VisitingLordHardy-KenrithEdlynRhysIndex | HomePage | GameLogs | HoldfastGameLogs | Visiting Lord Hardy - Kenrith, Edlyn, Rhys "Lord Hardy," Rhys replied, smiling gently back, though his eyes were taking in her wan appearance. He helped her back up and they continued their trek to Lord Hardy's rooms. "Have you been taking care of Lord and Lady Hardy and your younger siblings? She shot him another 'duh' look. "Well, yes," she said. "Who else is there? I mean, Septa and the old women are good as nurses and nursemaids, but someone has to organise everything, Especially as there's no steward now since he ran away from Kenrith. But the Head Cook has been coming to me for orders every morning, so at least we've eaten." She smiled a little pallidly at Rhys. "It's fortunate Mama's lessons included how to hold household in a House that was penny pinched. It is a lesson she's always regretted not learning before she was married to my true father, for he had no money at all." Kenrith's steps, not so heavy as Godwyn's perhaps, heralded his approach. Apparently he'd caught the last of what Edlyn had said, for his first words on coming into sight were "And it was well she did..." followed by a perhaps-startling smile and sad eyes, for he wasn't fully behind his lordface at the nonce. Edlyn blinked, and then managed a shy smile in return. Rhys narrowed his eyes slightly, studying Kenrith for a second before returning the smile. "We are just on our way to visit your father. Would you like to join us?" Kenrith's self-effacing smile slowly left his face and his eyes hardened as he nodded. The change of expression wasn't lost on Rhys, though his return expression was more bland than hard. He turned and led the way to Lord Hardy's chambers, swapping his long-legged stride for a more sedate pace in deference to Edlyn. Kenrith offered her his arm. Edlyn took it, almost shyly. As they began to move, he sensed that she was trying not to lean on him too much, but to hide her injury and walk normally. A slight unevenness in the flags made her catch his arm suddenly, her weight, slight though it was, pressed against him. Though unexpected, he was as steady as if he were rooted in the godswood. "My ... my apologies, Ser!" she said, with a little gasp. She was close enough that he could catch an elusive aroma in her hair. Cornflowers ... a summer meadow in a southern land ... Kenrith had been about to speak before she stumbled, but errant thoughts about his chance brush with the fair sex left him dumb. As such, he wasn't any more able to object than he was to say what he'd originally intended. They were at the door of his father's room now and she seized that as an opportunity to move away a little. "He may be asleep," she warned them. "He seems to be sleeping more and more - and not because of Maester Sewell's drugs." Rhys frowned thoughtfully. Kenrith coughed softly, and swallowed. Both could see his cheeks were slightly flushed, though in truth Edlyn's contact had been fleeting. His powers of speech apparently returned, he said "I have some thoughts on how to deal with a few of our troubles... after we've looked in on Father and St- Mother, perhaps we can discuss them," he said as he used his now-free hand to indicate both Edlyn and Rhys. As he'd spoken, his eyes were focused on her forehead. "Certainly," Rhys replied to Kenrith, nodding his head in deference. He pretended not to have noticed anything unusual and looked back at the two of them blandly. Who could blame Edlyn for trying to use the only weapon her sex really possessed in an attempt to secure her position? And he'd have been concerned if Kenrith--as a healthy man not even yet twenty--hadn't found himself reacting. This briefly led him down a related thought trail. Knowing, though, he didn't have the time to properly pursue it, Rhys brought himself back to the present and reached out to open the door. He stepped to the side to allow Kenrith and Edlyn to precede him into the room. Kenrith opened the door, then offered Edlyn his arm once again, and led the way. Edlyn hesitated, and then slipped her hand through his arm, so that they went together into the room. Lord Hardy was lying on his side, facing the door. One eye was half open, the other hidden in his pillows. His breath came so loudly that it sounded as though he was snoring. "We think he's awake," Edlyn said softly. "He doesn't speak much now, but his eye ... it follows you when you move." And indeed, the single eye now seemed to be glaring at Kenrith, as though trying to convey some message that Lord Hardy no longer had the power to give. Kenrith helped Edlyn to a seat, then returned his father's look with one which was a warped mirror of father's younger self. Part of him wanted to defend himself from his father's acusing