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Post by Ray on Oct 4, 2017 22:40:31 GMT -7
Edric is the last to follow, his grey eyes following trailing after Katherine when she mutters under her breath. He shakes his head slightly, and lets his feet carry him after the other three.
The hole sits in shadow, hidden from most watching eyes by the rocks surrounding it. Rough stone steps lead up to it, weather by sea and wind and rain for who knows how long. Davos leads them into the dark tunnel, their palms feeling at the rock to guide them along. "We can't risk lighting a torch," Davos says, voice quiet. Edric doesn't care. His eyes adjust almost instantaneously, allowing him to see down the rest of the way. The tunnel stretches long and narrow, deep beneath the city and the Red Keep. He has to bow his head to keep from banging it on the rock above, that fact making a frown tug at his mouth. They reach a split in the tunnel after a long time, one section lifting up a set of crudely carved steps to the left, the other winding slowly to the right.
"This is where we part," Davos sighs, turning back to them. "Katherine, Edric," he nods to them, "The dungeons of the Red Keep are to the left. I suggest waiting there until you hear the sounds of battle. In the confusion, you may have a cleaner ascent." Edric nods once flicking his grey eyes that way. "We'll continue on to Flea Bottom," Davos says, looking to Asher in the dark. The man still has his hand upon the rock, eyes squinted.
"The sooner we get out of these tunnels, the better." Asher replies, clearly a little unnerved.
Davos nods, and looks back to where Katherine and Edric stand. "Gods be with ye'."
"Hopefully not," Edric mutters, and turns. He carries himself up the short set of steps and to the left, not pausing to make sure Katherine is behind him.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 4, 2017 23:00:37 GMT -7
Katherine had to admit that this was one of the most difficult journeys she's ever had to make especially because of it being so dark, she managed to keep herself from falling over anything or even bumping into anyone in the front but it had made her own walking a bit slow. Then after a while Davos said hers and Edric's name and for a moment she wanted to actually pretend that Edric didn't exist in that moment but she looked over at the voice of Davos and he explained about the fact that they were parting and she was going to be going into the castle with Edric and for them to wait until they hear the sound of battle.
She wanted to say something but instead she actually gave Davos a hug before softly clearing her throat and pulling back.
Katherine found that she was alone and she sighed under her breath before walking up the steps and then going to the left. If she was honest she used to use the back passages all the time but she wasn't sure she had come this way before. More than that she hoped that Cersei never knew about any of these places. She wasn't the sort that had the fun streak like Katherine was, she liked to explore her surroundings and find beautiful things in dark places but even she found it very hard to like this place much. Between her father hating her mother, him hitting Katherine and Cersei hating her.. she found it a very horrible place.
She never told Jon anything like that, only that her mother and father didn't get on and that was all she had said to him. Katherine did wonder if one day she would tell him everything. If they both survived then maybe she would tell him but for now they had to get through all of this before she could really make any plans on what she would tell Jon in the years to come.
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Post by Ray on Oct 4, 2017 23:15:41 GMT -7
Davos returns the hug, knowing that this may be the last time they all see each other. He's marched into battle before, marched to battle with his son, and knows the painful realization that going home might not be an option for either of them. But he's grown rather fond of this raggedy group of people. Grown very fond of them all. Katherine pulls away and Davos gives her a reassuring smile and a quick, gentle pat on the cheek. "You'll be fine, love," he says with a smile and a nod, "Be brave."
And then they part ways.
Edric hears Katherine's footsteps behind him, and that's reassurance enough that she hasn't gotten swallowed by the darkness. He keeps on ahead, eyes scanning the length of the tunnel, listening for any distant echoes of footfalls or voice. But it's quiet this time of night. They round a bend, and in the distance a golden light takes form, flickering against the walls. Edric slows for a moment, but when he hears nothing else he continues on. "We must be reaching the end," he says back to Katherine, voice low.
And sure enough, within only minutes, they reach the end of the tunnel.
