| A Bad Liar |
| Summary: | Anais has some questions, Kamron has some answers, whether he wants to give them or not. |
| Date: | 10/06/2012 |
| Related Logs: | Kamron/Saffron roleplay. |
| Players: |
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| Reading Room, Four Eagles Tower |
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| The room has a large glass window and seat that looks out partially over the cove, in daylight hours the sun provides illumination to the room. Other stools and chairs linger in small groups as shelves along the walls are littered with scrolls, books, letters and documents. The contents are a modest collection of local records, histories, and literature offered to both the family and guests of Four Eagles Tower. |
| 10 June, 289 |
Anais is freshly washed and dressed when she steps into the reading room, though the braid pinned around her head is dark with moisture. She carries a ledger against her chest, but she certainly seems to be in good spirits, her cheeks flushed and a little extra sway in her steps. The guard who follows behind her is a little more damp, though there's a mix of irritation and amusement on his features. "Supposedly the Naylands should be coming sometime today," Anais is telling him. "So if you could try to warn a few people. I'd rather they get a friendly reception than the usual nose in the air."
Kamron has been digging through the few books on law and precedence in the Terrick library, and Anais' entrance finds him forehead down on a desk (although carefully not on the book itself, that being too valuable to damage), his hands laced at the back of his head. The Mallister isn't asleep, however, because he's banging his forehead lightly on the desktop repeatedly. Just how long he's been doing so is up to question, for when he looks up at the sound of steps and voices over the wind and rain, there's no bruise on his brow. Focusing quickly enough, he pops up to his feet and offers a bow of his head, "Lady Anais, Master Kinkaid." He's he's taken the time to learn the names of Anais' guards as well as Saffron's.
"Ser…Kamron." Anais quirks a brow at the lord, then looks back to the desk, a small smile sneaking across her features. "Rough morning?" Her guard sketches a showy bow to the lord with a sardonic smile, then moves to take up a spot by the door, soon followed by a handmaid. Anais moves a little further into the room, tucking the ledger into a drawer and locking it afterwards before taking a look at Kamron's pile of books. "Or just frustrating material?"
Kamron shakes his head slightly, "Oh, definitely the latter." Running his fingers through his short-cropped hair doesn't do much to calm it, but its lack of length also means that its disarray is artful rather than unpleasant. "A bit of planned training with Percival has been rained out, so I thought I would try to improve myself otherwise." He looks down to the book with a self-deprecating grin, "It's not going well." He studies the Banefort-born woman, his smile changing to something a great deal more satisfied, "You're looking very well, Lady Anais. It does my heart good to see that."
Anais flushes slightly at the compliment, smile quirking. "Thank you, Ser Kamron," she says with a dip of her chin, turning a few pages in the open books. "It's…Jacsen is awake again, and that helps a great deal. But having you and Muirenn and Saffron here helps even more." Carefully leaving the book open to it's original page, she looks back to the Mallister lord. "When Jacsen was ill, I felt…a complete outsider here. Alone, unwanted. Lady Evangeline and Lucienne made it clear they thought I didn't belong here, and Lord Jerold was too busy to say anything different. It didn't seem like it was anything, but it was wearing me down. Having some support makes all the difference in the world."
Kamron nods his head, moving around to offer up one of the well-stuffed chairs, even if she's now the lady of the house, and he's a guest himself. "None of us like to be alone. Not really. I'm glad that Martyn and Muirenn were able to come out with me — and Keelin and Trystan and all the rest of course." Assuming she sits, he moves around to seat himself opposite. If not, he'll remaining leaning against the back of the chair, "Although I'm finding quite a few friends here myself. You, if you'll forgive the forwardness, and your cousin, and Justin. I'm a little sad Jarod left, but he did some abysmally stupid things, and we all have to pay for our mistakes — and sometimes for those things which aren't mistakes." A light chuckle touches his lips, "And here I'm babbling a bit. Let me just say that I'm glad that I've been able to be some comfort and assistance. You and your new house alike have had a hard time of it, and I would have been quite ashamed if we couldn't have helped in some way."
Anais does move to sit in the chair, smoothing a hand over her skirts once she's settled in. "I'd like it if you were to consider me a friend," she says with a small smile, folding her arms on the edge of the table. "That way if you're ever unkind to Saffron, I reserve the right to punch you ineffectually." Propping her chin up on one hand, she smiles beatifically back at the Mallister Knight.
Kamron laughs softly at the half-threat, "If you know anything of me, Lady Anais, you know that I have absolutely no wish to be unkind to Lady Saffron." His grin quirks upward at one corner, "Although if you must have them, I might note a few of the more-damaged portions of my body where most any sort of punch would trouble me."
