☩ ００８． ＶＩＤＥＯ | ＡＣＴＩＯＮ

[mansuetus]

[ Lucrezia is in one of the lounges! Sprawled on one of the sofas, fingers busy turning a pendent of gold in the shape of a sea-horse. There are no poems today, no joyful greetings, something is different. She looks more pensive than anything else but there is a shade of concern there as well as quiet annoyance.

When she speaks, her voice is devoid of any of it. Her eyes still focused on the sea-horse. ]

A riddle, Tranquility.

How to mourn for someone who does not deserve it?

If your duty demands it and you have no desire to - do all men need to be mourned for? Is it a a more grievous sin not to mourn than it is to speak false words of grievance?

[ a beat. ]

Perhaps I must fast again.

[ a moment later she puts down her necklace, smiles. ]

I would have a cup of wine with your answer, if any of you have some to spare. You will join me in the lounge.

[ and it is not a question. ]

Comments

action;

[northerner]

[ something indulgent honeys robb's tone when he speaks, palm loose in her hands. ]

What does my fortune hold? Will you read it for me?

action;

[mansuetus]

[ Lucrezia read the palms of kings and knights, had made them laugh and charmed them with little jests of their future. All those men wished to hear the same, you would conquer and have everlasting fame, she told them with a smile. But Robb Stark is not quite the same and she looks at his palm for a long moment, hums in thought. ]

Many things. I see what the palms of most kings hold, strength and glory and battles and victories.

[ and a queenly wife she envies without even meeting, though Jon Snow said in jest, she would never be as lovely as you. ]

And something else, quite hidden! Shall I tell you of it? It is smaller in comparison but here still.

action;

[northerner]

[ many things, she says, and robb's lips twitch in an almost-smile. she's jesting with him, he knows this, but it's pleasing, and robb would have her go on and on with it. ]

I'd hear it, even if it were a small thing. Is it pleasant, or is it sad?

action;

[mansuetus]

Pleasant, I think.

[ she smiles, shifts a bit, a girl with a secret that she is allowed to tell for they are alone here with no one to hear. ]

Fortunes are a tricky thing. I find it pleasant but it is not my own fortune to judge.

action;

[northerner]

[ robb ducks his head, shifts as if he too is looking down at his palm. his eyes track the progress of her fingers, memorizes the touch of them against his skin. ]

Then I beg of you to tell me, so I might judge it.

action;

[mansuetus]

[ It's a funny thing, Robb Stark and Grey Wind must be fearsome in their own realm, 'he is called the Young Wolf', Jon Snow told her. Lucrezia can only imagine what the cardinals of Rome would say of her sitting here, holding the palm of a wolf king who is not a Christian but she cares very little. Her fingers press into his palm and a moment later she presses her lips to his, a secret still for they are alone and if Lucrezia had truly seen it in his future - that is a secret too ]

action;

[northerner]

[ they are even now, for robb stark has kissed lucrezia borgia and now she has leaned forward and kissed him. her lips are as sweet as he remembers, and he reaches up to cup her cheek, slide careful fingers into the gold of her hair and tip her head back for his kiss.

is this his future? is this what will become of him, robb stark lost to the stars with a borgia queen at his side? it's a fate much fairer than what he'd once imagined for himself, and in this moment, he can hope to keep it. ]

action;

[mansuetus]

[ It's a flirty game Lucrezia Borgia is playing and dangerous, at that. There could be much talk of a woman recently widowed pressed against a different man while she is supposed to be grieving. But better no grief than false grief, she was told and there is no one to pretend for here, no Sforzas and nobles and cardinals to be a woman of virtue for. There is no one here but them and it is a sweet secret, one that leaves her breathless, lips parting and chasing her breath against his own. They have few moments to steal like this and each other precious and short and wonderful. ]

action;

[northerner]

[ were he another man, he'd pull her from her chair to his lap. he'd seen theon greyjoy do such, tugging women of low repute into the spread of his thighs and they'd all gone willingly. but robb isn't that sort of man, and so he breaks from her, leans his forehead against hers and steadies himself. it's another matter to take his hand from her hair, from where it cradled her head. ]

Aye, a small thing, but more pleasant than I'd ever expected.

action;

[mansuetus]

[ If he did, she would go without a word, go to press closer and have her skirts riding up her hips. As it stands, she does hold respect for him since he did not. It would remind her of Juan, of empty promises and lust and sins. Still, he keeps her close enough and she doesn't move, pleased enough with just this. ]

It is the very nature of fortunes. One never quite expects them. They come when one least suspects.

action;

[northerner]

Is it a sign of my future? Is that what waits for me, Lucrezia?

[ his voice is soft. it's not the type of question that really needs an answer, because how can either of them know? is it even something that should be asked? robb isn't even certain how much of a promise he can offer her. ]

action;

[mansuetus]

[ By right, she should say exactly that, that she does not know. That the future is fickle at best and that she is playing a very risky game. Were she fully honest, that would have been the answer. But Lucrezia is a Borgia and well known for doing what she wants rather than what she should and so she smiles, speaks with certainty. ]

Yes.

action;

[northerner]

[ yes.

robb's breath catches in his throat at that, feels all his duty and honor tugging at his chest. he closes his eyes for a moment, leans his forehead against hers and thinks of it, of calling her wife, of sweeping his cloak around her shoulders. ]

Then what a sweet future it will be.

action;

[mansuetus]

[ it is the secret with fortune telling, her maid had told her. It allows one to create whatever future they want. And perhaps it is a cunning thing but Borgias are cunning creatures and some would say Lucrezia is the most subtle of them all. Her smile turns softer, her voice follows in kind. ]

Of course it will. I've seen it so.

action;

[northerner]

Then who am I to quarrel?

[ there's a pause, and robb carefully straightens up, steps away. propriety has been ignored long enough, and he should at least pretend to be a king, pretend to heed the rules he was raised with. ]

I should go attend to my duties.

action;

[mansuetus]

[ she should curtsy and she does, inclines her head with a smile before offering her hand for a kiss as she did whenever Cesare had to leave her, prim, proper, but mostly filled with mischief. ]

I shall not keep you from them, then.

action;

[northerner]

[ and he does kiss her hand, lips lingering at her knuckles longer than is proper, but what's left of propriety at this late stage? he kisses her hand and gives her a small smile and then he and his great wolf, they leave her as they found her, though the memory of her kiss lingers after her for the rest of the day. ]