The Right to Rule (Lena)
Jun 11, 2012 17:01:33 GMT
Post by cuthric on Jun 11, 2012 17:01:33 GMT
The Vale was exactly as Cuthric Sibbrell remembered it. Over two years he had been away, two years at the Wall, in the frozen North. All because his action - his, as he chose to put it, decisive action to remove his brother from the line of succession hadn't been understood by the rest of his family. It had all gone so terribly wrong for him; but the bitterness and disappointment he had long since set aside. He was here not to raise old grudges as the disinherited son of House Sibbrell, but to speak to those in power as a man of the Night's Watch. There was honor in that, Cuthric reckoned. More honor than he would otherwise have had.
He had sent word to Sibbisford, to his sister Catharyn. He didn't dare approach directly, he didn't want the shame of being barred from his home if his father had not yet forgiven him. But he did want to see Catharyn, if only to tell her that she didn't have to feel guilty for what he had done. The letters she sent him spoke to that, she believed that all Cuthric's misdeeds had been for her. In a way, they had been, but that was hardly the sum total on his motivation.
He would see her, one way or another, and he would see his son, Alekkai, the boy he had never met. His wife had married another man - the crows on the Wall had no wives, after all - but Alekkai she had left to be raised by Cuthric's sisters. A clean break, then. Cuthric didn't even feel sorry for himself any more when he thought of it, it just was. He had other concerns now.
It was when he was on his way to find Catharyn and Alekkai that Cuthric heard the most curious piece of gossip. As the sellsword in the tavern had told it, Lena Arryn had returned to the Vale with a Lannister army following after her, and had taken little Lord Robert's place. At first, he hadn't believed it. He might not have known Lena well, but he had known Jon Arryn, and that his daughter would have allied herself with Casterly Rock in order to supplant her brother? It didn't seem likely.
Yet he heard the tale from more than one voice, and while they differed in the details, he began to realize that they couldn't all be repeating someone's lie. Curiosity won out, and Cuthric turned away from the road to Sibbisford and headed towards the Eyrie. A audience with its Lord - or Lady - was more in keeping with what he was here to do, anyway. The Wall was undermanned, and Ser Cuthric had volunteered to ride south in search of support. Convince folk that they'd be better off up there trying to keep their fingers from freezing off, or if that failed, convincing their lords to send them. He could only try.
When he arrived at the Eyrie, it was Lena that he asked for, and when the guards at the gate didn't register any surprise, he knew that the stories he had heard contained at least a glimmer of truth.
He had sent word to Sibbisford, to his sister Catharyn. He didn't dare approach directly, he didn't want the shame of being barred from his home if his father had not yet forgiven him. But he did want to see Catharyn, if only to tell her that she didn't have to feel guilty for what he had done. The letters she sent him spoke to that, she believed that all Cuthric's misdeeds had been for her. In a way, they had been, but that was hardly the sum total on his motivation.
He would see her, one way or another, and he would see his son, Alekkai, the boy he had never met. His wife had married another man - the crows on the Wall had no wives, after all - but Alekkai she had left to be raised by Cuthric's sisters. A clean break, then. Cuthric didn't even feel sorry for himself any more when he thought of it, it just was. He had other concerns now.
It was when he was on his way to find Catharyn and Alekkai that Cuthric heard the most curious piece of gossip. As the sellsword in the tavern had told it, Lena Arryn had returned to the Vale with a Lannister army following after her, and had taken little Lord Robert's place. At first, he hadn't believed it. He might not have known Lena well, but he had known Jon Arryn, and that his daughter would have allied herself with Casterly Rock in order to supplant her brother? It didn't seem likely.
Yet he heard the tale from more than one voice, and while they differed in the details, he began to realize that they couldn't all be repeating someone's lie. Curiosity won out, and Cuthric turned away from the road to Sibbisford and headed towards the Eyrie. A audience with its Lord - or Lady - was more in keeping with what he was here to do, anyway. The Wall was undermanned, and Ser Cuthric had volunteered to ride south in search of support. Convince folk that they'd be better off up there trying to keep their fingers from freezing off, or if that failed, convincing their lords to send them. He could only try.
When he arrived at the Eyrie, it was Lena that he asked for, and when the guards at the gate didn't register any surprise, he knew that the stories he had heard contained at least a glimmer of truth.
