Chapter 10: Lorys
Through some strange game of successions and appointments, the province of Rainwood had passed over to the Kinglands, specifically under the command of Lord Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone. This placed a chunk of the Kingslands within the Stormlands, upsetting travelers and mapmakers alike. The territory was in the de jure domain of the Stormlands, and so it was only inevitible that, at some point, Storm's End would demand Dragonstone hand the county over.
The lord of Rainwood was Ser Davos Seaworth, the so-called "Onion Knight," a nicknamed he had earned after smuggling a shipment of onions into Storm's End during the rebellion. He was a close friend of Stannis, even if the latter had cut off the top of his fingers from one hand to atone for his smuggling, and he had been honored with the territory. Lorys had briefly met him after the war, and some had commented that the two looked eerily alike, and may have been long lost brothers. None of it was true, of course, but Lorys knew you couldn't stop chatterers when they began to talk any more than you could stop wildfire when it began to burn.
The conflict was quite literally brother versus brother: Lord Stannis Baratheon, versus Lord Renly Baratheon. By this time, the young Renly was twelve-years old, and was actually quite handsome for his age. He was just as prideful as both his brothers were, and just as ambitious, but was already far better at capturing the hearts of men with his speech than either Stannis or Robert could. He was showing promise as a diplomat, though the court at Storm's End was attempting to train him to be a knight. Either way, he had the respect of most of his subjects, and Lorys felt quite confident that he would grow into a fine young monarch.
King Robert, for his part, remained silent about the war, and no ravens flew from King's Landing demanding an end to hostilities, as some expected to swiftly happen. Knowing his personality, Lorys imagined he was probably looking at the conflict from afar with glee, and was already making bets about which one of his brothers was to win the war. Chances were, Robert was placing his bets on the youngest sibling.
Lorys had hoped to join the war, but Renly and his court had quickly mustered the host of the Stormlands against Dragonstone. In May of 290 AL, a force of 8,000 Stormlanders marched into Rainwood and defeated a Dragonstone host barely a tenth that size. In June, Stannis landed a force of 3,000 men on the coast across from Tarth, then moved south, reaching Storm's End in November of that year. Now 9500 strong, the Stormlanders turned up and defeated the Dragonstone host outside the castle walls in January of 291 AL. Renly's army had been commanded by Ronald Connington, Lord of Griffin's Roost, who had been estimated by some as only a capable commander, but had amazed most by defeating Dragonstone's forces within a year: that same month that the siege of Storm's End was lifted, Stannis sued for peace, handing Rainwood over to the Stormlands. Lorys had been unable to participate in the conflict – but he vowed he would take up the sword in the next one that came up.
Lorys was not surprised by Lord Ronald's capabilities. One of his ancestors – Alyn Connington, or "the Pale Griffin" – had served on the Kingsguard, and was considered one of the best Lord Commanders the Kingsguard had ever seen. Ronald's cousin, Jon, had served as the Hand of Mad King Aerys, where he fought hard at the famous Battle of the Bells, wounding Lord Hoster Tully and killing Ser Denys Arrys. The battle was a loss, and King Aerys exiled Jon and gave Griffin's Roost to Ronald, who now served as the lord. After the rebellion, the Conningtons had been permitted to keep Griffin's Roost, but much of their land was passed out to those lords who had served more faithfully to Robert during the war. Now, where his cousin had failed against the Usurper, Ronald had now scored victory after victory against the Usurper's brother, winning prestige back for his house.
While the war was waged, Lorys tended to matters at home. His wife, once again, pregnant, had found it more difficult to move as her belly swelled and became larger and larger, to the point where she would find it difficult to do something as simple as stand up out of a chair. Truth be told, both pregnancies had become a source of annoyance for Lorys. The woman would stir in bed all through the night, and would often throw the sheets back and declare, "I feel so hot!" What's more, every tiny little thing set her off emotionally. She had always been emotional, whether he was humping her in bed or telling her to leave him alone, but now every tiny little thing set her off. He didn't even have to try to depress her – he simply spoke, and she found something from his words to cry about.
