[D7, MM] Cold Fury (Closed)

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

The news of Aemond feeding people to his dragon horrified Corrine, but the news that Ser Theomore Tullison had stood by and let the Prince commit his barbarism incensed her.
She rode out to the Tullison camp and demanded to see Ser Theomore.

[Theomore Tullison]

Lady Corrine was shown to Theomore's pavilion, and he simply bid the page invite her in with a lazy motion, though he did stand up to greet her, putting down his tea before doing so. While freshly shaved and his hair and face washed as per the standard morning routine, he did not look like a man with a good night's sleep behind him.

The place was rather simple, a table with various reports, blank paper, ink and quill. A candle, sealing vax. A few stools. A bedroll tucked up towards the back, next to where his full plate and lance had been propped up. The place was too tidy and the ground too green to have seen more than occasional use this week.

"
My lady."
He greets simply, lacking his usual sense of flourish, lacking in emotion but perhaps for a sense of resignation to the unpleasantness he expects to follow.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
Ser Themore,"
she greets him with a small nod, though her jaw is tight. "
I have heard a most disturbing tale about you, and I sincerely hope you can tell me it is but a sensationalist rumour. What is this I hear of you helping Prince Aemond feed smallfolk to his dragon?!"

[Theomore Tullison]

Theomore sits down again, gesturing to Corrine that she is welcome to do the same.

"
If only that was so."
he says softly, the talk with the septon had taken some of the edge off his regret, but the sight of seventeen burning men did not simply leave his mind just because it was unwelcome. "
I made a terrible mistake, my lady, and seventeen men paid a heavier price than I for it."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Theomore's uncharacteristic plainness disarms Corrine somewhat, and she sits after a moment, eyeing Theomore warily, though her expression softens very slightly.

"
I... your admission, while... awful, is unexpected. I confess, I had expected evasion or sophistry from you. Will you tell me why you did it?"


She knows not what to do with her anger, trapped awkwardly by the feeling that it would not be appropriate in light of Theo's frankness, and flexes her clasped hands in her lap with conflicted energy.

[Theomore Tullison]

"
Because it was easier to do as the prince bid than to do the right thing."
Theomore gives her his answer quickly, he had mulled over that question enough to have that answer ready. "
Why I did not see it at the time, that I am struggling to see."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Is this the same man? Or another trick?

Her voice and expression become gentler, though her tone is still tight.

"
I see. Well, it seems you do not need me to tell you what was wrong with it. So, I shall move straight to the next part. Do you understand that I must raise this in my reports to both your trial and to the King? And that, even if you are genuinely and openly relentant, I will not condone the action?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

[url=Awareness - Empathy][/url]: 4d6k3 12

[ooc: Addendum to previous post. Corrine wants to gauge if he's actually regretful of what he did or not.]

[Theomore Tullison]

"
To challenge the prince in such a manner will require courage, my lady."
Theomore's face lightens up somewhat, though enough grimness remains in his tone that the warning cannot go unnoticed, though with hints of encouragement and approval within. "
More of it than most knights I know of could muster."


"
I imagine my lady would want to hear the account of what happened if she intends to report about it?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine's expression had shifted from irate to solemn.

"
Yes. I'll have to have an account. I may not be able to claim I could do better, and openly defy a man who controls a huge, fire-breathing monster, but I can make sure his abuse of power is known, and try to find a way to express the problematic nature of his act to someone who can potentially do something about him."


Her shoulders sank, with the suspicion she had yet another losing battle on her hands. But, there were yet principles to uphold. Her tone became more empathic.

"
I'll not berate you further for your inaction. You seem genuine in your contrition, and you're hardly the first knight to fail to uphold his vows or submit to intimidation, albeit indirectly. However, we mustn't let the matter go unobjected after the fact as well. That would truly invite the condemnation of the Gods. If you will tell me all you can, so that I might bring this terrible act to light, I will see that my wording does not drag you over the coals, so to speak. I cannot say your response was right, but I can say it was understandable."

