sololoquy | open post

[Dinner continued uninterrupted, and it wasn't long before most of the men were feeling the effects of the drink. They spent their time tossing scraps to the hounds, seeing how high they could get them to leap while they were still tethered. The forest filled with their cackling.

Ren, on the other hand, was headed back toward the tent. In his hand is a thick helping of fat, with some scraps of more savory meat mixed within. Not the best meal -- but enough to give her energy, and keep her from starving.

Whether or not he wanted to treat her nicely, he did still need to make an effort to earn his information. The boar is salted, and he's brought her no water.

Without waiting for a response, he leaves it on the log and disappears into his tent. Following that is the sound of him removing his armor, but he does not reemerge.]

[ She didn't pause to be surprised with his show of humanity when he left the meat behind on his way into his tent — instead, like a hungry animal, Rey just reached for it greedily. Some parts were such gristled fat that after some time sucking and gnawing she realized that she couldn't actually swallow it, and spat it aside. But she'd had worse meals in her life.

She'd had days with no meals, in her life.

But she finished the meat parched, her dirty fingers dirtier for the grease that made the soil and the tree rot stick to them. Only then did she pay attention to the fact that he had recused himself from his men.

Too good for them too, probably, she thought unkindly. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, a useless gesture for neither her face nor her hand were any cleaner than the other. Eventually she gave up and found a way to wiggle her pants down, relieving herself in a shallow crevasse she dug on one side of the log.

If the men, distracted by playing with their dogs, caught glimpse of her bare ass, they didn't show it. She thanked the gods for that when she curled up on the other side of the log, struggling to get comfortable with the chains. She'd never slept in manacles before. She'd never committed a crime before.

He'd called her treasonous. That was a high crime. She'd be executed, for sure — no matter what he'd insinuated he'd offer her for turning on House Organa now. Gods, a craven and a turncoat. She rubbed her hands against her face and soon found that she had begun to cry, these thoughts closing in now that the twilight had passed and she tried to welcome sleep. She was left alone with the consequences of what she'd done.

Where the call of nature hadn't drawn the attention of Ren's men, her weeping seemed to. They nudged each other and some of their cackling quieted to muttering amongst them. ]

[Inside his tent, Ren spends his time running a grinding stone along his sword while Rey messily devours her meal. He can occasionally hear her struggle with the grizzle over the high pitched whine over steel, and he can't help but shake his head to himself. The smoke had irritated his eyes, and he was happy for the solitude.

Eventually, he sets the sword aside and peels the last of his chainmail off, intent on sleeping to get an early rise for the journey toward Essos tomorrow.

The light dies outside of his tent as his men extinguish the fire. The cackling dies down, and the muttering is too far for him to hear.

The two youngest, on the other hand, do not retreat with the others. They are too busy sizing Rey up from the other side of the camp. The shorter of the two glances around before choosing to approach her. He squats down and tilts his head, a leg bone still in his hand.

"Southern girl like you must be cold up here." he hisses, not quite low enough not to grab Ren's attention just a few feet away.]

Edited 2018-05-16 23:30 (UTC)

[ Like clockwork, she thought to herself as they approached. Rey straightened up instantly, and her shackles clinked in the ominous reminder of her compromising position as she settled into a sitting position against the side of the log, back straight. They did it again when she reached up to wipe her face where tears had streaked through the dirt. She didn't want them to see her. She wouldn't give them that.

Girls told stories about men like this: the honorable men of the Redcloaks who would save ladies and keep their oaths and kept the seven kingdoms safe, but they were just stories. There were no honorable men. Only beasts with well-polished armor.

Her head lolled up straight lazily to look up at him. They didn't have the keys. Ren did. They had nothing to offer her, no escape. Instinct and experience told her that if this got noisy or violent, she would be the one punished, but— She recalled the way Ren had roared them into silence. Maybe not. ]

Are you going to offer to keep me warm?

[ He wouldn't be the first to make precisely that comment. It was cold, in fact, but that was never the point. She held up her shackles. ]

I can't exactly come back to your tent with you, can I?