It opens to a set of stairs leading up into a large room, torches sitting upon the wall and lighting it's breadth. He looks around, stepping slowly into the open space, his eyes falling upon a hundred different skulls of different sizes. Some are small, the size of dogs. Others... He recognizes the same head shape as the dragons Daenerys rode to Harrenhal, their teeth the size of his forearm, their eyes empty sockets. Edric takes a torch off the wall and moves around the room, lighting each one. He wonders, for one fleeting moment, if someone will keep his skull in a dungeon someday.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 4, 2017 23:33:48 GMT -7
Katherine kept up with Edric but at the same time kept the distance between them, he speaks but she doesn't say anything back. It was going to be a long time of waiting and she needed the silence. They reach the end of the tunnel but that didn't mean that they were actually clear because they were going to be together for a long time and she wasn't sure if she could actually bear that but she guessed she was going to have too.
She saw the skulls of the dragons and her heart seemed to stop for a moment before it started beating again. Even from here she could see that the skulls were pretty, her father had wanted to make sure that they didn't get seen again. There had been a thought in Katherine's mind about why he had kept them all these years and one day had asked him exactly why it was there were dragons skull in the basement area and he had looked her in the eyes and said 'So that I can get my hands on the last Targaryen bitch and burn her with the bones of the very things that family loved so much.' She shook her head and then looked away.
Katherine knew that this was going to be the longest fucking wait ever and wondered just how long before it all kicked off how long before the battle began and she wouldn't have to sit down here with Edric for so long but even she could tell that it was going to be seven hells down here. She bit on her lip before letting her eyes sail back in the direction they had come and hoped that Jon and the others would get here soon so that she could be spared the agony of waiting too long with the guy that would probably want to kill her than have her down here with him.
The man who for some reason hated the way that she looked or hated everything about her really.
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Post by Ray on Oct 5, 2017 0:27:51 GMT -7
They camp for the night in a town long ravaged and left abandoned a few hours from the walls of King's Landing, behind a hill and in the trees to keep any lurking eyes in high towers from seeing them. The horses get fed, the men bed down, and Jon watches the walls of the city from the highest window of a forgotten inn.
It glows in the night. The rest of the world is a black valley, but the fires burning within that flea-bitten city turn the whole thing to a golden star on the horizon. He stares at it, and his mouth turns sour.
He's never been this far south before. Never seen King's Landing for himself. There were pictures in Robb's books, pretty sketches of high red walls and dragons flying overhead. They'd made the city look desirable, incredible, a beacon of regality and fortitude. But now, all he sees is the coming fire. The coming blood. How many people live in that city? A million? How many of them will burn?
"You really do brood, don't you?" A familiar voice interrupts his thoughts. Jon glances back, his arm falling from its resting place against the frame of the window. Daenerys steps into the room across the dusty floor, hands behind her back. "I guess you get that from the Starks." She comes to stand at his side at the window, looking out towards the same city. "All you Northern men seem so sad."
"It's because we're fucking freezing." Jon says, and Daenerys barks out a short, surprised laugh, looking to him.
"He jokes," she teases back, nudging him with an elbow. Jon smiles softly. "Good to know."
"Is it?" Jon asks, brows twitching close.
"It is when I have a full bottle of Braavosi rum and no one else to share it with," Daenerys says, pulling the bottle and two glasses from behind her back, wiggling the former in the air and setting the glasses down carefully upon the windowsill. Jon smiles a little more, surprised by her. "Tyrion is in Casterly Rock," Daenerys continues, pulling out the cork of the bottle and dipping it low to fill the glasses. "Missandei is back at Dragonstone," She sets the bottle aside and scoots one of the glasses towards him. "And you look like you need a drink." She picks up her own and lifts it to her lips, taking a sip. Jon hesitates for a moment, not liking to drink on the eve of battle. But maybe she's right. Maybe he does need one.
He picks up the glass and swallows it down in a single swig. Daenerys watches him, curiously, before she tips hers all the way back as well, swallowing the rest in a gulp. Her face twists in displeasure, Jon coughs at the burn that scratches its way down his throat, and they both laugh after a moment.
"See? Better."
