The Bad Apple
Chapter 33
The Bad Apple
The three people found their way back down to the courtyard, though not before Robb insisted that they get Hermione's wounds properly tended to. With some instruction from her, she sat patiently as he applied salve and bandages to her hand and forehead, though for her cut she pulled out a special adhesive of her own invention, which kept the wound closed so she wouldn't need stitches.
Cloud, Fawn, and Blade were gone with the rest of the prisoners, likely through whatever secret entrance they had spoken about since the portcullis was still down, just the way they had left it. The Tarly forces were on the other side of the ravine, refusing to cross the root bridge and were shouting things at the castle, trying to get the attention of whoever was left to man it. Of course, they didn't know it was no longer under the power of the Bad Apple, so it was probably quite the shock to them when Hermione and Robb began to raise the gate, inviting the men on the other side to enter freely into the keep.
Just as the dim light of the dawn was glowing over the horizon, a small group filed inside, testing the potential of a trap. When Horrace Hunt looked around, gaging the remnants of the dying fire they had set, the bodies of the remaining rogues, and then spotted both Hermione and Robb waving down at him from the ramparts, he was left completely speechless. With a gesture, he signaled to the remaining forces that it was safe to enter the keep.
Though she was likely going to develop her own nightmares of this incident, the gobsmacked look on Lord Randyll's face when he spotted Hermione specifically made the whole ordeal of getting kidnapped entirely worth it.
"What are you doing here?" Randyll demanded when he saw the young woman smiling smugly down at him.
"Taking a keep and rescuing the prisoners," she snapped back, placing a hand on her hip impassively. "What are you doing here? You're so late you might as well have enjoyed your daughters' nameday."
He looked like she had basically slapped him with that comment. "While you were busy being captured, I was cutting down their forces."
She had an answering barb on her tongue for that, but Robb must have sensed an impending argument and chose to intervene before it escalated any further. "Derrick Fossoway is inside. He's dead."
"Gave you a bit of trouble then?" Lord Fossoway asked.
"Hardly. He was bedridden when we found him. Must have been sick for a while. Took his own life with poison."
Randyll looked unsatisfied by the news. Obviously, he had been looking forward to a final standoff with this illusive rival of his, now it would never come to be. "Coward," he hissed in answer to the news. He got off his charger and began to issue orders, dispatching men to search the keep. Even without the promise of a duel, he wanted to see the body for himself. Meanwhile, Ser Gerold approached Robb and Hermione to exchange reports.
"Did you find Desmond?" Hermione asked. "We assume that may have been his son and the one that led the ambush. Also, how did you triumph?"
"Lord Randyll returned to camp after your... uh, speech, my lord. I was going to follow after, but I heard a commotion coming from the trees from where you disappeared. I came upon the scouting party just as they were hauling you both onto their horses. Imagine my surprise to see Lady Hermione had followed us all the way from Horn Hill."
Hermione shifted by those words, though inside she was overwhelmed with relief to hear he hadn't witnessed the burst of magic that had protected Robb from any of the lethal blows that his pin had deflected. She wasn't in the mood to come up with more lies to explain such things. "Yes, well, I'm not one to sit around patiently while my friends are fighting," Hermione proclaimed, folding her arms defiantly.
"I'm more amazed that you managed it undetected. Surely, I figured you would have been discovered somehow along the way."
"We needn't bother about that right now," Hermione declared, wanting to move the conversation along. "What happened after you watched our capture?"
"Well of course, I rushed back and informed the rest about the development, and the knowledge of a scouting party had some predicting that if they saw our forces, they may have been planning something up the road for us. We sent a percentage of us up ahead while the majority held back in wait for them. When the trap was sprung, they operated just as rogues do and we swooped in with the rest of the forces to handle them while they were distracted. There were no survivors after that, though we did come across a man who we presumed was their leader. A lone arrow had struck him in the eye. Sadly, we couldn't confirm his identity."
"We might have someone who can," Hermione declared. "Do you still have the body?"
Not long after, Hermione was escorting Irie with a steadying arm around her shoulders to the wagon that hauled the corpse of the supposed son of the Bad Apple. Though she hadn't spoken about her treatment, Hermione had a sinking suspicion that she had had plenty of interactions with the leader of the charge, and her suspicions had been correct when the canvass draping the face of the man was drawn back. Irie shuddered at the sight of his dead body and nodded that the dark-haired man of twenty-nine was indeed the offspring of the sick old man that had poisoned himself.
The sight of him had Irie crying all over again, and Hermione held her once more until she had calmed down.