[ Not that she would. He swayed where he stood, full of drink and swaggering arrogance. ]

Guess you'll have to run along.

[Both of the men chuckled, and the man closest to her reached forward to push at the inside of her leg with the bone in his hand. "Who said anythin' about a tent? Thought you southern girls weren't s'posed to be shy."

Ren sat and listened inside of his tent, observing the way she chose to attempt a deescalation. She was smarter than he'd initially given her credit for. She'd never be able to overpower two armored knights on her own, even if she wasn't bound and tethered.

And were the knights not so drunk, they would not have dared move on her with him so nearby. Ren was a possessive man -- kills were his, prisoners were his, glory was his. Not their's.

But Ren never took women -- not that the youngest had seen, anyway. So maybe they weren't off-limits. That was the logic he imagined they must be employing as he slowly rose to his feet in preparation to chase them off.]

[ She had to bite down on her tongue to resist the urge to kick out at him like a mule. If she had proper use of her hands, if she had a weapon, they'd be dead men right now. For a moment she let herself entertain that fantasy. She pulled on the gruesome image they'd shown her earlier that day, the slavers being run through. Their blood had been brighter than she'd thought. Vermillion. Not like dark wine.

Would these Redcloaks' blood look darker with only the stars and the last embers of the fire to shine on it? Or like tar running?

If they weren't going to be dissuaded gently, she had only two other chances to dissuade them: violence (she would lose), and causing enough of a commotion to draw some of their comrades and hope that not all of them had forgotten their oaths. Better to take her chances than shut her eyes and take it.

Slowly, stiffly, she parted her knees. Her legs were sore after the day's walk and didn't want to move, and she'd never been with a man and had no interested in being with these men and she had no illusions as to whether they needed it to look appetizing. They were already bold to come over here. A gentle push and they'd act. ]

Do you know what else they say about Dornish girls?

[ Both of them looked too surprised to be suspicious of the sudden turn, or of the way her tone remained flat and lifeless as she asked it. Even foreboding. Instead the one braced his other hand on her thigh to keep them pried open and leaned in, as she nodded her head to beckon him.

His breath smelled like something dead. She'd thought the Redcloaks were the sons of lords and lordlings, but recalling Plutt, she supposed that didn't mean everything. ]

They're real animals.

[ And she lunged for him then, grabbing onto the front of his breastplate to hold him while she bit for his ear. The knight, of course, cried out in pain and threw her back into the log as he broke away, but she didn't let up, and she tore a piece of it away with her.

The blood looked like oil. She spat the piece of his ear and a mouthful of his blood out onto the forest floor while he shrieked like a girl, dropping the leg in his hand and clamping his palm to the side of his head. ]

If you think that's all I'll bite off, you have another thing — [ She didn't get to finish because his friend cracked her across the face and knocked her prone. In all fairness, she should have seen that coming. ]

[That is about the moment Ren emerges from his tent to observe the scene in front of him, impassive. She is knocked out, so he has no reservations about turning to the sprawled and screaming knights and kicking them as hard as his boots will allow to force them to scurry away.

"My lord--" they sputtered, gesturing to the ear that had been bitten, unable to believe that their Commander wasn't defending them.

Ren's voice is dangerously low and furious when he replies.]

You picked a fight with the intention of breaking your vows and lost. You are fortunate I don't rip that cloak off and strangle you with it. If a protector is what you need, it will be my pleasure to dump you at the foot of the Sept when we return to King's Landing. You can beg the Seven instead.

[He stomps his foot and the two scramble back to their tents in fear, leaving only himself and Rey. He couldn't help but exhale with some annoyance. He'd given his men too much credit.

And so, with some effort, he pushes the log closer to his tent -- just enough to allow the chain to reach, but not enough to allow her more than the barest inch of entrance into his tent. If this was how things were going to be, then she should at least be able to wake him. But he also doesn't trust her, so she's not going to be able to get close enough to touch or strike him.

Maybe now that she's been hit, she'll be forced to sleep. He doesn't voice that as he steps over her body with the intention of returning to sleep.]

