Kings and Queens/Carson II

Carson

T he Great Hall of Messer Keep was filled to the very last corner. Ser Carson had the honour of sitting with the little lordling and his honoured guests. Also sharing the honour was Ser Alistair Connell, Magister Mance and the Castellan, Danel Plover. Little Lord Sirius was sitting in the middle of the Long Bench, with Lord Igor Stalli to his left, and his eldest son, Wayne Stalli, to his right. Wayne and Sirius were close in age, Wayne being a few moon cycles older. Lady Patra was also sitting at the Long Bench, with her two daughters, twins Peaches and Ryla. House Stalli hail from Sword Point Cliff, which is surrounded by cliffs, hence the name. They only arrived yesterday, and last evening, there was a heavy feast, in honour of them arriving in Byde. Today, Wayne and Sirius were going to be showcasing their skills in archery, while they waited on other boys coming from different Houses and Clans. The weather in Byde had been rough the past few days. Albeit it being the middle of Spring, there had been some light snow storms and hard rain pour. Little Lord Sirius had been disappointed with the weather, as of late, and had been very agitated. He also received a letter from his lady mother, explaining that his lord father and little sister, Anabel, will be staying in Woesien, as Lord Helix will be serving as the new Advisory to the King, At least, however, Lady Delena and Lord Charon would be returning soon. Then, he could do all the non-lordly duties he wanted to do.
 * Until then, however, he had to wait. Carson motioned for one of the wenches to pour him another goblet of ale. As the wench made her leave, Carson looked out to the crowd of smallfolk, Knights and pleasuring women. He badly wanted Alysane to sit with them at the Long Bench, but Sirius forbade it. "You know how Lord Igor feels about bastards, I'm sorry Ser Perry", Sirius' words drilled through his small-minded head. Now, he had to suffer watching his only daughter being observed by any Knights who found her somewhat attractive. She was off age, having been flowered for no more than a year, but still, she was his daughter.

Carson stirred in his seat, ridding himself of watching his daughter being talked to by the Knight. He disliked feasts, greatly. He found the honour that little Lord Sirius gave him gratifying, but even as a little lad, Carson disliked being in the limelight. He always felt like people were looking at him, he even felt the same way now. He desperately wished for a way out of this feast. Suddenly, out of the blue, a Messer guard rushed into the hall, making much noise as he did. His entrance quieted the Great Hall. He huffed and puffed and made his way to the Long Bench. He bowed his head, caught his breath, and addressed the little lordling.
 * "Lord Sirius, ser, I bear bad tidings. A spring wind is on it's way, according to the Weather Maegi, it's going to last a while," he spoke roughly, still shy of breath. Ser Carson looked across to Sirius, and could see the disappointment in his eyes. He was really looking forward to the day, where he could show off his bow work to outsiders. Even Ser Alistair knew that he was getting better at it.

Whatever anger he had, Sirius seemed to have swallowed it, before finally speaking. "Very well, then."
 * He then sat down, and the room began to fill up with talking and laughing again, almost like nothing happened. Wayne and the little lord had entered their own conversation, and soon enough, they got up to leave, with two Stalli Knights close behind them. While Wayne and his father's men went ahead, Sirius stayed back and bent down to whisper to Ser Carson.

"I want to know more about these storms, ser. Find out all you can from that woman. My mother may like her kind, but I don't trust magic practitioners." And with that, Sirius took his leave. Ser Carson knew the weather woman well enough. She was from The Summer Isles, being brought up on a small island called Etapol. The woman arrived not long ago. Lady Delena celebrated modern ways, believing in Magic and as such, convinced Lord Helix to take her on. Most of the Knights called her "Shrieker" as she tended to scream loudly when practicing her magic. Her speciality was the clouds, however. She could tell what the weather would be for the next week. Her real name was actually Tierra, but everyone, including the woman herself, called her "Weather Maegi". Carson drained the last of his ale. His lordship gave him a task, and he would be damned and questioned if he did not follow it through. As he got up to take his own leave, a voice not far behind him beckoned for him to stay back. Carson turned around to see who spoke to him.
 * The voice belonged to Lord Igor Stalli. A man of fifty he was, yet just looking at him, you would think he would be younger. His hair had not started greying yet, and there were no clear age lines upon his face, neck or hands yet. His hair was still the crisp, short straight dark blond hair that marked any Stalli member. His brown piercing eyes were narrow in his sockets, and it was clear that he was tired, as they were noticeably bloodshot. Lord Igor smiled up to Carson, who only returned his smile.

