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Post by Lord Oswyn Baratheon on Sept 12, 2013 23:56:20 GMT -5
Oswyn answered with a nod, eager to leave the awkward subject untouched until his young fiancé had at least bled.
"Is a lion in captivity still worthy of the name?" he asked, after considering her words.
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Post by Teirney Lannister on Sept 13, 2013 0:13:18 GMT -5
Doreah meditated on his words carefully before replying. “We cannot know what they are thinking. They are caged but one can never tame them—they are ceaselessly defiant. Does this not affirm their title?”
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Post by Lord Oswyn Baratheon on Sept 13, 2013 0:18:42 GMT -5
"Much like the Dornish." Oswyn mused, with a chuckle. "How fitting for you to be both now."
Oswyn breathed in deep as the stench of the city was replaced by the crisp scent of the forest.
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Post by Teirney Lannister on Sept 13, 2013 16:33:13 GMT -5
Doreah smiled at his words, looking straight ahead.
"Tell me how it is to be a Stag, Ser Oswyn? The Stormlands seem a formidable place to spend one's boyhood. Although you have the luxury of forests--" she indicated with her fingers around them, "which seems an improvement to sand, admittedly."
Doreah nodded to Amelia as an aside. "Dear, the forest opens to you. Have a care, however, and try to remain in one piece for your mother. " As the girl rode off, Doreah nodded in approval at the child's evident riding skills, the deep, secure seat, the soft hand. This one did not seem in need of many lessons at all.
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Post by Lord Oswyn Baratheon on Sept 13, 2013 16:57:04 GMT -5
"A formidable place to make formidable men." Oswyn replied absent-mindedly, watching the young girl and two of his guards rode off into the forest with a sense of relief. He relaxed slightly, not having a child's gaze upon him. His eyes took their leave to be more bold, now fixated on Doreah. "Do you not miss the sands of home?"
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Post by Teirney Lannister on Sept 13, 2013 17:31:32 GMT -5
She felt the knight’s eyes on her, but she didn’t flinch away. I miss my home, so dearly. She thought of her brother’s intelligent eyes, always occupied with some errant thought, her sweet sister Lyssa, little Adrien and Salomae, neither of whom were quite so little anymore.
She hesitated for a moment, then relented. “In truth, perhaps I miss it a little. Dorne is a place that cannot be replaced in my heart. It is hot enough to fry a man alive, if he does not take care, but only the strong survive. The people are different there.” Her face was unreadable, but a low, sad light glowed in her eyes, which were carefully lowered.
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Post by Lord Oswyn Baratheon on Sept 13, 2013 17:47:14 GMT -5
Oswyn did not voice his own thoughts on why the Dornish were "different," instead watching the woman's sad expression with interest.
"I must admit, the only part of Dorne I have seen are its bloody passes. If there is beauty at their end, I fear I will never see it in my lifetime." he replied, resigned to that fact.
When he was sure Amelia was out of the range his voice could carry, he spoke softly, now stating the facts as he saw them rather than asking questions he knew the answer to.
"No one knows you are here besides myself, my men, and the trees." he said, his voice hollow now as if lost in another time and place. "You use me to spite your husband the same as your mother-in-law used me to spite her own. Do not tell me otherwise."
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Post by Teirney Lannister on Sept 13, 2013 18:23:57 GMT -5
Doreah was unsurprised by how he boldly broached the subject—their flimsy excuse to arrange this meeting was the sort of thing only someone who wanted to believe would, and she had been counting on him to be that person. Nevertheless, her cheeks flushed under his scrutiny. She had never done anything of this manner before and she shocked herself by this new-found audacity. How could she cling to inaction, however, as Aurane cavorted publically with other women and had told her in the garden in no uncertain terms that he found her repellant? Where was a woman to go, after that?
“Ser Oswyn, you speak of dangerous things,” she said smoothly, now looking him straight in the face. “Are you certain this is the direction you would have our lovely conversation take?”
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Post by Lord Oswyn Baratheon on Sept 13, 2013 18:35:04 GMT -5
"Considering it appears I have absconded with the wife and sister of the heir to the West, best to drop pretenses." he said, not unkindly. "I am not the man I was ten years ago and will not be deceived in so clumsy a manner again. You have placed your trust and risked your reputation to the naivety and honor of a boy long dead. You play a dangerous game."
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Post by Teirney Lannister on Sept 13, 2013 22:03:37 GMT -5
Doreah smiled grimly. So, the man didn’t play games then, did he? All the better, in fact—best to know now rather than later down the road where it would cost her more dearly.
“Well-played, Ser Oswyn, although you take this altogether too seriously. You have hardly absconded with us. I can handle my husband at his worst, so you need not worry yourself overmuch of the ramifications of our little hunt. Perhaps Lady Lannister and I do have a few things in common after all. You must think us inane.”
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Post by Lord Oswyn Baratheon on Sept 13, 2013 22:27:21 GMT -5
Oswyn chuckled at the woman's grim response, removing a wineskin from his saddlebag as he did so.
"You misjudge me, Lady Doreah. You Lannister women do not strike me as inane, simply willful, giving little thought to the fools that suffer for your whims. I am no fool."
He uncorked the wineskin and drank with a satisfied sigh, clearly partaking of something a bit stronger than wine, before offering it to Doreah with a self-assured smile.
"I am not a serious man. To the contrary, now that all our cards are out on the table perhaps we can enjoy this afternoon properly."
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Post by Teirney Lannister on Sept 13, 2013 22:51:40 GMT -5
Doreah raised a brow at him skeptically—now this was certainly not the way she had imagined things would proceed between her and Ser Oswyn, with his vacillation from anger to amusement in a brief moment. She had been prepared to soothe a volcano, but this sudden shift left her feeling foolish and overcommitted.
She took his wineskin from him boldly and took a hearty swallow—it took all her self-command to keep from choking on the contents, and she handed it back hastily.
“What are you, if not a fool then?” she asked forcefully, meeting his gaze directly. “For all your talk of clumsy pretenses, I find it strange you have agreed to meet me here.”
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Post by Lord Oswyn Baratheon on Sept 13, 2013 23:04:13 GMT -5
"Burnt wine." he explained, not hiding his amusement at her grimace as he took another swig from the contents of the skin. "It's an...acquired taste. Just sip it at first."
Her forceful and direct nature only seemed to glance off him, like a clumsy blow off the curve of plate armor. He offered her the skin once more.
"I am but a man, a man not as young as he once was. I had thought a ride with a woman willing to lie and sneak for an unchaperoned outing was an adventure my curiosity could not permit me to pass on. Was I mistaken?"
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Post by Teirney Lannister on Sept 13, 2013 23:29:34 GMT -5
Doreah would rather eat dirt than sample the contents of that wineskin again, but she found herself reaching for it once more. Foolish woman…foolish pride. She held her breath and forced the substance down her throat stubbornly, willing her eyes not to water. He liked to torture himself to pass the time, apparently. She passed it back.
“Yes, a man you are. Of course your…curiosity could not allow you to pass up such an occasion. I can only hope our ride is the sort of adventure you were hoping for.”
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Post by Lord Oswyn Baratheon on Sept 13, 2013 23:46:41 GMT -5
"I am more concerned you will not find my unchaperoned company worthy of all the trouble." he retorted, watching Doreah with interest. "Else perhaps I will think you inane for risking a row with your husband and a stain upon your reputation for something as innocent as a riding lesson."
He took another slow drink, savoring the caramel-colored brandy on his tongue for a few moments before swallowing.
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Hope you all are well and happy.