[D3 EE]A desire for facts[Closed]

[Theomore Tullison]

At least she was easy to find, a page told him where to go. Theomore needed to know what exactly had transpired in the valley, trying best as he could to push the septon's account into some corner of his mind for storage. Athelstan had died under circumstances not quite clear to him. Should he ask Baelon, too? Maybe. Not now. The Marstens were like as not the only witnesses that could give an account that Theomore could believe to be close to what actually happened. And with Baelon's temperament, seven hells take him if his arrogance had placed everything at risk.

He asked the guard outside the door to announce him, no matter the urgency, certain protocol ought to be observed. Especially at a time when it might be fragile.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Ser Markus lets him in, and Corrine greets him politely, though her eyes seem a little distant.

"
Good evening, Ser Theomore. What can I do for you?"

[Kevan Lyras]

As Ser Theomore arrives, Ser Kevan was already present. He and Lady Corrine had been discussing the findings of the day as the Marsten council had been doing every evening since they arrived.

"
Ser Theomore"
he greeted the newly-arrived with a slight nod.

[Theomore Tullison]

"
My Lady"
Theomore nods to Kevan and Marcus. "
I heard of what happened at the mines, though that was not a first hand account, and I understand that you and ser Marcus witnessed the whole thing?"
He gave a pause to look for confirmation. "
I have a feeling that this situation is one that all houses assembled will have to deal with, and on a more personal note, my lord nephew can be unpredictable."


"
I would be grateful if I might hear the first hand account of what transpired, my lady, what was said and what was done, I think it best that we leave such thoughts we may have on the matter until afterwards."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
I must confess, Ser, that I am still quite shaken from the ordeal. But, I can try."


She takes a seat at the table, delicately, moving slowly, as though in pain. Once seated, she folds her hands neatly, though her fingers fidget with eachother.

"
I went to the mines, accompanied by Athelstan, as he had offered to aid my investigation. While we were there, Lord Baelon and his bloodriders confronted Athelstan aout tampering with evidence, at arrow-point. Ser Jorah and I tried to get them to stand down, but our pleas fell on deaf ears. Athelstan took up his axe..."


As she continues, her voice becomes more strained;


"
... He moved towards me, axe in hand. I feared for my life, so I defended myself. I only meant to catch him in the shoulder, but I struck him in the chest. At that point, he chose to throw himself down a nearby mine shaft."


She sits silently after she finishes, staring numbly at the table.

[Theomore Tullison]

"
Threw himself or stumbled, my lady?"
His eyes does trail towards Ser Marcus, expecting that the older knight probably might be more experienced in judging this.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
He turned and strode to it. I am convinced that it was intentional,"
Corrine replies.

"
My lady speaks truly,"
Ser Markus adds. "
The bastard was about six paces from the edge of the mine shaft. He took only two backwards when he was shot. Looked deliberate to me. From what he and Lord Drakeson were debating, seemed he was making a choice between death and imprisonment. I expect he had seen enough from Lord Tully's dungeons to know what he favoured,"
the knight shrugs.

[Theomore Tullison]

"
Perhaps so."
Theomore throws that thought out of mind, whatever motivation Athelstan may have had, he did not wish to speculate on now. "
My lady said that she and Ser Jorah attempted to make Baelon and his Bloodriders stand down?"
Best to check if he had understood that part right.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
Yes. We called for calm, beseeched the two of them to discuss the matter calmly. But, I fear the situation was too escalated. Once Baelon threatened Athelstan, that marked the end for any chance of him complying. Stubborn fools, the pair of them,"
she sighs.

[Theomore Tullison]

"
In what way did Lord Baelon threaten him, my lady?"
Theomore sticks to his tactic of bidding Corrine to explain, with only his curiosity leading the questions. His manners calm and understanding, she should feel as comfortable as he could make her, but he needed to know the facts. And dwelling on the nature of Baelon and Athelstan would not, nor would asking about the horse be a point, let her mention it in good time.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
Baelon arrived with twenty bloodriders, and demanded that Athelstan answer Baelon's questions. The bloodriders all had arrows pointed at Athelstan. Baelon told them to shoot Athelstan if he went for his axe, but to shoot to cripple, rather than kill. He wanted answers, and one cannot get those from a dead man. Athelstan argued with Baelon, so Baelon gave the order for his men to shoot Athelstan's horse as a warning, then kept trying to interrogate him about the wildfire. That was when it all went wrong."


