eachdraidh | {Video/After the Feast: Open to Seelie & Unseelie}

There is a magic here that I have never encountered in all of my journeys across Middle Earth. I do not know what to call it or even where it originates. {His anger over having been taken from the final battle at the Black Gate has diminished. In its place, Aragorn looks solemn and paler than usual.} I can only ask that it returns me from whence I came. It is of the utmost importance that I do not -

{For the first time, his voice cracks and he falls silent.}

There is a battle. It will decide the fate of my world. If I do not fight within it; if I do not lend my strength to my men, more of them will perish. {Perhaps they will lose heart. Perhaps all of them will die in the face of their greatest fear. All of the possibilities are incredibly grim.} I must return.

My name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn and I am the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor. My place is with my people and my friends.

{No feast can distract him; food is naught but a texture against his tongue. Now isn't the time for joy and festivities. Rather, his entire attention is fixed upon that which he can't see anymore.

The Black Gate.

How far has he been transported? And by what sorcery? He holds onto his sword - the reforged Narsil - tightly, ready and waiting to draw it free from its sheathe.}

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It will be trying to agree to that arrangement. {He smiles faintly at her. Ah children.}

They don't give us much of a choice. [ they took her father away and little does she know, brought here instead, her little brother.]

Of that, I am intimately aware. {And he wishes he wasn't.} What is your name?

[ because his introduction was so impressive, she wants to copy that. so she straightens--] I'm Arya Stark of Winterfell.

Thank you for welcoming me, Arya. {He does appreciate the effort.} Were you taken from your family?

[ that is a tricky question because, yes, in a way she was but before she arrived here.] My elder brother and sister are here as well. [ in case he's a bad guy and thinks she doesn't have allies!] And my lord father was here but he was... he has been sent back. [ and is now dead.]

Are they much older than you? {Children raising children in a place fraught with dangers doesn't set well with him.} I'm sorry.

{Those two words are heartfelt. Loss isn't something that should be treated lightly because it's "common".}

I lost my father when I was far younger than you. The pain has not lessened over time, but I have grown stronger so that I may bear it.

Yes. [ no. only a few years. but it's enough.] My brother serves as my sister's commander of the guard, she is now the keeper of the lands here called Cothromach which were granted to my father before he left.

[ she pauses at his words, fighting against any pain that may show on her face but her expression falters.]

My lord father is dead back home, here he was alive again.

I have no doubt that they guard and keep well, but should you - or they - need aid, please do not hesitate to ask.

{His sword is theirs simply because they are young and vulnerable. He has seen many decades and he does not prize his life - or his well-being - above theirs.}

A cruel gift. He has great reason to be proud of you in this world and the next.

You have our thanks, Ser. [ although she will seek more proof of his good intentions before relaying these words to her brother or sister.

she doesn't address what he says last. it hurts too much to think of.]

Are you a prince then? [ or perhaps a lord. so many claim to be the rightful heirs of thrones, sometimes she finds herself wary of them. although lord renly is not so bad and he was not a prince.]

Edited 2014-10-01 06:56 (UTC)

{His eyebrows raise and he gives her a quizzical look. Prince? He has never thought to give himself that title, but it is, technically, correct. In a distant sort of way.

Even so...}

No, I am merely Aragorn. I was a Ranger before I returned to the people of Gondor in time of war.

A ranger? Is that like a sellsword?

{He shakes his head slowly.} The Rangers of the North search for any disturbances and seek to calm them by any means possible. We are few, yet we have not abandoned our task.

Like a knight or a bannerman. [ she relaxes at that.]

That would be a more accurate comparison. {Though Rangers often work alone or in small groups and they answer to no authority but their own morality.}

That is good. Sellswords only have loyalty to those who give them coin.

Coin has never interested me.

Most who do care about coin lack honor.

I cannot disagree with those words. Greed comes in many forms.

{Video/After the Feast: Open to Seelie & Unseelie}

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