[CENTER][sup][h1][img]https://i.ibb.co/fdBBsfJF/photo-1756916475115-3bf0209b728d-fm-jpg-q-60-w-3000-auto-format-fit-crop-ixlib-rb-4-1.jpg[/img]
[b][color=khaki]S U M M E R H A L L[/color][/b][/h1][/sup][/CENTER]

It had been one set of bad news after another of late. And still no word from that frustratingly quiet husband of hers. Restless nights had turned to fitful mornings; her children, young as they were, remained impressionable, shaped by the palace's mood. Little Aerion, only recently walking, used anything vaguely sword-shaped to swash at the air and yell in his tiny voice. Daeron's moods had been sour since before Maekar left, a constant sadness in the boy's eyes that Dyanna often found difficult to hold for long. It was unsettling to see such darkness on one so young.

It was no surprise, then, when Dyanna heard the riders before anyone had come to roust her to meet them. It was impossible to hide the fatigue and worry that had become daily things for her. Ulrick met her as she descended the stairs towards the east entrance. His face matched hers, maybe worse for the grimness he wore. Not good news, then, not that she'd expected otherwise. She didn't know whether to ask what or who, but Ulrick saved her from having to decide.

"Three villages, more farmsteads beyond that, burned. Men and boys killed." He relayed the news bluntly, his voice tinged with anger. Dyanna's face flickered with sadness before her head dropped in acknowledgement as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Ulrick took her elbow gently as he continued. "They moved fast and rode west after, at least by most accounts."

A question she probably didn't need to ask. "Whose banners?"

Ulrick's hand flexed involuntarily. "The bastards had enough thought to wear black, no sigils. And I don't think we need to fear that the Night's Watch has decided to join the fray." He paused, then added with a dark, sharp laugh, "though I suppose at this point, it's not worth ruling out the possibility."

Dyanna's look chided him. "So we assume it's the pretender's men...faithful or opportunistic hardly matters here." She sucked in a breath. "How many dead?"

It might matter whether they were true believers in the pretender or simple opportunists, but he would not argue that now. "Too many, but we've not had an exact count of it. Enough women and girls are making their way here that it seems none of their men were left behind."
That should have been obvious to her. She rubbed her face in a way she had often seen Maekar do. Another deep breath and she was settled on her course. "Have the riders and horses fed and rested before sending them out with new orders. Have the men gather in Maekar's solar. You'll gather a force tonight, whoever you can raise and spare from Summerhall... but we won't have need of a full garrison soon anyway."

Ulrick gave her a questioning look, which she silenced with one of her own. "You'll ride with them, hard for the last village hit, if it can be determined. I need you there; I trust that you can tell the difference between a raiding party and something more concerning. I must know this." Their eyes met and held for a long moment before Ulrick stiffly nodded his agreement.

"It won't undo what's been done, no matter the strength we show up with."

She shook her head. "I will not let my people think we stay hidden away while they suffer for our disputes." The smallfolk may not have trusted their Dornish lady from the start, but she had done as much as she could to remind them of her other role, a dragon's wife.

Ulrick was too busy to attend much of the discussions that carried on through the rest of the morning and afternoon. Half the men she had called to council believed it nothing more than a raiding party - a bold one - but nothing to concern themselves with. They pleaded that Dyanna ignore it and withdraw her command to ride for the villages. Others, too few, she thought, supported the possibility of it being the edge of something more, a test to see how Summerhall would respond in the absence of its prince. She ended the debate only after acknowledging the ambiguity. "I will not wait here, guessing that it is just another raiding band, to wake one morning and find that I was right after all, far too late, with none of you able to tell me how right I was."

They debated whether it was Reachmen or disgruntled Stormlanders. Only one man made the mistake of suggesting that their Dornish allies had perhaps turned traitor. Dyanna would need to keep a closer watch on him.

The discussion ended at last with her standing firmly from the table, her height over the seated men had its purpose. Ulrick had returned by then from his initial preparations. "My children will leave for Griffin's Roost within the week." She raised her hands to forestall any response. "Our wards will go with them, and all of the household that can be spared. Ulrick will map a route through known welcoming castles along the way." East into the Stormlands was safer than cutting further through the Marches — a trade-off worth making, even if it meant passing closer to the Crownlands. Ulrick and a select few would know the full route. She could not think about what would happen if they were set upon. 

The men looking back at her seemed prepared to argue, muttering to one another in the silence that followed. Finally one turned his attention to her. "And you, my lady?"

All the men now focused on her again. "I stay." The whispers returned immediately. "Summerhall is mine. I will not abandon it any more than your prince would have. Duty called him elsewhere, and duty demands me here. We all answer our calls, do we not?" Not a gentle reminder, nor a subtle one, of their own duties.

"Our prince will hold us responsible if you are harmed while meeting your duty, my lady." Ser Aldric was the one who spoke what many others surely thought.

"I will ride for Griffin's Roost myself, if this is indeed an army and not a simple raiding party at our doorstep. Being slain or taken hostage does not help our cause, but I will not run and hide while our smallfolk suffer and our men respond to this threat." 

By the time dusk had finally given way to night, plans had been settled, if not happily. Ulrick was to ride out before first light with the men he had while the household prepared to leave.

She stopped him before he left for his chambers. "One more thing — the others cannot know of it." The look in his eyes told her he knew he wasn't going to like what she was about to require of him. "I need a light escort to go to the Martell encampment."

Ulrick groaned, his voice kept low to match hers. "And why not just send a rider with the information?"

She smiled grimly. "Because I do not wish to just relay information, cousin, as you must realize."

He understood, and just as he'd expected, he did not like it.

"Will you call them up, breaking any facade of what their presence means?"

Dyanna didn't answer directly. If the war was truly upon them, then maybe the Seven had blessed them with an unexpected force to answer back. If not, and she called upon the Dornish to fully march, she risked turning those still weighing where their loyalties lay fully against her.

"I will have that answer the moment I need it, and I suspect not a moment sooner." She patted his arm as they climbed the staircase. "Rest, cousin, and arrange my escort in the morning before you leave." She parted from him at the landing, turning toward her own chambers.