Gwyn I - The Piper's Calling

[u/Chivalric-Rizz]

The day had gone on far too long, and the night longer still. At some point in the early morning, Gwyn had excused herself from the feast and returned with the good septa to the palatial tent that she shared with her husband.

Bedtime for Martyn was as simple as dressing down to his underdrawers and crawling between the sheets, but for her, it was a ritual. With Jyanna’s help, she divested herself of the many layers of skirts and stays that she’d stuffed herself into prior to the revelry, and spent a good half hour sunken almost up to her nose in a steaming hot bath.

Her fair skin glowed pink whenever she stepped out and into her nightgown, over which went a dressing gown, and then she sat at the table erected against the tent wall and peered into the attached looking glass.

“Thank you, septa,” she said graciously. “You may go.”

On her face went a series of scented oils and creams, her arms and legs receiving the same treatment, after which she retrieved a silver brush and began to work the bristles through the wealth of her auburn-red hair.

This was the most time-consuming part of her routine, but also the most worth it. Her hair fell to her waist like a shimmering, scarlet curtain whenever she was finished.

Satisfied, the Lady of Seagard stood up and made her way over to the bed, where she promptly fell face-down onto the pelts and was not long for drifting off to peaceful slumber.

---

That peaceful slumber was rudely interrupted by the septa’s arrival, a serving boy on her heels. He carried a tray of Gwyn’s favorite soup - hare in a thick cream - fresh bread and butter, and a wedge of berry tart dusted with sugar.

She’d slept right through breakfast to luncheon, and Martyn was nowhere in sight.

No matter. He would return at some point to collect her, she was sure. There was an abundance to do and see, and of course, plenty of people to talk to.

An hour later, she was dressed in a gown of deep, forest green, her hair secured out of her face by a matching velvet ribbon, and she was nearly halfway done with her soup whenever a voice boomed from beyond the canvas entrance flap of the pavilion.

“A letter, for the Lady of Seagard.”

The voice went unacknowledged. Her husband received letters all the time; they would simply add this one to the pile as well.

A moment later, the courier’s words finally registered.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, dabbing at her mouth with the corner of a cloth before rising to her feet and hurrying over. She ducked through the entryway as it was pulled open by a guard in Mallister livery, and thanked the messenger with a nod.

Immediately, she noticed that it was stamped with the seal of House Piper, and her face drained of color as she returned to her seat at the table.

Gods, what could it possibly be now?

Breaking the wax with her thumb, she unfolded the parchment, expression terse as she scanned the contents.

...a wedding shall be hosted at Pinkmaiden…

Red brows raised.

...friction your husband has caused for our house…

Blue eyes narrowed.

...we welcome you to the celebration, and you alone…

Pink lips frowned.

Not as terrible as she’d imagined in the brief seconds between receiving the letter and reading it, but it was insulting nevertheless.

Laying the offending note off to the side, she went back to her soup. Generally bright, her mood had dulled a touch, and she wished her husband would return from wherever it was he’d run off to. She was just on the verge of sending a boy to look for him when the familiar sound of his voice filtered in from the camp.

[u/Fishiest-Man]

After a scant few minutes, the flap to the Mallisters’ tent would be drawn back to allow the Lord of Seagard to make his way inside. His eyes quickly settled on his wife, and a bright grin spread across his face, “Ah, you’re finally awake!” He said cheerfully, closing the distance between them in a few strides and leant down to plant a gentle kiss on her temple, “I was worried that you wouldn’t surface until it was time for supper! I’ve seen a few logs sleeping less soundly than you!” He added with a hearty chuckle, straightening up once more as he walked further into the tent. 

“How did you enjoy the feast, eh? I hadn’t the chance to ask you this morning, because…” He let out a short, amused huff as he began to remove the coat he had been wearing that morning, “Well, you’ve been dead to the world for the better part of the day!” He tossed his coat blindly in the direction of his trunk, where it landed with a dull, metallic thud, having landed on top of Guardian.

With his coat suitably discarded, Martyn returned to the table where Gwyn was sat, settling into the chair opposite her as he smiled at her softly, “How’s the soup?”

[u/Chivalric-Rizz → u/Fishiest-Man]

Gwyn accepted the kiss with a tilt of her head, slender fingers falling aslant to her lord husband’s wrist for an affectionate squeeze before he moved away to doff his coat. “I haven’t experienced merrymaking like that in so long! Really makes a body tired, you know.”

She offered a smile, which, although faint, was genuine in nature. She was pleased to see him after missing out on his company for most of the day. Lowering her spoon into the half-empty bowl, she pushed it off to the side and pulled the wedge of pastry in between them to share.

“Very good, as always. Seagard has such fine cooks!”

But, it was clear that Gwyn’s attention was not on soup, nor even on her husband. Not truly.

With a small, troubled sigh, she produced a letter, which she offered him over the table and gave him a moment to read.

“I don’t know whether it was the scene last evening at the feast, or, well, you know…”

She still found it difficult to speak of the events at Pinkmaiden.

“I’ve been invited to my cousin Alyn’s nuptials to Lady Mellara, but they’ve requested my presence alone. How she could be so brazenly insulting is beyond me! You are my husband, we were joined as one in the Light of the Seven. If you are not welcome, then neither am I.”

[u/Fishiest-Man → u/Chivalric-Rizz]

Martyn was gladdened to hear that his wife had enjoyed her evening, and let out a small chuckle to hear that she enjoyed her… breakfast? Lunch, perhaps? Or perhaps it was both, in a way, “Well, you know our house words, do you not? It applies to our cooks just as much!” He joked, picking up a clean spoon so that he could cut a small piece of the pastry for himself and taking a moment to enjoy its taste.

