The trial of Lord Cyrus Manderly

[Kingpoleon]

Lord Manderly enters, with two of his honor guard first declaring his entrance. The Lord, dressed in his blue and green cloak of House Manderly, proceeds to stride slowly to his position, with three of the guard ahead of him and three behind. On one of his shoulders, a scarlet shoulder pad holds the sigil of House Manderly. On the other, a scarlet shoulder pad holds the sigil of House Stark. Once he takes his position, two of the guards stand behind it, and two stand on each side of it. He opens his mouth, and slowly yet surely speaks:

"I, Lord Cyrus of House Manderly, swear before the Old Gods and the New to speak only the truth. I accept the authority of this court and my rightful King, Lord Cregan of House Stark. I acknowledge that the judgement made by this Court and the sentence made by King is final -- once the judgement is proclaimed, I lose any right to demand any trial by any method to alter the judgement against me."

[Kingpoleon]

If the honorable judges will allow it, the defense would like to question Lord Dustin:

1. Outside of subjective interpretation, is there anything that indicates Lord Manderly intends to violate his oath to his liege?
2. Do you, as a witness, currently bear any leanings to the guilt or innocence of Lord Manderly in these proceedings?

[Kingpoleon]

Lord Manderly, upon hearing the words of his liege, turns towards his honor guard.

“Gentlemen, I release the bond of your word to my personage inside of this room. You are dismissed to guard the doors, unless my liege intends to object to this as well?” Lord Manderly turns to his liege, assuming he will nod his assent.

[Kingpoleon]

“Today, I stand on trial for treason. A sword hangs over my head, poised to strike. I look to the left, and see my liege has become my accuser. I look to the right, and I see my fellow Lord Dustin, a friend, has become my poison. I look to my lands, and I see a gang of misfits and ignoble animals - I durst not grant them the respect of the word “men” or “people” - coming to seize my possessions. I am called a traitor by Lord Creagan, my most honorable liege.” Lord Manderly pauses, making his intonations slow and sure.

“Yet I ask these noble judges a question: Do you not see me before you? Have you not hear the words testified against me? Can you not judge me yet? Assuredly, you do know. Assuredly, you do see me. Assuredly, most assuredly, you withhold judgement for now. I speak to you, noble judges. I speak to the courtroom. I speak to my liege, my accuser. I speak to my friend, my poison. I speak to the people of the North.” Using repetition, Lord Manderly seems poised upon his words.”

“My liege has demanded one-half of all I own. These taxes, uncollected for years, would not alone be objectionable. I am sworn to my liege - had he demanded that I not speak to a fellow Lord besides him, that alone would not be objectionable. I am a friend of Lord Dustin - had he demanded an immediate retraction and a reasonable conclusion, that alone would not be objectionable.” Lord Cyrus now speaks with a tone that makes it clear he is explaining what should have been done, according to reason. “These could have been private issues, resolved privately. But they have forced my hand - I must now speak publicly, or see myself hang. And were it just myself, still would I keep silent and not speak out against my liege and my friend. But my realm, my people, my children, my name: all these are at stake. Should I abandon these? May The Gods Forbid!

“Lord Creagan! I wrote to you in friendship, as a vassal to his liege should, for you are an honorable man. I asked for mercy and a redemption of taxes, promising you a great navy and other things, for you are an honorable man. Yet you spit in my face. I am ashamed to admit it, for you are an honorable man, but you took my words of a friendship between House Manderly, House Stark, and the Vale, and changed them to have a different and evil meaning. I now see that you, you honorable man, have presented falsified documents to the court.” Lord Manderly face seems to harden as he speaks. “You have done this, I can only guess, for a vast fortune. My father had a saying: woe to he who loves money too much, for this love of money shall be his downfall. My liege: forgive me, but he who makes problems public has made his own problems public. I have spoken the truth in this matter, as far and as much as I knew it, and it saddens my heart to do so.”

