| Fault |
| Summary: | Lady Valda and Jaremy speak, she pins him with the loss of Isolde. |
| Date: | 22/07/2011 |
| Related Logs: | Name of Log Goes Here |
| Players: |
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| Streets of Stonebridge |
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| Room desc goes here! |
| Fri July 22, 288 |
The halls of Stonebridge are nowhere near as many as those of the Red Keep of King's Landing, but there are a few that are required to pass from one section to another. It's such a corridor that Jaremy Terrick finds himself in, having just excused himself from the main feast. On a path that will lead him out to the tents, and surely the Terrick compound to follow, he moves quietly, save for the spurs on his feet scraping against the stone. He is alone, a foolish move, but not so foolish with so much on the line for the Tordanes.
The Lady had retired, finding herself tiring of the festivities already. "What a pain.." She murmurs to her lady's maid who follows just slightly behind her. A sworn sword taking the point, the two remain silent for a time. "Run along ahead.." She tells her companion. "Get Milicent to have some tea and a warm bucket for my feet. This day has been a trial." She mutters. She does just that, picking up her skirts to hurry ahead as the Lady starts to leave the tourney behind. Running a hand up to smooth her hair, she lazily falls into an automatic walk with no attention to anything around her.
A few moments pass, and as Jaremy continues to follow the path that he's on, he's taken to a T-juntion in the keep's corridor. Also on an automatic, mindless walk, Jaremy has barely enough time to catch sight of another body in his peripheral vision as he turns to the right. With a grunt, he makes contact with a tall, dark haired woman in heavy skirts, nearly knocking her over. With enough sense to reach out to hold her upright, he blinks to clear his vision to see who she is.
"My apologies I wasn't…" He pauses, blinking twice. When he sees that he's just collided with Valda Tordane, he releases her gently, saying nothing.
The sworn stops and having saw the Knight paid him no mind, but Valda is elsewhere in her thoughts. As the body of Jaremy collides, she grunts and stumbles back, saved only by the grace of his hold. Recognizing him, the Lady lifts her chin and smooths her dress. "Wasn't what? Do no your apologies extend to me as well, Young Lord?" She studies him with a cool eye, eye lower to his wrist where she had seen her daughter's favor. "Hoping to find Isolde?" She asks, there is an edge of warning to her voice.
"…looking where I was going." Jaremy completes with a sigh, glancing up and down the corridor. Frowning, he looks back to the elder Tordane with a pair of flattened eyebrows and a mediocre frown. "A bitter irony. Normally in such circumstances I would say you shouldn't be walking so alone. Allow me to escort you?" He offers, nodding in the direction they were both going, he turns on his heel, sighing quietly. "No, I was making my way back to camp, actually."
"Walking alone.." Her sworn has gone on ahead, not realizing the Lady had stopped. Valda furrows her brows. "Escort me? I figured you would have wanted me dead." She smirks some, though it fades. "I do hope you have given up your foolish errand to wed my daughter? I know of what transpired….I know of what you did." She breathes, narrowing her gaze at him, "You are no honorable man, you took from her what was not yours to take." She steps back and turns from him, meaning to continue on.
"Lady Valda, you know a lot of things about me, both good and bad but you know I'm no murderer. Though at the moment there's a many thing I hate about you, I wouldn't see you suffer." Jaremy says under his breath, not yet moving from the junction. Letting out another displeased sigh, he rests his wrist on the hilt of his sword and turns back to her. "We gave to eachother that which was promised. What I don't understand is why Valda? Why all of this?" He motions in the direction of the feast. "Our houses could have been joined."
Pausing, Valda keeps her back to him, hands folded before her. A picture of calm, she regards him slightly from over her shoulder. "A fools promise, over drinks." She murmurs. "Though House Terrick has good holdings and strong bloodlines, they have no head for business and do not answer to House Frey. I saw this as the best way to secure my daughter's future. Not through bold strong movements of a Knight, but of through shrewd business of a Lord. Nayland offered that." She pause and then adds,
Pausing, Valda keeps her back to him, hands folded before her. A picture of calm, she regards him slightly from over her shoulder. "A fools promise, over drinks." She murmurs. "Though House Terrick has good holdings and strong bloodlines, they have no head for business and do not answer to House Frey. I saw this as the best way to secure my daughter's future. Not through bold strong movements of a Knight, but of through shrewd business of a Lord. Nayland offered that." She pause and then adds, "Better still it is their Young Lord, so she will be Lady of both holdings."
