A chance encounter (closed)

[Theomore Tullison]

It had to happen eventually of course, not that he had done any active avoidance, but when fate conspired as it had, then there were no reasons to actively seek out, either. And then having it take this long to meet again could hardly be considered a surprise. A pity, Theomore had always enjoyed her company, respected the keen mind as well, Baelon would likely have been lost without her. And good thing too, symbols like Baelon provided targets others would want to tear down, and he wondered if maybe it would have been better not to prop him and Loreia as beacons to pin one's ambitions and symbols on. But done was done, and he was the last man in the seven kingdoms that should have anything to do with anything close to Castle Grenward, there were others aplenty that would have the responsibility to defend the two against those seeking to tear them down, and Lady Gwyneth likely able to do so singlehandedly. At least if they did not make it too difficult on her, on that he wouldn't put too much hope.

"Lady Gwyneth, it has been a long time."

As always, his manners were impeccable, but there was a coldness to him that she did not know, though not towards her. More a contrast to the man that had enjoyed himself a lot more at such events than he seems to do now. The past year had changed him, but for better or worse remained to be seen.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Seeing Theomore was something of a mixed feeling for Gwyn. On the one hand she had learned much of him in the past months and what she'd learned was not good. On the other, he was a familiar face at the tourney...one of the few, really. The Barthelds and Drakesons kept very different company. She was doing her best to be pleasant and charming, but some familiarity was welcome.

And she was still wondering at Theomore's strange apparent change of heart. How could his actions be explained in light of his loyalty to his House? Why had he done what he did?

She was certain there was more to the story than she and Baelon had ever known. His still being alive after the visit from Prince Daemon certainly seemed to indicate it.

As Theomore had changed in the time that had passed, so too had Gwyn. She was a little older, passing the flowering of womanhood into something more mature, if still young. She met Theo's gaze evenly, not glancing away as she once had. Her smile is friendly enough, though doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"Ser Theomore...yes it has. Congratulations are in order for you, I believe. Floreta's quite a catch."

She drew closer, the better to hear and be heard without needing to speak loudly.

"How fares House Tullison of late? Dunstan is well? Happy?"

[Theomore Tullison]

"Thank you, my lady, though I believe congratulations are mine to offer as well, I never had the chance to do so on account of your son." This is the easy part, courtesies were always easy, but they would likely turn to more difficult subjects soon enough, or so something whispered in his mind. "My Lord nephew is well, though I suspect he liked life better when it seemed simple. I suppose we all do, but then we grow up to discover the costs of what we do." If that was true, Theomore had been slow in the growing up part, but he had managed to live too long to die young.

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"And yet, some costs must be borne," Gwyneth muses. "It isn't easy, sometimes...to strike out on one's own, while still harboring loyalties to the House of one's birth. Even if your old House and your new liege are on good terms, it can be lead to conflicts. Fine lines that must be walked."

She sighs and shakes her head. Had she been thinking to ask how he was dealing with that sort of thing? It was annoying having to think of Theomore as an enemy. He'd never been a friend, exactly, but had been better to her than most of the others at Mountain's Reach. But she'd been a child then, hadn't she? And now things were different.

"Then again, I suppose I'm no one to lecture you on how to walk on fine lines. You could almost certainly teach me a masterclass on the subject."

[Theomore Tullison]

"I would not recommend it, my lady." Theomore almost manages to be he his usual old self, but he fails to find that confidence and flair. "Some things can only be thought through experience, and I have quite a few of those I would rather be without." He has a feeling about what might lie beneath the statement but not something he should bring up. "Though I dare say that leaving my lord nephew's service and settling down in Lord Forrest's has so far proved to be a gentle transition. And probably one of the better choices I have made."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

Gwyneth simply nodded at that for a moment, not sure what to say. Part of her simply wanted to put the pleasantries to rest. This was after all, a man who had wreaked no small havoc at Battle Valley, and demonstrated the full depths of his lack of scruple. She had warned more than one ally of his actions and dubious intents, and was one of the authors of the script that had landed a dragon with an angry Prince on his doorstep.

So what did he want with her now?

But the game had rules, and the rules existed for reasons. She decided to trust that he would get to the point eventually.

"It's difficult, isn't it? When the dictates of duty and the dictates of one's heart pull in different directions," she replies. "Even when that choice is not really a choice at all."

She herself had faced a similar situation...marrying a man for her House when she wanted another. And then spurning that man when the one she wanted suddenly and unexpectedly because available. It was a needle that had two forks, since not only had her intended been Theomore's nephew, but Gwyn had gotten love and marriage while Theo was getting just the one.

[Theomore Tullison]

"If I were free to follow my heart, my lady. I would have departed for the free cities by now, many who are dead would now likely live if I could have done so." too bold for me ser words coming unbid to his mind much too often. "However, a choice that never was available, is as the lady observes, no choice at all. And we only can know the consequences of such actions as we did, never what might have happened should we have done differently."

17 men filled Vhagar's maw, how many more in Battle Valley might have fallen to his breath if the Prince's hunger for vengeance had failed to be sated? "The difficulty, I think, is not so much in the walking, a narrow path does not leave much room for choice, it is the realization that there is only ever the option of going forward, knowing all too well that there are nightmares ahead to keep you company."

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

"But is it better to accept the low road, even with a heavy heart...or to strive for a higher one, even if it may not succeed? Is one's conscience cleaner if one tried and failed to prevent a tragedy...or if one capitulated to a lesser horror, knowing it could have been worse?"

Gwyn shrugs at that.

"Or maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe it feels the same either way. I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later."

Now there was a melancholy thought. She finishes her wine in a gulp.

"Forgive me, if I seem abrupt. Have you come just to reminisce, or is there something in particular you'd like to talk about? I think I've talked myself into a corner I'm not sure how to get out of again." She offers up a rueful smile at that.

[Theomore Tullison]

"I should be hard pressed to name someone more able to talk herself out of a corner than my lady." Theomore observes, most would simply resolve to angry bluster and get nothing done. "I shall not claim to have planned a meeting, though I suspect it can be fruitful." Now on to the difficult matter at hand, which he would have liked the chance to plan out ahead, but that was not an unfamiliar situation, less stakes this time though, or so was likely. "I have a feeling that my lady knows things which compels her to action, but all the unknowns turns it into a gamble where the only thing that seems reasonable is that doing nothing could turn out to be a bigger risk than hazard a roll of the dice with outcomes far beyond one's control." Not quite a good opener. "Ah, now it is my turn to beg forgiveness, my lady, it is too easy to obfuscate when one does not wish to risk saying the wrong words. I think perhaps I should let my lady help me out of this corner, I have done things which many would have good reason to question, but trying to guess which answer to provide will likely result in one not wanted, so perhaps my lady should ask? I seem to remember a simpler time when we shared a sense of curiosity." A time before curiosity had revealed itself to sometimes be unhealthy to the cat.

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