[Aftermath]Something Old, Something New [Laena & Balon]

Laena gives a small smile, and a nod of acknowledgement. "Likewise, Ser. Not feeling the after-effects of yesterday's celebrations too badly?"

Not seeing a point in drawing matters out, she decides to cut to the heart of the matter. "I didn't want to say this yesterday at the party, and spoil the celebration, but Lord Ulbert said 'no'. I could go into reasons, but they're fairly predictable, and ultimately irrelevant.

"You failed." Her judgement is blunt, but not contemptuous.

"Maybe, given time, you'd be able to turn things around. But you don't have that time. Even now, during a match-making frenzy, I have had absolutely no interest from your gender, present company excepted. Not even as a back-up option. Despite my behaving - last night excepted - as a well-bred lady should - polite, deferential, virtuous, and so on - it's clear that no matter what I do, you men can't see beyond my prior marriage, my children, and the irrelevance of the Starkwoods."

Her eyes blaze. "I am not content to merely rot away, beauty fading each day, holding out for a man to realise what he's letting slip through his fingers, getting more and more desperate as the years pass, hopes lowering along with my necklines.

"I am a dragon!" She roars.

"With the power that grants me, I am giving up my hopes of marriage, cutting my ties with House Starkwood, and striking out on my own, under the banner of House Pyre, travelling the Reach, and likely beyond."

She locks blazing eyes with Balon's. "A man who makes himself plump and delicious enough to draw my eye may *have* me, but from this day forth, no man will *own* me."

"Well enough, though my muscles are advising me to leave the jousting to you menfolk in the future."

If Balon expected her to respond to his rage by raising her own, she defied those expectations by his rant actually seeming to both please and calm her, to an extent, a small smile reappearing on her face.

"My hand was always mine to give, Ser. I wished for you to gain Lord Ulbert's approval to prove your potential in an arena other than simply swinging your sword around. After all, it wasn't your sword arm which attracted my interest to begin with. Ladies such as She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named wish for you to expend your life and reputation for your shared cause. To lessen you into the worst you can be. I seek to challenge you, push you, into becoming more than you currently are. To raise you into the best you can be.

"So, to answer your question, you failed, but does that make you a failure?" Out of nowhere, she wraps her arms around his neck from where he's looming over her, and uses the moment of surprise to drag his face down to hers, where she kisses him, full-on, thrusting her tongue to dance with his, while she raises her legs to rub her calves down his briefly. As soon as he feels to be recovering his wits, she pushes him away a short distance again, though she keeps his face close as she asks him. "You tell me. Do you *feel* like a failure right now?"

"Your accomplishments are impressive, certainly, but they all involve these." she lowers her arms and squeezes his biceps. "I want to see what you're capable of using this," she taps his forehead, "these," pointing fingers at his eyes "and this," lowing her fingers again, entering his mouth with one and gently rubbing the end of his tongue briefly "Arlinio. Because if you are the man I think you are, then you will be capable of great things, should someone give you a hard enough push." She locks eyes. "I genuinely believe you could become the next generation's Lord Gorman, or at least close, have you but the will and time." Her voice rings with complete sincerity.

Her eyes blaze again, but with passion this time, rather than anger. "Such a man could shape the world."

Her eyes dim, and she leans back, and flicks a dismissive hand. "Or you could decide I'm a mercurial beqes with an over-inflated opinion of herself who really should be more grateful a knight as talented as yourself is interested, and change is hard, and it's really so much easier to just keep swinging your sword where others tell you to, and if you are loyal and vicious enough, surely your cousin or someone will eventually reward you with a much simpler and less-demanding woman who'll appreciate what you have to offer already, rather than always demanding more."