Corrine's head drooped with weariness.

"
Forgive me, Theo, but what is the reason behind all these questions? You could get this information from Baelon or Ser Jorah. They are less shaken by this incident than I."

[Theomore Tullison]

"
I did not know that Ser Jorah was there, my lady. And Lord Baelon is a man I cannot trust to give me an accurate and unbiased account of events."
Theomore answers as truthful as he can, though omitting the part where he suspects that Baelon is unable to give an honest account of the events to himself. "
I also fear that the ramifications of Lord Baelon's act may put the entire peace process at risk, and that discussion is one I must take with House Marsten."


"
But I cannot have that conversation without knowing what exactly happened, but if Ser Marcus was there, his account should be equally satisfactory, if my lady permits?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

She waves a hand in dismissal;


"
It's alright, Theo. I apologise. This has just been an extremely trying day. Please continue. What else did you want to know?"

[Theomore Tullison]

Theomore chews on that. "
So, Lord Baelon had the bloodriders surround Athelstan, demands he answers questions, shoots his horse when he proved uncooperative, threatens to shoot to cripple should he go for his axe, and then he went for it anyway, and seemed to go after you?"
Theomore speaks slowly, with a long thoughtful pause between each turn of events. It did appear as if Athelstan sought to provoke his own death. But what could have driven him to that? Something Baelon had said? Guilt? Desperation? "
Does my lady, or you ser, remember much of what words were exchanged between them?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Ser Markus thinks a few moments;


"
Lord Baelon said he had reason to suspect that the kinslayer had tampered with evidence in the mines. The kinslayer did not seem to be concerned with the accusation. He admitted moving pots of wildfire into the mines. He didn't say where he moved them from."


"
He told me before we went up there that he had moved them into the mines from just outside,"
Corrine adds. He said that he didn't want someone to just stumble upon them, and that he had marked where to find them later. I don't know why that was not enough for Baelon,"
she shrugs. "
And I found a shard from a wildfire pot in the sole Bracken mine, just before Baelon arrived, and it made Athelstan behave oddly, to my mind. Before he came at me with the axe, he said he placed it there on purpose."

[Theomore Tullison]

"
The wildfire were what this was all about, then?"
Athelstan had mentioned it, but it sounded odd to Theomore that this would be used. "
So what you are saying is that Athelstan seemed cooperative, but Baelon pushed further? Did Athelstan make any move to escape or reach for a weapon before his horse was killed? And what sort of threats did Lord Baelon issue prior to killing the horse?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine thinks on the question.

"
Athelstan did walk away from Baelon in dismissal, just before the horse was killed. Athelstan basically refused to answer Baelon's questions because Baelon had demanded threateningly. I don't know what either man was expecting. I am certain that Athelstan was witholding information. I told him to just tell Baelon the whole truth, but I thonk pride prevented either man from backing down. I think Baelon pushed too hard, and Athelstan refused to co-operate as an innocent man would. They both contributed to the altercation."

[Theomore Tullison]

Pride....Baelon had a lot more of that than his father ever did, but best not dwell on that, not now. "
In what manner did Baelon phrase his questions? Any specific threats issued if he did not answer his questions?"
the arrogant boy did not have much subtlety or moderation in him, Theomore suspected what the answer would be.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
He phrased them very demandingly, anx Athelstan's demands to be 'asked nicely', so to speak, only made him more aggressive,"
Corrine replies. "
He specifically threatened Athelstan in saying he'd be killed if he went for his axe or tried to flee, or dud not answer Baelon's questions, and Baelon did give the order to shoot the horse, after Athelstan argued that bounds were being overstepped, saying that, if that did not motivate Athelstan to surrender to interrogation, the next step would be shooting to cripple him. It seemed like Baelon wanted a particular response in a particular way, and Athelstan wasn't providing that, though he seemed to think he was answering sufficiently."


She shakes her head slowly;


"
So little of this makes sense."

[Theomore Tullison]

"
And that scares me, my lady."
Theomore sighs "
I should perhaps see if Ser Jorah remembers more, and maybe can shed some light on what prompted Baelon's actions."
Madness was what it was.

