Marshend After the Struggle: Merivel(Continued from Nightfall at the Septa's House) Back at the cottage, Mariam said uneasily to Merivel, "Maester - there's something you should know." "No!" the musician fiercely. Merivel pivoted in place, turning to face Mariam. He cocked his head slightly and gave a nod. "What should I know, Mariam?" Merivel asked. Mariam looked worriedly from the musician to Merivel, and then said uneasily, "Just that ... these people are from the south. They don't know our ways." "I'm from the Vale of Arryn." Merivel countered, thinly. "I am still learning the ways of the North." He turned to look at the musician. "Where precisely in the South are you from?" The musician hesitated - and then shrugged. "All over, as is the way with my kind. But ... King's Landing has been my home these past ten years and more." Someone who had been attached to the armies of King Robert, perhaps. Merivel regarded the musician. "When Mariam seemed set to reveal something about you, you reacted strongly." The Maester regarded the Musician with a cold stare in the darkness. "What are you not telling me about this business that I have blundered into?" "Forgive me, Maester," said the musician smoothly. "When one travels in these parts, one leards to be wary of travellers, especially when their appearance and their calling are at odds." He glanced at the clothes Merivel was wearing. Merivel sighed. "You are not the only person to criticize my choice of clothes." he said. "I've been in the wilderness, and underwent some rather unpleasant experiences, and nearly died for my pains. I consider myself fortunate that I am alive at all, much less wearing clothes of the Giants of Pentos." The musician looked astonished. "The Giants ... they're here? In Marshend? The Giants?" "Yes." Merivel said. "The first people I met, when I finally reached this village after my travails and traumas, was of the Giants. Were it not for the kindness of the Septa, I would be bunking down with them tonight, rather than here." "You've seen them before?" Merivel inquired. The musician smiled, a little thinly. "Their talents - both on the stage and off - are well known in certain parts of King's Landing. Take all the tales you've heard of minstrels and mountebanks and how they are all rogues and rascals - then double those tales - and there you might have the Giants." "They have shown me aught but kindness and courtesy." Merivel replied after a moment, "and so whatever else they might have done to others, I cannot say that they have been less than fair with me. If they are so well known in King's Landing, though, I do wonder that they are here, far away from the King's seat." "So do I," murmured the Minstrel, almost in an undertone. Then he smiled as he added, "But as they have dealt fairly by you, then nothing shall I say against them. For to their own, they are fiercely loyal, it's said, and those who they take in to their protection do not regret it." "I've been through a betrayal already." Merivel said. "Far be it from me to be anything but wary for the same. On the other hand." Merivel's eyes looked hard in the darkness. "Having been betrayed, I am ever more reluctant than even my natural inclination and my training to do so myself." The minstrel nodded. "Then we are two of a kind, Master Merivel." He turned slightly. "And here comes my young charge." He was looking to where Derron and Callon were advancing towards them out of the darkness, Lancer trotting at their heels. (Continued in Marshend - Merivel and Derron at Night) |