"Not what I would say about that," Jon clears his throat, setting the glass down and shaking his head slightly.
"You might be right." Daenerys mutters, turning the bottle to look at the label. "With the way Tyrion drinks it, I thought it would at least taste good."
"I don't think he drinks it for the taste." Jon admits, arching a brow at her. Daenerys huffs out another small laugh.
"Perhaps not." She sets her glass down as well, her lilac eyes returning to stare out of the open window. "Seems so strange, doesn't it?" She says after a moment, inclining her head to the side. "Such a dismal looking city causing so much hysteria." Jon shifts his eyes back towards the glow in the distance, resting his shoulder into the side of the window frame, exhaling a slow breath.
"It will be your dismal city soon." Jon replies. Daenerys smiles faintly.
"Ours." She corrects, turning her eyes upon him in a slow blink. "You are as much an heir as I am."
"I'm a bastard," Jon corrects, a strange tightness developing in his chest.
"Targaryens have a history of putting bastards on thrones. I believe there was a war about it." She replies, a hint of mirthless humor in her tone. "And even if there wasn't," she turns her body to face him, leaning back, "Who is going to question your legitimacy? Your men already look to you as their King and the southern lords would be fools to start another war because your name is Snow."
"I don't understand," Jon halts her, shaking his head slightly, "You want me to rule with you?" Daenerys lets her lips press close, but her eyes remain upon his face, saying plenty. Jon shakes his head once. "What about the North?"
"Katherine will rule the North, as she wishes. I have no plans on turning my back on our deal."
"So you'd keep me here in the South? As your King?"
"Oh, don't look scandalized, I'm not asking for your hand in marriage. That's a tradition I have no intention of keeping." Daenerys sighs, rolling her eyes at him. But then she stills again, watching him for a quiet moment. "You and I have lost everything. Time and time again." She begins again, voice soft, "But we're still here." Jon's shoulders relax slightly, "I'd hate to lose again." He looks down for a moment, not knowing what to say or even how to react. Daenerys must notice. "I know...your feelings for Katherine. I know she'd sooner make you her King, it's quite obvious. But...I cannot marry again. I cannot bear anymore children. When I die, there will be no one to pass the throne to. No one save you." Jon lifts his eyes once more. "You could be more than the bastard King in the North. Your children could be more." Daenerys continues, her eyes never leaving his face. "You could be the King."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 5, 2017 10:03:44 GMT -7
It was quiet in the castle and she had to admit that she liked nights like this, it meant that she could think without everyone going at her mind. It also gave her alone time and there were many things that happened today that she would rather just have some time from. Cersei stood in the doorway that led out into the small patio that overlooked the water and she had a drink in her hand. She could never understand just what had happened for someone to attack Casterly Rock, but she had sent men there to defend it because if they lost that then the Lannisters would never forgive her.
She was sure they wanted to get rid of her anyway and put one of theirs on the throne after her. Maybe she was over thinking that but she honestly doubted it. One wrong move and they would do the same to her as what happened to the Targaryen's and then the Petrova reign would be over seeing as Katherine wouldn't be able to take the throne, it would be in the hands of a Lannister.
At that thought there was a cry behind her and she moved away from the doorway and put the glass down on the desk before moving to the small bed that was next to her own. Cersei had to admit that this was the most beautiful child that she has ever seen, dark hair and blue eyes. She never knew Katherine as a child but she knew that she did take a lot of stick from their father, she was the one that her father always would hit but never in front of people because he was worried that someone would get him off the throne. In fact Katherine dealt with a lot from this family, herself included and that's probably why in the end she turned away from them. She decided to seek solace with the one family that treated her like a woman.
Then she goes and bloody marries one and has a baby.
Cersei had got word that a woman fitting Katherine's description had dropped off a baby in a village with an old woman and it only took a moment to realise just who that woman had been. The only woman who doted on Katherine had been her nanny Gwin and it would make sense for her to have dropped her child off with her. Of course now she was looking down at the small child she could sort of understand why Katherine would want to keep her safe from everything that happened. Especially when there was the threat of the South marching on the North.
