3263 réponses à ce sujet

[Avilia]

My prompt response - don't hit me....

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"Well, that was a mistake."

Nate frowned at Anders but didn't bother to comment. He knew he'd made a mistake, he didn't need the mage giving him a commentary.

"I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know." Anders couldn't manage not to smirk. "It just seems to happen so rarely I wanted to point it out."

"Yes. Thank you."

"I mean, you, Ser Perfect Warden, you made a mistake."

Finally, Nate looked at Anders. "Do you have a point, Anders? Other than trying to annoy me?"

"Not really, just enjoying the moment." His smirk widened into a grin when Nate growled. "Although, now I think of it, you could do with some practice dealing with women."

"I'm perfectly able to deal with women. When they're reasonable." When they acted like sensible beings and not, whatever it was they were at times like this. It puzzled him that one moment they were nodding agreeably and then the next, they'd throw their hands in the air and storm away. Very odd behaviour.

"Ah. That's your first mistake. Women are never 'reasonable'."

"No? What are they, if not reasonable?"

"Women of course." Giving Nate a pitying look, Anders shook his head sadly. "You really didn't spend your time in the Free Marches chasing skirts did you? I bet you wish you had now, don't you, Nathaniel?"

"Very funny." The mage thought he was hilarious, no doubt of that. Setting that aside, he might have a point. Anders could be annoying but he did seem to have a way with females. Even the female hunting dogs followed him around the Keep grounds. "Alright. Give me advice."

"Hmm." Pretending to think about that, Anders pursed his lips. "I suppose the first thing I'd say is, they're never wrong. Never. In an argument, such as the one we just witnessed, the only way to avoid a long term battle is to give in. Admit you're in the wrong."

"I wasn't wrong. I'm not wrong." It seemed perfectly clear to him. He was right, Rhosyn was wrong. Nate had no intentions of saying otherwise. "That would be lying."

"Lying?" Why did that ring a bell? Oh yes, shuddering slightly at the memory, Anders pushed it away. "Not lying, think of it as 'diplomacy'."

"Diplomacy? Rhosyn isn't a foreign power, she's a woman."

"Same thing. Women operate under their own set of rules and protocols, the sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be back to sharing a bed." Enjoying his role as teacher a little more than he probably should, Anders settled into his lecturing voice.

"Sharing. What? She wouldn't." Anders' expression said otherwise. "Maker's breath."

"Indeed. Next. In an argument its best to never use the words 'do as I tell you' or its more inflammatory brother 'its for your own good'. Both are guaranteed to end the argument, either in the way we recently witnessed, or at times, with violence."

Nate thought that all sounded a little, illogical. If someone was only trying their best to stop you hurting yourself, for instance, you should take their advice. "That's stupid."

"Ouch. The bad word. Never, listen to me carefully Nathaniel, never, say that word to a woman. Ever." This was going to take a while. How he'd managed until now, Anders had no idea. Nate was lucky he was here to help him now.

"Fine. Don't say 'do as I tell you', 'its for your own good', or 'stupid'. What else?"

"If you want to sway a woman to your point of view you need to be cunning. Appear reasonable. Listen to them and nod wisely. Finally, once you have them suitably softened up, put your arguments to them. Its best to tailor the argument to the woman. For instance, using my Ceri as an example, I simply tell her that if she doesn't do what I want, I'll be upset. Hurt."

"Ah huh." Nate pressed his lips together. "That fools her?"

"Oh, every time. She's a darling bless her, but not that bright."

"No?" It was a struggle, but Nate kept his expression serious. "Ceri doesn't strike me that way. Watching your relationship, I'd have said it was she who 'managed' you."

"That's what I want her to think. Much better that way." Anders frowned when Nate's head tilted. "What?"

"She's standing behind you. Perhaps you could demonstrate these skills you've been teaching me?" It would be impolite to laugh, wouldn't it?

Anders turned slowly. "Ceri. Pet." Her eyes narrowed. "I was just telling Nate how not to behave with women."

Nate grinned when Ceri pulled Anders out of the hall. By his ear.

