Video | Forward-dated to June 2

[kingsdaughter]

[Sigrid has the locket propped up like a mirror on her dresser. Flung over the arm of her chair is a mass of scarlet wool she is sewing into a new gown. Everything else in her room looks, to her, rather sparse and unlived-in. She's never had her own room all to herself. Nervously, she brushes stray hairs away from her face even though they were never in the way.]

I've kept my own house these last six years.

...What I'm saying is I need work, and I'm willing to work. I'm good with children, if you need any looked after. Otherwise I can do chores as you need them. I read and write well, and I sew, cook, spin, and knit. And clean, of course, and do laundry and all. Da taught me ciphering so I could manage our money. Anything else, I can learn.

Thank you.

Comments

video »

[steeledskin]

[ there is greenery behind a chestnut-haired girl who now peers thoughtfully down at her locket. ]

You're a young woman of many talents.

[ sansa is nowhere near the castle -- but she is interested. curious. and (frankly) bored. the road is a dull place. ]

video »

[kingsdaughter]

[Sigrid shakes her head, a tiny smile touching her lips.]

My amma used to say everything must get done even if no one wants to do it. That's all.

video »

[steeledskin]

What wisdom!

[ a soft undercurrent of want flutters through her voice. the road has reminded her just how much work goes into simply existing -- and how much she depends on handmaidens even in the vale. even as alayne.

gently: ] What is your name? I would give you work but I'm far from any castle and I...

[ she trails off. for all she knows, this girl isn't even amongst her side of the conflict. ]

video »

[kingsdaughter]

Not wisdom, only practicality. [It's hard to mistake an upper-crust girl, and it puts Sigrid slightly on the defensive. Girls like that usually don't give her compliments unless they're meant as sarcasm. But this girl seems sincere, and Sigrid isn't sure what she's meant to do with sincere admiration.]

Sigrid, my lady.

video »

[steeledskin]

Can't they be one in the same. Sigrid? [ wisdom and practicality. this is not sansa stark speaking; this is all alayne -- patient alayne who keeps petyr's castle for him. who commands the cooks and bears the cups and decides which lord sits where.

sansa would rather neither wisdom nor practicality but she cannot have what she wants -- and so she settles for what is right. ]

[bullhorned]

[Gendry, who has lightened up some on his journey now and had been listening to Sansa in a kind of happy lilt with this new friend, decided to intervene. Perhaps cruelly, but largely because it was a boring thing to be on the long road.]

I could hire you. I've got plenty I could pay you with. It's likely I'm the richest man you'll find in Caer Glaem.

[kingsdaughter]

[The Sigrid who replies to Gendry is quite different from the one who conversed with Sansa. She's all business.]

That isn't a promise to pay, you know.

[bullhorned]

It could be. Why not? My uncle is a lord as well. Lord Renly Baratheon. He's there in the same court as you.

[kingsdaughter]

That doesn't mean he'll pay, either. I'll not take credit. I want payment in coin on the day it's meant to come or I'll be my own maidservant and be happy with it.

[bullhorned]

[First, he makes this video so only she can see. Then, he reaches into his pouch and filches out a ruby, but as his thumb.]

There now. I don't have coin, but I have this.

video;

[chromosomes]

[ He's far from Caer Glaem, dirty from the road and the fast pace he and Thranduil have been keeping. But he still takes the time to check the lockets while letting his horse rest, and while John typically hasn't been replying to the things he sees, all the children in this place pull at him a little. ]

You didn't introduce yourself.

video;

[kingsdaughter]

Oh.

[She didn't even think about that.]

I thought...for working, they don't need to know my name, do they?

video;

[chromosomes]

No. But they might like to, if nothing else so they know who they're talking to.

[ And as far as he's concerned, anyone who doesn't is sort of a piece of shit. ]

For example -- I'm John Grimm.

video;

[kingsdaughter]

[She swallows and briefly lowers her eyes.]

I'm Sigrid. It's an honor to meet you, John Grimm.

[So many people have two names and she doesn't know which to use, so she uses them both.]

video;

[chromosomes]

Just John is fine, if you want.

[ Poor kid. ]

How old are you, Sigrid?

Video | Locked

[fatherlordandfool]

[ His features are only a little less haggard and worried; but his winter-pale eyes glitter with pleased recognition, and smile where his face does not. ]

Well met, yet again. And again, you've my thanks.

It's my daughter who met your call first, I understand, from far afield. If you've no objection, I'd be very happy for your aid 'til she's arrived, as I'm very much in need of someone with your clerical talents and the time to spare.

Video | Locked

[kingsdaughter]

But I haven't spoken to any of your daughters.

[Alayne was dark-haired, not...red...]

You mean--but Alayne doesn't have--

[She stops there. She's pretty sure the man knows his own daughter.]