[Theomore Tullison]

"
I fear that his grace will be unsuccessful in restraining his son, if previous efforts concerning behavior he must have found undesirable are to go by, my lady."
Theomore doesn't quite know what the king could do, confining Aemond to the Red Keep? Would he do that? How long before the queen and hand talked him into lifting the house arrest? "
Spreading the word could be more effective, especially if that word made lords and knights question what sort of reign the Andal primogeniture they support might bring. It would certainly serve to motivate those around the prince to exercise greater control. But doing so does bring the risk of retaliation, my lady, and thus I cannot bring myself to recommend such a course of action to anyone, one must desire this outcome enough to be willing to pay such costs as may come of it."
It would help the cause of the princess if someone did that, but Theomore would never stick out his neck to do it himself. Maybe Corrine would? She did seem like the type to do what was right and accept the consequences. Himself? Had he not acted with only a care for the consequences half his life? How did he fail to consider consequences such as these?

A sigh.

"
I think my lady would not have been so easily brushed aside by the prince as I was, though he remains a prince, making him change his mind or accept some other authority might have proven futile for even the most silver tongued. And those men would not have burned had I not uttered the words that brought that thought to him."


"
The prince entered this tent, yesterday morning, commending me on my efforts to gather up the enemies of the crown"
The scene had played out in Theomore's head enough times that he now managed to calmly recount the details. "
He asked me for my opinion on the manner of execution for these men, I tried to argue that these men had been captured as part of the peacekeeping operation and that their fate would be decided by a tribunal under the king's banner. Needless to say, the prince did not like that answer, declaring that these men were complicit in the attempt upon his life and attacks upon the bloodroyal is treason. He said that having squired for his uncle, I must know what fate befalls traitors, he asked what Prince Daemon did to traitors."
Theomore takes a deep breath, this part remains difficult. "
Instead of evasiveness and sophistry, I gave him the truth, Prince Daemon once fed a man selling secrets to the Tyroshi to Caraxes. Words are like arrows, once let loose, they cannot be recalled. That was the first mistake, had I instead twisted myself out of his entrapment of words, they would not have burned, perhaps there might have been a chance to convince him that the tribunal would give traitors what traitors are due if indeed that was what they were, then we could deal with his wrath together. But that we can never know."
And one should not dwell on what could have been, only on what one could have done better. And yet, he did, didn't he? "
It would likely anger the prince if I kept trying to steer him away from his course of action, though that is no excuse, only the reason."


"
Instead, I had lit a fire in his eyes that could only be extinguished by blood, as if filled with righteous purpose and dedication. He bid me show loyalty to the crown by bringing the first man into Vhagar's maw, I know not if that mistake was the worse than the first, my heart tells me that I showed my support by my actions, I should have looked him in the eye and told the prince that I would take no part, that acceptance is the more serious failing. My head says that it would not change the fate of those men, that a merciful death for them, or possibly being spared execution, would have mattered more than anything else I could have done."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

She listens intently, though the recounting makes her stomach turn and her jaw tighten. At the end, she nods slowly in acknowledgement.

"
Thank you for your account of the matter. I appreciate your candour. I thank you for your esteem, but I do not think he would have listened to anyone, least of all myself, whom he actively dislikes. So, absolution is possible for you. I would urge you to seek it through prayer and repentance, but that is ultimately your business. As for my mention of taking the matter to one who can potentially deal with Aemond, I will say one thing, between us;
I did not necessarily mean the King."


Her gaze is a little knowing, though still reserved.

[Theomore Tullison]

"
Nothing is impossible, my lady."
Again, there is something missing, the words are what one would expect to hear from Theomore's lips, the sound and tone? Not so much, melancholy does not suit him. "
But I need to look for those answers in a peaceful place and time, this is neither of those things."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
I understand. You are certainly not alone in needing to get out of here."

[Theomore Tullison]

"
It feels as if someone took the worst thing I can think of, my lady."
Theomore agrees, his flair still eludes him, as if he tries to lighten up the mood without really wanting it to be so. "
And then made it worse."


"
I for one cannot remember a day even half as stressful as the one I just had."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine nods thoughtfully.

