Darne paused as he made his rounds. He saw his father talking to someone and after taking a bit of a closer look, it was in fact his betrothed. He lingered for a moment in the shadows, the idea of gleaning some information that could give him some more insight into the woman was certainly alluring.
However, his honor eventually slew the devil on his shoulder and after a few very heavy seconds of lurking in the shadows outside of hearing range, he took his leave away from them. It would look poorly if he was caught spying on his father or the young Lady Karstark.
"We shall see what time brings between now and the set date." Aaralyn said stated "Thus we can speak of wedding details later." With that Aaralyn gave a small scan of the area before saying "Well, I believe I shall retire for the night. Sleep well Lord Naelareon." She told him with a respectable nod before she made her way back to the inn her family had chosen to stay at.
Breathing heavily, Lothar seizes control of himself.
As gently as he can manage, he speaks with strain in his voice.
"Tele. The men who hurt you? They are dead. You are hurt. Please, let me bring you to the Maester to see to your wounds."
Anders delves into the treasury books... This journey was far too expensive, he complains quietly, tabulating the costs of food, wine, and gifts.
A snap decision.
"No men of mine, if they would do such!", he snaps.
Calming again, he continues:
"Then we walk away. Right now. Get washed. And not a word to anyone else."
Lothar closes the door behind him, and sees the basin of water he used earlier to wash. It is the best he has to hand, so he uses a cloth to wash Tele and then himself of the worst of the blood. He makes sure Tele is well wrapped before placing her in his bed. Drunk, exhausted, and desiring warmth, he climbs into bed with her.
And promptly falls asleep.
Lothar sits up in his bed, grogginess fading swiftly as the memories of the prior night rush back to him.
"Tele...your hair, it is very long indeed."
What kind of thing is that to say!?
"Why do you look angry at me?" Aaralyn asked as she slowly got up, cleaning the sleep from her eyes. "I haven't done anything... have I?" She added some what nervously as she undressed herself to get into the bath Nan has drawn for her.
"Worry?" Aaralyn asked taken back. Turning in the bath to fully look at Nan she inquired further "Why are you worried?"
Darne awoke in the morning and sat up in his bed. This was the start of liking a long, costly, and taxing three months. He scratched his head and dressed accordingly. He got to his door and made his way down to breakfast with his family.
He would need to ask his father and the Maester about everything they should be looking forwards to and what he needs to remember for the upcoming months.
The realisation of Tele's nudity does throw Lothar a little, but bruises are something he understands quite well.
"Here, let me look at those. I know a little field craft."
He approaches her. Slowly.
Aarlyn's eyes go a bit wide as one of her eyebrows arched up. "What?" She asked, shock in her own voice. "Has anyone else seen her? Have you asked my father? Maybe one of his guards saw her?"
Darne pauses and looks at the scene, with the guards and weapons in all directions. He becomes a bit worried given that guards are standing beside his father. While he would like to simply step in the middle of all this, his first worry is if his brother is ok.
He makes his way back up to Lothar's door and knocks "Um, Brother? Are you alright? We got a mess of guards down here and Lords of Harrowtown are making their appearance." he said not wishing to walk in on his brother in whatever state of undress he may be in.
If somehow House Naelareon was in trouble and gonna need to fight their way out...he'd certainly need his brother's arm and steel.
Lothar hears the knock and stands up.
He hears his brother, makes a shush motion to Tele with one hand while turning to the door.
"By the Seven, Darne! Can a man not sleep off a rough night? No fretting, I shall arm myself and meet ye soon!"
With little delay, Lothar's voice, roughened by drink, a late night and likely no breakfast, sounds through the door:
"By the Seven, Darne! Can a man not sleep off a rough night? No fretting, I shall arm myself and meet ye soon!"
Maester Anders heads to his lord's pavilion having slept wonderfully well. His smile fades quickly when he sees the commotion.
"What is going on?" he asks one of the more clever guards before making his way to the side of Lord Naelareon.
Aaralyn blinked at her Nan obviously lost. It took but a moment for it to all settle in. Something had happened last night and there was no chance it was good. Swiftly the young Karstark stood from her bath and stepped out, hardly taking the time to dry off before getting her under clothes on.
