight of my name behind that attack."
So, first yield offer:
Laena will (tomorrow, since it's late now IC) put her name behind the full attack - Lucas Meadows is a royal bastard and not the true lord of House Meadows, and imply that Lady Johanna poisoned her husband to cover it up.
Marq will,
1) if Bryce *is* genuinely considering the matter, gently nudge him towards marriage.
2) if the counter-attack by Lady Johanna is so viscous and effective that it is hurting my marriage prospects, he will act to mitigate the damage.
3) +1 Disposition towards Laena
Both (1) and (2) are conditional, and neither are asking him to do or risk much, so I think that's fair.
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Post by Father on Oct 31, 2018 22:19:40 GMT 1
"I merely had a flash of inspiration my lady" He denies having played her with a carefree demeanor. "Lord Bryce will need no nudging, he already knows that he does not want to wither away in this place straining Lord Leo's welcome, he knows that Ser Desmond is ill equipped to fend away the vultures that will circle around his corpse. I will remind him if he decides to be a stubborn old man, but it will not come to that. My lady should expect him to be coy and consider other alternatives and try and find others to let in on the secrets of the hedge maze now that he has rediscovered the taste for such a thing, if he still found himself in a young body he would first go on an adventure, make the eight and then settle down and be faithful ever after, but he quickly found himself too old to feel like venturing any further than Highgarden, might be enough traders from afar at Gardenton for the occasion that he still might make the eight first."
"As for Lady Johanna, what have I done so far this tourney? Provided some entertaining rivalries between the ladies of the court? Progressing through the joust? Making a lot of friendly calls? Hardly exciting for a man that plays the most thrilling game at every opportunity, no? I have waited for the great chaos to be unleashed before doing anything beyond exploiting such opportunities as have been dropped in my lap, it seems that half the lords and ladies of the Reach have thought this tourney to be the perfect place to fulfill their ambitions, but how many have considered that everyone else might have the same idea?" He pauses, grinning and chuckling. "Most who might find it in their interests to help dear Lady Johanna will have their hands full with the turmoil they have wrought, and the rest would be the clever ones who asks who benefits? Some widowed Great Bastard from a remote corner of the Reach? Hmm, no, maybe it's Lord Marq Durwell that we really, really want to come tip the scales in our favor or those with less silly hopes finds it best not to fight me on such a trivial thing as wrenching House Meadows from a lady regent that nobody liked anyway." He smiles mischievously. "If all goes as I hope it will, my lady will push her off balance, and some young hot-heads will compete so fiercely to be the ones to push her over the edge and gain my favor for their cause that I can rightfully claim to be equally indebted to each preference of color when it comes to dragons."
"The strategy of Lord Marq Durwell is to do the balancing act of being courted by both sides until he can single out the winner and join that faction in the manner that offers the best ratio of rewards to risk, and in the meantime stay true to his friends, I should hope that I might count my lady as a friend, and who better to have in the seat Lord Bryce will leave behind than a friend? Far preferable to some other Great Bastard feasting and whoring it all away until winter comes and starves everyone to death, no?"
Acceptable
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Post by Laena Pyre on Nov 1, 2018 0:38:03 GMT 1
While not obvious from a distance, Marq is close enough to her to notice the sharply indrawn breath through her nose, and a brief tightening of her grip when he reveals knowledge of her dalliance. The rest of his prediction doesn't seem to bother her, in fact she gives a relieved smile when he's done. "Thank you, my lord. You've helped reassure a nervous heart with your words.
"If the plan works as you envision, surely none will call you indolent this tourney." She responds with an entertained smile, her excitement at being involved in such a plan clear. "And, regardless of success, I very much doubt it will be boring."
"I certainly hope you consider me a friend. And will remember that in troubled times ahead, when friendships will be so important. So, in the interests of gaining more, I trust the future Lord Meadows will be aware of the small but important role I played in his ascension?"
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Post by Father on Nov 1, 2018 13:27:54 GMT 1
"He might not be too fond of how it all transpired, my lady" Marq grimaces a little bit. "Ser Gwayne is not the ambitious type, he does not paint his armor white either, but he would take up the lordship out of a sense of duty and disgust over Lady Johanna's infidelity, honest men are easier to control, but they also tends to be less forgiving of dishonorable means used to achieve noble goals"
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Post by Laena Pyre on Nov 1, 2018 21:25:46 GMT 1
Laena snorts. "A tourney full of ambitious graspers, and opportunity lands in the lap of an unambitious, honest, and dutiful man. The Seven surely have a sense of humour."
Since we've moved on to the next day, I'm happy to fade out here with more friendly chatter.
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Post by Father on Nov 1, 2018 21:43:38 GMT 1
/scene
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