better plan by far., tagged: alysanne !

[ASHA ROSEWOOD]

dearest alysanne ,

I hope this letter finds you well. I can only be honest with this letter and must ask how your brother is. Not a moment goes by when I do not think of him and how things were left with us. Please tell him I have been thinking of him and that I wish him well. No, tell him I miss his company and that I do love him, despite what my parents may have said to us. I know by now that your brother must have informed you of what my parents have done and while I cannot do much to sway their decision, I have tried and I wish for Alaric to know that. Please, respond as soon as you can, I shall be awaiting your response.

yours always,

asha

[ALYSANNE SEAWYND]

Lady Asha,

I am well, and gladder now to have heard from you. You must let me know how things are getting on at Castle Black, especially now. The entire situation is...regrettable. Worse than regrettable, even. I know the love you bear my brother, and of course I will tell him how often you think of him. It would make him happier I think; though I must be plain and say he is not well since his return from Castle Black. I fear the confrontation with your parents did not please him (as you can imagine) and he is most distraught. It is not his wish to be without you. Unfortunately I cannot divulge more on the subject quite yet; but rest assured that he still loves you well and we bear you no ill will - though that can't be said for the rest of your house. I cannot overreach myself to even imagine the depravity contents of your lord father's mind - was there a certain reason why the betrothal was broken? Are you promised now to someone else? Certainly we as women can do little to sway the decisions of great men - but we have our ways.

Yours fondly,

Alysanne

[ASHA ROSEWOOD]

dearest alysanne ,

It pleases me to know that you bear me no ill will, I am afraid my heart would break even further if that was not the case. If I had known what my parents' wishes had been before Alaric stepped into the castle, I would have sent word to him not to come. In fact, I would have left Castle Black and come to Alaric's side. It is breaking my heart not to be with him. My father is not ruled by his own mind I am afraid, it is my mother who makes the decisions for him but if they come together on such a decision then... Well, I am scared to say that nothing can change their mind. My father somehow discovered that Alaric and I had been seeing one another behind closed doors. We never wished to displease either of our families, we only wished to know more about the other. I am also afraid that if my father knows about those meetings, then he may know other... details about Alaric and I.

I am now promised to an Allaoui Lord of the West. I am to leave Castle Black in the coming weeks and set up residency in the West. I have begged my mother, as unbecoming as that it is of a Lady, but I cannot change her mind.

yours always,

asha

[ALYSANNE SEAWYND]

Lady Asha,

No, I don't think your parents will change their minds either. They seem...particularly implacable. It's a sad thing to see two hearts so thoroughly broken, but that is the way of it. They should never have found out about you two. Besides, there was nothing shameful about it as you were promised to one another anyway. The shame is their doing, but it may yet be undone. Regardless of where you go, it might be a good idea for you to leave Castle Black. We would gladly take you here, but that would be a foolish thing even to consider. What do you know of Lord Allaoui? Have you met him yet? If so, what was your impression? If you're to go to the West then you must go...willingly even. You're the closest thing to a sister I have, and that is the advice I would give. It pains me to imagine you married to a man you don't love, or one who doesn't love you. It will be made right in the end, I think.

Fondly,

Alysanne

[ASHA ROSEWOOD]

dearest alysanne ,

I feel as though my parents were not able to see their eldest daughter in love, they never believed in it themselves and never felt it themselves. We had been so careful about not being caught, but it seems as though my mother or maybe my father had someone watching us the entire time and we were unaware. We felt no shame in what we did, in fact I had never been happier, we have brought no shame upon our families. I do wish I could walk out the door and come to your home, but I agree, it would be terribly foolish. I have met Lord Allaoui once before, my father introduced me to him and the Allaoui family when we were at the King's Tournament. I did not understand then why I was being presented to them in such a way, but now it makes sense. Lord Allaoui is.... oh, Alysanne, he seems so frightening, he is so unlike Alaric in so many ways. His eyes, they... they bore into you. I have to be strong, I know that, but I am distraught at the thought of spending my days with him and in the West.

yours always,

asha

[ALYSANNE SEAWYND]

Lady Asha,

How vile. Spying on ones children is so base; I'm sorry you have to live with such hostility. All the more reason you should leave - and the more I would want you here with us. I'm afraid to say too much in a letter for fear it may be intercepted or read by someone, not here but in Castle Black. But as you are my friend, and my brother loves you, know that we are thinking of a way to right it. If you should ever need anything don't be afraid to ask it of me.

Having never met Lord Allaoui myself I couldn't really say - but the whole things sounds most horrid. You have the right of it, try to endure...for the time being at least. I can only thank the gods that Alaric would never force something like that on me - now we simply have to make sure it doesn't happen to you.

Yours fondly,

Alysanne

[ASHA ROSEWOOD]

dearest alysanne ,

It is something I am used to by now, unfortunately. It is something they tried when I was a child and it worked from time to time, the only place I could truly be alone was my room, and even then I had to be careful as to who I surrounded myself with. I cannot say that my parents would not open my letters, but if this letter was to fall into their hands then they would surely open it without any regard to my privacy. Alysanne, you are doing so much for me already by telling me how Alaric is, I could not ask any more of you.

I had always known I would be married off to some Lord I did not know, but Alaric changed that. I could never thank him enough for that. If this does not work in our favour, then I would just like to say that I looked forward to having you for a sister. You are very lucky to have Alaric as your brother, he would never push you to do something you did not care for.

yours always,

asha

[ALYSANNE SEAWYND]

Lady Asha,

Don't doubt for a second that he loves you. I'm fairly certain everyone knows it, from my ladies to the boys mucking out the stables - he mentions it enough. Hopefully that would be some comfort to you. By now, I think, he would also have told you of his plan. Our family won't suffer this slight, Asha. It wasn't just your feelings and my brother's promise that were cast aside by your parents, though it might seem that way to the both of you. Honor is honor. Your family may be Keepers of the South - but that does not mean they can cast ours aside so blithely. It may be a lesson hard learned...but we Seawynds are willing to teach it, I think.

Again please be sure that no one reads this; and let me know when you must move West. Perhaps your new husband's family may be persuaded to let me visit you, if not Alaric. Obviously they wouldn't allow that.

Yours fondly,

Alysanne

[ASHA ROSEWOOD]

dearest alysanne ,

I could never doubt Alaric's love for me, never. And it some comfort to know that he still mentions it to you and others. I have received a letter from Alaric informing me of his intent on Castle Black, and while I do understand the dishonor my family has done to yours, I fear for the onset of a war between our houses. I do not wish anyone to be hurt, or any ill will to fall upon them.

Of course I will keep you informed of when I am to be moved to the West. I will mention to Lord Allaoui of your wish to come and visit. I do not know his temperament but I am sure he will agree to having you there if it pleases me.

yours always,

asha