"Help me dress quickly, and don't worry about my hair! Just leave it down." Aaralyn ordered.
'I need to find out what's going on... but more importantly find Tele...'
"Ragged beast?" Maester Anders wonders, skeptical. He makes his way to his lord's side, curious to hear how the investigation has proceeded to date. Still, despite his eagerness to know, he keeps his tongue and waits until he is called upon...
Darne nodded "Alright then, make yourself decent. I am gonna head on down first and see if we can't smooth this all over." he says before he does just that.
He makes his way over to his father's side and looks around patiently and quietly, trying to see what's up without inturrepting.
"Certainly brother! See you soon!"
Softly, he says to Tele:
"Tele, I must get dressed and go. You have to leave after. Please."
As you leave your room you find men posted up, both Karstark and those of house Roote. Down the hall you can hear the bellowing of your father but can not make out what he is yelling about.
Seeing Nan, Aaralyn's heart ached. Taking a moment she got out the wedding gown her mother had given to her upon her sixth name day and placed it upon Nan's lap. "Keep busy." Aaralyn said softly "I'll do my best to bring Tele home." She then hugged the elder woman tightly. Many of Aaralyn's first memories where of Helen and Tele... Old Nan had been more of a mother than her own mother was.
Stepping out Aaralyn looked around at the mixture of guards. 'House Roote?... Why are they here? I mean it is their lands but... why visit now?' She wondered before her father's voice snapped her out of it and she made her way to where the yelling was coming from.
Aaralyn, listening for a moment, summoned her courage before she opened the door. Her figure now darkening the door way. "Do you think me so senseless?" Aaralyn asked as she stepped into the room. "or mayhaps you mean Helen? Who sits in my room fearing her daughter's fate." She brought up crossing her arms under her chest.
After a moment, blinking back tears Aaralyn asked the question her heart feared the answer to. "Is... where is Tele?" Her mind was more narrow focused at the moment if still clear, but her emotions twisted just under the surface threatening that clarity.
Your father turns.... in his hand is a scrap of fabric, caked in dried blood and still pinned with the simple starburst broach you gave to Telle many years ago...
The tears Aaralyn had blinked back began to form tiny streams as her hands came up to her lips, covering their quivering. Forcing her body to step foreword, Aaralyn's shaking hands reached out for the cloth and broach. Ignoring all else in the room with gentle hand Aaralyn took the piece, handling it as if it was so fragile that one miss movement of her fingers would cause it to turn to dust and fall through her fingers.
"T-Tele..." Aaralyn whispered as she brought the broach close to her chest, small stems turning into rivers as she began to weep. "W-what... Happened?!" Aaralyn demanded through her sobs.
Lord Karstark grimaces as the words leave his lips. "She was out with some revelers... there was a... an animal.... we think it was a shadowcat. Whatever it was, we found three servants of Naelareon, torn apart and partially eaten. A little ways down they found her broach... I'm sorry dear."
"N-no... I... I told her to go and enjoy herself..." Aaralyn muttered. "She so rarely gets- got to..." Breaking down a bit more, now grasping the broach tightly enough so that her knuckles where starting to go white. She almost seemed terrified that if she didn't have it in her hand it would vanish as Tele had. "B-but you've found no body?" Aaralyn asked as she looked up to meet her father's eyes, cheeks still stained with tears and eyes red.
"Are you even trying to fine her?! If she wasn't found there then she might still be alive! Why are we still standing here? Are Lord Roote's men out looking? These are his lands are they not?! This is their fault!"
Your father stares at you, then engulfs you in a hug. The warmth of his body surrounds you as he let's you son and scream. Not once does he try to speak, nor does he try to defend himself against your outrage.
Aaralyn buried her face into her father's chest and wailed, sobbing how it wasn't fair, that it couldn't be real, and that this was a nightmare she was begging her father to wake her up from. All the time clinging to the broach she had given her friend. The only thing she had left... and all she could return to Helen, though that had yet to cross her mind.
Even though their world declared her an adult, her weeping sounds more like that of a child. Her pleas, bargains, and wishes something you would hear from youth. "Daddy, what do I do?" Aaralyn asked when her sobbing had slowed "I shouldn't have let her leave my sight..."
