The kitchen hall

[Lilith Royce]

The cook was a huge blowsy, frowsy woman with arms the size of small tree trunks. It was said that she could wring a chicken's neck in two seconds flat and cleave a side of beef faster than the most jumped up knight axeman.

She thought Alliser cute and laughed uproariously at his rendition of "Pink-bottomed Maid" so gave him not only some of her good thick soup but a few slices of the roast beef that hadn't been eaten upstairs in the grand dining hall.

Angala still had no idea what to do with him but for now at least he was safe.

[Deleted]

Emboldened by the cook, young Mad Alliser cheered up a little and sang more. Alliser was comely in a way, but very thin, and his hair was a matted mess, still icy from the storms. But he bravely sat down, eyed the soup boiling on the stove, and began to sing "The Cobbler's Wife".

"A man walked into a cobbler's shop some boots to buy,
But when he got into the shop no body did he spy
So he turned upon his heels and towards the door he sped
When he heard the sound of a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK up above his head.
When he heard the sound of a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK up above his head.

"Well this young man was a bold young man so up the stairs he sped,
And very surprised was he to find the cobbler's wife in bed;
And with her was a fine young man of most incredible size,
And they were having a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK right before his eyes..."

[Deleted]

Alliser dug into the beef. "Very good, Cook!" he beamed. "I haven't eaten like this...when was the last time? Bitterbridge? Yes, it was Bitterbridge." He smiled at Angala and pushed his bowl over. "Want some?"

[Lilith Royce]

Angala laughed, and it felt good to laugh. She was also impressed by Mad Alliser's manners.

"No thanks," she replied, "I think you need it more than me."

[Deleted]

"There's some for everyone. Go on, have some," he urged. "You gave my cow hay. Go on."

"Where's Lord Baldwin?" he asked brightly to the kitchen at large. "Haven't seen the old man since he had some unwelcome guests at his tourney feast. I don't think he liked me talking to his unwelcome guests. He almost killed them, did you know that? Would've killed me too, if he'd known. And if I tell you, why, my old cousin would kill me. But who cares?" he chuckled; it was a sad sound.

"Prince Andry and Princess Cassandra! You fed royalty here in the Rock, my friends! Did you know that? No, of course not. But they were here, yes they were! And a sailor, ah, a sailor, my friends, now isn't that romantic? Isn't that just lovely?" he laughed. Then he stared, blinking.

"Oh," he said, in a moment of clarity. "Lord Baldwin...died."

[Deleted]

One of the pot boys snorted and said King Allard ruled the Rock now, and Alliser smiled brightly. "The King of the Rock?" He stood up, a little unsteadily. "Why, I must sing for him! Take me to The Lion King, boys!"

[Lilith Royce]

The cook sneered and pushed Alliser back down into his chair.

"You're too good for him, lad, you stay down here with us, with those that remember our good Lord Baldwin. Never thought much of sniveling little Allard but he's turned out worse than even I could've dreamed."

[Deleted]

"My brother didn't care for him either," Alliser said, in another rather unfortunate moment of clarity. "My brother said his wife was too good for him. How good is this Allard's wife?" He snorted. He had guessed some stuff about the Dragonslayer when they were at the Rock. Oh, Alliser knew so many things. Secrets, secrets...but where from? He thought vaguely...ah. Dear Cousin Elane. Ah.

[Deleted]

"I saw soldiers outside," Alliser said, mopping up the remaining soup with his bread. "Big battles going on then?" The war didn't register much in his mind; it was as if he had blocked it out. Sometimes the stories of the battle of King's Landing would surface, and then his face would crumple.

[Lilith Royce]

"His wife was Lady Sara Lannister, a Royce she was," answered the cook. "Rumor has it that Allard didn't tend his pastures well and his filly strayed. The babe has a Royce look rather than a Lannister look about her certainly, but that can happen to the most faithful wife. Those tales of strayin was what set off Allard to kill his father." The cook brushed her hands together to clean off some of the flour she'd been working with and to dismiss the claims of the snivelling Allard."

"Don't hold with him bringin' back his nuncle, neither. We was all glad to see the back of that rubbish."

[Deleted]

OOC: Went off for groceries a while ago and forgot to log off

"The Worm," Alliser drawled. "And such a fine earth digger he was too. I only saw him once, at the tourney of Storm's End, where my brother was knighted." That soured him. "Bloody lions," he swore. "I never knew Lady Sara, but I know her blood runs stronger than Allard's. Weak seed, his is. He didn't manage to get the golden curls on his babe." He saw an opportunity for a song in there, somewhere.

[Deleted]

"I cannot believe Allard killed his father," Mad Alliser said. "Kinslaying is wrong. A kinsman's death is a hard burden to bear." He gazed morosely at the table. "My brother was better than me. Kinder, nobler, more honorable. I was...a liar. Lord Baldwin was better too. His seed will be strong. His blood will be in the little baby girl. The heiress of Casterly Rock."

Alliser raised his tankard. He was now on his fourth. Or was it the fifth? He couldn't remember. "To Jeyne!" he roared drunkenly. "Jeyne Lannister, the Lady of the Rock!"

[The Smith]

The staff of the kitchen eye each other nervously. The Lannister's had good hearing and were known to be extremely vicious to those who plotted against their family.

[Deleted]

"Don't look so troubled," Mad Alliser said gaily, now quite drunk. "We're merely toasting Lord Allard's - hic - daughter! We're not plotting to get a Reyne of Castamere onto the Rock! Ha! A Reyne! But we want Jeyne! Haha! Get it? Reyne - Jeyne?" He giggled to himself. "I should stop being a singer and become a fool in motley. But we were talking about Jeyne! The heiress of the Rock is...er, where?"

[The Smith]

A men-at-arms who was chatting up one of cook's maids turns to scoff at the mad singer, "Hey boy, don't say things like that. The New King said she is a bastard of Sara's. No heiress, just Stone or Hill."