Redfork Menace

The Truth

{Only 1 small note and thats that the feud is stupid. Both sides are not speaking fairly about the other and neither should be counted as a wholly credible source. They are the same people in different fonts who get together to be angry about who's better at spelling. And spoiler alert, its neither. }

Shanda had fallen asleep in Benjicot's arms. Once the tears had started falling she was powerless to stop them, so she didn't try. She just let him hold her until she was all cried out. He'd held her so softly the entire time and eventually she had fallen asleep in his arms, exhausted. She had woken alone in her bed sometime before the sun came up. Not bothering to wallow in bed, she quickly dressed after waking and asked a guard to escort her outside. She wanted a moment to herself before the trial began again.
The Tully castle had a wonderful view of the land around them. Hills stretched as far as the eye could see and it was misty, a heavy fog settled over everything. The early morning chill was still in the air but she was appreciative. Staring out over the horizon Shanda considered her options. Today she would testify with Martyn about what really happened in the Borderlands. In it she hoped to slander the heirs' name twice as bad as he had hers. She had to make it clear in no uncertain terms that they were incompatible. Martyn would be a phenomenal back up in this case as he worked guard duty. Granted he hadn't spent that much time in the borderlands but he had encountered the heir enough to be a reliable source of information.
It was one thing to enjoy being held or to steal a sordid kiss behind closed doors. But she did not want to marry the Blackwood. She loved her family and Stone Hedge, despite their flaws. They worshiped different gods, they held different values. He doesn't respect women, she reminded herself when the image of her wrapped in his arms cropped up in her mind. It didn't matter if he made her head rush or that she wanted desperately to read every book in the Blackwood library. The fact of the matter was, she had to tank this marriage idea and quickly.
***
Martyn walked along the halls hoping to find his sister. Yesterday had been a disaster for him. The altercation at breakfast had started with a Blackwood making loud jokes about the price of honor and dignity. Which in turn had riled Royce up and then he had riled Gerolt up. Martyn hadn't bothered to interfere. He knew he couldn't afford to get tossed away before the trial ended. That had obviously been the Blackwoods intentions, to get as many Brackens as they could ejected from the court. But Martyn had twelve brothers and unlike his idiot brother, he knew how to take a jab. Royce was constantly hotheaded, which made Martyn have to counteract his anger. It was very hard to rile him up because of it. So he'd watched as Gerolt was dragged off, despondent. It had only been the beginning of a very bad day for him. He could only imagine what his sister must be feeling. It was to his great fortune then that he turned down a hall and spotted Shanda walking opposite him.

"Shanda!" He called, simply not wanting there to be any chance she missed him. Then he quickly walked over to join her.

"How are you feeling? Do you want to talk-"

Martyn was cut off by his sister grabbing his hand and essentially sprinting with him down the hall to lose the guard. To be honest it was probably overkill as he doubted the guard was going to pursue them. It's not like they could go anywhere without a boat. The lord Tully had seen to that. But it did make him feel a bit more whimsical running down the halls and hiding in storerooms to plot how to win a trial. As dangerous as it was, the trial was the most interesting thing they'd lived through so far. Better than the usual fighting and bloodied men in his opinion.

"Martyn, here's the deal." Shanda was pacing in the small room. "Royce has lost it. I say we blame our mothers death on him losing his mind. First to say I set the fire and then to suggest… well you know what! It's insidious stuff brother. And we cannot let them listen to the Blackwood heir, that man is truly deranged."

Martyn did not think mentioning their dead mother who died under suspicious circumstances at a trial concerning their mortal enemy was a good idea. But he decided to let her finish first.