Afterwards, Hermione found Irie some proper clothes and new arrangements were made for her. Lord Fossoway offered to find her work as a maid in his keep and she seemed content enough to accept the arrangement. Hermione wanted to at least make sure she was alright before their departure though it seemed after Irie had some time to acknowledge her situation, she was able to adjust well-enough. In that time, Robb had been reunited with Grey Wind, who had lingered just beyond the firing range of the archers on the wall and had been the one to greet the victorious Tarly forces. Robb also filled the rest of the lords in on a plausible story of how they had managed to capture the keep on their own. The basic story was that he and Hermione had picked the locks to their cells and had staged an ambush of their own involving the luring of Matilda, (who had followed them with Grey Wind) behind the walls where she played a vital part in destroying what remained of the men and rescuing the prisoners. All of them had managed to escape into either the forest or through the tunnels under the kitchens. He also stressed that the prisoners had been an enormous help in their success, which was better believed than the idea that a man and woman had done all this single-handedly. Since there were no prisoners who could confirm this story, it went blessedly unchallenged.
"Where is the wolf now?" Ser Gerold asked shrewdly.
"Oh, off on her own again," Robb answered with no further explanation as he scratched behind Grey Wind's ears.
"Strange how Matilda had come to your aid when Grey Wind had not."
"Grey Wind is only a pup. He wouldn't have managed as well as a full-grown direwolf. Besides, he needed to stand guard for us, just in case your battle with the Bad Apple took a different turn."
It didn't look like Ser Gerold entirely believed that reasoning, but he said nothing against it despite the lingering doubt that lived in his gaze.
The day went on as decisions were made about what was to be done now, but Robb and Hermione didn't care for any of it. In truth, they were eager to press on once again. This side quest had detoured them enough and they were both eager to get back on the road and resume their real goal. As they went about finding horses, provisions, and saying their goodbyes, Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder.
She turned to find herself facing Ser Gerold. "Lady Granger, I understand you'll probably want to resume your travels, but if I could have a moment of your time?"
Between everything that had happened, she had completely forgotten about the interaction between him, Robb, and Lord Randyll that had led them all to this predicament. But now, with the request for a word in private, it swooped back in her mind unbidden. Beside her, Robb stiffened at the request. Part of her wanted to just leave, ignore Gerold without further comment and just go already. But there was a part of her that was also curious about his next words, so she figured it was best to just get this conversation over with.
"Alright. I've only got a moment, though."
Gerold nodded and they walked a little way off, keeping their voices low as they launched into this conversation.
"I feel I owe you an apology, Lady Granger."
Her eyes narrowed at him, and she folded her arms expectantly. "Yes, I believe you do."
His mouth hardened a bit into a line across his face, but he relented to her statement even if it hadn't been what he was expecting her to say. Just the same, he became abruptly humble. "I apologize for my scheming with Lord Tarly. If it is any consolation to you, never have I ever considered the option of kidnapping for any kind of situation. Please understand, those were his words, not mine. Were it in my power, you would also be receiving an apology from him, but I don't expect that is likely to happen, despite your success with aiding in taking this keep."
She shrugged. "I wasn't holding my breath for one."
"Furthermore, I would also like to offer a word of warning," he began in a graver tone. "I'm Dornish so the prospect of a capable woman is rather common among my fellow countrymen, however, our northern neighbors are more prone to see your bravery and success not as a virtue, but as a sign of witchcraft." She tried with all her might not to react to that word in particular, but Gerold was giving her a heavy look and she was having trouble maintaining her cool disposition. He went on. "I would tread a little more carefully from now on. It might even be prudent to exercise a little more interest in the behaviors of average women from time to time. Not to appease any lord, but to protect yourself."
Hermione's first instinct was to bristle at the suggestion. The behaviors of women were so boring in this world, but while she detested the idea, she couldn't be properly angry at him because his words were spoken only from a place of good intent.
She sighed, "I will take that into account, Ser Gerold."
He nodded but then smiled, and it was a strangely charming smile. "With that in mind, my offer to host you in High Hermitage still stands. We are much more open-minded in Dorn, and who knows? Perhaps you will take to Dornish customs much better than Northern ones."
The words caused a little smile to play on the corner of her mouth, yet her eyes drifted back to Robb and Grey Wind who waited with their horses and was staring back at her expectantly.
"Your offer is generous, but I think I'll at least give the other kingdoms a chance to adapt to me before I write them off completely."