“Lord Dustin! I say: woe to he who loves power too much, for this love of power shall be his downfall. Have you flattered yourself so much that you believe I would betray my liege for your sake? Or do you think that all think so highly of you that it makes sense for me to risk my life and betray my liege for an alliance? No! I proposed an alliance of peace, and you made it out to be an alliance of war against my liege. You were like a brother to me; my words you publish are accurate, but the meaning you interpret is false. Woe to the one who gives up his friend for power! Were you not my former friend, and would not some of my respect for you have stayed in spite of this, I would surely have words for you much worse - a hundredfold worse - than my brother, my betrayer.” Nearly out of breath, Lord Manderly concludes his first statement. “I never intended, in any way, to break my oath to my lord, and to say I have done so is truly a most evil insult.”

“Most noble judges, you have heard my testimony, and it has been no easy thing to say - to speak the truth in matters of importance is rarely easy, but always necessary. I will answer all questions required of me now.” Lord Cyrus sits down, awaiting questions.

[Kingpoleon]

Thank you, my Lord.  There are indeed several questions which the court would like to put before you although we shall do our utmost to be as brief as possible.  

1) You implied that Lord Dustin has sold you out for the promise of greater power.  Could you please elaborate about this allegation?  Specifically, what promises do you believe were made and by whom?  Do you have any concrete evidence at the moment to support this serious accusation?  

2) While I realize that he has yet to testify before the court, the court wishes to inquire, prior to Lord Ryswell's testimony, what your view is of Lord Ryswell's credibility.  Do you consider him to be an honorable man who can be taken at his word or do you assert that he has behaved dishonorably after being promised some sort of reward by your enemies?

3) What did you mean when you offered to share secrets not known in Winterfell?  Was this a reference to some strange Sothron religious custom or something of a different nature?  

4) What did you mean when you said to your liege "do not push us to The Vale?"  The court would not want to, even unintentionally, take your words out of context.  In my mind, the safest way to prevent that from happening is for you to explain the context to us in your own words.  What was it that you meant by that portion of your message?  

5) You made reference to an offer of an alliance to Lords Dustin and Ryswell, but claim it was an offer of a peace alliance.  Could you please elaborate a bit for the court?

1) He has not, to my knowledge, been promised any power. However, the idea he seems to propose is preposterous beyond my recall. I do not believe he would speak thusly if not for some unknown reason, and I do not intend to speculate before this court his reasons for such.

2) I know Lord Ryswell. Lord Dustin and Lord Stark are men - noble and honorable men, but men. Should the testimony of Lord Ryswell indict me in the eyes of this court, then I have neither head nor heart, neither eyes nor insight. I trust fully that Lord Ryswell will abide by the truth as he sees it, and he is a man who cannot be swayed: a great and true leader whom it is my pleasure to know. Should my head still be on my shoulders after this trial, he, witness against me as he is, will be the first man whose hand I shake. Let the record show I know good men outside of sometimes, and I know the character of a man. I do not now, nor will I ever, lie about someone’s character as I see it to advance my cause, in this trial or, hopefully, afterwards.

3) Most honorable judge, the secrets of a man are his own. I believe my liege knows these secrets now, due to my own correspondence with him. If I did not send the message before he arrested me, it would be coercion to force it from me now*. I did allude to a secret in my message. That part of the document was unedited.

4) Honorable judge, let me repeat: if my words convict me, then I must indeed be guilty. However, I believe that any document sent in haste, so that my liege May react quicker, may, of course be misinterpreted. I clearly meant that to take half of all I own is sure to create anger among those in White Harbor. I did not, you notice, say “push me.” In contrast, my “loyalty to House Stark is well-known.” Should I demand of any of my vassals half their income, I hardly expect them to hand it over without a little negotiation and back-and-forth. This is no crime, and my efforts to negotiate so have been spit upon by Lord Stark - a most unseemly position to take towards one’s own vassal.

5) Honorable judge, I am not known to be a man who makes war in haste. By an alliance of peace, I clearly mean protection - not some equivalent to attacking my liege and House Bolton, as Lord Dustin so slyly implies. I saw the movements towards peace between House Bolton and House Stark, and that indicates to me that the North may come towards a greater understanding of peace. My only goal in such communications to play a part in creating peace and a new understanding over the North.

*OOC: I don’t know if I actually sent it to you, Baconomics. Post in the other thread or PM me if I did.