[Day 12] A Simple Apology [Laena & Daeron]

Laena gives an apologetic smile. "It won't take long. Firstly, I wanted to apologise. I realised after the fact that the smile I gave towards you when choosing a champion could have been misinterpreted, and contributed to your anger. It was careless of me to be so ambiguous. In truth, I was simply smiling at the mental image of you punching that vile dwarf Butterbumps. I grew up here after our legitimization, and you did what many would like to have done, but dared not. I think out of all the sights to see that I missed this tourney, that is the one I regret missing the most.

"Secondly-" she cuts herself off, and looks down at her daughter. "Oh, but where are my manners? Brother, this is my daughter, Sylvina. Sylvina, this is your nuncle, Ser Daeron."

Sylvina gives the man a very dubious look for a few seconds before turning to her mother. "He doesn't *look* like a King." She observes. "Except for his hair. He's got nice hair."

It takes Laena a moment to catch up. "No, no. He's not a king, he's a knight. That's a different nuncle Daeron, one you'll probably never meet." Sylvina nods sagely in response, like that explains a lot.

"Anyway," turning back to Ser Daeron. "Secondly, I was worried that you may feel ... hmm .. like I am furious at you? Since, should you win, my children, and probably myself, will undoubtedly be murdered." Sylvina gives a rather shocked look up at her mother, which she's oblivious to. "Some in my position may take that badly. But I wanted to assure you that is not the case for me. Lady Johanna's crimes are hers alone, and even the vilest murderess should have a talented champion, so the Seven's judgement may be made clear." Meanwhile, Sylvina is shuffling behind her mother, only poking half her head out to keep a wary eye on her now-scary uncle Daeron.  "I'm hoping, once all this unpleasantness is over with, we may return to the same friendship we had before."

"Oh, of course. I would expect no less. And I can be assured, given the combatants involved, that it will, unlike certain other events this tourney, be a good, honest fight.

"I thank you for your offer, but a knight's sword and shield is typically of little to no use against an immoral woman's wrath. And I fear your opinion is overly optimistic. All Lord Durwell has done is take advantage of a situation. A situation I created by not just refusing to bow down before her, but actually standing up and *fighting back*! Defiance, to her, is, I believe, a *far* greater 'crime' than mere opportunism. Yet I would not be true to myself and to our blood were I to do otherwise."

Laena deflates, and shakes her head at Daeron's frown. "My apologies, stress has made me ungrateful. I do appreciate your willingness to risk yourself for me, truly. I'm just not used to the strain of being in constant fear of death. I honestly don't know how you knights manage it."

She gives a bitter snort at his question. "Stupidity." She responds bluntly. "I stumbled across the information on her son's hair colour not being possible through his claimed ancestry by pure accident. As you say, I've had no dealings with her at all before this, so it was a matter of curiosity, nothing more. To indulge said curiosity, I did a bit of digging, and came across rumours that she'd murdered her husband after her son was born suspiciously soon after she'd spent time in King's Landing without her husband. But that's all it was, rumours.

"But then, Lord Bryce was murdered. While not a secret, it was hardly well known that we were .. courting. He was giving the idea of marrying me serious consideration, and I was ... let's say 'fond' of him." She clenches her jaw. "I took it badly. If Lady Ashara had not stepped in, I likely would have wrecked my tent entirely, just to *start* the day. I was ... angry, grieving, raging. I lacked a target to focus my rage, so I needed to lash out where I could, make the world hurt as I did. While Lady Johanna isn't, as far as I know, guilty of murdering Lord Bryce, she was, most likely, a murderer, and definitely an adulterer, so she served as an adequate proxy for my rage."

"Thank you." A simple nod at his offer of condolences. "And thank you for the offer, I appreciate it, but there are matters I have to attend to in Starkwood lands as a matter of priority." Selling off what I can't take with me, and using the money to buy what I need for my travels. "Besides, if she's in the Sisters, I'm safe. If she still has the resources of a house behind her, it's just a matter of time, no matter where I am. Knights and lords may be noble, but how many servants would be willing to slip something extra into food or drink for just some silver, let alone gold? Quite a few, and just one will be enough.

"For this reason, I hope you don't take umbrage at my loudly calling for your defeat at the duel. Or praying for it beforehand. It's nothing personal against you."

Laena nods acknowledgement of the information. "That is the suspected Ally you didn't want to reveal before?" she whispers back. "I'm not sure what my chances are, now the tourney is pretty much over, but I have no objection to sharing what I discover if I do find anything."

"Oh! One last thing. I wanted to say that I admired your actions in the melee. No-one should believe they can take from a Dragon without paying the price, and you proved that admirably." A nod of respect.

Laena gives a small smile. "Well, on both of *those* days, I sincerely wish you the best of luck."

"Now," she gathers herself up. "We've taken enough of your time." She looks down, notices the missing Sylvina, and turns around until she finds her still hiding behind her. "Sylvina! Manners! Say goodbye to your nuncle properly."

Sylvina gives a somewhat wobbly curtsey. "Goodbye nuncle Daeron, who is not the King."

A small shake of her head, and Laena gestures goodbye. "Brother."

[Barring any last words of yours, I think that's /scene]