𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐍.

                   — his umber eyes never left the bloody mess of the man, full of a darkness others could not put a name to, and he had licked his dried lips as if he had come upon A FEAST. the rush of power that still ran through his veins made his jaw clench to make them hold back an erring question. something told them it was best not to ask what he saw, what he wanted, or gained from all of this. but he carried a feeling in his chest like a secret after that, something TOO STRONG for everyday, something to take out in the dark when he couldn't sleep, when he kept replaying horrors: breaking bones, and splattered blood, and the scent of burning flesh. solemn and hollow; it had pushed away the notions of weakness. royland felt awake — no, he felt alive. his own monster, the one held captive in the darkness between his ribs and the warm pounding wave of his blood, finally broke loose. THERE WAS NO CONTROL OVER IT NOW. after all, SURVIVAL, in the end, was merely a synonym for beating death.

𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚆𝙴𝙸𝚁𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝚂𝙴𝙴 𝙰 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙰𝚁 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝙴 from before her life completely changed. Weird, but not unwelcome. She had been the one to insist on that meeting; not with the man himself, who she knew she could trust with her very life, but with the others, still recovering from the whole fiasco in London. « Thank you for meeting me. » She begins after they placed their orders to barman on the other side of the counter. The nearest safe house was, of course, out of the way; not until Andy and the others were reassured about the fact they could trust the man. And speaking about Andy, Nile could definitely feel the woman’s eyes on herself from her spot on the other side of the pub. Watching, studying the man Nile was meeting. And so did she. The man had changed since last they met in person, before she left to go overseas. There was an eyepatch that definitely wasn’t there that last time, behind which there was a story she’d like to hear, one day. But the girl had contacted him for a reason. « So, I’ve been doing some top-secret jobs — not Army related. » Did Royland knew about her death? Did the news reach him? Did he make some researches after she called him? Nile wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with that explanation yet — so unless he was going to ask her directly, everything would be vague. Like she had been instructed to do. « And you’re the kind of man my group needs for one of those jobs. »

royland & nile | sc | @forrestermutt

               it’d been years since he’d heard from her. properly, that is. not since her time in basic. to get called to a meeting so far out of the blue ? well, royland couldn’t say it was an unwelcome surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. it was only so lucky he was back in britain for a time on business, and had the moment to spare between meetings and his employers, to come. ‘ it has been a long time, freeman. ’ settled, he’d took to giving a quick sweep of the bar under the guise of adjusting his cuffs. ( paranoid, they called him, yet he had a reason nowadays, didn’t he ? ). there was an inch still in his palms. it was quiet after burning bridges, maybe in the worst way for a man who’d built himself on death. which reminded him ... ‘ hm, so i have heard, ’ old contacts in the u.s. army had a lot to say, but frankly, it wasn’t his place to dig any further. royland let two of his knuckles rap against the counter, a type of nervous energy in his veins for reasons other than a former soldier he’d once trained. ‘ don’t worry, no questions, you know i’m not the type. ’

Must, he dare say must to her? Did she look like she was his servant? She would have slapped him for that, she wanted to slap him for it. She wanted to have his tongue cut out for thinking he could speak to her in such a way.

She could, after all. Cersei was the daughter of Tywin Lannister, she was the Queen. She was the Regent until Joff came of age and her word was the law of the realm.

But, the thought of Joff on a battlefield disquited her and for a moment, just a moment, she thought of what it would be like if Joff was on the battlefield, away from her protection and with no to hear him call for aid.

The Hound had abandoned him, he was out there somewhere now and Cersei hoped that soon enough his head would wind up on a stick for his treason but he was gone, and Joff was down a sword.

Cersei bit at her bottom lip, for a moment. “If I was to allow this, then I would say when it stops. I would say when to far was to far, do you understand me?”

           he had plans, means of getting the king to focus on his need for survival, but they would be useless the longer it festered. overt care and pampering brought up a spoiled child, and that, the king still was. children did not deserve to be leaders, far too much responsibility to be put on their shoulders. one day, joffrey would have to grow up, and fast, or be killed for it. there was much lacking in the boy king, by both highborn and lowborn words. yet cruelty and hatred, he could shape, give some form perhaps ... as a weapon joffrey could use against his enemies and not his own people.

           a faint tension left his shoulders at cersei’s words, some ease of mind coming to him. there was a good chance of success. if not, well, at least tommen was taking it all the best he could in stride. ‘ it is as you will it, my queen, ’ the knight’s head inclined slightly. platitudes. this is what was expected, to be heard and acted upon. but he had never been the soft kind. ‘ i have no intention of purposefully harming him, only t’push him as any good trainer would do. ’

IT IS HESITATION THAT GOT HER INTO THIS TROUBLE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Talia hesitated when Ramsay grabbed her, too shocked to say anything. She had left it up to Ethan when she could have ripped herself from Ramsay’s grasp herself. She could have told him no. BUT SHE HESITATED. She put Ethan in danger. Why does she continue to hesitate? 

“I know. I just-” the sentence is never finished. She is just what? CRAVEN? Uncomfortable? She has come so far with this task. She has shown she is capable of doing it. Yet again, the hesitation gets to her. She watches the rabbit get snatched, One-Eye removing the head without so much as batting an eyelash. Talia feels her insides cringe. Her nose scrunches up along with her lips pulling back against her teeth. It is swift. But the sight of such a thing, even something that is dead, leaves her with the impression that she will not ask for a piece once the rabbit is cooked. There is no way she can hold something down after seeing that. 

Still, she can not keep her eyes away for too long. If she needs this in the future, she needs to know exactly what to do. Even with the imagine continuously playing in her head of the head being separated, she must keep her eyes trained. Her stomach ROLLS again as the insides are removed, deep reds and pinks being pulled from crevices she did not know the rabbit even had. But the minimal sight of blood is a relief. The amount of blood she had seen so far is enough for now. 

              it isn’t hard to see that she had frozen. the fact was that she never had to be exposed to this, to things like this, and more. living in a castle as the rest did saved themselves from truly fighting for survival. one-eye remembers. in the back of his head, the threads of a sided rivalry. now that the boltons were wardens, the forresters fell below the whitehills, who were loyal vassals. ( yet disloyal friends ). truly a pitiful sight, but he looks on at her with simmering dislike, lips curled back in a scowl. ‘ hesitatin’ gets ya killed, ’ his voice hits rough as it comes, causing one-eye to cough and attempt to clear his throat. ( fuck, it hurts ). ‘ in a fight or otherwise. ’ he wasn’t going to speak after tomorrow for a whole damn month if they’d let him.