"Er, Ser Carson, I was hoping I could speak to you for a few minutes. In privy, perhaps?" Lord Igor spoke with the same thick accent of any persons who were born and raised in the Farmlands. However, he had a habit of rolling his r's. Ser Carson made no motion to notice it.
 * Carson nodded. "Of course, m'lord, I know a good place where not even a Cantor can find us," he replied. Ser Carson turned to lead the way, and waited until Lord Igor was out of the Long Bench before continuing. One of his household guards began to follow him, but Igor sent him away with a flick of his hand. He eventually made his way to Carson, and urged the Ser to continue. He could only comply. There were many private places where the pair could speak, so Ser Carson went for the best option. They walked past the household banners of the House of Messer, that hung high up on the far left wall. Together, the Knight and Lord walked deeper into the castle. Ser Carson took the second right, leading Lord Igor down the hallway. This way was normally used for storage places, but there was a small room that the servers tended to use to break their own fast before serving the Messer family. It would be empty, as all the servers were too busy doing their duties to care for their own needs. This would give them enough privacy, hopefully. Carson reached the small break room first, and let out a sigh of relief when it opened. Thankfully, some server just saved me embarrassing myself, he thought humorously to himself. He looked up and saw that Lord Igor was standing, waiting for him to allow him entrance. Carson did just that, stepping into the room first.

The room was dimly lit, with several stools around a small, hardwood rectangular table. There were a few counters where dishes were drying. The small window looked onto the courtyard. Carson turned around to see Lord Igor seating himself on one of the stools.
 * "Is this an alright room, m'lord? I can find somewhere... cleaner," Carson struggled to find a word to describe the break room. Cleaner was the best he could do.

Lord Igor stiffly nodded. "Yes, yes. A room is a room, just as long as we are not disturbed. Find some wine, will you? These wenches must have some around, especially if they are serving Lords such like myself these days." He spoke quickly, his voice rolling all the r's. Carson understood him, nevertheless. He began to make a large amount of noise, looking through the cupboards to find a flagon and a goblet. He found the both on his fourth try. He smelled the flagon before pouring the Lord a goblet. It smelled plain, with no hint of spice in it. He poured it all the same, wine was wine. He handed the goblet to Lord Igor, who took it from the Knight, and drained it in one drink. Ser Carson took a note of how early in the morning it was, but made no attempt to mention that to Lord Igor.
 * After swallowing and belching twice, Stalli finally spoke. "I left Sword Point Cliff in the hands of a cretin. A cretin that I have no trust in. And now, I regret it wholeheartedly." He spoke slowly, his voice filled with fear.

Carson became confused. "M'lord, your lady wife, Lady Patra, it's her brother, Lord Arrick Posen who holds it for you, whilst you're here," Carson quizzically explained. The Posen Clan were quite trustworthy, hailing from The Head. They can trace their lineage back to House Luther, a ruthless, now exiled house from the Doncaster Reign. The Posen Clan came to be a noble house when the Siegel's came to take Fantasica from House Doncaster's grip. Albeit the fact that House Luther had horrible house rules and members, the Posen Clan were accepted back into their original home.
 * Lord Igor half laughed, and motioned for Carson to pour him another drink. He abided and waited for Stalli to drain his second goblet of wine. After belching once more, Igor spoke. "No, I do not trust them. And now I am scared, Ser Knight, I am scared for my smallfolk, my other Knights back in my castle. I'm even scared for the whore that I bed once a moon cycle." Lord Igor made a haught face when he saw Carson's surprised expression. "You cannot judge me, Perry. You have a bastard daughter, you can't chide me for infidelity. Besides, I spill my essence onto her belly, and she drinks Tea of Chilling two days after our meets." He spoke freely, almost as if he was proud of it. The man in Ser Carson Perry wanted to applaud him, but the Knight in Ser Carson Perry wanted to remind him of honour and loyalty.
 * Ser Carson cleared his throat, wanting to move back onto the topic on hand. "M'lord, you should probably bring this issue up with Lord Sirius, he could help you more than I can," Carson offered, trying to be as truthful as possible.