Left alone, he thought about what Anders had said. Some of it made sense. He'd made a mistake with Rhosyn by being too pushy. She'd never liked being told what to do, even if it was for her own good. He'd find her and apologise. Not because he was wrong, because he wasn't, but because he'd expressed his thoughts badly.

She'd see reason, wouldn't she?

. . .

Rhosyn was almost to the Keep gate when she stopped and tried to think clearly. Once she did, she had to smile. "Typical." Turning around she walked, much less forcefully, back towards the Keep.  She saw that Nate was coming down the path towards her. To apologise? Doubtful, he hadn't actually done anything wrong. "Nathaniel."

"Rhosyn." Nate was surprised when she hugged him. "I thought you were angry?"

"I'm sorry. You were only trying to protect me. I shouldn't let that upset me."

He'd known she was too sensible not to see that. "Does this mean you'll do as I asked?" He let her steer him back towards the Keep. "You must see that its foolhardy to put yourself into that much danger."

"Yes, dear."

"Its also unnecessary. We have soldiers who can scout for us. I don't need you to do it."

"Yes, dear."

"We have no idea what could be out there. I'd really prefer if you weren't away right now." Away from him, where he couldn't watch her, ensure she was safe.

"I know, dear. You're worried about me, I understand that. Its sweet, really it is." Seeing him smile a little, Rhosyn softened her tone even more. "I'll stay here at the Keep. I shouldn't have expected you'd trust me with a task this important." His mouth opened. "No. Really, its fine. I'll see if Garavel has something I can do. There must be something I can manage."

"I didn't mean that. You can't think I did. You're our best scout Rhosyn, you know you are. I'd never belittle that."

"Now you're being kind. I have a little skill, I suppose, but not enough for you to trust me with this."

Nate was horrified. Is that what she thought? That he didn't trust her? "I'll tell Garavel you're to go out with the men."

"If you're sure?"

"I'm sure." After giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, Nate went into the Keep to see Garavel, leaving Rhosyn standing at the bottom of the steps.

Rhosyn cleared her throat. Well. That had worked nicely. She must remember that listening to Ceri's advice on handling men wasn't a mistake.

Modifié par Avilia, 14 novembre 2010 - 02:34 .

[Avilia]

Nate's not sure he should take Anders' advice:



(My ToP pic ;-) )

[Sarah1281]

So I'm not sure if Ceri gave better advice than Anders or if Rhosyn was just better at following it than Nathaniel who didn't even try. Either way, nice job.

[Avilia]

@Sarah - thank you They gave the same advice - Rhosyn just followed it better. I'm pretty sure Nate would just think people should be reasonable. If everyone was reasonable, there'd be no need for all this fuss ;-)

[Sarah1281]

Nathaniel felt a little awkward about just leaving his companions standing around in the streets of Amaranthine while he went and caught up with his sister but not nearly enough to miss this opportunity. He was sure that if they got bored they could wander off and doing something else in town. They really should have arranged for a meeting place, though.
 
Delilah ushered him to a table. “Sit, sit,” she urged.
 
Nathaniel did as he was bidden, still unable to really believe that his sister was standing – alive and well – before him. When he had last seen her, she was only a child, really, and now here she was married and living in Amaranthine. Nathaniel didn’t know anything about this ‘Albert’ but he was sure that he wasn’t good enough for his sister. Sure, she might claim that she adored him but if she was already married to him then getting a divorce would be difficult and quite scandalous and who knew if she really meant it? Besides, if times were as hard as he suspected they were she likely didn’t have much of a choice and probably felt some sort of gratitude to that man for keeping her from starving. Obviously, the Couslands and King Alistair hadn’t given the slightest bit of consideration to Delilah when they were busy destroying his family to get their happily ever after. Nathaniel’s eyes swept over his sister, trying to detect any trace of unhappiness but he didn’t see any. Then again, she had just learned that he was alive so that didn’t necessarily mean any-
 
“You’re pregnant?” he exclaimed, horrified. No wonder she felt that she was trapped here! Nathaniel was going to kill this Albert, he really was.
 
Delilah smiled gently. “Yes, yes I am. I’m due in the spring, you know.” She laughed lightly. “Oh, don’t give me that look, Nathaniel.”
 