"Valda…" Jaremy keeps his voice low, no longer speaking to her like an enemy. "…perhaps it was how long that I waited, wasn't it? Is that what spurred this?" He shakes his head. "Because yourself being of Frey blood, and the Twins being just up the fork and down a ways, at least to the east, thre was never any doubt that business would have conducted with Lord Walder. I've always respected your strength, but now…you know well the Naylands will not be the good neighbors you've always been." He pauses. "Isolde and I love eachother, Valda. If there was ever a question, you must have seen I would have been open to your counsel. Your word, your wishes would have been honored.
A brow raises and she turns to face him. There is a slow smirk, "You think so little of me that you would presume to tell me how the Naylands would be. Because of them I will remain Castellon of Stonebridge to over see anything." She laughs a little, Valda grins and looks up at him as she closes the distance. "You did wait too long, you gave me the time I needed to contact those I needed to. Love." SHe sighs, "You know it is not our right to love…" She shakes her head at him. "All has been done this has been sanctioned by House Frey and Tully alike. There is no way around it, Young Lord unless you care to break law and suffer consequences, because in that case…neither of you will wed anyways."
Jaremy's eyebrows lift in the center, giving Valda a look of pure disappointment as she nears. "But why, Valda? Did you resent your marriage to Lord Geoffrey? Clearly you didn't wish her to be wed to me, promise or not, for a very long time. Sanctioned by Frey, sanctioned by Tully, or sanctioned by Robert Baratheon himself, Valda, we never meant you ill. You were a treasured part of our dealings." His brows lower, his words carrying some force to them. "You had a chance to see your daughter marry a man she loved, a man who would have provided everything the Naylands offered and more, even bent their ear to further alliances with the Freys. I have brothers and a sister." He steps closer. "Castellon or not, Valda…you're burning things to the ground with no more the promises that things might grow back in a way that you predeict. Your ambition is going to be costly."
"And your childish understanding of what the world is like outside your roost. Trust me, you have no idea what this does for my daughter and for me. Geoffrey Tordane was a marriage of convience and now my daughter's is too. Love does not last, security does. She will be taken care of, Nayland follows Frey and family is important." She stares at him, studying his young features. "So young, so inexperienced." She tsks and sighs again, "Jaremy, Yound Lord. It is done and over. You have no need for answers any longer. All you seek is more pain. Think of how you hurt Isolde. Are you so selfish that even after she has accepted this..you seek it still?" He brows furrow. "You are being cruel."
"I am honoring a request." Jaremy retorts, glancing to the favor on his wrist. Gazing at it for a few heartbeats, his long hair shakes from side to side as he bitterly looks back to Valda. "It is over. At least this topic is. Your daughter will marry and Stonebridge will fly a different banner by the end of the tourney. With it the one chance you afforded your daughter has passed." Jaremy murmurs, catching Valda's eyes. "You had a chance to provide your daughter with something that could have been formed. Something you yourself were denied. Something all noble women wish for." Jaremy pauses, letting his words settle in, praying that they have some impact.
"Just know this, that like the Freys, family matters dearly to the Terricks as well, and should you ever find yourself surrounded on all sides as Castellon of Stonebridge…you will not be forgotten should you send a raven to Terrick's Roost."
"I had the chance at nothing. You are only focused on what could have been based on your heart. Hearts have nothing to do with ruling the land and you will find that out." Valda steps closer, "If you truly loved her as you say you did, you would have acted sooner..or you would have fought for her. Instead of sneaking to meet her in the middle of the night to take her maidenhood. You would have been the Knight you are supposed to be, instead, you carry her favor but not her hand." She states and lifts her chin, keeping his gaze. "You are not the man you think you are. If you were, we would not be talking like this and it would be you who would be at my daughter's side at the end of the tourney. Instead, I made a decision based on what needed to be done." She states cooly.
"I will remember your promise of aid, but for now. Good luck in the coming days." That said, she takes a step back and turns to go.
"Hearts having nothing to do with ruling, you are correct, Valda." Jaremy steps in, not willing to grab her arm to keep her from leaving, but moving in close enough to try to halt her for just another moment. "For that, I have failed both you and your daughter, and for this she and I both suffer. This is a lesson that will not be forgotten that will always linger on my mind. I loved you and your departed husband like blood, and I pray you're right that love matters not and that cunning alone will protect you and her children. May the seven protect you, for one day you may find yourself on the losing end of the logical deal. When that day comes…I do pray you don't find it's your daughter that suffers Castellon." He steps back, allowing her to leave. "I will be civil."
Hesitate the lady does and Valda smirks some. "Pray as you will, there are chances in everything." She remains silent, letting the young Lord say his piece. With that, she turns to go, no remark of parting. She has tea waiting and hot water for her feet. Her concerns are for herself, gaze darkening some as her fingers grasp at her skirts. For anyone watching or in view of the Lady's countenance, they might very well see the restraint she has.
