✓ | TOUGH AS THE IRONWOOD (A.FORRESTER 2)

Overheard. Chapter Twenty Five.

Cynthia didn't say much that afternoon. She tried to steer clear of the Great Hall all together, given what was probably being discussed, and by whom, inside. So instead she distracted herself with the company of Talia and Gared. They'd sat out in the training ring, while Mira accompanied her brothers inside, and were discussing Gared's adventures beyond the wall. 

"Wildings!" Ryon had exclaimed - he was practising with Royland nearby, and apparently could vaguely hear what was being spoken of among the older kids. "Yes - wildin's" Gared beamed back; it was that familiar childish glint in his eyes that gave way to such immature excitement. Cynthia would bet the experience had left him with wet breeches, but then he'd never say so in front of the children. "Were they as mean and vicious as father always said?" Ryon seemed utterly distracted now from what he'd previously been doing, and like the others he was now fully focused on Gared's tales. "They were mean, that's for certain. But I met a few good ones." Ryon gasped, as did his sister; they'd been raised to despise wildings, and deem them has the scum of the earth. That was the northern way. "Did you fight any white walkers?" Royland scoffed from the fence, on which he'd lent while Ryon dashed away to listen intently. "I did, actually." Gared puffed out his chest. He seemed mildly happier, given the news he'd received the day before. Rodrik must have explained it better than Cynthia, given the pair had spent a long time alone discussing the matters. But he seemed well recovered, at least from where Cynthia was sitting he did. She supposed given how much he'd lost already, he'd learnt to mourn quickly. "Wargs, Wildlings and White Walkers; you seem to have had quite the adventure, Tuttle." Royland teased, but not even he was being as harsh as he could. Though the story sounded unlikely, they all knew better of Gared than to think his stories to be no more than fiction. Whatever he said was likely the truth, though it might have been slightly dramatised for the kids' sake. 

"I met a girl, called Sylvi, a wildlin' - she was quite the fierce one. Reminded me of you, Cyn." Gared teased, watching as Cynthia's eyes rolled around their sockets with a humoured smirk on her face. "She'll need my kind of attitude to last up there." Cynthia smiled back, glad to be back in his company. Talia and her younger brother seemed overly enthusiastic about Gared's tales from beyond the wall, and though Cynthia too wished to here of his escapades, she could wait. Instead she stood from where she'd been sitting, and decided on going to find Mira. It had been over an hour, so she presumed whatever discussion was taking place in the Great Hall would more than likely be over - or at least Mira would've have departed the conversation by now. 

She chose to go through the lower quarters of the house, rather than enter through the Great Hall, just in case Gwyn still lurked within Ironrath's walls. She hadn't seen the harlot leave, but it would be a lie to say she'd been paying that much attention. Even still she'd rather not risk facing the whore anytime soon, and travelling through the cook's rooms seemed a far better choice. 

The house was quieter at this end; hardly anyone lurked about the halls, and most of the staff were off working, or catching up on well deserved sleep. A single maid lingered in one of the back rooms, scrubbing at old bedding with her hair tasselled back and a red face. Cynthia smiled at her, as politely as she could muster, but the maid paid her little notice and went about her duties without so much as batting an eyelid at the passers by. If she'd been Rodrik, that maid would be getting a bollocking right now. But she wasn't, and she couldn't blame the maid for not caring about some lower level Forrester ward roaming the corridors. 

Without further distraction, Cynthia rejoined the complicated system of hallways and rooms that was the main part of the building. These corridors held a familiar warm glow, in complete contrast to the lower levels which were mostly stone and were hardly lit, the main building was far nicer to observe and wonder through. 

Cynthia couldn't hear any noise coming from any of the rooms she passed, though she had not walked anywhere near the Great Hall so it was likely anyone around would be in there as always, but that didn't change how eerily quiet it was compared to normal. Usually Ryon and Talia's distant laughter or loud chatter could be heard from any corner of the building, but since they were outside there was nothing. The stairs creaked under foot as Cynthia did her best to climb, quietly, up to the higher floors, though seeings as she lacked any company it hardly seemed to matter how stealthy she was in her actions. It must have been an instinct, she supposed, given how she was trying to avoid Asher at this present moment. 