“What look?” Nathaniel asked innocently.
 
“The one where you’re plotting to ‘defend my honor’ from my husband who I love very much because he got me pregnant,” Delilah replied matter-of-factly. “I know you might not understand this but…I’m happy here. All the trappings of nobility never meant all that much to me and you know all Father saw when he looked at me was a potential advantageous marriage. He wasn’t comfortable with letting me so much as look at a sword and even though I’m two years older than Thomas, he was Father’s back-up heir. You don’t have to be the type who could be happy with the life I’ve made but please don’t do me the disservice of assuming that I was forced into it.”
 
“I…” Nathaniel started to say, feeling guilty for having done just that. “I’m sorry, Delilah. I know that, I do. I just can’t really wrap my mind around you being happy here.”
 
“That’s because we’re two different people, Nathaniel,” Delilah pointed out. “So you’ll just have to trust my word for it that I am happy here.”
 
“Alright,” Nathaniel said, sighing in defeat. “I will. But if I see any indication that you’re not…”
 
“I know, I know, I can always go back to the Keep,” Delilah supplied. “And should it be necessary, I won’t hesitate. I doubt it will be, though. Albert is a good man and maybe once you meet him you’ll feel the same. Come back here next time you’re in Amaranthine and you can meet my husband.”
 
“I will,” Nathaniel promised solemnly. He hesitated. Was he really sure that he wanted to know? Probably not, but it was his duty to seek out the truth and if he had made a mistake then it was better to be made aware of it now then desperately cling to it forever. “Sister…what did you mean about ‘Father’s evil’?”
 
Delilah frowned and nervously pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Nathaniel, are you really sure you want to talk about this? He’s dead and gone no matter what you or anyone else might think about him.”
 
“You know the woman I came here with?” Nathaniel answered her question with one of his own. “That’s Queen Anastasia Theirin née Cousland. I didn’t become a Grey Warden by choice, you know, I was forced to after I was arrested for sneaking into the Keep and trying to take back some of our possessions. I probably didn’t help my case when I informed her that I had originally shown up to kill her.”
 
Delilah covered her mouth, horrified. “Nathaniel, you didn’t!”
 
“Don’t worry, I changed my mind when I actually got there,” Nathaniel assured her. “I told Anastasia that I’d rather be killed that join the Wardens but, again, it’s not like I got that choice. In all honesty, being a Warden isn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I am grateful that she decided not to hang me after all. Just the same…my commander killed our father. She claims he killed her family first and I really don’t know much about that. If there is truth to what you said about him being evil, I do need to know in order to get past this.”
 
Delilah drummed her fingers on the table while she considered. Finally, she nodded her head. “Very well then. This all started with the Couslands. Father took his men up to Highever, purportedly so that their forces could go to Ostagar and aid King Cailan against the darkspawn. Instead, the inhabitants of Castle Cousland were massacred and Father was claiming their teynir. He said something about them being traitors, yes, but if that were the case then why kill everyone? Fergus’ son, he must have only been seven or eight! And why not try to bring it to the attention of the king instead of taking matters into his own hands? No, I was never happy with that.”
 
Oren. Nathaniel couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about Oren. He’d seen the child born as one of his last acts before leaving Ferelden all those years ago. “What else?”
 
“He sent troops in to help the Arl of Denerim manage an elven uprising in the Alienage and then claimed that the Arl had died when the King and Queen informed us that he had actually been imprisoned in Father’s dungeon and they had arrived to find him having recently been violently killed in a tiny cell,” Delilah continued. “I wasn’t at the Landsmeet, you know, but I certainly heard of what came of it. Most of the things that they charged Loghain with were things that our father had done and that they had found by going through his dungeon.”
 
“Just what could he have possibly kept in his dungeon that would have been so problematic?” Nathaniel couldn’t help but wonder. “Well…aside from Arl Vaughan. Given the rumors about him and those elves, however, he might have done the Alienage a favor.”
 
