Bobby B - One

[stagstorm]

Who: Robert Baratheon
Broadcast: Fleetwide video.
Action: The Marsiva
When: Soon.

[The camera catches view of a man who is as thick as he is tall standing in front of the massive windows that separate the safety of the Marsiva from the inhospitable void of space on the other side of it. For many, this would be a breathtaking view of the cosmos. The King saw it only as a nuisance. Dressed in rich silk and velvet with a antlered crown on his head, Robert Baratheon was no man to be toyed with and he was eager to be free, even if he could not fully comprehend what he was seeing. He had never been a learned man and the concept of space itself was so far beyond his sphere of experience. He saw nothing but a night sky and though he could not see the ground, that only posed a problem to be solved later.

Later meaning after he had broken through the glass with a chair that he had caused significant damage to by beating it repeatedly against the window. With each thrust he roared in something between fury and excitement.]

That's right! Try and cage me, you bastards! Do you think this metal prison can hold me? Come now! Have at me!

[Yet for all his bravado and effort, the window did not even crack. Besides that, he was not so fit as he was in his youth. Winded and exhausted, he eventually righted the dented chair so he could sit on it instead. Only then did he turn his attention back to the communicator. He could not say why or how, but he understood that it was meant for communicating. He twisted in his hands a few times before deciding to play the fool and speak into it.]

...well? Does this damned bloody thing work or not?

Comments

[stagstorm]

Aye, well, it is easy spoken, harder doing. Not when a marriage is all that keeps the peace in the kingdom.

[And how does one break away from the daughter of the richest man in the kingdom?]

[sinuosity]

As with all things in life. You have my sympathy.

[stagstorm]

[He's quiet a moment as he reflects on the situation. Wine is his remedy for times like this when he is forced to face his resentment and the direction of his life. Lacking none, he must distract himself otherwise.]

Enough of her. What of you, Lady Nyssa. What man has claimed you as his own?

[sinuosity]

[ She laughs, light and clear. ]

Any man who tries will be met with my sword. Or an arrow in the eye, as my mood dictates.

[stagstorm]

[Robert chuckles as well, though he misunderstands entirely.]

Hah, a protective father, is it?

[sinuosity]

[ Nyssa smiles, sharp. ]

The edge would be mine.

[stagstorm]

... little wonder, then. [Of course she's not married. What man would want a woman running around with knives?

Well, Robert would. But literally no one else, probably.]

[sinuosity]

It's a pity you think marriage is a desirable state of being. I would have thought you sympathetic.

[stagstorm]

The right man? The right woman? Marriage and marriage are two bloody different things. One's to be wanted, the other pitied.

[sinuosity]

[ He didn't get who he wanted. She thought as much when it was political, but the bitterness runs deeper than she suspected. ]

It is no matter. I am heir to my father's title regardless.

[ Screw the Usurper. She is heir; she won't stand for it being so easily wrested. ]

[stagstorm]

Aye? And what use is an heir who makes no heirs in turn?

[Even Robert made certain his wife birthed him three heirs. Or so he thought.]

[sinuosity]

Our heirs are named, not born. One who desires to be Ra's al Ghul must prove themselves worthy.

[stagstorm]

And he chose a woman? [A snort.] What went wrong? Did he only have eunuch to choose from?

[sinuosity]

[ Nyssa's smile is now sharp enough to cut glass. ]

Come, Robert of House Baratheon, tell me some important, kingly task that a woman is ill-suited for. Perhaps I'll be merciful, and stop at winning.

[stagstorm]

Much and more. When you give a command, do you believe your lords will follow your command? When you go into battle, will they follow you or watch to see you die? I've no doubt you can sit a throne, woman. But to rule it? [He snorts.] You would be a war waiting to happen. It's fear that keeps a kingdom together. The moment a man fears a woman, he's no sort of man at all.

[sinuosity]

They will kill and die for me without hesitation. My father's men are mine, my words become his law. Each time I walk to war I've been followed without question, with no fear of a knife in the dark. It is a poor leader who does not command the absolute trust and loyalty of his men. We only need the fear of our inferiors and our enemies.

So it has been for a hundred and fifty years my father has ruled, and so it has been for the thousand that came before him. If the world is as you say, this would not have thrived for so long.

I will grant you that your kingdom is different. But a man or a woman can serve this role and the only difference is I will ensure loyalty and weed out the rest. You will ensure fear and live in that mire.

[stagstorm]

[Robert listens to precisely none of this after "my father's men are mine".]

Would these men of yours, so loyal as you say, follow you without your father? I might grant my daughter all manner of titles and power, but they'll mean nothing if I'm dead. Loyalty does not stand, Lady Nyssa. Do you think I was born to this crown? I took it with blood and steel. What use is loyalty when it comes cheaper than gold?

[sinuosity]

[ There's a short pause, as Nyssa studies him, then, ]

Ah. I see. You stole. It is no wonder you are afraid. What use is a crown that will not last?

[stagstorm]

What use is a crown at all? I do not fear losing it.

[... no, he's terrified of what will happen when it passes on. He's sired a monster.]

[sinuosity]

If you say so.

[ She smiles, coldly. ]

You are welcome at my home in Nanda Parbat, should it be possible to visit.

[ Just being polite. ]

[stagstorm]

[He laughs at that.]

Am I? I'll remember that.

[Not because she is a highly attractive woman, but because...

Well, actually that's the only reason. The place sounds horrible otherwise.]