[ Rey stirred blearily at the unintelligible sound of shouting. Her log was gone. Where had her log gone? She felt stupid calling it her log, but she was the one chained to it, so it was hers. She looked up and saw faint light coming out of Ren's tent. And then Ren himself, stepping over her.

She tensed, but only for a moment. He stayed upright, didn't crouch over her like the other had. Right. The others. They were … She looked and saw they had gone. A moment's unconsciousness had left her dazed. That meant she had a head wound. She touched her hands to her mouth and it came away bloody.

Great.

He'd stopped them from retaliating, then. She didn't thank him, but— ]

Wait.

[ She croaked it out, pushing herself up. She didn't know how to finish that, couldn't quite bring herself to ask for what she needed to ask for. She had her pride, after all. ]

I left my knife. [ She finally settled on that. ] By the tree where you found me. [ She was chained to a log and she was going to be half frozen in six hours and she'd barely eaten. Surely he couldn't be afraid that she'd come at him with it. If he was going to leave her out here … ] You could give me something that I could use to defend myself from your men.

[Ren turns to regard her request, his nose wrinkling. Does she take him for a fool? Even chained to a log, he knows what tools can do — a blade would allow her to saw at the log in any measure. No. She would not be getting anything to defend herself.

He had control of his men. Unless they all turned on him at once (and they would not, for a chance at one Sand), she had nothing to worry about.]

I am a light sleeper. And you seem perfectly capable without a weapon. I will reconsider, should you ever prove yourself worthy of my trust.

[And then he turns back to leave her in the cold. Judging by the way he says the word ‘trust’, it is very unlikely she will ever earn such a thing.]

Edited 2018-05-17 01:41 (UTC)

[ She slumped back to the dirt then, staring up at the stars through the cover of the trees. In Dorne, it was easy to see the stars from anywhere. Even the trees they did have wouldn't cover it. But here … she could barely make any out, and those that she could make out weren't connected at all. No constellations to trace.

No security to be found.

She rolled onto her side, her back to Ren's tent and her front to her log as though it would bar her from the view of the men who'd no doubt happily put her in her place.

Probably Ren had stopped them only because they'd sought to wound her, punish her for fighting back. He still needed the map she'd seen. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered. These thoughts, which she had expected to comfort her in some way and temper the sting of his refusal (she didn't trust him either), only made her more alone.

It took hours for her to fall asleep, and by the time she did, she was indeed shivering. ]

[Ren is up by sunrise. He spends the first hour awake reading, half dressed in armor and munching on a bit of jerky. Not exactly glamorous — but he was content with it.

He doesn’t emerge until he hears some of his men doing the same, careful not to trip over the girl who had somehow rolled her way inside of the front of his tent in an effort to seek warmth. He is unmoved. The hounds come to greet him, and he ignores their attempts to push him into the dirt. Instead, he checks the position of the sun to chart course for the day.

Moroes is again sent off with travel orders — they will be sailing for Essos within a day, if Ren had anything to say about it.

Eventually, as he is tying his scabbard back to his belt, he nudges Rey awake with his boot.]

Time to go.

[ The unwelcome intrusion drew a grunt out of her, and Rey's shoulders closed in as she coiled on herself like she was perhaps used to being woken unkindly. One eye cracked, she looked up at him, and the reality of the position she'd gotten herself into set back in.

Maybe if she just closed her eyes again, then —

No. He wouldn't be that patient. ]

Go where?

[ Lack of water and unsatisfying sleep made her voice rough as she pushed her way up into a sitting position. She grabbed onto her chain and yanked at it like reins pointedly. The memory of the night before, and Ren's willingness to threaten her with throwing her to his dogs — the real ones, not the ones for hunting — kept her from making any verbal demand at least. ]

Essos. Obviously.

[As she rises, she will notice that most of the camp has already been packed away. One horse-drawn cart is being loaded with the hounds and their cages, and it is being lead by the two youngest that had accosted her the previous evening. One of them scowls back at her with his bandaged ear.

When he spots her looking, he remarks.]

It wouldn't do to travel with a large party. They will be returning the hounds and excess supplies to King's Landing while we forge ahead and secure passage across the water.