“He might have,” agreed Delilah. “If he hadn’t turned right around and led a purge through the Alienage to ‘avenge’ Vaughan and then started selling the survivors as slaves to the Tevinter Imperium. As for who he had in his dungeon…who didn’t he have? A Grey Warden, another noble, a survivor from Ostagar, a templar…these people had committed no crimes, Nathaniel. They were just inconvenient.”
 
“I don’t understand,” Nathaniel said, almost desperately. “Father would never-”
 
“He would,” Delilah cut him off. “I’ve seen it. I’ve heard about it. Everyone’s heard about it. I know better than to believe everything I hear, of course, but the rumors fit right in with the things I had personally witnessed.”
 
“How could Father have changed so much?” Nathaniel demanded. His sister wouldn’t lie, not about this. He knew that and yet this didn’t make any sense! Despite what Delilah might say, he didn’t secretly think of their father as a monster. This couldn’t be real.
 
“I don’t know,” Delilah admitted. “I don’t think I’ll ever know. His actions really speak for themselves, though.”
 
Nathaniel nodded hollowly. It couldn’t be true…except it apparently was. He’d been mistaken, then. It would appear that he owed Anastasia an apology. Maker help him.

[Avilia]

@Sarah - I enjoyed reading that very much. Poor Nate has a lot to deal with in that conversation. Howe did seem to be gathering a collection in his cells didn't he? I'm still not sure why Oswyn was in there...

[Addai]

Avilia wrote...

@Sarah - I enjoyed reading that very much. Poor Nate has a lot to deal with in that conversation. Howe did seem to be gathering a collection in his cells didn't he? I'm still not sure why Oswyn was in there...

He tells you it's because his childhood friend was in Loghain's army at Ostagar and told him that the army turned away before Cailan was overwhelmed.  The friend disappears, Oswyn talks, and he ends up enjoying Rendon's hospitality as well.

[Avilia]

Thanks Adai. Countless playthroughs and I'm still missing stuff. I fail badly at rpgs.

[Sarah1281]

New Nathaniel fanart from Aimo.

[Avilia]

That's cute - smiley, cuddly Nate

[Corker]

It had been a beautiful, elegant plan, foiled by the inconvenient fact that the Grey Warden wasn't there.

Well, that was hardly an insurmountable problem.  This was his posting; he'd be here eventually.  Nathaniel had resolved himself to patrol the hills around Vigil's Keep, staying ahead of any troops sent to scout, and wait.

The waiting was what undid him.  The anger that had driven him like a storm across the sea from the Free Marches ebbed - just slightly, but enough for rational thought to return.  What would blood vengenance achieve?  Perhaps some brief satisfaction, and then his death.  The Vigil watched him with mute disappointment.  Death would be the end of it, the last Howe executed for the black-hearted murder of the hero of Ferelden.

The name deserved a better legacy than that.  He deserved a better revenge than that.  He'd reclaim some of his family's long history, then go and prove the worth of the name, uncover the truth of his father's death, and when the Warden's popular acclaim had faded somewhat, when he'd made some enemies in Amaranthine who would be pleased to hear of his too-human failings, he'd bring that truth out into the light for all to see.

No need to wait for the Warden now.  He slipped easily toward the Vigil, following old secret paths half-remembered from his youth.  He knew where he was going and how to best get there without attracting notice.  In less than an hour, he carefully lifted the Bear's Embrace from its stand in the old armory.  It would be easier to wear than to carry, so he buckled it on, looking about the room for the other heirloom he wanted.

But the Howe bow was nowhere to be seen.

He shuddered to think that one of the Orlesians had their perfumed paws all over it.  But there wasn't anything to do about it - this wasn't the time to search the Vigil.  This was in-and-out, armory and gone.  He'd gotten his ancestor's armor; he should go.

...perhaps he could check Father's room.  That would be a logical place for it; it was nearby.  Father's room would also be the logical place for the new Warden Commander to stay; he wasn't here yet.  It should be empty.  He could do it.

The hall was empty; reaching the big, heavy door was simplicity.  He oiled the hinges, just to be thorough, and eased it open.

"Zut alors!"  Just because the room should have been reserved for the Warden Commander did not mean that one of the Orlesian Wardens would not take it upon himself to entertain his paramour of the evening there.  The man sat bolt upright in bed.  "I was not to be deest--- 'oo ees thees?"  Recognized as an intruder, Nathaniel slammed the door and took off down the hall.  It slammed right back open behind him, the Orlesian calling, "To arms, to arms!  Eentrudaire!"