That made Lord Igor laugh, quite loudly actually, that Carson could have sworn he made the ground move. His laughing episode lasted for a few moments, before he wiped his tears away, and collected his breath. He then let out a sigh. "That little pup doesn't know anything. All he wants to do is shoot a bow and arrow, and most likely wants to visit his first pleasure house. No, he needs to be persuaded. And you are the only one who can do that."
 * This time, it was Carson's turn to laugh. "The little lordling doesn't like to be commanded, he's a second born son of a Great Lord, he won't take orders from a simple Knight like me," he argued back.

Lord Stalli shook his head and stood up. As he stood, the stool fell onto its side, but he made no attempt to pick it up. Instead, he walked across to the Knight. Ser Carson got a whiff of his stank, he smelled like wine and grease. Carson swallowed down his disgust. Lord Stalli crossed his arms. "You are the best Knight for this job, ser. Just convince the little lordling to send some Messer Knights to the Cliffs. Please, Ser Knight. I cannot lose my lands. My three elder brothers died during Maurice's Plunder, died killing those foolish Siegel's. I must keep my family close."
 * Ser Carson didn't understand how much Lord Igor's lands meant to him when they finished their conversation. But, later that night, after repeating the conversation from start to finish to Danel Plover and Little Lord Sirius, he finally understood it. He would love nothing more than to return to Darthound, to visit his sister, Alysane's resting place. He hadn't been there for several years, now. After finishing his tale, Carson awaited in the silence for Sirius to say something. Plover was the first to speak.

"Horrible idea, my lord. I wouldn't even think on the matter. Simply push it away, and never speak of it again."
 * "No", Sirius answered immediately, "my Lord Father would never do such a thing. House Stalli are our guests, Lord Igor has a problem in his own lands, it's our duty to help him." Carson nodded in agreement and encouragement as the lordling finished speaking.

Plover pouted. "Remember your histories, my lord. There have been four Little Lords - child lords, as you will - who have suffered greatly due to their childless actions. Care to recite them to me?"
 * Sirius rolled his eyes, let out a small huff and recited them to the castellan. "Lord Sven of the Laurel Clan, Lord Timmeon of House Halter, Lord Jamie of the House of Winchester and Lord Ichibald of House Dale." He was correct. Lords Sven and Jamie had been only ten and three when they became Lords of their respective lands, while Lords Timmeon and Ichibald had been ten and six, and ten and seven, respectively. Carson nodded approvingly, as did Plover. Sirius turned to face the castellan.

"I am not a child, I am ten and six in three moon cycles. Please remember that, Ser." Sirius then turned to face Ser Carson.
 * "Who should I send? How many men should I send? Assist me, Ser. Your Lord commands it."

Carson complied. "Not Ser Connell. You need him, here with you. Allow me to pick men for you. Ten should be enough. They can go in the cover of darkness. Just to test the water. Allow them to take an owl with them. That way, when they arrive, they can send us words, informing us if there is anything to be concerned about," Carson replied. He had thought it through, funnily enough. It was the only thing he had thought about for most of the day. Once again, Plover shook his head, in disagreement. "Please, my lord. Re-think this. Remember your histories, this will end badly."
 * Sirius raised his hand, to silence the castellan. "No more talk, Danel. I've made my mind up. Organise this, Ser Carson. We will assist Lord Igor."

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