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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 8, 2012 20:21:28 GMT -5
She looked at him sharply, wondering if he was making fun of her. But he sounded sincere enough. "You can travel as far as you like in time or space in books." She thought him very pleasant. He spoke to her on an equal footing. "I write often, and correspond with a great many people all over the Goldlands."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 8, 2012 20:24:38 GMT -5
"Perhaps you would wish to extend your correspondences to the North? It is seldom that I get a letter which does not concern Princeley doings... it is seldom I received a letter at all! Archmaester Godwyn once wrote that though we can convey more with spoken words it is in writing we find our true bravery."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 8, 2012 20:35:08 GMT -5
"I should like that very much. The North has always interested me, and the Wall, and the First Men." She grinned widely when he quoted the Archmaester. "I agree entirely. Tell me, do you ever think you might have liked to be a maester?"
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 8, 2012 20:38:51 GMT -5
"Oh no, that would not be the life for me," Benjen replied with a small laugh, having been asked the same question once by his little brother. "I enjoy learning but it does not fulfill me like other things. A maester should be a man who not only strives to know more but values nothing above knowledge." He mused on that. "I do enjoy swinging a sword round quite a bit."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 8, 2012 20:52:07 GMT -5
"That is one thing I never tried, the sword." She did not tell him about her magnificent aim with daggers, something that came in handy in crowded Oldtown streets. "So you find that swordsmanship...fulfills you?"
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 8, 2012 20:55:00 GMT -5
"It does, though it wasn't always son," Benjen admitted. "I hated it when I began training. Every day I went to bed with more bruises than I could count. I thought swordplay was all just clumsy fumbling and bashing... that is until I saw Kal Stark fight." He shook his head. "I have never seen something so beautiful."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 8, 2012 21:03:46 GMT -5
"I have never seen beautiful swordplay, myself. Perhaps at the tourney I will be pleasantly surprised." He spoke well, and kept her interest. She looked forward to writing him, though she was sure he would have better things to do than reply to some southern girl, especially if there was war again.
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 8, 2012 21:05:30 GMT -5
"Hopefully you will see some exciting demonstrations," Benjen said, sounding indeed hopeful. "Tell me, what is your favourite book? And author, for that matter."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 8, 2012 21:20:10 GMT -5
Now that was a hard question. She said as much. "That is an unfair question! There are so many...but if I had to choose a favorite, well...I really loved Maester Willem's translations of the Valyrian epics." She looked absolutely rapt as she described them. "Of course the original has been lost, but his translation has retained all the beauty that I am sure existed in the original."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 8, 2012 21:29:17 GMT -5
"A good choice, though I cannot say I have read all of it," He nodded. "Myself... well, The Ancient North by Maester Danwell is my favourite read, though he is nowhere near as descriptive as Willem nor Godwyn. Of course, Lord Rickon's books are ranked in my favourites as well."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 8, 2012 21:40:42 GMT -5
Arania looked pleased. "Yes! I read the very same! I have tried to read about each of the kingdoms and their histories and culture. And of course you would like the books by your great uncle." She smiled at him, but stopped, considering for a moment. Was she correct? "He is your great uncle, yes? I've not read any of his, though."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 8, 2012 21:43:27 GMT -5
"You are correct," Benjen said, smiling at Arania before taking a brief look around. "Rickon has a very... simple wait of writing. Brusque, direct and to the point. No flowery language. Hard facts. But it has a strange readability. It is is almost as if you were speaking to him."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 8, 2012 21:49:56 GMT -5
"I prefer the flowery language for poetry. I would like my facts served plain. Maybe one day I'll be able to meet him, or at least read what he has written." She noticed him looking around. "Are you sure I haven't detained you?"
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 8, 2012 21:57:05 GMT -5
"Perhaps I will gift you a copy of Of Rulership; I own two anyway," Benjen said cheerfully. "One written in Rickon's own hand. And no, dearest Arania, I simply wished to keep an eye on my surroundings."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 8, 2012 22:07:06 GMT -5
"That would be kind of you. But...what could I give you in return?" She seemed a little uneasy about accepting gifts, aware that some had strings attached. She also looked around, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. "Are you expecting something to happen?" She added quietly.
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