He heard the sound of armored men approaching at a run.  He should have left when he had the chance.

[Avilia]

@Corker nice one. Nate's internal dialogue was great. Makes me doubley glad I gave him the bow later - although he might have thought that was rubbing salt in the wound.

[Addai]

@Corker, great! Why do I love that the Orlesian Warden battle cry is "Zut alors!"?? LOL

[MelRedux]

I can't hear "Zut alors!" without thinking of the French chef in The Little Mermaid, when he sings Le Poissons. "Zut alors! I have missed one!"

[Avilia]

Prompt time approaches and Nate's wondering what he's in for this time ;-)

[MelRedux]

Lady_Scarlett still seems to be MIA, so that means Addai, you're up!  You sexy, Dalish minx

[Addai]

LOL Ok, ok... give me a moment to brood on this...

[Addai]

Alright, hopefully I didn't miss a week where this was already a prompt, but this week's is...



Groundskeeper Samuel

[Avilia]

Ooh nice one Adai!

[jenncgf]

Hi everyone!

I've not been on the BSN boards lately. My apologies. RL has thrown me some curve balls and I've been dealing with that stuff.



To that end, I think you should take me off the prompts rotation. If I can't even get on here to read posts, I shouldn't be asking you guys to post more stuff. I will try to check in and read the fabulous stuff everyone creates!

[Avilia]

@Jenn sorry to hear that - hope things settle for you soon.

[Sarah1281]

Nathaniel returned from Amaranthine in a pensive mood. When he had first heard the news of his family’s fall from grace and the rumors of his father’s depravity way back before he’d even left Kirkwall, he had immediately assumed the whispers to be wrong and vicious slander to boot. Upon meeting the woman who had killed his father and being forced to join the Grey Wardens which was surprisingly not as bad as he had feared, he had begun to doubt. The new Arlessa wasn’t a bad sort, really, but he still couldn’t believe what everyone said about his father had been the truth all along. A compromise, perhaps? His father was being made a scapegoat for backing the losing side (and since the former regent was still alive, well, and the father of the Queen the blame was hardly going to go to him) and yet the Warden had no knowledge of this. That could work. He had found Delilah in Amaranthine, however, and what she had to say about their father…it didn’t seem real. Slaving, kidnapping, torturing…it couldn’t be real.
 
He was taking a brisk walk around the Keep to try and clear his head when he saw him. Groundskeeper Samuel. The man who had informed him that his sister was still alive and told him how to find her. He had never left Amaranthine even after the Grey Wardens had taken over, had he? He would be able to tell him more about what had happened. It wasn’t like Nathaniel was going to take the word of Samuel above the word of his sister, of course, but the idea of his father being a monster – though he had intellectually accepted it – just refused to sink in. The more people he asked and who confirmed those ugly rumors the better chance he had of finally believing it…or so he hoped. This cognitive dissonance, believing in his father’s evil and good at the same time, was killing him.
 
Samuel was pulling at some weeds behind the Keep when Nathaniel approached him. Once he registered Nathaniel’s presence, he straightened immediately. “Oh, you’re back. Did you find Lady Delilah?”
 
Nathaniel nodded absently. “I did. She seemed…well. She also said some very disturbing things.”
 
Samuel tilted his head. “Oh?” he prompted.
 
“You worked here after I left and up until my father’s death, right?” Nathaniel asked, almost rhetorically.
 
Samuel nodded. “And I haven’t stopped working even now that the Arling has changed hands. There’s nobody that knows the grounds of this place better than me.”
 
“Delilah said…” Nathaniel began. Stopped. Steeled himself. “Delilah said that our father was a monster. I wasn’t here. I don’t know. Would you agree with that?”
 
Samuel hesitated. “Your father spent most of his last year of life in Denerim dealing with the civil war and consolidating his power,” he hedged. “Just the same…”
 
“Yes?” Nathaniel asked, struggling not to let his impatience show.
 