But at the same time she wasn't looking after the girl because she was a beautiful child but because once word got to Katherine that her daughter was here then it would bring her South. She picked the small child up and she stopped crying and for a moment she wished that she had a child, it would make sure that her family kept the throne a lot longer. Cersei wasn't that blessed. As if her body was telling her that she could never bear a child. She had to admit that this child looked like Robb Stark, she remembered the man when they had gone to Winterfell years before. The Lord keeping Katherine's attention but at the same time she could see her sister looking at the bastard boy.
Starks... they all were savages.
Cersei had asked Gwin over and over again where Katherine was but she got the same answer, Winterfell. The woman was in Winterfell making sure the North stayed ready for conflict with the South. The North was in disarray after losing one King and now readying for a war should it come with the South.
In the end Cersei had them put to death and now she was keeping the child with her. Mia Gwin had called her. Sarah her daughter had called her Amelia, that seemed fitting seeing as Amelia was their Grandmother's name. Something unusual in a place like Westeros but she guessed that her mother was unusual, sadly she had come across their father and now she was dead. The only thing their father was good for was keeping the throne warm for when she had sat on it.
The small child looked up at her and she saw the blue eyes and wondered what Katherine thought when she had looked in those eyes, did she think about Robb or did she hate Cersei more knowing that she had a part in Robb Stark being murdered. Now she got her hands on the one thing that Katherine would give everything up for... her child. That's what a mother did, a mother loved their child more than anything so all she had to do was get word to Katherine that Amelia was here and then she would get the Queen of the North here.
She put the girl back into the small bed before she moved away.
Come to me Katherine, I have your blood.
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Post by Ray on Oct 5, 2017 11:06:09 GMT -7
The night passes slowly and restlessly. For a long time, they keep absolutely silent -- careful to avoid drawing any attention down to the dungeons, careful to keep their presence unknown, careful to avoid one another most of all. But no one, not since they arrived, has even stepped this far down into the castle on an unlucky guard shift. No one, it seems, cares what lies down here.
Good.
Edric paces across the room once more, crouching to pick up a forgotten skull from the ground. Its the size of a hunting dog's, small and just a little large than his palm. The eye socket is deformed, the teeth missing in gaping holes, evidence of trauma marking the base. He knows little of this realm's history. He remembers the First Men. Remembers them crossing into this place, cutting down the forests, driving the Children and him further and further north as they got bolder and bolder. But he had not been interested in conflict. He'd already fought too many wars. So when the wall of ice rose, he remained on the other side in the frozen north.
Dragons... dragons are new to him. And yet it seems these men have done everything to ruin them.
He sets the skull down once more, and rises back to his feet.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 5, 2017 11:26:38 GMT -7
Katherine remembers hiding down here sometimes when her father was too heavy with the hand, it had been down here she waited until she could get back to her room. Her father found her one day and she had asked him just why he kept the dragons down here and that's when he said about the fact he wanted to burn the bones of the dragons with the Targaryen girl and he had said it with so much spite that she remembered thinking whether or not he would ever have that done to his own daughter, his own daughter that he would raise his hand against. Gwin had only been the one to stand up to him and in the end he got rid of her for that reason.
It had broke her heart when her Nanny had been got rid of.
This place has caused so many people to suffer, herself and Sansa were just two of the many people who had hurt because of people here. She leaned her head back against where she was sat and started to think about Sansa and not for the first time she had wondered if she had ever told the man that she cared about him. She had hoped she did because this war was going to be bloody and it already felt like it was going to be long even when it hadn't started yet. Katherine guessed that Jon and the others had stopped for the night and she wasn't sure if that made her feel any better because she still felt so far away from him.
Her eyes watched Edric stand up and then she remembered seeing Edric coming out of Sansa's tent that morning and then it seemed to hit her like nothing had ever before and she found a frown pulling at her lips. Now wishing that she hadn't told Sansa to tell the man she cared about that she did because knowing that it was Edric.. well that just made her wish she had never found herself thinking about it. "She told you then" she said over to him but her eyes had moved away from him and was looking over at something else "Sansa told you that she cared about you..."
