fandomtownies | Parents' Weekend Brunch, Sunday Morning to Afternoon, The Park

Parents' Weekend Brunch, Sunday Morning to Afternoon, The Park

As was traditional, the start of the end of Parents' Weekend featured plenty of food, benches, chairs, and coffee in the park. After all, the Student Council couldn't let the parents be weirded out one last time without a feast.

The sky was a little overcast, but the temperatures were still above normal, which was a lucky break for the final day of the weekend.

[OOC: Have fun!]

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Cesare had imagined at first that the cloaked figure was his Micheletto, but the stature was too short, and perhaps too feminine. Curiosity drew him away from Lucrezia's side.

"Tell me," he murmured, under his breath. "Do you hide, or do you wish to observe unseen?"

Dany stiffened in her cloak, the dragons peeking out curiously at the stranger. She assessed her options -- Ser Jorah was within sight, and he had his sword, if this proved dangerous. And there were her dragons.

"Must I choose?" she asked softly, sliding her glance his way. At least the young man asking was lovely to look at, even if she had to be suspicious.

Cesare laughed, leaning back against the tree.

"No, you mustn't," he said. "Nor must you spill your secrets to any stranger who approaches."

Cesare liked mystery. And he enjoyed challenges, as well.

Dany graced him with a wisp of a smile. "Are you visiting family, my lord, or merely fortunate enough to live here and have escaped my notice before today?" His clothes were enough to tell her he was a person of importance, and vaguely familiar.

"So you would consider it fortunate that I escape your notice," Cesare said, teasingly. "I fear if I explore that further, the implications would be unflattering. I will prove myself charitable with information; I have come to see that my little sister is well. Is it fair, my lady, to return the same question to you?"

"I meant no insult," she said, raising a brow, though her smile was a bit more teasing and easy than it had been. "Just that my mind has been occupied lately and I fear I've scarcely noticed more than my own navel. I make my home here, yes, and attend the school. Have you found your sister well, then, and her surroundings acceptable?"

She shifted Rhaegal in her arms, rolling her shoulders. She was grateful she was wearing the leather of the Dothraki under her cloak; Drogon and Viserion's claws would surely have punctured her skin by now, otherwise. She studied the young man, a smile playing around her lips. She was still suspicious, but his clothing was familiar, and his smile easy, and it stirred something in her that had been forgotten and dormant for months.

Edited 2011-10-03 04:40 (UTC)

"What wonders must lie in such a lady's navel, to inspire such attention," Cesare said. He may well get slapped for it, but he could not resist the opportunity. "My sister finds the school to her liking, and my only concern in this matter is her happiness."

He would kill to ensure her happiness; he had done worse for less reason.

"Tell me," he said, casually, noting the cloak once more, and the way she seemed determined to hide under it, "is there one here who makes the surroundings unpleasant for you? I've a man who is skilled in the way of ... brightening such places."

Micheletto might welcome the chance to wield a garotte. He may have grown bored with this weekend's activities. Especially if a young lady was in fear of some brute.

Dany's smile faltered, and she turned her face away for a moment, considering. Once again, she trained her eye on Ser Jorah; far across the park, she could see Ser Jaime.

She could run fast, if needed. Escape on her silver, take the dragons and live alone, far away.

"May I ask the identity of your sister, my lord?" she asked, finally. That would help her decide how much to divulge. Her mind told her not to say anything at all; however, her instincts told her this was a predator who might be used as a weapon for her own. Another dragon.

"I am no lord," he said, simply. "We are both feinting, are we not? You do not wish to reveal your identity, or that of your pursuer, for fear it could be used against you. Similarly, I cannot tell you of my sister if that gives you the advantage. We find ourselves at an impasse."

If there was danger, he could not risk Lucrezia being harmed by it.

"I have no alliances here," he said, instead, "nor any enemies, of which I am aware. Does that set your mind at ease?"

"Somewhat," she said, and she sighed, for she had assumed he wouldn't share his sister's name. "I am not pursued; I am hiding. The man who killed my father when I was still but a hope in my mother's womb is visiting his brother this weekend. While he would not know my face, there is a...family resemblance. My coloring would betray me, and I cannot fight him now. That is why I hide, my...good sir." She didn't know what else to call him, if not a lord, if she had no name. "And I am no lady, at least not by title. I am royal, not noble. That much I will share."

Edited 2011-10-03 05:26 (UTC)

The lady had allowed him to peek at her cards; he could at least do the same.

"You cannot fight him, now," he said. "Perhaps the fight could be prevented. Do you see a cloaked figure at the tree opposite ours, slightly to the north?"

He nodded slightly, to Micheletto, so that the man would know to make himself marginally more visible.

"Would it be any assistance to you if my manservant, there, was to lure him away from these festivities and ... enlighten him as to the ways of silence?"

He looked back at the young lady again. "When I spoke of such matters earlier, it was no idle offer."

Dany watched the other figure, a wild hope rising in her for a moment. But to kill the Kingslayer....

He wasn't hers, anyway.

"It would do little good, as he is but one of many who might seek to harm me," she said carefully, shaking her head. "A widowed queen must not act rashly, as tempting as your offer is. I am in no position to strike yet." She tilted her head back to look at her companion, and smiled. "But when I do, I do hope your offer will still be open. I have my own power, but I know better than to ignore the wicked combination of kindness and subterfuge when it's placed before me."

So much tantalizing information in that reveal. A widowed queen, fighting a war. And what he could see of her face intrigued him, as well, on baser levels.

"I have no army," Cesare stated. "Only myself, and a loyal assassin. If your interests lie with my sister's, then you may borrow such skills as I possess. If they do not, then the consequences of such a betrayal would be dire."

It was not wise to threaten a queen, but he wished to make it clear that he was no fool. He would reveal his name, but if she gave him cause to regret it, then she would feel such fury as she could not imagine turned back upon her, queen or no queen.

"Cesare Borgia," he said. "Subterfuge, I have, though kindness, perhaps not. My motives are perhaps ulterior."

Dany's smile was quick. "I know your sister Lucrezia, my lord Cesare. She is a delight, and her interests seem to mirror my own. There are so few women with political savvy." As she spoke, she stepped into the shadow of his tree, obscuring her entirely from the Lannisters, should either glance over.

And once she was in shadow, she lowered her hood, and out fell a wave of silver-blonde hair held in place with braids, and Viserion and Drogon looked around eagerly. "Daenerys, of the House Targaryen," she offered quietly, her smile as proud and small as the rest of her. "Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm, and Khaleesi of the Dothraki."

It seemed fitting to offer her full title, even if she knew it wasn't written on the scrolls yet. She'd heard Viserys recite it enough times.

Edited 2011-10-03 14:07 (UTC)

She was exquisite. He should be careful of such matters; his heart was still quite damaged from a Lady who would prefer to be a nun, but there was no crime in appreciating beauty. Danger, perhaps, but when one lived in Rome, all was danger.

Cesare lowered himself to one knee, as seemed fitting when presented with royalty.

"I have no titles," he said, "but Cardinal of Valencia, a collar which I wear with the greatest of reluctance. How, fair lady, should a Cardinal address a Queen?"

"Most call me Dany," she said, reaching down to tilt up his chin. It was forward, but she hardly cared when she was presented with a man kneeling before her. "Please rise, my dear Cardinal Cesare. I am not your queen, and I refuse your sister's formalities as well. Though I admit that since I am entirely ignorant as to what a cardinal might be, you may well outrank me, anyway."

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Parents' Weekend Brunch, Sunday Morning to Afternoon, The Park

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