An Arrangement

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Weather:            Clear

Time:               Mid Afternoon <16>

Season:             Summer

Date:               Orgilion - August 12, 3045

Real Time:          Fri Dec 05 18:13:27 2008

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Card Failin

The building opens into one long room with a high ceiling. The walls are whitewashed with black beams bracing all. Two large alcoves open in the center, with wooden pillars sitting before the open space. This is where the men are meant to sleep, for many beds are arrayed in orderly rows, a chest sitting at the foot of each.

At the ends of the hall, beyond the long table that stretches along its center, the two wings of the building stand open. At its Easternmost is where the Captain dwells, his only privacy afforded by a drawn curtain. The Western end is empty. A trapdoor stands leading to the kitchen, victuals and the armoury.

[BOR(#30834)]

\"I come for Ceredir, Scout of Ithilien, claimant to House Bragollach,\" says Bor aloud, bedecked in a casual array of whites and blues.

His words carry out across the long hall as he stands at the entryway to Card Failin, with his eyes squarely outwards and his hands clasped at his back.

The barracks are relatively empty in the middle of this summer afternoon, as most of the men are attending to duty and other matters. But those men who are here look up at those words, and a few of them step to the side so that the man in white and blue can now see down one long section of the building, where there are cots. \"Over there.\"

Ceredir is, in fact, getting up from a cot where he had been sitting and reading. \"I\'m Ceredir,\" he answers, marking his place in the book with a piece of paper and setting it down on the bed. He hasn\'t yet seen Bor.

[BOR(#30834)]

Bor strides through the rows of cots wordlessly.

\"It is you,\" he says, the implacable look on his face dented temporarily by surprise. \"We must talk in private.\"

The Scout is equally surprised when he recognizes Bor, and for half an instant as the Knight comes his way, Ceredir\'s mouth drops open. \"Here?\" he continues, recovering himself and looking around. But he doesn\'t give the other man time to answer that, as he turns and walks toward the very end of the hall, where there are rows of cots that are empty. \"We can have some privacy back here. It is the best I can do for the moment.\"

[BOR(#30834)]

\"Yes,\" says Bor, following. \"I have heard of your predicament.\" He takes a seat on one of the cots and narrows his eyes upon Ceredir.

\"I am Bor Bragollach, son of Dauragor Lord Bragollach, and my voice is his. Tell me, what is it you hope to gain from these claims that now circulate the city?\"

The Scout remains standing, arms folded across his chest, staring at Bor. \"What I want,\" Ceredir says, speaking slowly as if to choose his words carefully or control his temper, \"is an acknowledgement of who my father is. I know it is not the foul tanner who raised me.\" He keeps his gaze on the Knight, unblinking for several long seconds, his chin tilting up in stubborness--his jawline and profile with something of the look to Bragollach about them, and particularly of Elenur in his younger days.

[BOR(#30834)]

Bor scratches his chin absently, but his eyes hold those of Ceredir firmly. He waits for the scout to finish before he speaks again.

\"And if that is not a possible outcome, do you plan to persist with this claim?\" asks the Knight.

The noise of other conversations and men moving around the barracks drifts back to the pair as Ceredir stays silent, still meeting the man\'s gaze. Many emotions might be read in his eyes as he stands so, though chief among them are anger and bitterness.

Then the Scout slowly turns away from Bor and sighs quietly. \"I have been told not to pursue it.\"

[BOR(#30834)]

\"I have access to contacts and allegiances that you do not,\" says Bor evenly. \"And it is in my interest and the interest of my father to pursue this matter to its truth. It so happens that for the moment, our paths are the same.\"

\"I can promise you that whatever I find, I will share with you,\" continues the Bragollach, and his grey eyes flash warily. \"On one condition, of course. A condition that you must consent to before I leave this room.\"

\"You\'ll what?!\" Ceredir turns rapidly back toward Bor, staring again, only this time it is in surprise. \"But, he\'s a Bragollach...and so are you...\" he stutters. \"Why would you offer such to me, who at best, is only a bastard son? At best?\"

[BOR(#30834)]

\"Because you are an...\" Bor pauses and his next word is spoken through gritted teeth. \"Embarassment.\"

\"An embarassment that must be silenced. And that is what I ask of you in return: your silence. You will not speak of yourself as a Bragollach to anyone, at any time, ever again,\" spits the Knight.

\"In return, I shall deliver to you the truth.\"

\"And that would be it, then?\" Ceredir answers, not bothering to hide the bitterness that now leaks fully into his voice. \"If it turns out the tanner spoke the truth, and I -am- Elenur\'s son, that\'s all I get? You\'re the bastard son of a Bragollach, boy, now go off and make your way in the world without any family at all to support you--not even the tanner that raised me? And in return for this wonderful secret that I more than half suspect is true already, I get the pleasure of keeping my mouth shut and Elenur gets absolved of all his responsibility toward me? Is that how it goes?\"

Fury starts a slow burn in the scout\'s eyes.

[BOR(#30834)]

\"Elenur is absolved of nothing,\" says Bor with vehemence. \"He will be dealt with by a surer hand than yours.\" He leans across towards Ceredir.

\"I will offer this deal only once and on my word I can assure you that I will follow through with it just as I give you my word that you will never be a Bragollach,\" he continues.

\"Never.\"

There is fury still in Ceredir\'s narrowed eyes as he stares at the Knight, and then the scout breaks away, pacing the small area between the cots like a caged animal.

\"My mother.\" He turns back to Bor at last. \"Find out my mother\'s name as well. I give you my word on this.\"

[BOR(#30834)]

\"You will have it,\" replies Bor tersely.

The Knight raises himself to his feet and says, \"I should not have to impress upon you the confidentiality of this meeting nor its seriousness.\"

\"If you break your word, I will find you and I will take the penalty from your flesh. Good day,\" he says evenly before turning to depart, a longsword clattering at his waist.

The Scout says no further words to Bor, but he stares after him for a long time. And in that look, behind the man\'s back as it is, is pure hatred.

\"Bragollach.\"

The word is hissed under Ceredir\'s breath. And then he looks away.