[Day 9, Epilogue] U Mad?

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn didn't wait long to go in search of Corrine. She was a big believer in pre-emption. Where was the profit in anticipating someone's next move if you just sat and watched?

And there she was, the Lady herself, overseeing things. Gwyn permitted herself an indulgent smile at seeing her like that. It helped to know she was leaving Marsten in good hands.

"
Cousin,"
she called, making her way over. "
Good to see you out and about."


There'd been some..tension, Gwyn recalled, from when Baelon and she had told Corrine about the banner house and their decision. Quickly smoothed away...perhaps too quickly. A fault line like that would be something Isobel could pour venom into. A rift that could widen over time. Especially if events, as they were sure to, didn't go perfectly.

She felt it again as she came to Corrine. Not that the Lady was unfriendly or unwelcoming, but...there was a subtle distance in how she smiled, how she held her body.

"
Can I have a moment, in private?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

[ooc: is this pre or post weddings?]

"
Of course, Gwyn,"
Corrine replies with a warm smile. "
I always have time for you. Shall we go for a stroll? I could do with a diversion."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

(OOC - I, uh, huh...it could be either really. I envision it being shortly after she sees Isobel though, and since after the weddings would be too late to shock her with the 'I'm marrying Baelon' bomb, I suppose before? So the tents being broken down might be more in preparation for a hasty departure after the ceremonies, or maybe...maybe I need to rewrite that part. )

"
A stroll would be delightful,"
Gwyn agrees. She latches onto Corrine's arm and guides her away from the hullabaloo.

"
Has it started to sink in yet?"
she asks. "
What's to come? What will happen when we've left this place? I think it's really only just starting to for me."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

[ooc: You may want to rewrite a bit. A contingent of Marstens are staying for the wedding.]

"
I fear it is sinking in too much,"
Corrine confesses, glancing at the ground. "
There is much to do, and so many things are changing. It's all my responsibility now. I was under no illusions about being head of the house, but I'm still terrified."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
And in the midst of it all, not one but two people you trusted to advise you and serve on your council are striking off to found a new House,"
Gwyn says, studying Corrine's face with sympathy.

"
Do you hate me?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine looks incredulously at her cousin;


"
Good heavens, no. Of course not. I love you as much as I always have."


She looks ahead for a moment, her head dropping a little;


"
I am afraid though. And sad. It is a sorrow, to have lost you. Baelon too, but mostly you. I had expected to lose Baelon eventually anyway. I expect Dyana will go too, to be with you, which is her right, and I would not grudge her it, but then I will lose both ofmy closest allies and friends."


She tries to suppress the rising emotion that bubbles under her voice.

"
It is... frightening. I am happy for you, to be making a better life for yourself, and I know you and mother don't get on, but there was something about being rejected in favour of House Coldbrook thst made me feel... incredibly lonely."


Corrine takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. So much had changed in a few short days, and it was evident in her eyes, despite her attempt to look composed, that things were weighing heavily on her.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

There it is.

Rejected. Everything Corrine said was true, but it was also fog...it was things both of them already knew, heartfelt but obfuscatory. The object of the obfuscation was that word. That ugly word. Rejected. Hiding it as much from herself as from her, Gwyn reckoned.

"
Oh, Corrine..."
Gwyn stepped ahead of her cousin and faced her, voice thick with emotion. "
...I would never reject you for the Coldbrooks, or anyone. If Baelon himself, a man I've loved and wished for, had said I could never see you again, I would have turned him down on the spot. My name is changing, but I will never forget I was born a Marsten. And I'll be close...just over the mountains. We'll see each other all the time."


She laughed a sniffly laugh. "
Probably more than we did when I was living in Hartshorn, truth be told."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
I hope so. I will miss you terribly. Thank you for reassuring me. I just... I worry about people not having faith in me. So many will think me incompetent because I am young and because I am female, and... well, the nightmares I had the other night... scared me. They preyed on every insecurity I have, and have left me afraid that everyone I value will abandon me, and I won't be able to lead the house properly, and people will suffer and it'll be my fault."


There it was. All pouring out.

She has to stop herself, as her tone becomes more anxious. She holds Gwyn's hands tightly.

