Post by The Stranger on Apr 7, 2008 23:52:44 GMT -5
He wiped the sweat off his forehead to keep it from dripping down into his eyes. His horse walked another few steps before he was forced to repeat the action. The days, even in winter, were miserably hot in Dorne; and the night, especially in the mountains, were very cold. But Barris kept on riding. He had to.
After he had killed old Ser Arthur and young Ser Darrien, Barris had been on the move. The second day after was the first time he had saw the pursuit, far below him. A score of mounted men, armored, on swift steeds. Barris had not gave them an easy chase. One man can move faster than twenty, Barris knew. It had turned out true enough this time around. The pursuit had lagged behind day by day, and now, the sixth since he had fled, he had not seen any signs of them for many hours. The army hadn't traveled far from Starfall when Barris had ran, since they were marching east through the Dornish mountains on their way to Sunspear. Now Barris was returning through the mountains, but not directly back to Starfall. Instead, he was travelling southwest, towards the Dornish coast and out of the mountains, but most importantly, avoiding Starfall and any other major castle.
He had fruit that would last a while longer, and the mountains, unlike the flat of Dorne, had several cold, clear streams of water to drink from. Despite all of this, Barris was extremely glad when he came upon a small village hidden amongst some hills. There were perhaps twenty homes, and a small wooden keep no bigger than Lord Redwyne's personal chambers back in the Arbor. He spotted a ragged, wooden tavern, and a stable. He knew he had to be close to the coast, as Starfall was directly on it, but he wasn't exactly sure how much further. Dismounting and leading his horse into the city, two washer women stared at him with sullen eyes, and a tanned, terribly skinny little boy of no older than seven sprinted in the other direction at the sight of him. I know my looks must be terrible after this journey of mine, Barris thought, but I didn't think they were that bad. A stable boy came wordlessly led his horse away into a stall. This is a ghost town, he thought gloomily.
He headed directly for the tavern. Upon entering, he saw that it was actually an inn, too, but there were only a couple rooms and they were on the ground level. The common room was small, containing a bar and a few tables, crammed together. There were two men drinking in one of the corners, wearing plain clothing, and another man, his boots dirty and his clothes worn, was sitting with his back to Barris at the bar. He neither turned his head or said anything as Barris entered, but when he took a seat beside the man, he could feel the man's eyes creeping all over him. When Barris turned to catch the man and ask him what his damn problem was, he found the man turned the other way, his head pulled back, chugging ale. What the hell? Barris thought. Does he know some magic?
Shrugging it off, Barris pounded on the wooden bar for some service. A fat, ugly, elderly woman with few teeth answered his call. "Well, what do ya want?" she asked, irritably. Barris smiled, "Ale, woman. Give me ale."
Barris drank for an hour straight, asking for cup after cup. He had always been able to drink a lot, but today it seemed he was a new record. Once again, he called for the lady, who disappeared to refill his drink.
Drumming his fingers on the bar, he once again examined the man next to him. His clothes were torn and faded, his boots muddy as if he had been riding. Leaning over and placing a hand on the man's shoulder, Barris was going to ask him his name. Quick as lighting, the man spun and with a powerful strike, the flat of his hand came down on Barris's outstretched arm, sending him crashing to the floor.
"What the hell, man! You could have really hurt me there, and for no reason, too. I couldn't have known you were going to do that. Hell, Francis Varner himself wouldn't have known you were going to do that. What the hell!" Barris said angrily, jumping up, eyes wild. The man looked around nervously, as if he hadn't just meant to do that. Suddenly the man broke into a laugh and slapped Barris on the back. "Aye, whats your problem, Roger? You never mind a bit of fun. Let's get out of here, look for some women in this city." Barris stared at the man, incredulous, and was about to inquire as if the man had gone mad, before he felt a hand on his shoulder pulling him closer. "Follow me, friend" the man whispered into his ear. Without another word, the man slammed down enough coin for the both of them and stalked out of the inn, into the young night. Barris looked at the two men in the corner, but they seemed oblivious until one of them gave the man a subtle nod. The bartender woman wasn't anywhere to be seen. Sighing, Barris hurried out of the inn and disappeared into the night.