[He was, of course, banking on the fact that Skywalker was in hiding. He would have no army or kingdom to amass. It would just be him against four armed Redcloaks.]

[ Sent away and denied a place on an expedition to recover Luke Skywalker must have really stung. It was more punishment than most men in their position would face for raping a woman, let alone a few malicious advances. Whatever small comfort Rey took in the notion that they would no longer be in her company was quickly dwarfed by the other, more important realization.

An expedition to recover Luke Skywalker. A journey to Essos? She looked up at him, eyes wide and wild and— ]

You're bringing me?

[ The sputter was barely coherent, like she could hardly imagine the place she had in their company. But of course, it was the surest way that the map she provided wasn't a map into Hell. Holding her accountable to her information, as though she had any proof it was valid to start with.

She was never going to see King's Landing or get a chance at sending Lady Organa's allies to warn Skywalker in advance. ]

Without reporting to the King?

Is that going to be a problem for you?

[He moves to unhitch her from the log, wrapping the chain up over his gauntlets. There is a strong frown settled in on his expression.]

Would you prefer to be introduced to the king yourself?

[He would never grant her that opportunity, of course, but he can't help but wonder why she is so eager to move to the capitol, rather than to Essos.

He could not trust that the information wasn't true without her present, of course. If she mapped them to the lion's jaws, she would be going right there with them. The best insurance was to force her to stay.]

No.

[ She spat that out quickly enough. Not a day ago, any remarks Rey had passed about brushing shoulders with Ren, let alone the King, would have been such distant fantasy as to be hyperbole. That she even had to engage that question now showed how far her life had gone off the rails. She should have stayed in the Saltpans. ]

I have family, you know. People who'll miss me.

[ This, of course, was a lie. No one would miss Rey. He'd been correct the night previous when he'd pointed out that not a soul would remember her had she died here in the Kingswood. But days on a ship out in the middle of the ocean … She felt nauseous just thinking about it. ]

I do not care.

[That is delivered without blinking. He had people who "missed" him too. They got over it. He turns to walk away, leaving his men to pack up the last of their supplies.]

If you had surrendered the missive without quarrel, perhaps you would have been on your way back to them by now.

[Instead, she is here, forced to endure his company and the company of the rest of the Redcloaks. And he has to waste supplies on a bastard just to finish his life's work, before the king found out what he was doing.

He makes his way to his horse, pulling Rey along with him.]

Ah— Hey!

[ She stumbled after, pulled along by the chain. And then she looked the horses over as they finished packing the camp away and — Another day of this? She'd been on her way to Storm's End. It'd take forever if they sought the coast there instead of in King's Landing through the Blackwater.

He was avoiding King's Landing just as surely as she was hoping to get to it. ]

What port are you planning to leave out of?

[ An accusation lay bare in her voice as she hustled up alongside his mare, surprisingly energized for a slave and a bastard and a traitor in Redcloak custody. The other knights exchanged quiet looks as though noting that she had, if anything, grown more presumptuous over the course of the night. Not less. ]

[He jerks her forward using the chain as he mounts his horse and ignores her question, instead choosing to glare at his men for daring to look perturbed by a bastard girl. It doesnt take more than that to turn them around, though Ren could see them muttering to one another a mile away. His own jaw shifts uncomfortably.

If she kept this insolence this up, he would not be able to get by on threats alone. He would lose the respect of his men, otherwise.

The hounds and cart depart in one direction, while Ren and the bannermen turn in the opposite direction, no doubt confirming Rey’s inklings about heading to Storm’s End. Once they are moving, he pulls Rey as close as possible to his mare.]

Do not mistake my charity, girl. If it comes down between you and the loyalty of my men, you will lose. I suggest you keep your outbursts to yourself.

[He has a general direction to head in. Navigating Essos without a map would surely be a nightmare — but not impossible.]

I'm not doing anything to their loyalty.

[ This, spoken with the grit of someone who truly doesn't understand how the mechanics of a unit work at all. She hadn't meant to do injury to their loyalty — they'd been the ones to attack her, and he'd been the one to dangle her like a steak over their heads then snatch her away. If he was suffering, though, she was all for it. He deserved it.

