"Please uncle, just one more game," Lindsay whined. Frados rubbed his sore eyes, trying through muddled thought to guess how long until the sun came up.

"No, you made a promise," Frados mumbled. There was so much to do, even after he's put his ridiculously persistent niece to bed. Unfortunately, the Circle will have to wait a little longer for his attention. Well, he was tired, and not just of being repeatedly defeated by a little girl.

"Aww, you never let me have any fun." Lindsay pouted, but finally climbed into her bed. Frados stumbled to the door and closed it behind him. Now, to see to his Circle.

He rushed down the hall and opened his meeting hall door. The people assembled, judging by their sympathetic or shocked expressions, they must know that he's severely fatigued. Frados gave them all a dark look.

"Well? What news do you have today?" He just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, so he can perhaps get a few winks of sleep before the morning. The others shuffled nervously, and slowly began to procure papers, stone tablets, and various other bits of writing. Ser Haraway Falhen was the first to speak.

"My lord," began Haraway. He held up a page for Frados to take. "My scouts have informed me that a new figure has joined the court of our liege. An entertainer, he says. However, there is something off about him. I suggest you grant my contacts a little extra gold, so that we may pry into this further."

Frados waved away the sheet. "I do not have money to spend on a court fool," he growled. If Ser Falhen was just going to waste his time, then perhaps he should have found a better whisperer for his Circle. "Maester, please tell me you have something better to say than we should spend money we don't have on music."

Maester Saruman nodded gravely. He offered no paper to his lord. "Mine tell me the castle of Wythers has never looked weaker. If this continues, they will soon have no army left. Then, taking it will be almost too easy." He smiled, an unfriendly smile at that, and stroked his long, white beard.

"Excellent," Frados said. It has been a long time since he has received good news from his Circle. "I shall take the time to ponder this. For now, I'm cutting the meeting short. Disband, we shall speak again in the following fortnight." The others quietly exited the room, all except Maester Saruman. "What do you want?" Frados demanded.

Saruman just shook his head, his eyes piercing into Frados' less intense ones. "My colleagues in the Citadel have been conducting a few insights into the phenomenon of sleep. They say that a lack of it will make a man lose focus, thinking, and eventually die. I fear early stages have crept into you. Do take care of yourself, is all."

Frados stared grimly back. "If only I could, if only I could." Then, he too left to catch those winks of sleep.