“Just the same I’ve worked for that man since the Orlesians were thrown out of the country and it was safe to come out of hiding,” Samuel replied. “The pay was good and Amaranthine itself is beautiful, plus it’s near enough to the Alienage in Highever so I can’t say I ever regretted taking the job.”
 
Nathaniel sensed there was a ‘but’ coming. “What was the problem then?”
 
“Your father was never a friend to the elves,” Samuel said delicately. “Oh, I know we could have had it far worse, don’t get me wrong. Under the Orlesians we did have it far worse. Even in Ferelden, the tales told about Bann Vaughan are enough to chill the soul. Your father was never nearly that bad but it was still painfully obvious that elves weren’t really people to him. Like so many others, he felt that because we were different than human we must be subhuman as well. I do not claim to know what your father got up to in Denerim but it would not surprise me in the slightest if he really did lead a purge through the Alienage and send phony Tevinter ‘healers’ to enslave them.”
 
“I see,” Nathaniel said, his heart plummeting. It seemed like he was the only one surprised to hear what his father had gotten up to after massacring the Couslands…well, aside from the Couslands, of course.
 
“I’m not telling you this to hurt you or to make you think less of your father,” Samuel said earnestly. “Because for better or for worse he was your father and I know that you loved him.”
 
“Then why are you telling it to me?” Nathaniel demanded. “Well…aside from the fact that I asked and it may be the truth.”
 
“You are a Grey Warden now,” Samuel explained. “I watched you grow up, you know. It’s been killing you to be a part of the evil order that murdered your father, hasn’t it?”
 
Reluctantly, Nathaniel nodded in confirmation.
 
“I don’t expect that knowing the truth about your father will make you happy,” Samuel continued. “But your father is dead and you’re not. The Grey Wardens aren’t going anywhere either and from what I understand you can’t just stop being one, even if you do decide to quit one day. I hope that by realizing the truth about your father you will be able to find peace one day.”
 
Nathaniel couldn’t imagine that ever happening. Still, it was a bit premature to say for certain and he might be pleasantly surprised one day when he realized that he was at peace with what had happened.
 
Samuel was still staring at him.
 
“Thank you,” Nathaniel said with a tight smile. He didn’t feel very thankful but Samuel had done as he asked and being in a bad mood was no reason not to be polite. He made his excuses and then quickly hurried away.
 
He could feel Samuel’s eyes on him until he was all the way back in his room.

[Avilia]

@Sarah - well done. I like Samuel's wisdom and constructive advice.

[MelRedux]

I totally have something, just hope I have the time to do it this weekend!

[Avilia]

My prompt response.

-------------------------------------------------

"The boy spends too much time with that elf."

"Which elf." After a pause, he completed the question. "My dear?"

"That one. The gardener. I don't like it."

Is there anything you like? Rendon thought the question but didn't ask it aloud. There would be no point. His wife was many things, most of them unpleasant, but one thing she wasn't was rational. If she didn't like something then that something was bad. She didn't like elves and he was fairly sure she didn't like Nathaniel. Unfortunately for Nate's continued enjoyment of the garden, his wife's dislike would lead her to put a stop to even this small measure of happiness.

Supressing a sigh, he stood. "I'll deal with it." He'd have to think of a way to protect Nate from his mother's spite. Rendon had promised himself he'd do his best to protect him. No matter how impossible the task seemed at times.

By the time he reached the garden he'd decided what to do to seperate Nate from Samuel. He'd teach Nate to hunt, to use a bow. Not his own preferred weapon but Rendon knew his eldest child loved to watch the archers practice. Already, at only six years old, he'd started trying to string the longbows the men used. For himself, he'd enjoy the chance to teach his son a skill he'd no doubt find more interesting than the lessons in estate management he'd have to start in a few years.

Maybe he'd tell the boy some of those stories his own father used to him. That one about the Blackmarsh. Nate would like that.

. . .

"Elfroot." Samuel grinned when Nate sighed at him. "Oh? You know that one?"

"I have a passing acquaintance with it." He'd used it as a base for more than one poison. "You're not finding it a problem?"

"You've forgotten everything I taught you. Plant elfweed around the garden beds and the bugs stay away."