Laena actually considers accepting for a moment, 'satiation' being ever a transitory feeling for her, but decides quickly that, given the rumours circling her, and Balon's lack of subtlety, she's pushed things far enough this morning. "Hmm. Maybe I won't almost walk into the wrong room this time." She mutters, clearly to herself, Balon only hearing due to his proximity, with a slight flush to her cheeks indicating how she deduced the wrongness of said room. Focusing on Balon, she smiles, and pats his chest "Tempting, but I'm rather the topic of conversation at the moment, so I'm trying to limit my bad behaviour to only mildly scandalous."

Laena's eyebrows raise. "You list Ser Robb Reyne alongside Lord Gorman and Ser Aemon?" Her eyes dart about in consideration. "That sneaky little shit!" She breathes. "I'll have to keep an eye on him in future." before returning her attention to the subject at hand.

Laena shakes her head. "Right now, together, I'd be a crutch for you. A safety net. I've heard it said that a knight learns more on his first day of true battle than in all his years of training beforehand. Because the training is *safe*. Only when his skill is all that separates him from the Stranger's embrace can a man truly find his worth. I believe that. I will help you. I will guide you. But I won't coddle you. Adversity and challenge, and being forced to rely on his own skill is how great men are forged.

"On my own, my power has to come from two things: friends, and information. I will be travelling to forge the former, and discover the latter. Staying in one place works against those interests. But I will visit Florent lands when I am able.

"So, a new deal between us." She considers just a moment. "Let's start with reputation. A good reputation is a firm shield against accusations. A bad reputation is an archery target for every bad thing happens in your vicinity. So, your first challenge is to redeem your reputation.

"Let's compare your and Lord Gorman's political actions this tourney: you killed Ser Walton. It was successful, but crude and brutish. Everyone knows precisely what you did and why, and you only escaped trial by squeezing within the letter of the rules, while viciously buggering the spirit. Like Ser Otho does.

"Comparatively, Lord Gorman masterminded the Ser Aladore kidnapping - he certainly did other things as well, but this one at least, I'm confident in, and it works well as an example." Balon may not appreciate her using this one as an example, given his involvement, but she'd promised she wouldn't coddle him, and that included from the truth. "It brought the might of House Florent down behind his cause, and he did it in a way that he came out a hero. And even those of us who can put the pieces together cannot *prove* anything. And as a bonus, it killed a son of a notable crown-loyalist house.

"You see the difference? No-one calls Lord Gorman a Blackguard, because he advances his interests discreetly, cleverly, and with an eye to his reputation. Whenever you act, you should first ask yourself 'What Would Lord Gorman Do?'.

"I will be keeping an ear open for tell of your exploits. The words I wish to hear about you are 'penitent', 'redemptive', and so on. Your actions at this tourney have damaged your reputation, but not beyond redemption, if you act swiftly. I suggest putting the blame firmly on a manipulative woman - not me, another one" she amends dryly "who you've escaped the influence of. And obviously, don't get caught doing anything that would further damage your reputation.

"If you've managed to turn things around by the time I visit Brightwater Keep," she licks her lips sensuously. "I promise a night you won't forget."

She frowns in thought, as she suddenly realises something. "Oh, and before I forget," she leans forward, and gives a peck on his cheek. "I hereby release you from your vow of monogamy. I hear it can clog up your brain if you don't find release for too long a time."

Laena cants her head to one side for a moment, considering, before answering. "Pure and honest truth? I don't care about your cause. I don't care about the King's cause, either. I don't really care about causes in general. I care about individual *people*. I'm not saying I will definitely never join a side, but it's clear that both sides felt the price I was asking before now for my loyalty was far too high. And House Pyre will be small and weak enough that I'd need to be very, very careful about my loyalties - any house would have enough power to wipe us out entirely should they feel it in their faction's interest.

"As war looms and rages, lords' attentions will focus more and more on that, and less on local problems and possible opportunities. That's the niche I intend to live in - useful to lords on both sides, but not involved directly in the war, and so hopefully not a target for either side. As soon as I were start trading military-focused information to one side, they will naturally start suspecting I trade it to the other as well, so that's a line I don't intend to cross. You men can handle the war side of things. I'll be doing my best to make sure there's still a kingdom for the winners to carve up at the end of it."