"I didn't think you did," Anais admits, smile crooked. "But you know how it is. Some threats have to be made on general principle." She drops her hand, leaning back more comfortably in the chair. "I'm…glad. I don't think Saffron would last very long if she married someone who wasn't…Wasn't what she wanted. Not that she couldn't, but I don't think she'd want to. And she's too special to me for me to watch her lose what makes her special." She pauses, head tilting as she considers the knight. "Where would the two of you settle?"
"Who wasn't able to keep up with her?" Laughter fills the question from Kamron, and he starts to cross his left leg over his right, only to be interrupted by the question. The knight blinks in surprise, freezing a moment before he finishes the motion and settles his forearms onto the arms of the chair, "I'm not sure what you mean, Lady Anais. I suppose, if I were ready to settle down, I might hope that whomever my wife were to be would want to help her new house repay its banner houses for their leal service." Settling back into the chair again, he chuckles softly, "There are still a few things I want or need to do before I settle down, however." Not the smoothest liar, but he's only bending the truth for the most part, and he's better than some.
Anais just sort of looks at Kamron for a long moment, crossing her arms over her chest. Just looks. She has to practice her mother's best interrogation stares on someone, right?
Kamron has a mother. She may not be as terrifying as Lady Banefort, but she's got quite the penetrating gaze of her own. He remains silent for a long moment, matching that stare, and then he makes a (hopefully) minor mistake — he starts talking again. Faux surprise flashes across his features, and his eyebrows shoot up, "Oh… no, I'm not planning to ask Lord Mallister to find my a match any time soon." No, he's already done that. "I simply enjoy your cousin's company." Leaning forward a bit, he inquires, "May I ask who might have suggested something else?"
Anais arches a brow, then utterly fails in keeping a straight face. "Saffron," she answers, holding a hand to her mouth when her laugh turns into a snort. "When she asked me to write to my father about it." She snickers a bit more, then takes a deep breath, lowering her hand with a broad grin. "Would you like to try again, Ser Kamron?" she invites, ever helpful.
Kamron arches his eyebrows high, real surprise flashing across his face this time, "Lady Saffron asked you to write to your father to suggest a betrothal with me?" Laughter bubbles up around the words, and if it's slightly hysterical, maybe he can be excused, "I knew that Mistress Morla was writing such a lett — " Whoops, too far. He clears his throat, reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck, "You've got to promise me… all of you… not a word." Swallowing hard, his words tumble free, "I sent a similar request to Lord Mallister, and he has suggested just such a match to Lord Banefort, but I don't want to get Lady Saffron's hopes up." And then he realizes that it sounds like he's just been bragging, and he changes tacks, still speaking quickly, "I mean, if such a betrothal would be worth getting her hopes up."
"Ha!" Anais exclaims, pointing at Kamron when he admits he knew. "Liar. But not a terrible one, at least." She chuckles softly, leaning into one corner of the chair and looking out the window. "Saffron needs hope, Ser Kamron," she says. "She needs hope, and laughter, and love. At least if she's going to stay the cousin I've always known. So let her have it." She sobers somewhat then, reaching up to make sure her braid is still in place. "Can I ask you something?"
Kamron shrugs a little helplessly, the faintest of flushes touching his cheeks, "I don't want to give her hope, only to have it snatched away if Lord Banefort decides against the match." He bounces his left foot in the air slightly, looking down at the twitch of his boot, "I want nothing more than to give her all those things, plus a home to live in, some day. But unfortunately, I cannot even promise her that until Lord Mallister hears a response from Lord Banefort." The request draws his eyes up again, and a hint of that crooked grin flickers back onto his lips, "You just did, Lady Anais, but yes, please, ask away."
"I've written him again, for what it's worth," Anais muses, then shakes her head slightly. "How well do you know the Lady Lucienne?" she asks. "Am I being unreasonable? Because I'm trying to be fair about what I see and what I hear, but…The more I look at it, the less inclined I am to be forgiving." She keeps her voice low, glancing to the door as she speaks.
Kamron looks down again, "Thank you." The question draws his blush down, and a grimace onto his face, "I don't know that I've ever seen her face to face except at one of these Terrick meetings or chance meetings in the hall." Scrubbing his fingers through his hair again, "I only know what I've heard. But generally, it's not good things. This is not the time for politics."
Anais sighs softly, chewing at a thumbnail as she thinks. "I just…don't know how to deal with this. I was supposed to get married and become a part of my husband's family. I hoped I could see his brothers and sisters like my own. But Lady Evangeline set herself against me from the wedding, and it seems her daughter is determined to follow in her footsteps. But this is /my/ home now." She seems to be speaking to herself as much as to him, trying to work it through. "This is where I'll live and where I'll die. And if I let them shove me into a corner now, what if I get stuck there for the rest of my life?"