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Post by Ray on Oct 5, 2017 11:50:11 GMT -7
Katherine's voice breaks the silence for the first time in hours, and Edric glances back towards her. His dark brows press close, caught a little off-guard by the mention of Sansa. Caught even more off-guard by Katherine somehow knowing about the two of them.
He's not going to pretend as if they tried their hardest to keep it a secret. He knows damn well that Brienne isn't the only person who figured it out, Tormund making that clear the night he lunged at a soldier for making suggestive comments about what he'd like to do to Sansa. Yet Katherine had seemed so wrapped up in her own affair with Jon, in her own politics as Queen, in her own fantasies about a Forrester wedding, that he hadn't been all that concerned with the woman confronting them. But Sansa must have said something, must have let something slip.
So here they are.
He releases a long, slow sigh, looking away from the woman. "Let me guess," he says, voice low, "You don't approve."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 5, 2017 12:01:32 GMT -7
Katherine looks over at him when he speaks and she scoffs before shaking her head. She leaned her head back against the wall behind her, what he done was up to him. But this was Sansa, she wasn't a little girl anymore and definitely wasn't the same girl as she was when she went to King's Landing she knew that but with Edric? She looked away from him and bit on her lip.
"No, I don't approve" she admitted.
She knew that it was nothing to do with her what Sansa done but this was Edric, these two didn't get on for whatever reason. He took a dislike to her straight away and yet she never knew why that had been, what had caused him to hate the sight of her but for some reason the two of them were sitting here and waiting for the battle to begin. "She could do so much better than you" she said after a moment. Her brown eyes looked over at him "and I don't mean with Asher but she really could do so much better" but then again she guessed he thought the same about her and Jon. They haven't exactly been quiet about the relationship that they had.
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Post by Ray on Oct 5, 2017 12:38:36 GMT -7
Edric can't help but huff out a sardonic laugh, a disbelieving smile stretching across his face.
She's not wrong. Sansa does deserve better than him. She's far too kind, far too honorable, far too good to be with a man like him. She deserves someone just, someone gallant, a king in every right who can give her the life she damn well deserves after years of abuse. And that is not Edric. He's violent, quick to anger, a beast in all sense of the word. He's spent most of his existence alone, hunting through the snow, isolating himself from a world that has no need for someone like him. He wasn't even sure he knew how to be gentle anymore. How to care. Not until he met her.
When he's around her, it's like a curse has been lifted from his shoulders. As if he's finally, truly feeling human.
But he says none of this to Katherine. A part of him doesn't want to give her the satisfaction, the ammunition. Not when she already believes she has plenty. Not when her mind is already made up. Besides, it's not Katherine Stark's heart he cares about.
"Don't act like you know what's best for her," Edric replies, returning his eyes to her face in a slow blink. "I'm not the one who ran from King's Landing to marry one of her brothers and sleep with the other, all while leaving her to rot and fend for herself. I'm not the one who's dragging everyone she has left in this world back to this fucking hellhole of a place just to settle an old feud."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 5, 2017 12:51:29 GMT -7
Katherine listened to what he said and then smirked at him. "You hate me and that's fine, I don't care what you think about me but don't even think you know what happened when I was here" she said and looked away. She put her head back against the wall and closed her eyes up, wanting this to be over so that she could be away from him. "And if you don't want to be here then you're more than welcome to leave" she said and kept her eyes closed. The last thing she wanted was to look at him when she knew what he was saying was true.
She hated herself enough without having that thrown in her face all the time by a man who wouldn't ever understand anything but one side of the conversation.
Katherine bit on her lip and actually wished that the guards would find them just so she could be away from him, at least then it would get things moving a bit but sadly it would put everyone else in danger and it would actually mean that Cersei would find out just what was happening before it even happened and it would cause her to double up on the guards that she had left.
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Post by Ray on Oct 5, 2017 13:21:26 GMT -7
Edric scoffs a little, turning away from her. "You're a hypocrite." He mutters, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head slightly.
