The Eyrie - 599

[The Stranger]

"If what Maester Polsen tells me is true," he says, mentioning the matter for the first time, "I have need to return to Runestone to raise troops to assist him..." Jon says.

[Marie]

Joanna sat absorbing that for a moment.

"I am no knight or lord but can I assist you in any manner?" She offered.

[The Stranger]

"Of course you can help. You've been working with the stewards on the balance books. Do you know how many men we can afford to raise?" Jon asked scratching his beard.

[Marie]

She smiled because she knew the answer but quickly frowned again upon realising that this was no light-hearted matter.

"We can raise four thousand in total, Jon. That's knights, men-at-arms and conscripts. However, I don't think we should raise the total unless we have to. With trouble in the Vale we need to keep a decent garrison at Runestone, obviously, which will comprise men-at-arms and some knights. So...in total we can raise four hundred knights, eight hundred men at arms and the rest are conscripts. Thus far the only men we have raised are the twenty men at arms of our personal escort down in the Gates of the Moon."

[The Stranger]

Jon chuckled, "I know how many men we have darling, I meant, how many do you think we can afford to raise for this fighting? hundred knights? Fifty? I'm not sure what our treasury looks like."

[Marie]

After amoment's thought Joanna suggested "How about two hundred knights and five hundred men-at-arms? It would cost us nine hundred dragons to raise that many, a substantial sum yet it won't be nearly as expensive as raising the whole troop."

[The Stranger]

"Alright... Then, I'll have Maester Polsen send those orders to the Steward, and we'll go to war as soon as we return," Jon says, "how quickly can we depart?"

[Marie]

"I think I can manage tomorrow," she said. "Don't forget we have to make the descent to the Gates of the Moon, though, and travel from there to Runestone. And we'll have the children to slow us down."

[The Stranger]

"Indeed..." Jon says, "I suppose one more night with this great mountain view will be worth it," He says, and kisses his wife on the forehead.

[Marie]

"I'd sooner not have to make the girls travel at night," she said. "We'll go in the cage, as before, but there's no sense in tempting fate and I need to make sure we leave nothing behind."

[The Stranger]

He looks at Joanna quizzically, since she must have been paying no attention to what he said to interpret that he meant for them to leave in the middle of the night.

[Marie]

She leaned close to Jon.

"I wish that we had come here in better circumstances and did not have to think of warfare. We'll have to make the most of the time we have left, if you are to go to battle shortly."

She kissed him back.

[The Stranger]

Jon nodded, and embraced his wife, hugging her tightly against his chest, "Do not worry Jo', that is behind us, the future is ahead of us." He kissed her back, and did a surreptitious glance over his shoulder.

"at least none of our damnable servants are here to distract us," he said with a smile.

[Marie]

Joanna smiled and kissed Jon back.

"Yes, that is the one blessing of Maekar's obsessive security measures. We need fear no distractions at all."

She kissed him again, this time with fierce passion that could lead down only one path.

[Princess Lyssandra Martell]

///

Arya says goodbye to Lady Genaida and the others she has made friends with before leaving.