Kamron lifts one shoulder in a helpless shrug, "Maybe she's threatened by you, Lady Anais?" Now he's relaxing a bit, past the dangerous topics, "You're an intelligent, attractive, strong-willed woman, and your mother has a certain… reputation…" He laughs a little at that, holding up one hand, "That's not an insult, by the way. From what I hear, none of this would happen in or near Banefort lands." Smiling a little bit, he offers, "And I think Lord Jacsen and Justin have proven that they aren't all trying to shove you into a corner, haven't they?"
"Justin has." Anais pauses, forcing her thumb away from her mouth. "Jacsen…is improving. I think. Unless it's all an act to get me to concede that he might still need the drug," she sighs, rubbing at her brow instead. "But no, none of this nonsense would be going on in the Westerlands at all. Honestly, can you imagine Lord Tywin Lannister not making a judgement on a profitable holding like Stonebridge?" She waves a hand, trying to dismiss that. "I think she's had everything handed to her, and so she thinks she deserves everything. And I certainly understand her wanting her own household. But she can't keep /this/ one."
Kamron shakes his head, "No, he would play the Rains of Castamere, and either take it for himself, or install some sort of council since all of the neighboring houses have shown they can't control it on their own." Rolling his left shoulder a bit, perhaps to loosen it up, he frowns, "Does she know that? I can only assume that when she's never had anyone tell her 'no,' she expects to be able to do anything she wants. And if Lord Jerold won't tell her 'no,' she'll never believe it from anyone else." There's a bit of laughter there, and then he adds, "At least, I assume."
"Does she know that she can't keep this house?" Anais laughs, shaking her head. "I'm beginning to think she doesn't. And honestly, Kamron, I know I'm not one to talk about being patient and waiting for other people to work things out for you. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't taken things into my own hands and taken action on my own. But I didn't risk the safety, security, and reputation of my own house to do it. I /left/." She pauses, considering. "I don't suppose Lord Jerold would concede to ship her out to, oh, I don't know. The Vale or something. The Reach. She can go to the Reach and visit the Redwynes and look for a husband there." Far, far away.
Kamron arches an eyebrow, "Have you tried Qarth? I hear they're rich there, too." A chuckle follows that, "You're talking to me about being patient? I thought it had been firmly established that Martyn's the thinker and I'm the actor of the family." His right hand rises to rub at his temples, "It's so much simpler when you can walk up to your enemy and bash them over the head. Although I'm pretty certain Lord Jerold might take it poorly if you did that to Lady Lucienne."
"And yet, the temptation remains." Anais pauses, then laughs again. "Actually, I'd probably be better off just doing some target practice out in the courtyard and shooting at her when she came out. Saffron's better at the head-bashing." Isn't that just what you wanted to hear about the girl you're sweet on? "Anyhow. I'm talking to you because…Well, because I don't think you'll judge me too harshly for wanting to engage in a little head-bashing myself." She looks to the window, then starts to push out of her chair. "I should go and see if the Naylands have arrived, though. Would you like to come?"
Kamron chuckles again at Anais' words, "Is she any good? Lady Saffron, that is, with a sword." He leans forward a little, "She told me she had some lessons from her father, but I have to admit I'm curious." The mention of the Naylands draws a shrug, and he pushes himself up out of his own seat, "I probably should, to show that there are no hard feelings. Besides that, I'm rather curious about what's happened in Stonebridge. Just warn me if you're going to shoot Lady Lucienne, please. I would rather like to be ready to get you and Lady Saffron out of The Roost before Lord Jerold finds out."
"I appreciate that," Anais chuckles, reaching out to give his arm a squeeze from across the table. "But I rather hope it won't be needed. Mother would be terribly disappointed." In which part of that chain of events, she doesn't specify. "Thank you, though. As to Saffron's skill with a sword, I couldn't really say. I've been under the impression for some time that her father was giving her more lessons, though. I learned the bow and mostly the 'stand and hold steady' part of a spear during the war, when the men were mostly in King's Landing, but I didn't do much after. There were other things to learn. I, ah. I like new things," she admits, leading the way to the courtyard.
Kamron shrugs his shoulders, "So long as she doesn't mean to try to follow in Lady Rowenna's footsteps, it might be rather good for my peace of mind to know that Lady Saffron can defend herself." The… delay… causes him to chuckle and note chivalrously, "There's always another art or pastime to learn. I never thought I would learn how a house is put together, and I'm finding learning to read tracks quite interesting, and learning about the course of law quite boring." There's a pause of his own, and he notes, "The 'stand your ground' part really is the most important. That's how fights between levies are won." Because wars are won by the charge of knights, of course. "Might be true for the rest of life as well."
"I suspect it is, Ser Kamron," Anais agrees, flashing a smile as she starts down the hall. "And I certainly intend to hold my ground." And then the maid and the guard fall in, and the lady of the keep heads to greet the latest visitors.