He's met people like her before. Plenty. So sure that they have every reason to hate him, to villainize him, based on nothing but what they see on his exterior. She's never spoken to him until now. Never even been in the same room for more than a few minutes when all he's done is eat, or drink, or sit silent. And already she believes she has him figured out from head to toe, a great big man with bad intentions and a mean face. But he knows her. Has seen what she's capable of, has seen how quickly her mask changes from innocent and teasing with Jon to bitter and vindictive. From a sweet, reluctant Queen to a woman capable of the same kind of violence as all of them.
At least Edric knows who he is. Knows he's not a good man. Knows his faults. Katherine hides behind the notion that no one could possibly understand who she is, what she's been through. As if she doesn't already wear her heart upon her sleeve.
But he knows that arguing with her is futile. Anything he might say, right or wrong, will just solidify her reasoning for disliking him, solidify any determination she might have to paint him as the bad guy. And he has no patience for petty squabbles. He just wants to get this over with.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 5, 2017 14:06:30 GMT -7
Katherine opens an eye and looks over in the direction of him before sighing under her breath, in honesty she didn't care what he thought about her. But if she was honest it didn't seem to matter what she did because if she didn't do anything and Daenerys came to the North with the dragons then that would be wrong and because she had gone to her and had sorted a truce it felt like that was wrong too so either way she couldn't win. But if this one got them their freedom then it would be worth it.
Maybe that did make her sound like her father but at this moment in time she honestly didn't care.
"Flea ridden mutt" she said and watched him letting a slight smile pull at her lip and she looked forward once more.
Katherine closed her eyes back up and knew it was going to be hell down here with him especially when it was going to be long but hopefully now they can keep the silence between them. She pulled her lip in between her teeth once more and then found that she had more insults but decided to keep them to herself because the last thing she needed was for him to go at her again. She already felt like crap but if there was anymore digs at her then she could release them if he wanted to hear them.
It was quiet, she forgot how quiet it really was here. But she did find it weird considering Casterly Rock was under siege but then again if Cersei had sent half of her men there then it would probably be quiet.
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Post by Ray on Oct 5, 2017 14:55:34 GMT -7
Edric hears her comment, and momentarily sets his eyes back on her, a slight frown tugging at his mouth. But he says nothing, tired of this argument, tired of her insults, tired of this dungeon. He sighs out another low breath, setting his eyes ahead upon the stairwell. He puts all of his attention there, waiting for the oncoming storm.
"Do you see anyone?"
Asher pokes his head around the corner of the squat building, looking down the cobbled road on the other side. The sun is just beginning to rise, making the world turn lighter shades of grey the later it gets. The armies would be here soon, marching straight for the gates with their swords drawn, ready to take King's Landing once and for all. They'd already broken the locks to the Iron Gate south of here earlier this morning, opening the entrance to Flea Bottom. But it's this gate that will make the difference. This gate that will allow all fifty thousand Dothraki and twenty thousand Northmen to rain hell upon this blasted city. This gate that will bring in Daenerys' dragons.
It's aptly named for it, too.
"No," Asher says, shaking his head. "Save some rats." They slip out from their hiding spot, moving quickly from wall to wall, even despite the silence. Asher's eyes scan the wall as they make their way down the road.
"Figures as much," Davos sighs out behind him, shortened hand sitting at the ready upon his sword, "King Robert abandoned this part of the city long ago."
"If you ask me," Asher comments, darting his tongue out to wet his lips as he pulls the iron axe from his belt, "It seems like the man had a grudge against dragons." He says, sarcastically, and swings his axe down. The sharp blade snaps the lock upon the Dragon Gate in half after a few strikes, and Asher moves quickly to pull the chains through and throw them aside. Davos keeps watch, eyes trained down the side ways as Asher uses all his strength to push the heavy wooden doors open. A forgotten, weed-covered road greets him. He cups his hands around his mouth, and with a very precise tongue, sings out a bird call.
A few seconds pass, before he distantly hears a call return to him and a shuffle in the bushes.
Asher grins towards Davos. "They're here."
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