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Post by Tim of Raventree on Nov 8, 2016 21:15:24 GMT
Violent winced. "Edmure, please, this is no place for sarcasm."
She turned to their captor. "I beg you to forgive my brother. He has an unruly tongue sometimes. May I be of service?"
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The Gambler
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Post by The Gambler on Nov 8, 2016 21:31:04 GMT
"I find ink to be a tad impersonal," the hooded figure replied evenly, leaving the knife where it lay. "But perhaps I should drop the metaphors. After all, you took a nasty blow to the head and this would be an unfortunate time to not comprehend my words."
"You can be of service, my dear," he said to Violet. "I am getting to that." He turned back to Edmure.
"I wish to remove your brother as an obstacle, as well as his blood traitor of a wife, making you as heir the Lord of Harrenhal. In order to do that, I need his position weakened and an alliance with Lord Roote would be problematic to say the least. My men advised that the most expedient route to accomplishing this was to kill her. They are a good lot, but not very creative, part of the reason they require leadership in my absence. Fortunately, I know Lord Lucamore and know he is a shallow philanderer. So, you can ugly her up a bit in exchange for the resources necessary for your revenge and we will see her safely returned to Harrenhal, or I can carve out her heart and see her returned all the same."
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Post by Tim of Raventree on Nov 8, 2016 21:41:42 GMT
Violet shrieked in horror and grabbed the man's robe with her uninjured hand. Tears streamed down her face.
"Please, no! I've done you no wrong, truly. I don't even like Harrenhal. I cannot go back there a ruin. I would be so ashamed. Please, don't make Edmure hurt me. I had rather not go back at all. I hate Harrenhal. I have been longing for the day when I am married and away from that horrid castle."
Persuasion 81
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The Gambler
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Post by The Gambler on Nov 8, 2016 21:48:44 GMT
(Failed due to disposition.)
"Think of it as a test of your blossoming romance," the robed man replied with a sneer. "If it is true love with your husband to be, should it not conquer all obstacles? All good love stories need a crucible."
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Post by Tim of Raventree on Nov 8, 2016 22:06:44 GMT
She turned to Edmure, her face wet with tears. Her voice was ragged with sheer desperation.
"Please don't. If you love me even a little, you won't hurt me." Wildly, she turned back to their captor. "What if I were married to Lord Roote, and found a way to persuade him to steer clear of Belric's schemes? I could do that, I know I could."
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The Gambler
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Post by The Gambler on Nov 8, 2016 22:16:10 GMT
"I thought you were supportive of your brother and this exciting opportunity I am offering him?" the hooded figure asked, in a tone of mock sadness. "Now you change your mind just because the moderate price for his admission costs comes at your expense? How selfish of you, but then again I suppose Edmure should be used to being disappointed by his family."
"I would take you up on your tempting offer, but then I would have no message to send," he said, before thinling for a moment. "Not unless, say, you were willing to kill Edmure here to get your happy ending with Lord Roote. Sending him back with a sliced up face would do little good. One of you can be my partner and one of you can be the message. You two can decide which is which." He kicked the dagger so that it was now between the two siblings.
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Post by Tim of Raventree on Nov 8, 2016 22:24:43 GMT
"No lady would be willing sacrifice her looks." Violet replied, with a sob. "I want Edmure to prosper, I do, but...I cannot be ugly. I just can't."
She started to cry again. "And I have done you no wrong, truly."
She looked down at the dagger and then at Edmure. Steeling herself, she said, "Edmure, you could cut off this finger, I suppose. " She showed him the injured finger. " Belric would understand that, And I would not be ugly. It already hurts so much, anyway."
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The Gambler
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Post by The Gambler on Nov 8, 2016 22:51:48 GMT
"Im sorry, did I mention that as a satisfactory option?" the robed figure asked, actually sounding genuinely bewildered, turning to the knight with the brown cloak. "Ser Malcolm, did I give the impression there was some sort of middle ground here?" The knight just shook his head, causing the the leader to exhale a sigh of relief. "Good, I was concerned for a moment. That would have been quite embarrassing."
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Post by Tim of Raventree on Nov 8, 2016 23:06:26 GMT
Sobbing, Violet looked at her brother. "Can you do it, Edmure? I can't kill you. I just can't. You deserve better than that."
She knelt, picked up the dagger as tears ran down her face. Standing, she began offering it to Edmure, but was not quite brave enough to do so.
"Knights are sworn to defend the weak and innocent. I know how it goes. In the name of the Maid I charge you to protect all women. I don't want you to break your vow. But I don't want to hurt any more."
She thought for a moment, still holding the knife in one hand. She lifted the dagger close to her face, wincing.
"Maybe I could do it myself, if I had a drink. For courage."
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Post by Edwyn Blackfort on Nov 8, 2016 23:23:31 GMT
"Put the dagger down Violet." said Edmure in a voice that was a mixture of exasperation and anger.
"I won't be cutting you. And neither will you. Our hooded 'friend' can do his own dirty work. He knows just as well as I do there are many other ways to prevent your marriage to any possible ally Belric wants to make. Marrying you to someone else for example. I'm sure he would have a number of other suitable candidates. If he truly wants to see me Lord of Harrenhal as he says, then having a malleable, marriageable sister that could help my cause, would be an advantage. Sending you back to Harrenhal so, is akin to telling the world that something more sinister is afoot and will do nothing more than put them on alert. Belric is a fool in many ways, but his wife isn't."
He looked at the hooded knight. "Cut her or harm her in further way and any further discussion between us is at an end. I'm not afraid of death. And despite what most of my fucking family think, I'm not totally devoid of honor either."
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Post by Tim of Raventree on Nov 8, 2016 23:35:15 GMT
Violet did not cut herself but nor did she put down the dagger. She lowered it, though, and the feel of the hilt in her hand gave her courage.
"I like Lord Roote well enough. I was happy to be betrothed to him," she said. "But who else could I marry? I won't be married to someone unpleasant. I swear it. I had rather cut myself."
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Post by Edwyn Blackfort on Nov 8, 2016 23:43:14 GMT
"Don't be a fool Violet!" Edmure said harshly.
He didn't like speaking to his sister so, as he did care for her, but their position was precarious enough and he didn't need her girlish affectations to jeopardise their position further.
"Violet can't marry Lord Roote or any other potential ally of Belric." he said. "But she doesn't need to be disfigured either."
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The Gambler
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Post by The Gambler on Nov 8, 2016 23:44:04 GMT
"That is a pity," the hooded knight remarked, pacing again, apparently thinking best when he did so. "You do not know me, so you think you are calling my bluff. The trouble is I do not bluff, ser."
"I offer you a place with us because not because I need you, but because I pity you. You have talent, drive, ambition, yet live in the shadow of your brother. I hate to see that squandered. Your family hates you, rejoiced the moment you rode out of the gate. The only person to accompany you to the Wall, only did so as a means to visit her betrothed. Do you think she would have volunteered otherwise? You deserve better than this. I would appreciate you and my patron would appreciate you. Your family holds you back and your empty claims to honor hold you back."
"Know that if you refuse, I can always have my cake and eat it to. Bash your head in, carve up her face, and send you both back to Harrenhal. It would be a waste, but no great loss to me. As you said, I have more than one way to skin this cat. This was just an offer to recruit one of you and unfortunately in this world there is no resolution without sacrifice. The choice is yours to make, I just hope for once in your life you will make the decision that benefits Edmure, as you did with the guard. No one needs know what you do here and the Gods stopped watching long ago."
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Post by Tim of Raventree on Nov 8, 2016 23:45:16 GMT
The beginning of an idea formed in Violet's head. She held onto the dagger. She felt safer with it in her own hand, rather than someone else's.
"Edmure, I do care for you, truly. I wouldn't have come if I didn't care, not even to visit my betrothed. But there are things I have not told you." She glanced between the two men, then turned back to their captor. "My lord, there is something you should know, if we may speak privately?"
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Post by Edwyn Blackfort on Nov 9, 2016 0:05:45 GMT
"I don't bluff either." retorted Edmure.
"You would know that. I was quite prepared to let Belric remove my hand, not because of any particular courage, or because I was sure he was bluffing, but because he forfeited any co-operation from me, the moment he struck me. For fighting back...for defending myself against his fists, he condemned me - his own brother and heir - to a living death at the Wall. For that I will never forgive him. He was prepared to destroy my life for his own pride, his own benefit, because he listened to that bitch of a wife of his. I will devote every living breath I have to bring him down - to condemn him to the fate he reserved for me. You want that as well? To use that talent and drive you say you see in me to bring Belric down? You have it."
He looked the man in the eye.
"But I will not destroy my sister in the process. Cut her or harm her in any further way and further discussion between us is at an end, irrespective of my desire to avenge myself at the expense of Belric. I will die, she will die or live as a horror for the rest of her life, but you will have lost an opportunity as well. Your efforts to capture us - or me - will have been totally in vain."
[Persuasion: 58 + 5 = 63]
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