Still, she kept her voice a sharp whisper as she pointed that out. They were heading southeastward, putting them towards the road for Storm's End. That was going to be a bad time. ]

I can't keep up with horses. That's not charity. [ None of this was, really. She didn't point that out just now. ] That's reason. You'll be dragging a corpse around asking it to guide you to Skywalker before too long. [ Then, ] We'd be out to sea faster out of King's Landing. I want to know where we're going. I want to know why. You can't ask me to be your navigator and then keep me in the dark.

[To silence her whining, he jerks the chain again and yanks it up until he can grab her by her collar and sit her in front of him on the mare’s back. And it does it through any protesting. If she struggles or aggitates the horse, he will bind her further with the chain.]

I will hear no more of your complaints. You navigate when we reach Essos, and not before.

[Storm’s End wasn’t abandoned land, but it was still apart of the Crownlands — it was the best option short of attempting to sail out of Blackwater Bay without the King’s knowledge.

It would not be a short journey, and the further from King’s Landing they went, the more likely they would run into bandit parties. Ren was nearly counting on it.]

[ Noises of panic slipped out of her but she otherwise tried to avoid fussing, obviously rigid and uncomfortable in his grip and wedged against the horn of the saddle. And, by even cursory examination, part of it was being on a horse at all. She lacked any of the natural marks of comfort.

Which made sense, of course, given her modest birth.

She made no complaint of any of this, however. Her discomfort at being stuffed between the bulk of his plate and the saddle horn could not be corrected — she tried her best to mitigate it by keeping her hands wrapped around the horn of the saddle so it wouldn't bruise her pelvis, anyway.

Maybe she would have preferred to walk. Could she tolerate days of this? Surely blistered and bleeding feet were better than stifling proximity to Ren. ]

[By the looks of Ren’s face, he appears unmoved bu both her noises of panic and her proximity to him. It would be a long journey for certain either way. Fortunately for her, the pace Ren choses is a leisurely one, rather than a full gallop. It wasn’t difficult for him to tell that Rey had never really ridden a horse before — anything faster than this, and he is certain she would have fallen off. They don’t have time for that sort of delay.

It is clear that his knights had sided with Rey, regarding the journey ahead. The bannermen fall just far enough behind that Ren could not see them cautiously glancing behind them to see if maybe they had misunderstood their direction. But they had not.

He was avoiding the king. And he might have gotten away with it unnoticed if she hadn’t spoken up.

Lord Commander? Ren ignores them. I’m loathe to say it but—]

Then perhaps you should not.

[He bites it backwards and the men go quiet again.]

[ Perhaps if he wanted his men's loyalty, he should grow more used to keeping them informed. At this snap, Rey turned her head to meet the eyes of one of the bannermen. It seemed despite his apparent humanity in handling her imprisonment — a low bar, to be sure — the more unkind elements of his reputation were true, his temper among them.

A few things began to click into place at that. He did not want to give quarter to conversation on the matter of their destination, would not allow questions to his leadership. And he was avoiding reporting to the King.

Rey said nothing of it just then. She saw allies in those bannermen now — people who could be persuaded that their erratic Lord Commander did not have their best interests in mind, that he might even get their heads added to the collection Snoke kept on spikes around the Red Keep. But she would have to mind her tongue and get them alone.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled with that thought, remembering the night before, but … these men were not among those who'd harmed her. They could have been, but maybe they had an ounce of their oaths left in them after all.

When the bannermen were sent ahead an hour later to survey the road for signs of bandits, Rey seized upon the opportunity. ]

I thought the Redcloaks acted on the King's will alone.

I would be interested to hear what it is a Dornish bastard thinks she knows of "the King's will".

[Its not exactly dodging the question, but it is yet another sign that he isn't interested in discussing the King, or his will. As far as he was concerned, his men belonged to him -- and through him, they were acting in the interests of the King, whether the King knew it or not.

And they all knew where they were going. They were sent to find Skywalker -- and that's what they were going to do.

For his part, Ren watches the path, waiting for his banners to reappear.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject