Saesha and Belric

[Barley]

Where the Lord and his wife can talk alone. 

[Barley]

21st day of the 20th Moon

After being ill in bed for a couple of days and being a little shaken by her dreams, Saesha finally leaves to have dinner with her husband. To look at her, you'd not think she was recently sick, having a soft glow about her from her pregnancy.

She waiting for her husband to join her.

[Lord Belric Blackfort]

(Hopefully I survive the Siege)

Belric was surprised when he saw his wife out of bed. "Feeling any better?" He asks sincerely, offering her a kiss before sitting down as well.

[Barley]

(Wasn't sure what date to use, but I know there are consequences for no date, I can change it? What would you suggest?)

"Much, thank you," she said with a smile, and returned the kiss, taking hold of Belric's hand. "I have been neglecting you these past days," she did not apologise, but her tone held remorse.

[Lord Belric Blackfort]

"The health of you and our child takes precedent." He spoke the words with a smile, though in truth he had missed her company. Harrenhal was a cold place without her.

"I have been meaning to speak with you, but figured it wise to wait until the sickness had passed. There are some holes in Harrenhal that need filling. The largest of which was left by Edmure." There was trepidation in his voice. Saesha had warned him about his brother, but he had not listened.

[Barley]

She smiled at his care for her and their unborn baby, and unconsciously let her free hand fall on her stomach, "Yes, I have heard some of it..." saesha replied, the I told you so not needing to be said. It'd do no good. "What happened exactly with your brother?"

[Lord Belric Blackfort]

Belric let out a deep sigh, there was far too little wine in his system. "He turned his back on me when I summoned everyone to the Great Hall following our return from Riverrun. Later that night I went to speak with him and found a note he had left for me. It was a delclaration of his intent to abandon his position as Castellan as well as this family." Belric folded his arms, simply talking about it had brought the anger flooding back.

"I had figured him a runaway, but he showed up at my solar door not a day later. He blamed me for his misfortunes, claiming I was the reason no one respected him. He attempted to leverage his position as Castellan against me again, thinking he could manipulate me into doing his bidding. I told him to watch his mouth, and reminded him that had it not been for me, we would still be scrubbing dirt off the black gate. He did not listen, and kept spouting off obscenities." Belric shrugged, "So I split his lip with my left fist. In retaliation, he tried to cave in my skull with a chair. I broke his ribs to disarm him, and instead of giving in he continued to try and fight me. With every attempt his verbage grew more frantic. He threatened to undermine my rule and broke his vows to this house, telling me he'd never follow my orders or lift a finger to help this family again." Sorrow washed over Belric's face. He clearly still regretted his actions. "I had the guards hold him down after the Master tended his wounds, and I threatened to relieve him of his hand. He called my bluff however, knowing I could not harm my own kin. So, as a mercy, I sent him to take the black. It was either the Wall or his life."

[Barley]

"I'm sorry he has hurt you, " saesha said simply as he stopped, it was no doubt for the best, Edmure was a loose cannon, and their dislike of one another was no mistake, but she knew better than to outwardly rejoice that he was gone. She squeezed his hand gently, "Does he have an escort taking him to the wall?" She had thought even Edmure was not as foolish as Belric's tale, but she guessed she was wrong there.

[Lord Belric Blackfort]

Belric shrugged his shoulders, nodding his head in some sort of feigned agreement. It was obvious that the loss of Edmure still weighed heavy on him. "I sent him with six guards. Hardly an escort worthy of the Lord's kin, but I've waisted enough on him. He can walk until his feet bleed for all I fuckin' care."

"But enough about Edmure," he said, waiving the conversation aside like it was foul air. "There is something I have been meaning to speak with you about. The Maester gave me some clever inspiration, and I need your help." Belric's attitude shifted, he was eager to talk strategy. "I want to intercept the correspondence between houses Lannister and Tully, particularly anything regarding Medgar's debt. Then we create tension between them by forging letters that undermine whatever agreement they currently have." He sat back, feeling rather pleased with himself. "Without Lannister gold, all of those little fish will drown.  But we need a master of spies, and someone skilled in forgery."

[Barley]

Saesha more meant to make sure that he did not go somewhere other than the wall, rather than making sure we ws travelling with a respectible entourage, but she'd not argue the point.

"Whoever that master of spies is, would be playing a very dangerous game, having spies is one thing, but both Tully and Lannister will have their own, while I believe it is wise to know what they are saying, I think it is unwise to forge letters to them to disrupt them. We should instead use what we find out to cause rifts and perhaps gain one as an ally to the crown."

[Lord Belric Blackfort]

Belric was not of the opinion to play it safe any longer. To continue to wait, month after month, without progress, would be detrimental to his house. Time to play the game.

"If by one of them, you mean the Lannister's, simply listening in on their conversations is not going to help us gain their allegiance. They are too deeply invested in Medgar, who made his intentions clear. So what good would it do? However, say we intercept Tully's raven detailing when his next gold shipment will be sent. Not only can we forge a copy of that letter, changing the dates of the payments arrival, but we can also steel the shipment while it is in transit."

"Medgar will be funding us, while fighting over his own debts. Only once the Lannister's lose interest in their dealings with him will we be able to step in and gain their ear."

[Barley]

"That is an act of war, Belric." Saesha pointed out, though she imagined he knew that, "My brother did not put us here so you could start a war we cannot win. He told us to keep the peace and act as a loyal vassel to Tully, and even if that was not his intention, we do not have the strength for what you intend. We can't evebn fully garrison our own keep, let alone wage war on two Lords Paramount. Damon needs to be seen as ruling peacefully. Do not let your pride take us all down a path we cannot return from." She advised, not wanting to sound annoyed, but she'd heard enough of this before, "We need to strengthen ourselves, before anything, we have enough trouble without creating more for ourselves"

[Lord Belric Blackfort]

"Spying on my Lord Paramount is also an act of war, my dear." replied Belric, remaining cordial. "But I will heed your advice, and slow my aggression. Let us agree to take it one step at a time, and not exceed our means until we know we are making the right move. Before we can start disrupting Lannister and Tully trade, we have to learn the details. So, let us do what you suggest, and keep our position simply observational until the opportunity arises. It is not lost on me that our forces are weak and our garrison nearly empty."

"In the mean time, we need to find another way to bolster our treasury. It will still be a while before our Port is complete."

[Barley]

"If that's an act of war, every lord in the land makes war on every other every second of every day," saesha replied. "Why do you think Lannister and Tully are so close?" She asked, looking genuinely curious.

"Right now, food is as important as gold, if we can make extra food, we can get more gold. She rummaged around a bit and bought up the plans for the green houses. "Thanks to the war, a lot of our neighbours fear starving, if we can comfortably feed our own, we'all look, strong powerful and capable, and will have something oaths want, nothing ups price like scarcity." She explained, if we wait until next month, we should have enough to start producing extra food before ours runs out, we can then use the food to endear ourselves to our neighbours and also make us more valuable to our peers."

[Lord Belric Blackfort]

In truth, Belric had little experience dealing with spies. Though he figured if he were to find out someone was spying on him, he would take it very personally. Medgar was likely to act the same, regardless of wether it was a normal practice or not.

"I have no opinion as to the personal relationship between the houses. However I know if I had sunk a kingdoms worth of gold into an ally, I would like to see them succeed and my loan returned. We simply have nothing to offer, presently. Though food is a good thought, especially since the winter seems to be unrelenting." He took the plans for a greenhouse from her, "And what would something like this cost to construct? You do know we are currently undergoing two other construction projects, and neither have seen any profit, right?"