stare, but there was no point. Rhys sat down by Lord Hardy and performed his usual examination routine, taking the Lord's vitals. He grasped both of the older man's hands lightly. "Milord, can you squeeze my hands?" Lord Hardy's glare seemed to intensifiy - but it was unclear whether that was his response to Rhys's presumption in addressing him, or his own struggle to do as Rhys had ask. His left hand closed weakly on Rhys's, with little force at all. His right hand lay flaccid and motionless. Rhys let go of his hands. It seemed apparent to him that Lord Hardy had deteriorated since he examined him last and that it was only a matter of time, unless a miracle occurred.... The young maester shook his head slightly to clear the thought. He'd consider it later. "Milord, we can establish a code if you wish to communicate. If you desire this and can, please blink twice." Kenrith watched, and any looking at him could see his lordface calicifing. Lord Hardy blinked rapidly and then - as though realising that this was self-defeating, with a clear effort forced himself to blink just twice. "I understand you, Lord Hardy," Rhys replied, nodding gravely. "Two blinks for 'yes' then, and one blink for 'no.'" He paused there and looked at Kenrith and Edlyn. "Are there yes-or-no questions that you would like to ask Milord?" Rhys set up codes for Lord Hardy's basic needs. He taught them to the servants attending Lord Hardy and drew them pictorially on a piece of parchment for later reference. Once that was done, Rhys asked Edlyn if she would like to accompany him while he visited her mother. "I think you will find little change in her," she said sadly. "When I sat with her yesterday, she took me for my own aunt Norine, and was wishful to know how the trimming of her blue gown was coming, for she was determined to wear it when she saw Ser Martin again." Rhys frowned greatly, then hid his concern from Edlyn by forcing the frown into a sort of smile. "Well, it hasn't been that long and there's every hope her memories will return. Let's go see her, shall we?" He nodded to Kenrith and followed Edlyn out the door, leaving the son with his father. Kenrith waited for the door to close, then moved a stool to his bedside so he could count blinks more easily. "You wish to know what is going on..." Kenrith asked before giving his father a generous pause to respond during, "... or are you more concerned that I haven't found the Snow?" he asked before another pause, so that his father could answer 'yes' and 'yes' if he so chose. His father answered that as Kenrith had anticipated. Yes, he wanted to know what was happening - but he wanted the Snow too. "I will try to update you, then... but after our last argument, neither of us can afford to become too excited, so I'll go slowly," Kenrith began. "The central matter involves Herys' sons. He tried to marry a bastard to Syndra, and the trueborn son turned up as well," Kenrith said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not look away from his father, and counted slowly to five before continuing. Lord Hardy made no sign. "The trueborn son only revealed himself because he stood accused of a crime-- killing one of Herys' retainers. We tried him. Herys was very insistent that he die. Eventually, his trueborn son insisted on a trial by combat. Under the circumstances, Godfrey felt he had to do it," Kenrith said as he counted to ten, making calming motions at somewhere between 'five' and 'six.' "Godfrey was trampled-- he lives and is recovering, and the trueborn indicated Godfrey yielded. You and I, we know better... I'm sure he held fast, but the trueborn was found not guilty," Kenrith said before dabbing at his father's forehead with a moist compress. "Herys watched from the stands beside Celia. When the verdict was announced, he struck her hard in the head-- that is why Rhys went to tend Celia. Herys also ordered his men to attack and kill the trueborn. Godwyn left him in a state-- but alive. I judged him so he would die of justice rather than revenge. All of the younger children are safe, though Edlyn turned her ankle and Syndra saw too much bloodshed when Herys attacked," Kenrith said before another lengthy pause. The juxtoposition between his lordface and tender one-handed brushing of his father's hair would have struck any bystander, had their been one. Lord Hardy blinked rapidly. Not a yes or a no, he seemed to be urging Kenrith to continue. "There is more... wildings were spotted in the woods. Just a few. I take it you have a sister who was kidnapped, or perhaps a cousin. Lord Hardy turned his head from side to side - as much as he could. It was not a denial - more as though this news pained him above all else. "Her grandchildren have the family look. I'd sought to draw off men we didn't