He saw the man, ahead of him, walking relaxed, into the stables. He came out with two horses, a swift, red horse, and Barris's own. Barris frowned. Now, seriously, what in bloody hell is going on here? Walking brisquely towards him, the man motioned Barris to mount his horse, and he did. The man did likewise and they set off past the village, southeast, the same way Barris had been traveling. About one minute later Barris cursed loudly, knowing they were out of earshot. Remembering to use his best Dornish drawl, he said, "Ser, tell me what the hell is going on here! First, you drop me in the bar, then you call me Roger, then you want to go horse riding. Are you mad, ser?"
Instead, the man only smiled. "First of all, I dropped you because you laid your hand on me. One must always be wary when surrounded by enemies. Second of all, I know your name isn't Roger. I have a damn good idea who you are, but names usually get people nowhere, so I'll just call you Roger. You can call me Roger, too. Third of all, I like horse riding." Barris sighed, about to ask what the hell did all that explain, when Roger continued. "And fourth of all," the man added, grinning wide,"your Dornish accent is miserable. It would have been fine, yes, if you wouldn't have yelled at me in your Reachman voice and referred to Lord Varner after I sent you to the ground in the bar. I must admit, I did not take you of interest before that little incident."
The man drew his horse up, in front of Barris, whose mind was still reeling. "Tell me what you know, Roger, and I will lead you out of Dorne. I am a friend of the Reach, as my master was."
Barris, unsure of himself, nods and reaches for the maps and plans and notes he had taken about the Dornish. Cursing, he realized they were gone. Roger laughed again. "I grabbed them when I got your horse for you. That was the last straw. Now, we must ride all this night and tomorrow, and we will make it to the coast. The ironborn and far reach are patrolling the coast, you can jump on a ship there." That morning, when they stopped at stream for a drink, Roger returned the plans to Barris. "Don't need them anymore," Roger explained. "I have them all right here," he said, tapping his head.
The next night the two came upon the coast, about forty leagues south of Starfall. The entire journey from Starfall, east with the army, and back west, had taken a fortnight, but it seemed much longer than Barris. They started a fire and let it burn big and bright, hoping to attract attention. Roger stood up and waved wooden logs in there, alive with fire. Barris just hoped anyone from Starfall wouldn't linger this far south, but he was sure they wouldn't.
He fell asleep sometime that night, but Roger woke him up mumbling something about a ship. Rubbing his eyes, Barris could indeed make out the black outline of a hull close in the waters. Turning to Roger, Barris asked him, "Roger, I thank you. Who was your master that you loved and speak of so often?" The man grinned before responding. "Aye, its not that I truly loved him, in truth I've never met a man who met a man who met him. But dead or alive, the pay and orders keep coming, so he's still the master."
Barris thought about that answer before asking, "The master of what?"
Roger looked at him, surprised, and said, with a slight smile, "Why, of whisperers, of course." Barris turned to see the ship growing ever closer. When he turned again to speak to his friend, Roger and his horse was gone. So was Barris's horse. He'll need it, Barris thought. The man worked for Varner? And Varner is dead? King's Landing had just been taken when he had departed into Dorne, but he hadn't been informed of Lord Varner's death.
An hour later a ship beached, and surrounded a lone figure sitting by a fire. Barris was relieved to see the captain, Ser Harold Myers, one of his father's vassals and a regular at his court for the feasts. After he had been identified and taken to the captain's quarters, the ship immediately sat sail for Sun House, battle plans, secrets, and Barris with them.
Results:
Barris returns to Sun House, informing the commanders there of all his knowledge. They will likely send the knowledge ASAP to the important men in KL (Benfry, Redwyne, Harlaw, Irwyn, Everyone Pretty Much) through raven.
Barris is now introduced to a network of spies. (Flea Network)
Barris improves to novice drinking.
Hope you all are well and happy.