"This is an outrage!" shouted Alyssa. "He can't do this to us! We fight a losing battle against our own people, outnumbered at least 30 to 1, while those pompous Highgarden pricks stay in their orchards and don't spare one knight to help us in our time of need!" She then grabs a ceramic pot off of Gris's desk and throws it against the wall. Gris watches the Liquid Frost slowly encase everything in a short radius around it with a thick layer of ice.

"That stuff can only be found beyond the wall. You've set my freezing experiments back at least six months, you fool," responded Gris, his calm tone of voice betrayed by the expression he wore on his face.

"Aren't you listening!? Don't you care about anything beyond your precious "discoveries" like, for example your head!?" Alyssa was yelling at the top of her lungs now. No doubt everyone in the castle could hear her rantings. "When this uprising first broke out, we had 10000 knights and at least 50000 men-at-arms at our disposal. Now, there have to be less than 20000 soldiers altogether. And that's after we lowered our conscription age down to what? 14? Think about that, Gris. Boys no older than 14 running out to a hail of arrows and dying just to keep us alive."

Gris held up the letter he recently received from Garland.

"What the Tyrells offered us was more valuable than just a few burly hack-and-slashers. They offer us an opportunity,"

"What opportunity?"

"A possible alliance with a Targaryen." he said, as he handed her the letter. "Read slower this time."

Alyssa snatched the document out of his hand, and read through it a second time. Immediately, her expression lightened.

"Do you know what this means? Targaryen warriors! We're saved!"

"Grab your sword, your armor, and a roomful of guards. Ride for Highgarden, and tell them yes." Gris then looked through the stacks and stacks of parchment laying around, grabbed a handful, and thrust it into his sister's hand.

"What's this?" asked Alyssa.

"A . . . gesture of goodwill. It's a copy of nearly a year of my work. A family like the Targaryens would want this. Don't lose it."