trust, and took them to hunt the wildings on the day of the joust. Godfrey, Anders, and I agreed it was for the best... we knew Herys would try something. I am not yet a kinslayer-- I arrested the Bolton men and released the wildings after I established we were kin. She is not the sort to abandon her grandchildren-- and I will not risk another Mance in Holdfast-- so she is now on her way North. They know something, now, of what it is to Hold Fast," Kenrith said with emotion creeping in around his mask as he spoke the family words. It was some time before he continued, lost as he was in his own thoughts and his father's eyes. "During the bloody tourney, someone let fly all the ravens, so I had to send Syndra with a message and guards. If I had it to do over again, it would have been kinder to send Edlyn to Winterfell with her... but I need her help, and the risk of sending Godfrey's daughter was enough without sending yours as well," Kenrith said before giving a lopsided shrug. "I've told Stark a great deal in that letter. It may be he'll have my head, or have me on the Wall... and if he does, the safety of the rest of your family is assured. Stark will honor our loyalty, dating back to the age of heros... he'll repay my head with watchful attention and protection for your heirs. Godwyn may be sent to the wall for... he hurt Herys very badly, though I'm hoping to pay for that debt as well, as I judged him. I can walk to the block, or Wall, with my head held high... I'll make Stark understand I go willingly for the sake of my family, if it comes to that. It is not the sort of thing he is like to forget, I promise you-- but I'll still pray it doesn't come to that for now," Kenrith said with a heavy sigh. "There is some trouble with the Archmaester and Steward as well-- I'll explain so you don't worry unjustly." "The Archmaester was struck a blow from behind. Rhys is seeing to him, and I expect he'll recover. I don't understand all of it, but I know enough to set it right in the time I have left," Kenrith said. "Another problem... the Steward has run off. I'm sure that when you were well that you knew he pocketed a few silver pennies and knew to turn a blind eye... well, it grew beyond that after you took ill. Someone had put a lot of pressure on him, and the coffers are bone dry-- I don't think it a coincidence. I prayed for a time Celia was just taking precautions against her baseless fears of me, and sought to... but that is pretty much out the window," Kenrith said before holding up his hand, palm out, to urge his father for patience while he took deep calming breaths of his own. "He escaped arrest, and accountability, during the judicial joust. I'll settle the accounts by mortgaging my honor-- by selling the suit of castle-forged steel which Tully gifted me-- if I must. Another problem which is easier to solve if I'm to take the Wall-- that plate would be no good on ice anyway." "... this is why I haven't been able to search for Him. I haven't forgotten, and if you can Hold Fast, I'll do my best to find him and bring him to you once I can-- perhaps when Godfrey is on his feet... or I could send word for him. May I ask you questions about that? Answer 'no' if you're too tired, please." He blinked urgently in response. Clearly, this topic was important to him. Kenrith nodded. "I'm under the impression he is older than I am. Is this correct?" "Do you know where he is, or where he probably is?" A blink. Another. Yes. "Is he in the North?" Yes. "Is he in Holdfasttown?" No. "Is he in Marshend?" Yes! Something very like a groan came from his Lordship. "Have you set eyes on him?" A long pause. No. "Somewhat? It was a long time ago so you can't be sure if he's grown into it, or out of it?" All the while, he kept his tone carefully moderated and his speech slow. No. No. Kenrith sensed the frustration. He had said - and to be asked to qualify irritated him. "Now, I think, there will be more guessing around on my part," Kenrith said without the sigh he felt on the inside. "Do you wish him brought to Holdfast so that you can legitimate him?" Kenrith said with that same even tone. No. The answer came slowly - as though this was something that Lord Hardy had not even considered. "If you are unable to speak then, do you wish me to express to him that he has been brought here so that you might make amends for not having a fuller role in his life, as he spent most of it away from your sight?" Kenrith asked, his voice under tight reins. A long pause - and then, the most reluctant of answers. Yes. Kenrith drew a deep breath, and was about to continue, when he heard Rhys cry out. Celia's room wasn't far, and that had been where they were going... "Hold Fast, father..." he said suddenly, making haste towards his stepmother's room. |