"
It sounds to me as if Athelstan hoped to provoke Baelon into ordering his bloodriders to fire, preferring to die. But that makes me wonder, he seemed ambitious and having plans for himself the last time we spoke, I don't think he would give up on life as easily as so. I cannot say as to how much he knew of politics, but given that my lady asked Baelon to stand down, he ought to be smart enough to realize that he could probably refuse to answer any question from Baelon without fear of repercussions, unless he believed Baelon would ignore the fact that House Coldbrook is only one of seven houses which must act in unison to restore the king's peace and torture him despite my lady's protests."
He thinks loudly. "
We can probably only guess at what went through Athelstan's mind, but it sounds like desperation."


"
But that is, sadly, not the end of the bad news. I imagine the Longshores will be none too pleased about what happened, and I would be inclined to say rightly so. I intend to speak with Yoren once I am done here, I am on friendly terms with him, and I was not present during the incident. I also suspect that I have taken part in more uncomfortable discussions with those outside my own house than the rest of this room combined. I will have to talk with him before knowing how easy it will be to repair the damage in their eyes, and how much effort needs be made to avoid any problems with performing the royal decree."


"
Finally, we will need to call a meeting, I think. I believe it necessary to establish rules between ourselves as to what is acceptable for individual investigators to do and not do. As well as a hearing, House Coldbrook must present their findings against Athelstan, and Baelon must explain his actions. There will be demands for some form of reaction against Baelon, and by extension, the Coldbrooks who he represents. The line must be drawn, and we must determine which side of it he was on. The Coldbrooks may not like it, but if they cannot accept that our royal charge is more important than their pride, I would be so inclined to say that they have no place among us here."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
There will be a meeting tomorrow. All investigators are expected to attend. I intend to call for ground rules to be set. I only wish I had pre-empted that need. Then, perhaps Athelstan might still be alive,"
she said, deeply regretful.

"
I am sorry that I am not useful to you in this. The distress of the situation has impaired my memory somewhat. Ser Jorah may be able to offer you insight into Baelon's reasoning. Rest assured that Baelon will have to answer for his actions."


She looked at Theo apologetically.

[Theomore Tullison]

"
My lady has nothing to apologize for."
Theomore smiles kindly, like a father telling a daughter it is not her fault. "
I too have asked myself a very similar question today, I stood vigil as septon arlyn gave Ser Hugo the last rites before sending him to the judgement of the father. Had I known better than to remove his helm without a thought to the splinters having found their way through his eyeslits, it may instead have been Haelis standing over him giving commands to his attendants on how his wound should be treated and telling me that he should live."


"
I have asked it before, too, my lady is aware of the tourney accident at the twins two years ago, yes? I have many a night wondered if I should have seen that he was just a boy, lacking the talent to ride in the company of grown men, should I have realized that I could simply twist in the saddle to make his lance miss me altogether? I am skilled enough at the list to simply have hit his shield with just enough force to break my lance while brushing his aside, and yet I rode as I always did, I aimed for his chest, that is the best place to aim, hit your opponent straight in the center and all his weight will work against him. Only this time, it was not the chest of a full grown man, it was the chest of a boy, not yet strong enough to take such a blow."


"
I shall relay to my lady what septon Weyls told me when I finally manned up to share that pain with another, my lady cannot change the past or undo whatever mistakes she may have made, but sorrow and concern for the consequences is a good thing, and we should use that to teach ourselves how to act more wisely the next time."
Not the most honest of words, perhaps, but honesty is an illusion, the truth hurts, lies can do whatever you want them to do. And now Theomore wants to lift Corrine's spirits by being sympathetic and telling her that it is alright. The biggest lie of all. Yet one all parents would tell their child.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
I am sorry that you too bear regrets. I dearly hope that we can manage today's tragedies."


She stands and approaches Theomore, laying a hand gently on his arm;


"
Thank you for your kindness, Theo. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

[Theomore Tullison]

"
Thank you, my lady"
Theomore puts an emphasis on those words. "
I have faith that we will succeed."


"
Presently, the one concern I have is that everyone seems to be rather secretive, as if nobody here trusts each other."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
Does that surprise you?"


She looks up at him questioningly, though her tone is flat, and it can be seen from this closer vantage point that her eyes are slightly reddened, despite fresh powder around the lids. It seems that the young lady had some tears to shed that she wanted hidden.

[Sponsored content]