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♕ 3rd - video - waxing poetic

[ elizabeth sits in the grass, with white roses in her hair and her skirts pooled about her. she looks thoughtful and placid to most, and only those who know her passably well may note an undercurrent of sadness in her features. it is there, but not readily apparent unless one has seen and interacted with her often.

her mother's absence and the hell that awaits her family in the future have not been forgotten. they hang like a great weight about her neck, and in the way her shoulders bow a little despite being straight and stiff otherwise. she keeps her eyes averted from the camera for now, as she speaks up quietly: ]

It all began upon a lovely day in spring
A maiden fair stumbled upon a King
Beneath the boughs of a mighty oak
Whilst two boys clutch'd at her cloak

And lo he came upon them there
Stricken at once by the maiden so fair
He gaze'd at her and she at him
Love-struck and helpless to its whim

[ she releases a long breath of air, and finally looks up at her comm device. her face still appears peaceful, as though the words and the act of writing them have had a calming effect. and perhaps they have. she effects a small smile, though, for good measure. ]

I think it a good beginning. What say you, Tranquility? Putting such a tale to words has been a daunting task, indeed.

I shall continue, and add more to it. But I must ask, are there such tales whence you hail from?

[ and if poetry is not your jam, elizabeth has another query. she holds up a plastic container (a stick of deodorant) and a glass bottle (perfume) and various other sundry items she has found. all sweet-smelling, all utterly confusing to a girl from the late middle ages. ]

And I must beg another query of you, if you please: what are these? What purpose have they?

[ anyone who knows her will see that this is only an attempt on her part to distract herself. sitting idle and stewing over the heaps of negativity life loves to send her fmaily's way has never been her thing. ]

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What is the tale that you wish to write of?

[He asks, though he thinks that he has probably guessed it. A tale of love. But perhaps there is more to it than that.]

Ah, my brave escort. [ her features soften, and she even smiles a little. ]

It is the tale of the love between my mother and father. How they met and came to be together.

[Well, that's not so bad. Since it is a true story, and the story of her parents, Bran thinks a little more kindly of it. And she did greet him as a brave escort, which makes him think even more kindly.]

Then it is a story well-known to you, and you will write the poem well. Who were the boys?

[ were she privy to his thoughts, she would smile. boys truly are averted to the concept of love, aren't they?

but as she is not, she can only maintain her small, but honest smile. ]

Yes, it is. And I thank you for such high praise, my lord. I do not think there may be a higher recommendation.

As for the boys, they were my older half-brothers. My mother had been married and widowed when she met my father.

[She is easily pleased, but that is not an insult. Nor is what he says next, though it may sound an insult--]

It would be better if they were knights, and not children. Two brave knights, that guarded her and kept her safe from all harm. Perhaps they even knew that she was fated to marry another, and so they kept her safe from other lords that sought to claim her hand. When they tell the story, that is how they might tell it instead. People aren't very interested in children.

Did they truly fall in love, just like that?

[ she is easily pleased, and not easily offended. especially not while conversing with a child, who is bound to think and feel very differently than she does. in many ways they are more innocent and wise, things she hopes she has hung onto through the losses she has suffered.

elizabeth smiles a little, realizing there might be a reason she is unaware of behind what he's just said. ]

Does it help that they grew into a pair of strong, capable young men? I do promise that my father loved them as well as he has ever last of my brothers and sister.

Yes, they did. He perished of fever not long past, and she loves him still. As he did her until the end.

[ she pauses. ] May I ask if it was also so with your parents, my lord?

[It is less about a father's love and more about what makes a good story... but, then again, a father's love makes for a good story too. Especially when the sons were not of his own issue. That is no easy thing for anyone of noble birth. Bran nods, after a moment of consideration.]

That helps the story. Did they grow to be knights, or only lords? And it is good that your parents knew such love. I know that it is not always so, when a match is made. It is lucky that they came upon each other, and were permitted to wed.

[At her question, Bran hesitates a little, glancing down.]

My parents loved one another well. My lord father was one of the most honorable men in Westeros, and he was a good and dutiful husband to my lady mother. And she is very beautiful, and was dutiful and good to him in turn. They loved each other very much, and they loved all of us, too. It was a good story.

[With sadness, and perhaps not so quick and striking a thing as the love her parents knew. Bran has not often considered his parents in this way. It is a strange thing to think of.]

