AMONG ROARING LIONS AND WILTING ROSES FOUR TRAVELERS MEET
"A Florent is highborn," says Citlali the Needle.
"Yes," says Leon the Poorfellow.
"And you are Florent no longer," says Citlali.
"No longer," says Leon.
"But others call you Florent," says Citlali, "Lomys calls you Florent sometimes."
"By accident of course milo- ah, Brother Leon," says Lowly Lomys.
"They are not meant to," says Leon, "but everyone forgets sometimes."
"Your family also forgets," says Citlali, "and this is why we go see them?"
"Yes," says Leon, "although, in truth, mother never tried to remember."
"She did not approve," says Citlali.
"No," says Leon.
Leon falls silent, look out toward the horizon for a moment. Their three sets of footsteps are accompanied by the hoof falls of their one horse, Daisy.
"But she won't let her son go hungry, no matter how foolish he may be," says Leon. He looks to Citlali and Lomys and smiles.
"The other faithful," says Citlali, "they will not help you?"
"The Poor Fellows weren't allowed to take up arms until the High Sparrow decreed it so," says Leon, "and now that he's with the Father in his golden hall, people aren't so sure if the crown recognizes us still. So, the smallfolk give what they can give us without drawing too much attention. And our brothers and sisters in the Faith give us shelter when they think no guards or lords might be looking."
Leon sighs again.
"The Seven test us, but they do not break us," says Leon, more to himself than to his two companions.
That certain holy men might be held in contempt by the powers that be is not so strange to Citlali. Until the rise of the first Tlon shamans from the Needle Desert were forbidden in Atlacal, and likewise, the blood priests of the Atlacal were persecuted whenever they went north. And although the laws of the Triple Alliance hold that all holy folk be treated equal, there are still places where it is dangerous for such people to go. Yet Leon the Poorfellow is, presumably, a man of the same faith as the rest of these indigene, of the same faith that the Lords and Ladies of this place claim give them the right to rule. That they can turn around and restrict him in this way must mean that the holy men of Westeros are beholden to the rulers, and not the other way around. This is not a just land, Citlali thinks herself, this is like the warring times before the Tlonotl when people thought that royal blood was different than any other kind.
These and similar thoughts fill her head as the party of three walk down this dirt road of the Reach.
Lomys is untroubled by such thoughts. Mostly he's looking forward to seeing Brightwater Keep. Leon's mother is a cousin of Lady Melara Crane, widow of Lord Alester Florent, and a lady of the court at that castle with gold dragons to donate in the name of the Poorfellows. Leon himself says he prefers not to go to his family for help, that a Poorfellow, having renounced his worldly things and given himself to the Seven, ought to make do only with what they provide him. But is his mother not one of the faithful, asks Lomys, is she not free to give to the betterment of the Faith? Such theological arguments are perhaps better left to more interested men. All Lomys knows is that he wants to see that storied castle of the Florents.
When he was still living on the wheat farm, when his parents were still alive, they talked about the highborne as gracious and noble people, possessed of dignity and honor and given to duty and faith. Yes there were some who were despicable and treacherous but they were few and far between. These ideas float through Lomys' mind now: the Cuys were selfish, unthinking, and little people, which made sense, given their relatively low status among the other highborn. The Florents however - the Florents are second only to the Tyrells of Highgarden, among one of the finest families in all of Westeros. Surely they, Lomys thinks himself, are learned and noble and honorable, and would give charity to poor travellers beset by misfortune. He cannot believe, as Citlali sometimes seems to, that the highborn are simply chieftains - like the Dothraki - by another name.
Authors Note: Previous part (PRISONERS AT THE PLACE OF PALE STONE) completed and updated.