As the belly weighed her down, she took to reading. That was not entirely bad in and of itself, but she took to reading romantic poems and sagas. She would lay in bed during the evenings and read them, and make audible gasps and hums at specific parts. Sometimes it would get so bad Lorys would threaten to burn her entire collection. Several months into the pregnancy, she had managed to read everything romantic in all of Herston Hall...and yet she desired more. She begged Lorys to acquire more, but he told her no. He really wasn't interested in giving her more fuel to read about silly knights and their ladies, and he didn't want to stay up all night listening to her coo and sigh while reading by candlelight. He told her frankly that if she wanted romantic poems, she would have to buy them herself. Instead, Lorys' wife took to becoming more religious, and prayed for the save delivery of the baby.
The war was still ongoing as the pregnancy continued to advance inside Eglantine's womb. Finally, in May of 290 AL, Lorys was notified that his wife had gone into labor. He was slightly nervous, worried about another stillborn. He paced about in the main hall, thinking to himself on what he would do if it was indeed another stillborn. He knew what people would say: he was a cursed man. Three dead children under his wing, no heir to his seat...people would think that the gods were punishing him. No woman would ever want to conceive with him, ever. The whole incident would prove most disastrous. If his prestige had to be maintained, it must be maintained with a successful birth.
Finally, hours and hours later, there came word from one of the midwives...and it was good news. A son had been born. He was a good, healthy child, whom Eglantine had named Andren. When Lorys went to the bedchamber and found Eglantine clutching the newborn tight, a wave of joy and relief came over him. The child was still alive, and looked incredibly healthy. He was a strapping young boy, which meant that Lorys had a male child, and hence an heir to his seat. The House of Threedrop was secure.
In November of that same year, Lysana, Lorys, and Dermot were standing on the balcony of Dermot's tower, looking out at the nearby sea and the hills that rose up around Herston Hall. They had met to discuss some of the affairs of the county, and found the evening weather so refreshing that they took the meeting out into the open air. Lorys couldn't help but notice that Lysana "accidentally" bumped against Dermot's lens tube, turning it away from a certain section of the beach and out of focus. Dermot did not notice, and Lysana said nothing, and so Lorys decided not to say anything either.
"Received word from a King's Landing raven today," Dermot began, not realizing his perfect alignment towards the bathing spot had been ruined, "apparently King Robert – or the Greatstag as he's being called now, for whatever reason – has started another one of his odd wars against some trade state half the world away."
Lorys smirked, "Perhaps he has grown bored of staying holed up in a palace all day. He is a warrior at heart. Which nation is it now?"
"Astapor, as I recall," Dermot replied. "I believe that is where the infamous Unsullied live. An army full of eunuchs. Foolish idea, I think. Maybe the women won't fear the army when they attack, but neither will the men."
"Incidentally," Lysana said, "I spoke with Ravella, and have come up with a solution to our monetary headaches."
"At long last!" Lorys said, a hint of exasperation in his voice. "I had forgotten it was difficult to run a county without funds...what have you two come up with?"
"Quite simple, your lordship," Lysana continued, "the new Master of Lockport is quite well off; we have offered him to give us a loan, in exchange for a repayment of 25% interest. He has agreed, provided we grant him a position as castellan. In return for this favor, he will grant us seventy-five dragons, which would only leave us three dragons in debt. That should be paid off in about three months."
"That is very good news," Lorys said. "And as for the castellan position, he may have it. I think it will be very useful having the master of Lockport as castellan of Lockport as well...and especially one as good with coin as he is."
Lysana nodded, "I thought that would please you, your lordship."
Lorys nodded back to her, and smiled. For a moment, she smiled back at him as well. As she did, a particular gust of wind came over the scene, blowing against some of the strands of Lysana's hair that stuck out from her cowl, causing them to run along her face. The knight-turned-lord was taken aback by this, but tried to put the sudden feelings away. The awkward staring they did of one another for quite a few seconds did not help matters.
But, surely it was nothing.