I would be glad to, my lord. Most glad.

[Sort of. She's having mixed feelings about serving Alayne--Sansa--now that she's come to see her as an equal.]

Re: Video | Locked

[fatherlordandfool]

[ Ned thinks fast and furious-- Cat would have the best answer here, she'd always been so politick. His brows lift to his hairline, and, politely, ]

I've six children.

[ It sounds threaded with pain, the statement. He adds to it, more quietly, ]

And not all of them have been brought, it seems, in the fashion we have. Nor either my lady wife. But... ah... forgive an old wolf his worries; that's no talk for this.

[ He gave his head a small shake, and lifted his gaze to her frankly. ]

If you've an inclination then, what's an appropriate time to meet you at the library? I'd like to see your script, and speak with you at length about all I'd mean to ask of you, as well as come to an accord about fair and proper payment.

Video | Locked

[kingsdaughter]

[This is sounding more and more like it's going to be a much, much harder job than Sigrid first had in mind. Still, there's something remarkably flattering about being offered a clerk's job, as if she's a real grown-up. Probably more comfortable than being on her feet all day carrying huge kettles of hot water.]

Yes, my lord. I--I can meet you now, if you like.

Re: Video | Locked

[fatherlordandfool]

[ Ned is feeling more in his element with each hour that passes; and having the means to his goals lain out so well before him is bolstering. He offers a polite nod, a relieved smile. ]

Very well. I'll see you there; I may be a moment longer, needed to fetch more ink and quills than I have at present, but not by long.

video »

[firith]

[ There's nothing to really do while travelling, although John is excellent conversation and never fails to have something fascinating to pique Thranduil's interest with along the road. The fact remains, however, that for as like the Dúnedain as Grimm is in endurance, he still needs to sleep more often than his companion. At these times, Thranduil keeps watch and browses the network just for something to pass the time, unable to call Legolas because of the dangerous territory being traversed; a chiming locket would only draw unwanted attention.

He does not expect to see one of Bard's children there, not the little Princess Sigrid who is now long dead. She looks nothing like he remembers her, forced to concede that she, like Bilbo, is very likely from an earlier point in their world's time-line (and it hurt him to lose his little elf-friend, but at least Bard's children have no direct cause to know him while Sigrid is so young). Best not to say anything of that. It isn't often he feels his age.

When the Elvenking connects the lockets, he doesn't very much resemble his usual self at all; gone are the silver robes and crown, replaced with bottle-green and brown riding gear, the fine silken grey of his collar beneath leathers and the style of Mirkwood-made armour, with the same sigil as his marchwardens wear while about Lake-Town on business, are all the visual clues on offer.

And his long, thickly braided hair over a shoulder, of course. The ears.

Not unkindly, he speaks as he would to any of the young ladies he has come to know in the castle, Hermione or his Sansa. Sigrid, he is in no doubt, deserves no pandering, and neither is he in a mood to give it. ]

Your father is Bard of Lake-Town, I believe.

[ King of Dale? Not yet. An elf from the forest she would know, that is all he needs to be for the time being. Declining to respond to the main point of her broadcast is a small thing by comparison to touching base with homelanders. ]

video »

[kingsdaughter]

[It's an elf. It's a real elf.

She's only seen two. Her father has seen a lot more, but he actually leaves town every day. This is definitely a wood-elf, and he's beautiful. More beautiful even than the elf-lady who saved her family. And he knows her. She has no idea how--no, she does, because just because you don't see elves doesn't mean they aren't there. Isn't that why they came in and saved them all from the orcs? Do they watch over her family? Why?]

I...I'm Sigrid.

video »

[firith]

Well met, Sigrid. I regret I cannot be there in person, but urgent business takes me north of Glaschu.

[ A small smile softens his introduction (hopefully), because while his face isn't terribly well-known, the name of the lord of the Woodland-elves ought to be. ]

I am Thranduil, Elvenking of the realm you must know as Mirkwood. [ Tilting his chin enquiringly, ] Has Caer Glaem been treating you well?

video »

[kingsdaughter]

[Um yeah now she's looking downright alarmed. Her voice sticks, so she just nods.

Don't offend the Elvenking. Never, ever offend the Elvenking. He can put a spell on you, or you might disappear for what feels like a moment to you and turns out to be days for everyone else.]

video »

[firith]

[ Ah, he knows that look. Offering a clearer smile, he raises his brows. ]

There is little chance of my return before that of one Alayne Stone, a companion of mine who is similarly about her travels. When she is once more within the walls of Caer Glaem, I would urge you to seek her out, for she is a good friend to have and closer to your age than many in the castle.

[ That, in and of itself, ought to provide some little comfort. Sansa is clever too, she'll keep Sigrid safe. ]