Once she reached the landing, regular noise seemed to flood the wide stretching corridor. Most of the bedroom doors were closed; her own, Talia and Ethan's, Ryon's, Elyssa's, Rodrik's. Even Mira's door was pushed as close to the frame as possible without actually closing it. Only Asher's door was open - wide open - allowing the conversation taking place inside to be over heard from even the stairwell outside: "You have no idea what this is like, Rodrik!" Asher appeared to be shouting. Typical that the second Forrester would never have heard of an inside voice, though given the tone in which he spoke it seemed his volume was the least of his worries. Clearly Gwyn must have gone, and with only Rodrik (apparently) and Mira (presumably) on this floor, given all of the others were believed to be outside, it probably didn't matter to Asher how loud he was. "I do not know what it is like? Asher you do not truly believe that you are the only person in this family to have ever been in love?" Rodrik scoffed in reply. He was being loud as well, but then whenever the pair talked their amplification was always sky high. However, having actually taken into consideration what it was they were discussing, Cynthia found herself paused on the last two steps, listening intently to what was being said, no longer caring about how loud they were being. "It's not like that, brother, and you know it! It's more complicated than just 'love' as you so blatantly put it. This is...Different." Asher seemed frustrated, more so than he usually was. This was, as he said, different. He and Rodrik never discussed love. Asher never was one to openly discuss his feelings to anyone, barely even Cynthia at the best of times, and listening to him talk, he almost seemed pained by talking about it. It being whatever it was they were actually talking about. "Different? By god is everyone in this house blind, I've seen how you care for her Asher, and I know it has been hard over the last few years given all that happened, but now you can be reunited. And believe me when I say, it is clear she feels the same." Cynthia's throat constricted in an instant. "It would not be allowed, Rodrik. Whether she feels for me as I do her has no baring, it will never be." Asher seemed to be sulking now. "Not allowed? I am Lord of this house, do I not get to say who my brother is allowed to marry, if nothing else?" Rodrik sounded almost amused at that thought, encouraging and entertained. "You think I should marry her? After all we've been through? All the trouble I got into for her?" "Of course I do brother, you are in love! You should take the chance before you lose it again."

Cynthia didn't hesitate - she marched forward, not caring for how easily her footsteps would be heard by the brothers nearby - all she wanted was to reach her room in as few seconds as was humanly possible. She opened her door, wondering if their eyes would be on her, or whether they wouldn't care for anyone else's company, and then she slammed it closed as soon as she crossed the threshold. She didn't move from that spot for a while. She just stood, leaning against the heavy wood of her door, breathing like she'd run for miles, and trembling like winter had set in immediately. Could they...Would Rodrik really say those things? It was obvious now, at least to Cynthia, what had been discussed. That had been why Gwyn was here after all. Or at least it seemed that way from where she was standing. Asher wanted to be with her, now that he was home after half a decade of being separated from her, and now with no family standing in her way, what was to stop them? And Rodrik...Rodrik was helping him. Despite knowing how Cynthia felt about all of this, about how she felt towards Asher, he was encouraging Asher to be with that harlot? After everything Cynthia had done. How could Asher really not have noticed by now that Cynthia was always there, with him, doing everything for him. How didn't he know that she was the only one to control his temper, the only one he wouldn't hurt. After everything, he was still going back to her. 

And like that, Cynthia hit the floor. Her hands were shaking madly, and her face felt cold all of a sudden. Cold and clammy like wondering through fog. But it wasn't condensation, it was tears. Lots of them, flooding down her face uncontrollably why she shook and sobbed quietly in a heap on the floor. She was going to let this go, all of it. She was going to move on, from him and how she felt. She'd hurt far too much over him and yet here she was yet again, crying miserably on account of his love of someone else. He wasn't ever going to move on, and deep down she'd known that all along. And that was what hurt the most. She'd known and she'd let herself believe all this time that there might have been some small shred of hope for her. But of course there wasn't, Asher loved Gwyn. It had only ever been her, and Cynthia had been nothing more than a friend in Asher's eyes. And from what she'd overheard, that was all she'd ever be.