[ the tale unto itself is surreal as it is without any embellishment, in her eyes. good stories come in many forms. and often the truth is more shocking and fantastic than that which the human imagination might conjure up. ]

The younger did, yes. He was elevated to the most noble Order of the Garter. My eldest brother, Thomas took his father's seat and had to manage his own affairs once he was old enough.

Such matches are.. truly rare. Marriage is more a business transaction than anything else by nature where I hail from.

[ it was a good story. was. oh, bran. elizabeth closes her eyes, and effects an empathetic expression rather than a sympathetic one. ]

A woman cannot ask for better than that, young lord. Truly, they seem as blessed as my parents were, in their way.

But it yet is a good story. Even if.. they are no longer with us, it does not make their love for us disappear. My father is with God, but also in my heart. And so he lives on there, and in my mother's. His story continues in us.

As that of your parents does in you and your siblings.

[He nods, as he winds some of Summer's fur between his fingers. It is better to keep his eyes cast there, though he is not so sad as he might be, and so it does not show as plainly on his face.

Elizabeth has the right of it. Marriages can be peaceful but unhappy, or simply unhappy--or worse, though such things are only ever whispered as gossip. Bran never paid much mind to such things, for it was never a worry. His own parents were happy and blessed, as Elizabeth has said. It pleases him that she recognizes it, too--that his parents were happy enough so that their happiness is plain even in a retelling.]

You're right. Even here in space, far from our homes, it is no less true, and it is important to remember. It can be easy to forget. My lady mother was here, for a time. It was good to see her, and though she is gone now, and has returned to Westeros--even that does not make her disappear. You are wise to see that.

[He risks a glance at her, with a small smile.]

What is the Order of the Garter? Can you say, or is it secret?

[ in so very many ways he continues to remind her of her brother richard. spirited away to flanders at the age of nine, she wonders if she shall ever see him again before his death. to him, she has utterly failed as an older sister to keep him safe from those who would do him harm. so has her mother. not for lack of trying, but perhaps because they had underestimated the evil their enemies were capable of.

here, she has found a boy so like the one whose cheeks she had kissed and seen off without a tear in her eyes. richard cannot be replaced any more than bran's parents or other departed relations may be, but she wishes to reach out, anyway. because he is kind and good and brave, and still innocent though he is wiser than most children his age.

elizabeth would guard this in him, and keep it safe as she could not for her brother. she will be strong. this is why she smiles at him, and does not change her expression. she is here and she is strong now, and she will not fail him. ]

That is why it is doubly important to never allow ourselves to forget. Because it is so easy. But those who have always been a part of us never fully vanish so long as we are living.

[ her heart twists a little in her chest, but her expression does not change. ] It is this thought which has helped me through much toil.

[ of the emotional variety. and it is (a little) helping her now. ]

Ah, the Order of the Garter is the greatest order of chivalry in my land. The knights who join must already be knights, and ladies such as myself and my sisters are named as companions or ladies of the Garter.

[Those who have always been a part of us never fully vanish so long as we are living. Bran thinks the words again, after she has said them. It is a little like when he left Winterfell, and saw it burning. The walls might fall, but there would always be the foundations of the great castle, and the catacombs beneath, with all the kings of winter keeping watch. A tree, when it is chopped down, has roots that never leave the earth. So is it for memory, and for love.]

I am sorry you have known such toil. But I am glad that you are so wise, to have learned these lessons, even if they were hard-won. I am glad that you do not forget.

[The second part makes him curious, and lends him boldness to ask more questions of her.]

Then are you a Lady of the Garter?

[ through all the losses her family has suffered, this has been the one lesson which has more than once kept her from going mad and able to smile through the pain. because the memories will never die in her heart and so her loved ones live on through her.

both physically and spiritually. their blood flows in her veins; and so in that, too, part of them still carries on in her, and in bran in his own case. ]

They were hard-won, but have since become invaluable. Without them I know not how I would have borne such a pain as loss can bring. And I would see to it that neither of us forget. For we cannot, for their sake.

[ she nods. ]

I am, yes. Should you ever become a knight, my lord, I would happily either ask my mother to confer the honour upon you or do so myself.

[He nods, again, at all that she says. The words are very wise--and though what they speak of is sad, Bran gives a small smile.]

I always wondered how stories came to be. Maybe it starts here. To remember, you must tell stories to yourself, and if someone has done many brave and great things, then everyone wants to hear those stories. But maybe it began only as memories. My lord father was a good and just lord, and very brave in battle. Tales will be told of him.