Darne looked towards his father for a moment and then towards the Maester. He doubted the man had any more information than he did at the time. "Sorry father, but I just got dressed. I haven't even had a bit of bread yet so I'm afraid I ain't got a clue." he said rather confused as to the situation.
"Did one of own men get into enough trouble to really cause all this?" he asked confused but assuming someone got a little too drunk last night and did something uncouth to the locals.
Aaralyn was too upset to argue that her father had done that when he kept her locked in the keep with her mother as a way to ensure they didn't get carried off in a wildlings raid. Taking a moment to use her sleeve to dry her tears and regain some measure of composure, Aaralyn let out a shakey breath. "I need more than this to bring back to Nan... you can't bury a broach. Tele was my friend, and Nan like a second mother, for that sake alone I must try to find her body." Aaralyn said as she gathered her confidence.
"I saw the guards of House Roote upon my way here, I would have them give me a tracker to go along with some of our men... to help me." She explained as she looked to the broach once more. "She doesn't belong out there... cold... she needs to be where her mother can properly mourn for her." Aaralyn stated before she pulled herself from her father's arms and made her way to the door before she stopped and looked back at her father. "May I use your horse father?"
Maester Anders raises an eyebrow. It seems unlikely that a shadowcat would venture into the camp with so many people around...
"Where did this attack happen? And were the bodies left where they fell?" he asks, more than a little curious.
"Done." Aaralyn said fast enough to cut her father off. It wasn't like it was a breaking deal. Aaralyn knew she'd need a group of her father's men to help look anyways and Savric was supposedly their best. "Come along then Savric." She said as she stepped out of the door, stopping at the first guard of House Roote she could find and caught his attention. "Where, is Lord Roote?" Aaralyn asked keeping her emotions under control for the time being.
Darne scratched his head a bit. "Well now this don't look good on our part or House Roote then. Ours for having men so incompetent they can't defend themselves from one measly kitten and House Roote for not keeping their towns safe for travelers." he said somewhat quietly.
"I would say let's grab up my dear brother and the Maester here and have ourselves a look at the boys and then maybe a hunt. Maybe if we are lucky, we will find a few kits. That'd make for quite the protective animal if we were lucky enough to train em from youth." he said musing a bit.
Aaralyn half glared half sighed at the guard, with a shake of her head she motioned to Savric that she was moving again. "Need a more useful guard." Aaralyn commented to the man following her. "I'm fairly sure if I asked any of our men where my father was they could at least give me the last place they saw him."
With that she went on the hunt for Lord Roote. While looking Aaralyn took a moment to ask Savric "You wanted yo say something earlier. What was it?"
Lothar pauses.
"I am a fool! I should have told Darne."
He rubs his hair back without realising.
"I can go to get you clothes, if they are near. Or else, I'll go to my brother. He's cunning, he would know how to get us out of this mess."
"I will assist you as best I can," Maester Anders offers Darne. "I will be of little use when comes the time to hunt the beasts, but I can assist in investigating the scene and the bodies."
"Surely, this will not imperil the alliance with House Karstark," Anders reassures Lord Naelareon, albeit with little conviction. This could very well ruin everything!
"Then you, a guide, and I it shall be." Aaralyn said with a sigh. "Honestly I was worried father would make me take a group of our men so I tried to put his mind at ease before he could worry..." She tried to explained before she looked down at the broach she was still carrying. "I gave this to Tele... Her sixteenth name day. After my birth my mother could not care for me as a mother should, so it was Nan who took up the role and Tele became as my older sister." Aaralyn told him as they walked. "I wanted her to feel like apart of the family as I saw her. I saved all the father gave me, and I know it is so foolish to say, but I wanted to make it the nicest I could."
"I remember when they told me your youngeset one fell ill... You have always been loyal to my father so I said a prayer to the Old Gods, and I was so sorry when she passed." Aaralyn said as she stopped in her tracks to turn and look to Savaric. "I just wish to give Helen the chance to bury her daughter... to say goodbye properly. No parent should have to bury their child, but it is even worse when they've nothing to bury." Taking a moment she finished with "I know little of things such as this Savaric, I am trusting you to tell me when you have thoughts such as this. I cannot learn if I do not know... So please, as long as you can do it respectfully, tell me when you have objections to something I am doing."