#dicconmartel

The sun was setting behind the frozen mountaintops. At the first sign of evening, Danyl was always eager to leave the castle in favor for some inn or tavern or whorehouse where he could spend his day’s earnings. Something small stolen here and there from the castle was worth more than he could spend in a week. 

Danyl never saved any of it. What was the point of having money you didn’t spend, anyway?

He took the steps, two at a time, down to the servant’s quarters and then out to the stables. Spotting Diccon, he grinned. 

“As long as I live, I will be content if I never have to see Lord Grancourt again.” Sysley Du Fey announced, loudly, as she stepped from her carriage. “They say his daughter ran off and became a pirate. Doesn’t that make for an interesting story?” She asked the stable boy, a mischievous look in her eye. “But then, no one could blame her with that man as a father and Renfry Moran as her intended. I would have chosen piracy, too, I think.” 

She stopped then, taking a good look at the young man before her. 

bROTHER. <3

Sorry it’s taken me so long to come chat about these two sweetheart bbys!

But as I’ve said to everyone else, above all things, Isolde treasures family. They mean everything to her, after losing both her parents and her elder sister. So I feel like Diccon is someone she treasures very very dearly. If anything were to happen to him, she wouldn’t know what to do.

Annie Thorel was more than capable of walking home on her own, but it eased her father’s mind if she waited for her aunt and uncle to take her. And she was, of course, always happy for their company.

“Aunt Isolde said she has to stay here and help with Lady Alia’s gown for the feast tomorrow night.” She announced, entering the stables. “So it’s only me.” 

She gave her uncle a mischievous grin then, “I think Tom is happy to be able to see more of her. Do you think he will ever ask her to marry him? I know he cares about her -- he might ask me to peel some potatoes and somehow it always turns into a conversation about my her. But I wonder if she likes him?” She’d like to see them both happy, even if it wasn’t together. 

Sometimes she wondered if her aunt had never had a family of her own because she was too busy helping her father look after herself and her brother. But she hoped she had proved that her aunt didn’t have to worry anymore. 

Tom loved cooking. He didn’t even mind half the time that he didn’t especially care for most of the people he was cooking for. He was happy to have this job at all. 

Tonight, however, he had been given the night off. Lord Grancourt had invited Lord Rowlin Stafford and his family to dine with him, which meant that Tom hadn’t needed to prepare anything. He still was at it, however, but tonight he cooked for the servants alone.

They had all come and eaten when it pleased them, but when Tom saw that there was still food left, he realized that Diccon Martel hadn’t gotten his yet. Grabbing his cloak off of it’s hook, he ventured out to the stables. 

The sun had found it’s way out from behind the clouds and made a poor attempt at warming Aragoth’s frozen north. It had been two days since the last snow and this was as much of a sign that spring was on it’s way there as anything. It would be weeks yet before the snow 

Normally, Rowlin was eager to summon his subjects to him, but the castle was feeling small with his insufferable family all about him. His eighteenth name day was in a month and he meant to commission Warin Thorel to forge him a sword fit for the occasion. Upon that day, he would take his rightful place as Warden in the North and his uncle would have no choice by to listen to him. 

So Danyl is a wanted felon b/c he stole from Lord Rowlin Stafford two years ago, but he hasn't been caught b/c his cousin is helping him hide, but also b/c his wanted posters look nothing like him, haha. 

Anyway, b/c of that, no one else knows who he really is and I feel like he spends most of his days hiding out in the kitchens and his nights at the taverns, but when he gets bored, I feel like he wanders around and talks to people (and probs steals from them when they aren't looking b/c I think he's something of a kleptomaniac -- although I think for the most part, he wouldn’t steal from other peasants so idk that Diccon would have anything to worry about on that front).