(first gallop) | accidental video + action

[wolfwild]

...Benjen? [ when lyanna stark pushes herself into a sitting position a few twists and turns away from the maze's centre, her instinct is to call for one of her brothers: the youngest, first, and with a lilt of concern. with a groan, she brushes detritus off her palms and straightens her skirts (simple; in the northern style). and she tries to figure out why she might have been preparing her palfrey to ride in one moment, and sitting in dirt the next.

not that she minded the dirt -- not really. but she did mind the conspicuous absence of her kin. panic mounts: ] Brandon? Ned?

[ she scrambles to her feet and finds the strange small brick only a few feet away. lyanna picks it up and can now be seen peering suspiciously at its every angle. ] You're a funny thing. [ she mutters, tapping it gently and fingering (but not pressing) the buttons. but then she holds it loosely in her fist and raises her voice. ] By all the named gods and the unnamed gods -- Brandon Stark! If this is some trick or a mummer's game, I will have your hide. And without it, you can hardly hope to woo any pretty --

[ she stops abruptly because the brick chirrups like some odd precise bird. surprise catches the breath in her throat and she's forced to ask -- staring straight at the device: ] ...Are you alive, little brick?

[ grab her attention on the funny little brick-bird or else find her wandering the maze and the gardens. ]

Comments

[dashingdignity]

That is a question I cannot answer. According to others who have been here longer than I, there is a Duchess and a Queen, but neither are accessible by those of us who have been brought here. A frustrating situation to be sure.

[wolfwild]

A Queen? I did not know queens could rule. [ not since the dance of the dragons, at least. ]

[dashingdignity]

Apparently, here they can.

[He holds open the door for her, ushering her into the darker interior.]

I do not claim to understand it.

[wolfwild]

Perhaps it's not such an awful land after all -- [ she speaks lightly, but as if distracted. indeed, she glances back over her shoulder. she's a creature who would rather be outside in the world than hidden behind walls. and yet she takes that wide step into the mansion all the same. sometimes, practicality must rule even the wilder hearts. ]

[dashingdignity]

Do not say so too loud. I doubt that we want many to hear such a thing. They might attempt to make it more interesting.

[wolfwild]

Would you prefer it dull, Ser Porthos?

[dashingdignity]

Duller than this place would have it, lady.

[He fetches them both wine, watered down for her tastes and because he's not looking to drink.]

Your wine, my lady?

[wolfwild]

[ she takes an exploratory sip -- eyes still roving 'round the room and 'round the doorways. if anyone walks by, she lets her attention follow them. sometimes even while drinking. this kind of casual attention has its own kind of poise, though it's a presence born more in confidence than in courtesy. ]

The lord of this house does not mind?

[dashingdignity]

[He's watching her, watch everything else. It's interesting to be on the other side of the newly arrived. He sips his own wine and shrugs at her question.]

As I said, there is no lord, only a queen and a duchess and they, in fact, seem not to care for us or what we do one whit.

[wolfwild]

Marvellous.

[ at least -- for now. some day, lyanna might come to tire of such an implication. she'll miss the comfort and preference afforded to her by her family name. but at the moment, she sees only opportunity and adventure. ]

Absolutely stunning. We really are far from the North, aren't we? [ it's almost rhetorical. ]

[dashingdignity]

[He raises his eyebrows and puts his wine down.]

It is unfortunate that you find yourself so far from your home, my Lady. I wish I could do something to help. Perhaps a tour so that you can find your rooms?

[wolfwild]

You've already tried to forbid me from speaking to your...friend about his horses, ser. Aside from recanting it, I don't suspect there's much you can do. Unless you know from where I might send a raven.

[ as for her rooms? well. she waves her empty hand. almost as if she thinks his tour is too quick. too efficient. she wants to spend her time leisurely. this is the first real few hours she's ever spent out from under the careful eye of her father and her brothers. ]

[dashingdignity]

Buckingham is no friend of me, mine, or France, my Lady.

[There's a vehemence and a hatred in his tone. He hates Buckingham for what he's done to Athos and to France. He's sure the smarmy bastard will attempt to seduce the young lady before him and that makes his gut churn. He picks up his wine, sipping it.]

I have not seen ravens, but there might be a way to find you another horse.

[He's not sure it would work. At all. But Buckingham got those horses from somewhere.]

[wolfwild]

[ her footsteps -- slow and circuitous around the room -- stop. ]

What. No ravens? You all depend wholly on that stupid brick?

[dashingdignity]

Indeed, most seem rather comfortable with it. I depend on finding people and speaking face to face, if necessary.

[He's amused by that.]

It's called a 'phone' my lady. Some sort of invention from long after my time.

[wolfwild]

Phone. [ she frowns. ] It puts me in mind of phony things. I don't want to trust my conversations to something...phony. [ a wrinkle of her nose. a lift of her shoulders. ]

[dashingdignity]

It is not phony, my Lady. There are many ways it can be useful, but as I said, I much prefer face to face conversations than such a thing. I'm sure if you wish a raven, we might be able to get one.

[wolfwild]

Perhaps that will be my boon, ser. A raven to take my letters straight to Winterfell, my father's keep.

[dashingdignity]

[He laughs.]

The boon was only if you solved the maze before I arrived. As I remember, I was waiting for you.

[wolfwild]

[ blast! and here is she, hoping a smile and a bright eye might bring her a boon regardless. ]

What? I can't persuade you to turn a blind eye to what's really only the matter of a few strides.

[dashingdignity]

[He smiles and bows, almost mockingly, but not quite.]

My Lady, we take our bets and boon-giving very seriously in France, my Lady.

[wolfwild]

We're not in your France. And -- as already decided -- we're not in my North. I think the rules therefore deserve to be rewritten.

[ and to this she raises her watered-down wine in a mock toast. ]

[dashingdignity]

And if we are to give up our rules, what then shall we live by?

[He raises his eyebrows at her, wondering just what she thinks about that.]

[wolfwild]

Honour. Goodwill. Delight and excitement.

[ these are the tenements of a young woman's fantasies. they are not code. they are not even particularly efficient. but they paint a lovely picture of a lovely world where great problems are solved by daring and determination. only she would be the hero displaying both, she thought. ]

[dashingdignity]

You say that as if the rules preclude those.

[Whereas his rules outline them.]