She frowns at him in contemplation for a moment before responding. "Are you *jealous*?!" She sounds rather surprised at the idea. "Is that what this is about? You feel your desire slipping through your fingers, and now you're looking for someone else to blame for it?" She pokes his chest with her finger. "Well, Ser, let me tell you this clearly: the *only* person responsible for your current situation is *you*! And you had best accept that if you ever want to actually succeed." She grumpily folds her arms in a way that firmly implies the subject is closed as far as she's concerned.

She gives him a flat look. "You heard me when I said it was 'unprovable', right? I felt that made the 'no compelling evidence' part clear. All I have is my following of the political currents, and that's not evidence." She shrugs. "I'm not here to rip the blinders off your eyes, anyway - that comes much later. Believe it or not, it's irrelevant for the purposes of our discussion here."

"It's different for women." She reassures Balon. "We have desire based on two contradictory factors: the man has to believe they *can*, at least hypothetically, have sex with us; and they have to believe we have not had much sex before them - ideally, none. I'm pretty sure that as soon as I strike out on my own, rumours will start that I'm spreading my legs for every lord, smallfolk, and horse I come across. Since that's what a woman does whenever a man isn't watching her every move, right? Every time I were to *actually* have sex, I would not only create one true rumour about me, I'd also add weight to the hundreds of false ones, which would drastically decrease my attractiveness going forward."

She gives a theatrical sigh. "I suppose I'll just have to content myself with lesbian orgies with the serving girls." Her tone is entirely bland, but the sparkle of amusement in her eye as she observes his reaction is quite clear.

She gives him a small but warm smile. "Yes, you were. And if others - important others, I mean - of your faction were willing to lift a finger to help, you may have been able to get somewhere."

Unable to take his response as anything but an insult to her capabilities, there is a moment where the amiable affection in her expression drops completely off, to be replaced by barely-suppressed rage. Clutching her folded arms tightly, she purses her lips tightly, and looks away in silence for a few moments while she shakes slightly with effort as she bottles her anger up rather than unleash it.

For her, that was probably the most actually *romantic* gesture she'd ever given Balon, though the depth of meaning was likely to escape him.

"Don't underestimate serving girls." Her response is clearly playful. "They will stick their hairpins places where you definitely don't want hairpins to be, without hesitation or remorse."

She clearly considers for a good few moments, before slowly nodding and smiling. "Keep it. You cannot become the next Lord Gorman if you're dead."

She sniffs. "If you *dare* die with it on, I'll tell anyone who asks that you stole it."

"She'd reject that request on its own, agreed. But unless frustrating your desires is literally their top priority, they could be persuaded by being offered something they wanted more than blocking your marriage." She shakes her head. "It's academic, now, anyway."

Laena's face turns melancholy. "In addition, a rushed marriage may save the child from the stigma of being bastard, but I suspect they would suffer our curse, due to the nature of their conception. And I would not wish someone I cared about to have to wrestle with their innate nature as I and other natural-borns do."

Laena raises an eyebrow. "I admit, I had assumed your mother was behind that one at the time, but I admit, if it were her, I think she would have followed up on that before now." She considers a moment, before shrugging. "It may be too late, with too many people leaving too soon, but I'm willing to try. I'll let you know if I discover anything."

Her body is stiff under his arm, but she doesn't try and shake it off. After a few more moments to fully control her temper, she gives a stiff nod, and leaves the matter there.

Forgiven, not forgotten.

"As a Great Bastard, I can get away with much. Striding about Brightwater keep in nothing but a circlet is, however, probably a bit beyond what is permissible." Deliberately choosing to misunderstand his request. "More seriously, I would not get your hopes too high - it was rather daring by my standards, but it was the very soul of modesty compared to some of the outfits on display that evening. I'm going to have to cut my wardrobe down to the very bare essentials for travel, so I'm not sure if I'll be keeping that particular dress, but I'm sure I'll have *something* you'll like with me."