✓ | POOR JUDGMENT (A.FORRESTER)

At Night. Chapter Twelve.

A/N: Last update of the year. Thank you for reading up to now. Hope you are enjoying it so far.

"Cyn?" The tiny voice resonated through the silence, catching Cynthia's attention easily. She was yet to fall asleep, her mind constantly running around the thought of Rodrik's meeting with a certain harlot. "Yes Talia? Is everything alright?" She asked quickly, rolling over on her bed to face the young girl, whose face fell awfully pale. "I can't sleep," She sniffed, rubbing a small hand against her eye innocently. Cynthia smiled at her sister, moving back on her bed to spare space for her. She was used to this routine by now, spending night after night with Talia whom had grown very restless since the death of her twin. "I miss him," She sighed, curling up beside Cynthia, and burying her head into one of the many soft pillows. "I know..." Cynthia replied, wrapping a securing arm around the small girl, and holding her as tightly as she could. Cynthia wasn't unlike Talia, in that whenever she had bad dreams or sleepless nights as a child, she would always find her way to Asher's room. She'd wake him and spend the night in his bed, just talking about anything and everything that could take her mind off of whatever had kept her awake. And every night Asher would comply, happy to spend time with Cynthia when she was distressed. There was a 3 year age difference between the two, which brought protectiveness from him, even over the slightest thing as a bad dream. Cynthia never complained though, Asher was her knight in shining armour throughout her childhood, and not once in 13 years did he ever fail her. It was only in the last year she spent with him that he was suddenly not there at night when she needed him.

Waking suddenly from her doze, Cynthia found her door shifting open, revealing a concern ridden Rodrik. She immediately sat up, releasing her grip on a now sleeping Talia, and turning to face her older brother. "Rodrik? What did she say?" She asked quietly, shuffling off of the bed and walking over to Rodrik. "There's a traitor in our midst, Cyn. I do not know who, but they have been feeding information to Ludd all this time. We must be cautious." Rodrik replied sternly, eyes dark with a familiar fury. "Did Gwyn tell you of this?" Cynthia questioned, frowning at his words. If it had been Gwyn to deliver such news, there was no certainty of it being true. Gwyn was a manipulative bitch that could easily get her way with anyone, that had been proven with Asher. And something this sensitive could not be taken lightly, not when regarding that Whitehill whore. "Aye, but she knows of our plans to take down Gryff. She knows of everything we've discussed." Rodrik exclaimed, fist clenching around his cane. Sighing in disbelief, Cynthia hung her head, contemplating. "Fine, say we do believe her. Who would do such a thing? Who would know of all our plans?" Cynthia inquired, considering the possibility for a moment. "A member of the small council, but who I am not sure." Rodrik said in a low tone, glancing at his younger sister curled up on the bed.

"She reminds me of you." He smiled, still looking at his sister. Rodrik was right, Talia was a lot like Cynthia in many ways. They always joked that perhaps she'd learnt too much from Cynthia, who had not been the best behaved little lady at that age, in fact she was the spitting image of Asher as a child. "Maybe that is not a good thing," Cynthia laughed, knowing that if she were anything like Cynthia then she was bound to go wrong somewhere along the line. "Or perhaps it is." Rodrik smiled once more, linking an arm around Cynthia and pulling her into a warming hug. Cynthia knew this was what family was, but there was something still eating away at her. The Forresters were her family, but now knowing who her mother was had brought a whole knew level of confusion into her life. "Rodrik?" She spoke up softly, thinking over her words carefully. "May I speak with you about something?" Rodrik's eyes filled with worry, suddenly becoming stricken with concern. "Of course," Rodrik replied, fixing his gaze on the small frame in front of him. "When Duncan and I went to the Wall, I met with an old friend. We spent the time looking through books in the library and stumbled across something..." Cynthia spoke carefully and quietly, not wishing to wake Talia. "What was it?" Rodrik spoke up, eyeing her cautiously. "My family records." Rodrik's face suddenly fell in confusion, not entirely understanding what bearing that had. "I discovered who my mother was...She was not Lady Glover, as Elyssa once said, she was in fact another woman entirely." Cynthia continued.

"If not Lady Glover, than who?" Rodrik frowned. "As it seems, my father was with another woman before Lady Glover, a woman whom he had a child with. Her name was Rhaella...Rhaella Targaryen..." At this name Rodrik's face brightened somewhat, a sudden realisation striking fast. "You are a Targaryen?" He exclaimed, slightly too loud. "Apparently so," Cynthia whispered, shushing Rodrik so that he did not wake his sleeping sister. "That could prove useful, Cyn." Rodrik 's voice lowered, his eyes changing to a stern look. Unsure as to what he was referring to, Cynthia tried not to get too caught up on it. "Get some rest, sister. I'll see you tomorrow." Rodrik smiled softly, placing a soft kiss atop her head lovingly, before exiting the room silently, leaving Cynthia to retire. It was only when left alone that Cynthia began to contemplate what Rodrik had meant by his words. What could she possibly help with? And how, from where she was? Perhaps he meant with leverage, of some kind. Or maybe he did refer to his brother's quest to find sellswords, in which case she could not help from a different continent. Or at least she did not believe she could.