"
I'm sorry, Gwyn. It's all getting on top of me right now. I'm sure I'll feel better once the wedding is done and I can go home. It's been an intense week."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyneth was taken aback by Corrine's litany of fears, and for a moment honestly didn't know what to say. It all made sense, of course, but it was just so...not how she was thinking about things that it startled her.

By the time Corrine was done though, she smiled gently and squeezed her cousin's hands.

"
I think it reflects well on you that you're aware of the risks,"
she began. "
But I have some observations to make. I'm sure you remember what straits House Marsten was in when we arrived at the tourney. You were unwed, and the House was without any male heir to carry the name. We were surrounded by scavengers and lordlings seeking to make the House their own. I was getting nowhere with Dunstan. The Kriegers, the strongest banner house we had, was thoroughly alienated. The Clans were on the move, and we hadn't the forces to hold them this time."


"
It was bad, Corrine. To say we were desperate is not overstating it. What happened? Well, mistakes were made. Your first match was to Baelon of all people."
Gwyn grinned. "
I'll not speak ill of my husband to be, but he was a terrible choice for you, and for the House. He needs a name of his own, to match his ambitions. Being a Marsten would have suffocated him...and inevitably he'd have passed his misery on to you. But you chose another man. The most unlikely of men."
She decided to just sliiiiiiiiide right by Athelsten. She wanted to build Corrine up, not smack her in the face with a rancid fish. "
Benedict. You saw in him what no one else did;
that he was the right man for you, and for the House. Not what was there, but what could be there. Then you made what could be, what was."


"
No one guided you on that. That was you."


"
Lets see, then what? The Kriegers. What would have happened if you hadn't stepped in?"
Gwyn affects a stern, masklike expression in imitation of Isobel. "
I saved my family! You are sworn to us! Sit down and I'll hear no more of this!"
She smiles then. "
And don't protest, because you know as well as I do that YOU were the right one to handle that. And handle it you did. I understand they're even sending some help for the current campaign. Corrine, that's HUGE. The last time they did that they lost their heir. Because of your House! That you've come so far with them is amazing!"


"
Do I need to go on? Recruiting help for the campaign! Solving my marriage crisis not once, but twice!"
Gwyn cracks a grin at that. "
You see, I make mistakes too. And lets be totally honest...what do I know about running a House? But here I am, going off to do just that! Corrine, I'm going to make hash of it!"
She laughs. "
But I know I will deal with each mistake as it comes, and I won't make it again. People will start off looking down at us and thinking...'oh, that Gwyn, she's just an empty vessel;
pretty enough but nothing much in her.' But they won't finish that way. I won't let them."


She takes a deep breath. "
What I'm saying is that the House came in, teetering on the edge of ruin. It leaves with the name intact and an heir...presumably...well on the way,"
Gwyn winks, "
with its bannermen loyal for now, and up to its mountainous eyebrows in allies for the coming war. And this in just a week! You're Lady, Corrine. Not because you were born to it, but because you earned it. Hard times are ahead, and you'll have cause to question yourself again, but this Tourney represents the best of what you are capable of. Remember what you did here, and know you can do it again. And again. As often as needed. Then you'll see that mistakes are just...opportunities."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Gwyn's words warm Corrine's anxious heart, and she embraces her tightly.

"
Oh Gwyn. You are so kind,"
is all she can manage, being too moved for anything more eloquent. "
You are right, we have made progress, and I should remember that. Whatever challenges lie ahead, they can be dealt with. I certainly can't let myself fall to bits over my worries."


Pulling back, holding Gwyn's arms, she swallows her welling tears and smiles.

"
And you are right. Baelon has much to recommend him, but we would have both been miserable. I told him as much. I am glad things have worked out though. You seem happy. And Ben makes me happier than I thought I could be since my father was alive."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
I am more than just happy,"
Gwyn said, "
I am inspired. I can see a whole future laid out, and while I know the reality will never be quite as perfect, it gives me something to strive for. Like...a sculptor seeing his masterpiece in a block of marble. I know what I want, and that means I know what I have to do."


