Chief
386 Words
Lieutenant Joshua asks Arya if she is with Oscar willingly.
"I appreciate your concern, Lieutenant, but I can assure you, I am a guest of Clan Oscar," she replied.
Joshua takes him at his word but says his commanders would still like to talk to him.
"If the lady goes, I go," Gandalf replied. So he and Arya follow the Redcoats into enemy territory on Oscar's own land. Arya and Gandalf are taken to the dining room to meet Lord Jackson. (How big his monogrammed towels must be!) Lord Jackson is dining on venison with about a dozen of his companions and offers his hand to Arya ("I have seen a pretty English rose." ) and a seat table. Gandalf sneers at his unintelligible tone ("I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't understand a word the creature says!") and threatens one of the soldiers. ("You pull that needle and we'll see. Before Arya calls for peace.
"My word, madam," says Jackson, "if I were brave enough, I'd make you colonel in one of my regiments." "You know how to command men."
"Yes, she does," Gandalf agreed, showing a small smile before going downstairs to drink.
Arya regales the table with tales of her Highland life and is promised safe passage to Inverness. All is well… until Blake Holmes enters. Reprimanded by Lord Jackson for endangering her claret with a dung-covered uniform, Stark did not immediately see Arya. It's not until he goes to the exit that he catches sight of an English woman. And he kept a steady gaze on Jackson, piquing his curiosity.
"For a moment there, that woman looked familiar. But I can see now that I was wrong," Stark replied in response to Jackson's question.
“I had the same experience,” says Arya. "How unusual."
Blake Holmes decided that he would not miss a moment of the gathering. He storms right out of the room to dust himself off (kicking his shoe against the doorpost like a naughty child) and goes back in. He has a story to tell about Scott below. Of course, Jackson knows all about it. Dave and then Jackson come up with the worst idea ever: it should be Stark who goes with Arya to Inverness, so that she's "Mrs. Jackson in the Savages!"
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