"Did you tell me that?" That time seemed so long ago now. Which it was, he supposed. "All I remember is you smacking my hand when I stole a berry." He smiled when Samuel chuckled. "I enjoyed our time in the garden."

"Your father's lessons were more suited to you I think." And safer, with that harpy watching their every move. "You're a fine archer."

"More suited perhaps, but not as heartfelt." His father's sense of duty had been a cold thing compared to Samuel's much warmer presence. "Still, he did tell good stories."

"Your father had his faults, I'm not denying that, but he loved you. You should remember that."

"Its difficult to keep that separate. He caused so much pain to so many, and why? For power?"

"Life does strange things. Pain even stranger things. Your father, Maker keep him, wasn't a strong man. Not here." Samuel tapped Nate's chest, over his heart. "He let the troubles in his life make him bitter. First the Orlesians and then, well, other things."

"My mother?" Nate hadn't known his mother very well, but he did know she'd hated his father. His father had returned the sentiment.

"Its not my place to say that. How about we just say he had troubles and instead of standing up to them, he let them defeat him." Samuel had his own ideas about Rendon Howe's state of mind but didn't think telling them to Nate would do anything but upset him.

"I wanted to believe he'd done what he thought was right, but he didn't. He was blinded by the need to revenge himself. On who or what, I don't think I'll ever know. I'd be surprised if he knew."

"Sounds like you've got it worked out."

Nate laughed. "Hardly worked it out. I'm doing my best not to find excuses for him. There is no excuse for what he did. None."

"Not an excuse boy, a reason maybe."

"Is weakness a reason? Or an excuse?" It sounded like an excuse to Nate.

"Neither, it was his weakness that led him to the path. Where he went once on he was on it was his own responsibility." Samuel knew Nate wouldn't understand that, but he didn't need to. He just needed to accept it and then forget it.

"I don't know why I'm still worrying about this." Crouching near the weeds they'd been discussing, Nate pulled a flower from the top of one. "Its past and gone now. No one else cares anymore."

"You do, don't you? Why's that do you think?"

Nate looked at the flower and not Samuel. "I had, not forgotten, but put it aside. It was unanswerable. Something's, happened, that brought it to my mind again."

Samuel tried to think what could have happened to bring all this up again. "The little girl?" Nate had brought her down a few days ago to meet him. A cute little thing they'd saved from the orphanage. Callie, she'd said her name was.

"I knew you'd understand." Its why he was here and not talking to Rhosyn. She'd tell him he was being silly, which most of the time would be enough, not now. Now he needed someone who'd known his father well. Someone he could trust to be honest. "I don't want to be my father." Nate's head jerked up in shock when Samuel laughed. A loud happy laugh. "Why is that funny?"

Samuel did his best to calm down, but every time he looked at Nate, he start off again. Finally he managed to stop and after a few deep breaths was able to speak. "You couldn't be your father if you tried Nate."

"I wish I could be so sure." It kept him awake at night. What if it had been him that had pushed his father over the edge? The fact of having a child? The responsibility of that.

"Son, that you're even worrying about it should tell you how unlikely it is." He could see Nate wasn't convinced. "Do you remember how you couldn't believe your father had done the things they said he had? And you told me Lady Delilah said you didn't want to see?"

"Of course."

"Maybe she's right but maybe your father hid it from you. Sent you away so you wouldn't see it." Nate's mouth opened to object and Samuel waved it away. "I know, Rhosyn. She was part of it, I don't deny that, but what if it was mostly to get you away from here. Away from what he was planning to do."

"So I wouldn't stop him?"

"So you wouldn't see him do it. See what he'd turned into. Protect you, perhaps, protect himself more likely. Protect himself from losing your respect and love."

"I'd like to think, if I'd been here, I'd have tried to stop him. Perhaps even killed him to stop it."

"He knew that lad, don't you think he didn't. I think that's why he sent you away."

"Yes." Thinking about that, Nate stood. "Something to think about."

"No more of this nonsense about you turning into your father. I'll turn into King Alistair before that happens."

Finally, feeling a weight lifted from his chest, Nate bowed. "Your majesty."