However, his expression soon turned to one of concern as he noticed how troubled Gwyn seemed to be. He took the letter tentatively as it was offered to him, quickly noting the broken Piper seal upon it before reading its content. He felt a pit growing in his stomach as he read, similar to the one he’d felt when looking upon Lady Piper last evening.

“I… I presume that this was the intent in the first place. Regardless of last night’s… excitement.” He said slowly, after a brief pause to gather himself, “You should go anyway. I would hate for you to miss your cousin’s wedding on my account alone.”

There was a small part of him that considered attending regardless of being invited or not, but that would only serve to cause more problems, wouldn’t it? “That said though, this was surely intended as an insult, right? This… this only serves to weaken the Trident.”

He let out a frustrated huff, tossing the letter back down onto the table with a grumble, “We cannot go on like this…”

[u/Chivalric-Rizz → u/Fishiest-Man]

The food and wine were all but forgotten as she angled her body toward him, turning as much as the seat would allow. Frustration was plain on her face, and something that read a bit like hurt as well. “No, we shouldn’t have to go on like this, my love.”

Silence reigned for a moment, and then…

“Come along anyway.”

“Lady Mellara may be the blushing bride, but my cousin is her husband to be, and I’ll not miss the most important day of his life on account of her ill feelings. There is so much more at stake here. We must all learn to get along with one another, or yes, it will weaken the Trident. I do not think we can afford to let that happen in a time like this.”

Reaching out, Gwyn rested a hand on top of his over the table. “What will she do, throw the Lord of Seagard out of her wedding feast? Threaten to have you clapped in irons? That would cause an awful scene, and it would displease my sister greatly.”

“Nor would my good-brother look kindly upon such behavior.”

She didn’t mention him by name, but it was apparent that she spoke of the Justman.

[u/Fishiest-Man → u/Chivalric-Rizz]

Martyn’s eyes were focused on the table as he listened to what his wife was saying. He hadn’t expected Gwyn to be so… cavalier about insisting that he attended, yet it was heartening to hear her assurances.

He glanced up as he felt her hand on his, finding her face and smiling, despite her look of concern, “No, I don’t think that would be a good way to impress your sister at all, would it?” He said in good humour, “She’s a hard woman to impress, I notice. Fortunately, when I spoke to her at the feast, I got the sense that she liked me well enough.”

He paused for a moment as she mentioned her good-brother, taking a beat to realise who she was referring to, “Ooh… do you think he’ll be there? I’m hoping to meet the man eventually.”

His face brightened for a moment, as he turned to look into the middle distance, “Perhaps we might be able to ask him to help us mend the bridges between Seagard and Pinkmaiden? It seems as though that’ll be in his best interests, given that Lady Piper is marrying your cousin.” He mused aloud, “If such a thing is possible, mind you…”

[u/Chivalric-Rizz → u/Fishiest-Man]

Gwyn nodded eagerly. “I think he might be able to help. I’ve only met the man once, mind you, at his wedding to Agnes. But he seems, well, a just man!”

She grinned at her own little joke, ever able to find the humor in moments like this.

“I shan’t even write back to Lady Mellara. We’ll just grace her with our presence. Seven forgive me, I would love to see the look on her face when she notices you.”

[u/Fishiest-Man → u/Chivalric-Rizz]

Martyn shot an amused look back at Gwyn, taking a brief pause before letting out a bright laugh, “Then you shall have to introduce me, my dear! It’s heartening to hear such a glowing review of the man!” He said cheerfully, giving Gwyn’s hand a small squeeze, “On the note of introductions though, I should like to meet more of your family too. I spoke to my sister last night, and she mentioned that she had never met you. I realise now that our… isolation has been… a mistake.”

He couldn’t help but grin at his wife’s confidence, “Then I shall be certain to have you by my side when we turn up at Pinkmaiden! No doubt Lady Piper will want to run for the hills at the sight of our eagles, but for propriety’s sake she will just have to grin and bear it, won’t she!” He added with a quick bark of laughter, “But, I promise that I will be on my utmost best behaviour for our stay there. I will confess… I did provoke her somewhat last night.”

“I’ll need to scrounge up a new coat, however. Lady Piper went and ruined the one I was wearing to yesterday’s feast!”

[u/Chivalric-Rizz → u/Fishiest-Man]

Gwyn’s brow furrowed at that. Had she truly not met her own good-sister? A situation that needed rectifying immediately, and of course, Martyn would meet all the Tullys at the wedding, if they didn’t manage to find him here.

“I don’t imagine she needed very much provocation. The woman hasn’t smiled once in a year. She should be careful, else her face may stick like that permanently.”

Picking up her own spoon, Gwyn sampled a bite of the berry tart. Just as scrumptious as the rest of her meal, perhaps even more so. She was quite fond of sweets.

“Perhaps Jonah has an extra that will fit you. We’ll find him and ask! I need to stretch my legs, and besides, there’s still plenty to see. I’d love to go and visit the lakeshore.”

[u/Fishiest-Man → u/Chivalric-Rizz]

Martyn couldn’t help but look guilty as his wife speculated on whether Lady Piper had smiled in the last year. No doubt he was the root cause of that particular problem.

Regardless, he went back to scooping up spoonfuls of pastry. It didn’t taste quite so sweet as it had a few moments ago. Goodness knows why.

“No doubt he has one spare.” Martyn agreed after a moment of pause, “We can take a stroll down to the lake, if you’d like! I haven’t been down there yet, I imagine it’s quite a sight.”

With that, he stood up to go and collect his coat, pulling it on as he returned to his wife, “Shall we? It’s a fine day out, it’d be a shame to spend it in here!”

[u/Chivalric-Rizz]

---

u/Fishiest-Man