[Brave in battle, the way that Bran could never be. He has a sword, here, and he has his robotic legs--but in Westeros, he has very little, save for a great task.]

I will not be a knight. But I know a knight, who is here. Mayhaps he has earned the honor.

[ she gives him a faint smile in response. ]

Indeed there will for a certainty if you are the one writing and telling them. It is easiest for me to write of what I know, and it would be thus for anyone. The world would know it to be a true account because you are one of those who knew your father best. If you would be willing to practice by telling them to me, I would be honoured.

And tell you tales of my family in exchange, to be fair. Then we will both ensure that the memory of our loved ones will exist in many worlds; not simply our own.

[ elizabeth tilts her head, now curious. ] Who might that be?

[Could he tell such stories? Sometimes they are painful, but usually, they are sweet to remember, even with the sadness. The distance of space and the distance of time both have helped. Everything is different, aboard the ship, and such changes have brought a distance of their own.]

My father did not boast, so I do not know many stories of his bravery in combat. Only a few. [Then again, Elizabeth is a lady, and ladies do not like stories of war (except maybe for Arya, who hardly counts as a lady, and she would be first to say it).] But I could tell you as many tales as I could, and I would hear yours in exchange. It would be good to spread them to others, you are right.

And the knight that I speak of is Ser Gendry. He works in the smithy here, but he is a knight of Westeros and friend to my sister and to House Stark. Do you know him, my lady?

[ anyone can tell such stories. with varying degrees of skill, to be certain. but a man of the sort bran speaks of deserves to be remembered and sung about. to be honoured, both for his deeds on the battlefield and off. just like her own father. ]

Bravery does not lie only in battle, my lord. [ he might be surprised; she's read an entire book about the roman emperor caesar! ] And I will gladly hear your tales in exchange for my own. A friend has pointed out that we from the pas must take care not to remain ghosts to those from the future.

A fair point, and easily remedied by this very thing. Would you not agree?

[ she shakes her head. ] I regret that I do not. Might this be remedied as well?

[Can a man be brave if he is afraid? Bran had once asked his lord father, and he had answered: That is the only time a man can be brave. Both in battle and out, bravery is the same. Her words remind him of that lesson, and he smiles, as he looks down to where he winds his hand around Summer's fur.]

You have the right of that too, my lady. I think you are wise. I would like to hear your tales.

Ser Gendry is usually in my sister's company, or else working. But maybe he will tell us some tale of himself, sometime. And you can certainly meet him. I do not know if he has won any battles, but he is brave and loyal and good, I know that of him.

[ her own father had been a warrior-born, that was the truth of it. but elizabeth holds that he was never so brave as he was when he defied the earl of warwick and the whole of his nation, as well as the kingdom of france in order to wed her mother. out of love.

there are many, many forms of bravery and elizabeth admires them all. but perhaps none so much as the kind which comes to one outside of the heat of battle. for it takes more to cultivate, and greater resolve to act upon. and she can also relate to it more easily, as perhaps might bran. ]

I thank you for the praise, my lord. [ she smiles softly. ] Then you shall.

If he is brave and loyal and good, that is all one needs to be a knight. Prowess in battle comes with both practice and experience; but what lies in a warrior's heart is not so easy to obtain. I would certainly like to him him some time.

[I was going to be a knight. Bran looks down at his robotic legs as she speaks of a warrior's heart. There are knights and there are butchers; there are true men and there are cravens. Gendry might be untested in the lists, and mayhaps not as battle-tested as he might be-- but he has been good to Arya, for all that she shouts at him. He has done what he can to aid their house aboard the Tranquility. He has demonstrated bravery. And he made my sword for me.]

I will introduce you to him sometime soon. He doesn't say very much, but he is very loyal and good. I think a knight that talks little but does a great deal is one to be admired. He will not be so inclined to boast if he does not say very much.

[ elizabeth nods soundly, still smiling. ]

I hold to the ideal that deeds speak louder than words. His deeds are noble and good, so he must be noble and good. And thus he is a person whom I shall be honoured to meet.

Good. I will tell him of you, too, and we will make some meeting someday. I do not know where he eats, but we could invite him to eat with us. Even if the food is humble, the company will be good.

[a.k.a. I hope everyone likes pancakes and waffles because that's Bran's specialty]

Good company is far preferable to me than a lavish meal, my lord.

[ lizzie has expanded her range to boxed mac 'n cheese and sandwiches. the food might not be so terrible! ]

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♕ 3rd - video - waxing poetic

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