"
I think I understand. I have felt similarly often this week. But, we can console ourselves that there will be other days, and each one is a chance to make things better. Perhaps this day is a lesson, from which you will find higher understanding."

[Theomore Tullison]

"
Well, I did learn one thing, my lady."
Theomore manages to force a thin smile forth. "
I need not wear my mask all the time."
Though it was easier, was it not? Or maybe it was just a crutch?

"
I had to when I was announced by the heralds as knight protector of Mountain's Reach, I spoke with the authority of a Lord yet to come of age, my nephew held accountable for each of my words...little wonder, I think, that a lady that only knows me in my role as no more than advisor would expect sophistry and evasion as I have been slow in laying it aside."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
That sounds exhausting, pretending all the time."

[Theomore Tullison]

"
That is actually the part I always have liked, my lady."
Theomore's gaze trails off towards some unspecified part of the tent. "
There is a game that is played in front of every lord's seat, a game of courtesies, some false, some true, but all must seem the latter. Conversation is more pleasant and deals are conducted more smoothly when one is well behaved and subtle."
Finally, a hint of him being able to actually crack a joke. "
Though there have been times when I would prefer to kiss my horse rather than the hand a daughter that some lord introduced to me in the hope that I might be charmed into thoughts of marriage."


"
No, it is the knowledge of the heavy weight one's words might carry that gnaws, and doubly so when it is not yourself, but those you love that will be on the receiving end of the ire should they fall upon some lord's toes. It served me and my house well to pick up the habit of being able to speak without saying much, when a charming young knight that recently squired for the prince does that, he must have secrets and connections, no?"
And that was the humble beginnings of a fifteen year long career as a man that was more at home in some other lord's court than back at Mountain's Reach...funny how such small things sets one on paths leading to where one is now. "
But now my duties have changed, my habits have not."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
So, what do you intend to do now?"

[Theomore Tullison]

"
First I must serve my lord nephew in the assembly, then I must answer to whatever charges the Coldbrooks has to throw at me."
Theomore states matter of factly. "
Then the plan is to head for the twins to negotiate away my bachelorhood, and since Seagard happens to be on the way, I thought I might take a detour to have a word with Lord Mallister on Yoren's behalf, Blackwoods and Brackens are not the only ones having feuds between them."


"
A good change, I should think, preventing such mess rather than cleaning it up."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
Prevention is better than a cure, so I commend the shift in focus. And I approve of the intent to make an honest woman of Lady Floreta. It seems there are positive changes ahead for you."


Corrine glances thoughtfully into her drink for a moment, then returns her gaze to Theomore.

"
I have heard that you have been conversing with my mother. What was it about?"

[Theomore Tullison]

"
I fear that it is not my place to recount all of it, my lady."
some things would be up for Isobel to choose to reveal. Odds are that she would not have spoken of any of it. "
But I can say as much that your lady mother and I have both walked a similar path, our charges have grown to take such duties as we used to hold. Though with respect, the transition did not happen in accordance to her design and expectation, while the plan of Lady Moraine and myself for how to prepare ourselves and Lord Dunstan for his coming of age went mostly as we had intended. If my lady may forgive me for speaking more plainly than cautious courtesy would permit."
A smile, considering the two having briefly touched upon the subject of armoring himself in politeness.

"
I do not get the impression that Lady Isobel is particularly comfortable with loosing control over events important to her. I suspect that even wise ladies with the experience of many winters sometimes have the same need as a child to have someone tell them that it is all right, the difference being that where the child might believe the good septon, such a lady knows that the septon will tell her to trust in the gods no matter the concern brought before her."
And for certain, Theomore was no septon, though he could probably do a passable impersonation.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"
So, she resents me for taking control of the House then?"
Corrine asks, reading between the lines.

[Theomore Tullison]

"
I did not get that impression, my lady. Like any parent, Lady Isobel loves her child, and like any parent she is sometimes greatly frustrated at the choices the child makes despite their best intentions and efforts. And now she can do naught about it."
Not even a good spanking.

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