She broke into a grin, gratified to see Corrine reassured. "
Did you know I even confronted the dragon in her lair? I wanted to tell her about the House, and about Baelon before the ceremonies."
With a playful 'tch tch' and finger wag, she added, "
I was a little surprised you hadn't mentioned it to her, but very gratified. Whether you knew I'd want to be the one to tell her, or just hadn't found a chance to do it, I'm glad I got to deliver the news. With all that's gone on between us, it's nice to get the last word."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine's expression became a little troubled;


"
Oh dear. I had been forgetting to tell her by turns, and then I was taking care of her after what happened with Jon Cobb. I have been rather pre-occupied."


Heh. Is that what you're calling it, Corrie?

Shut up, Edmund. Why are you even in my head?

"
I hope you haven't worked her up and left her for me to get gnawed on,"
Corrine said, warily, though affectionately.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Mmm...I think she worked most of it out on me,"
Gwyn chuckled ruefully. "
Somewhere between calling me ungrateful, and saying she was glad Mikael was dead. But we ended on a more civil note, so hopefully she'll be more smoke than fire by the time you see her next."


Her expression turned more serious. "
She still doesn't trust me though. After everything I've done for the House. I suppose nothing I do or say will change her mind now."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
Losing my father and brothers changed her, I think. She wasn't always so cold,"
Corrine says, sadly. "
I cannot imagine how hard it must be to lose a husband and three children, and left in charge of everything to boot. I'm not saying she is right to mistrust you, only that I can understand why she is how she is. I'll keep working on her. Perhaps a few grandchildren will soften her up,"
Corrine offers, with a hopeful, slightly knowing smile.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
I hope so. For your sakes."


Gwyn gave Corrine a concerned look and lowered her voice a little. "
I think, for what it's worth, you made the right decision to include her on your council...but...for my last and only counsel as one of your advisors, I urge you to be cautious with what she says. Remember, it was largely her mis-steps we spent the first half of this tourney cleaning up after. I know she is not a bad person, but...she's proud, and...ugh."


She shook her head. "
...and I find myself doing to her exactly what I was afraid she'd do to me. My apologies. You are perceptive and intelligent enough to deal with Isobel, and you can draw your own conclusions. I suppose you never really knew how bad things were between she and I. She got it into her head, somehow, that I was after the seat of Marsten. Me! What claim do -I- have? I suppose if father were alive..."


Gwyneth trailed off for a moment, then finished, "
...it wouldn't matter even then. Not to me. She's wrong, and always has been. You are just what House Marsten needs, and that will be clear to everyone, if it's not clear already. To yourself most of all."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
Thank you, Gwyn. I will take that advice to heart. I do love my mother, and I want to keep on her good side as best I can, but I am able to assert myself when it matters. I expect I will get better at it as I gain confidence and the House recovers. I am sorry that she was unkind to you."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyn takes a deep breath and nods. "
Thank you. The Seven know I haven't made her life any easier, so I suppose I earned some of it."


"
Anyway! To more pleasant things. Weddings and preparations...ceremonies...still so much to look after. The price of victory."


She smiles fondly.

"
We won, Corrie. We really did."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
And each of us has our prize,"
Corrine grins. "
I expect you are excited about your wedding. What are you going to wear?"

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
I'm quite fond of my midnight dress,"
Gwyn replied dreamily. "
It's not the traditional white, but...we've hanged enough traditions this week. What's one more?"


She gave Corrine a curious look. "
And you?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
White is rarely expected or insisted on these days anyway,"
Corrine replies cheerfuly. "
You'll be radiant. I think I'm going with something light. I think blue is my best colour, but I should look sufficiently virginal, so I'm going with something reminiscent of the Maiden. Periwinkle blue silks with big gossamer sleeves, lace trim, and opal jewellery. Breezy, graceful, timeless, and, of course, with a neckline and back that is just on the pious side of ravishing,"
she giggles.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"
Agh, you're going to make me look like a timorous, prim and proper maid!"
Gwyn agonizes jovially. "
I feel like our circumstances in that regard ought to be reversed!

She laughed, and gave Corrine a fond look. "
I'm going to miss you. I'm glad we had a chance to get to know each other again before all this business of Houses was resolved. We must make sure such a long time does not pass between us again."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
You'll look lovely. You always do,"
Corrine reassures.

"
I'll miss you too. And I won't let us be apart too long. Don't worry about mother. You're free now."

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