It's been too hard living
When Davos had found the letter, on the path in front of him, at first he'd thought it was a good omen. A good chance to test the progress he'd made under the tutelage of Master Pylos and Lady Tallis. He'd smoothed it out with his good right hand and tried to follow the words without tracing them with his finger. It was a sign of his improvement how easily he found it.
He'd reached, "hunt..no hung.. the hand, hands, hung the hands and head," before the bigger picture came into view and he realised what it was he was reading. It was a message to Queen Cersei about the death of one of her enemies, and as he read on with his stomach sinking, he discovered it was an envoy for the King.
His own name, when it came, gave him little pause as, while he seldom saw it written down, he had already known that it was to come, but he sank to the floor nonetheless in reaction. He let the letter fall to the ground but he did not stop reading until he reached the declaration of White Harbor's loyalty to the Iron Throne and could not carry on any further.
He knew all too well what Lord Manderley's support meant to their cause and the news that he had failed so badly cut him to the core. Why had the gods brought him through fire and water if he could do so little with the time they'd given him? If he'd left his remaining sons with no father to protect them and his King with only the red lady to advise him then why should he still live on the Island? What good was he here at all? Better that he'd fed the crabs on his lonely rock and let a courtier charm the Northern Lords than survive only to fail so badly and live on unable to correct it.
They would never see him again, he realised suddenly, his wife, his sons, his King, none of them would and, like as not, the legacy he had left behind was the doom of their cause. He folded the Queen's letter up with his hands absently so it wouldn't be damaged as he sat on the path and stared blankly ahead. He wanted to weep but the tears wouldn't come.
(OOC: Davos has received his second item, a letter to Queen Cersei (from AFFC) confirming his own death at the hands of the man he was trying to convince to join his cause. As you might expect he's not taking it well but he'll pull himself together if he thinks he has to.)
He'd reached, "hunt..no hung.. the hand, hands, hung the hands and head," before the bigger picture came into view and he realised what it was he was reading. It was a message to Queen Cersei about the death of one of her enemies, and as he read on with his stomach sinking, he discovered it was an envoy for the King.
His own name, when it came, gave him little pause as, while he seldom saw it written down, he had already known that it was to come, but he sank to the floor nonetheless in reaction. He let the letter fall to the ground but he did not stop reading until he reached the declaration of White Harbor's loyalty to the Iron Throne and could not carry on any further.
He knew all too well what Lord Manderley's support meant to their cause and the news that he had failed so badly cut him to the core. Why had the gods brought him through fire and water if he could do so little with the time they'd given him? If he'd left his remaining sons with no father to protect them and his King with only the red lady to advise him then why should he still live on the Island? What good was he here at all? Better that he'd fed the crabs on his lonely rock and let a courtier charm the Northern Lords than survive only to fail so badly and live on unable to correct it.
They would never see him again, he realised suddenly, his wife, his sons, his King, none of them would and, like as not, the legacy he had left behind was the doom of their cause. He folded the Queen's letter up with his hands absently so it wouldn't be damaged as he sat on the path and stared blankly ahead. He wanted to weep but the tears wouldn't come.
(OOC: Davos has received his second item, a letter to Queen Cersei (from AFFC) confirming his own death at the hands of the man he was trying to convince to join his cause. As you might expect he's not taking it well but he'll pull himself together if he thinks he has to.)