Gerold gave a laugh and followed her gaze. "I had a feeling you would say that. Well, since we're talking about adapting, perhaps you'd like to know that nettle seeds ground into a fine powder and added to Myrish pomegranate tea can make for an excellent contraceptive. Though, I've always preferred to pull out in time myself."
She almost didn't understand what he had said, but by the time her mind had made the connection, he was already walking away with a knowing smirk. His words of advice prompted a squeak of surprise and left her blushing all the way back to Robb.
"So, what did he want?" Robb grumbled as they swung onto their horses.
"Nothing. Just proposing to me."
His shocked high-pitched noise to that was similar to the one Hermione had made to Gerold's parting advice.
"Wha-what did you tell him?"
She cast him a devilish smirk and kicked her horse into a gallop, leaving him to chase her down the road.
Many hours later, they finally set up camp and placed the wards around the perimeter, settling in for the night and they got busy with making dinner. All during it, Hermione had been uncharacteristically quiet for some reason. Robb thought about asking, but there was a lot that they were trying to process, especially with the weight of the past few days hanging over them.
"What are you thinking about?" Robb finally asked while she was moving her food around her plate absently.
"Something doesn't quite make sense to me," Hermione explained.
"What? Is it about the Bad Apple?"
"Yes." Then Hermione was launching into the thoughts she'd been having for the better part of that whole day. "He was able to successfully evade detection and build his numbers for nearly fifty years. He went completely undetected for that entire time, so what bothers me is, why now? Why did he risk everything, his forces, his men, his son, and even his life, for one last meager attempt at rebellion? And his rebellion didn't even live past a whole week if you think about it. And there's the timing of it. He attacks Huntsberry and conveniently gets the attention of the whole Reach while arguably the most important houses are gathered for a nameday celebration. He risked all of it for one last battle that he lost, then he also lost his keep in one fell swoop. It just... I'm just trying to understand it. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it was resolved so neatly, but what was that all for? What was the point?"
Robb shrugged. He didn't quite understand the motives either, but he also wasn't too concerned about them. "Who can say for certain? Perhaps he knew he was dying and wanted one last chance to kill his enemies."
"But who even were his enemies? Randyll Tarly? Surely, he couldn't have been so obsessed with all that happened so long ago. He had all that time to make a life for himself. I mean, he had a son after all."
"I don't think that's for us to really understand," Robb surmised. "I don't make a habit of trying to work out the motivation on what makes a senseless criminal be a senseless criminal. But if you think about it, you can't really fault him for his plan, especially since he didn't account for either you or me being there. After all, who can really plan for a witch's abilities?"
"I suppose you're right," Hermione conceded. "Just the same, I have a feeling this isn't as over as we'd like it to be."
Her tone was daunting, and for some reason Robb couldn't help but think she may have been right. For all intents and purposes, the Bad Apple was dead, yet just the same, it didn't feel like the situation had been as resolved as they wanted to believe.
They had eaten their evening meal, taken their baths, then tucked in for the rest of the night. After all the lamps and candles had been put out, the light of the waning quarter moon shone above the canopy, casting the tent in a soothing blue light. As Robb laid on his cot with his furs and blankets, he felt the pressure of an aching restlessness overcome him. Grey Wind was staying with Hermione tonight, leaving him feeling, not for the first time, a little resentful that they both had each other and he was left alone in his room. He rolled over onto his side, trying to find the spot that would send him off to sleep already.
Just then, he sensed something. A presence at the flap entrance to his room and he sat up in the darkness, curious to see who was outside. He pulled the canvas back to find Hermione turning away, as if she had been wrestling over some decision before choosing against it at the last second.
Obviously, she hadn't meant to be caught so his sudden appearance startled her quite a bit.
"Oh! Uh, sorry," she stammered. "I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No, I was already... Was there something you needed?"
"No, I... er... just wanted to... I was on my way to get... um..." For someone who was usually so articulate, Hermione was having immense difficulty trying to explain her intentions. Her face was also bright red, which made him think that her wandering hadn't been quite so casual. Robb watched her trail off and then they locked eyes with one another.
They both felt the air shift just then and that feeling Robb had gotten when they had kissed in the forest was all at once back. His heart was hammering, yet he still managed to reach forward and brush a stray curl out of her face. She didn't move, and maybe it was his imagination, but even in the darkness he felt like her face had lit up even more at his gentle touch. They both watched the other intently until Robb felt brave enough to reach down and kiss her. She returned it, and soon it became a deeply sweet kiss. When at last they parted, their eyes were equally half lidded. After a long moment it dawned over both of them that this time there would be no interruption. None for the rest of the night.