Opening post by Ser Aldric Mallery · #1
Dean would have salted my fallen keep. Not blessed it. Not argued over the stones. Salt first. Questions after. I understand that order. When the frost of ’88 took our harvest I picked through rubble for bread. Damp earth. Burnt crops. Some losses smell alive long after the banners are gone.
My latest loss was different. I rode out of [ENVY] six days ago and rode alone. Earlier today I swore back to that banner. A keep can fall while a lord is still choosing where to stand. Do not mistake a new oath for a repaired wall. The stones remember.
Marcus Reyes said he was done with me before the hall. The whole kingdom heard it. Dean would have salted that silence too. Sam would ask who struck first. The car would leave. I remain. That is the part that troubles me.