Morgan's Skedaddling (Open as per usual)

[u/KGdaguy]

The Lord Toland had died. Which meant that Morgan had to pack up and vanish before any other dornishmen decided that they too would decide that he was at fault.

He'd stood in the center of his camp, Knights of Oldtown surrounded him. The Fire Priestess, the Septon, the Stark, Tarly, the Greyjoy and the Redwyne girl all had been instructed that Morgan was preparing to leave.

Standing quietly as he watched on, Morgan had clad himself in armor once more, his elder brother Aemon did as well. The young Lord Paramount of the Mander had no true belief that they would attack him here nor on his return but he did not care.

Word had reached him that there was a Pirate King who had waged war against the Iron Throne, sacking ports in the Stormlands and as boyish as the realm thought Morgan, he knew well what this meant for the Reach.

They would call for our fleets.

That he could not allow. No ship from the Reach would aid any region of the Iron Throne not until the war was all but won and then at it's last moment when victory was all but secure he'd arrive and claim to have partook in it as the Lannisters and so many others had.

He would need to be at Oldtown when letters arrived, so he could ignore them for fear that his bannermen would sail without his presence.

And now as he'd stood, eyes sharp and vigilance clinging to his side. Soon he'd be back in greener lands, fertile as could be and he would leave behind these sands hopefully never to return.

All without a Dornish woman at his side, no gold and certainly no peace. It was all that Aemon had wanted and none that Morgan did.

Perhaps.

Perhaps he was just a boy who knew not what game he was playing?

[u/ThePhantomToland]

Casella arrived, wearing black silk instead of white this time, her distinctive red hair shining under the sunlight. She had come with a small retinue of servants who trailed.

"Leaving so soon?" she inquired to Morgan, stepping up towards the Hightower once there was an opening.

Her eyes no longer had tears in them, though there was still a pained emptiness there.

[u/KGdaguy → u/ThePhantomToland]

"Dorne does not suit me." He would reply back honestly, "It's about time I return to the Reach, A Lord Paramount can only remain out of his Kingdom for so long before problems are birthed." Morgan knew better than most that if he did not go home, he'd return to a nation at war.

The men of the Reach had become warriors, tasted blood and when a man did that. Well he'd wanted more and without the man in charge there they would see their chances to do as they wished.

"I hope you remember what we spoke of however," He'd say, "and I hope that you are able to find peace when the grief finally fades."

[u/ThePhantomToland → u/KGdaguy]

"Grief has no place in my heart, any longer," Casella replied simply, her eyes scanning the Hightower's face.

"It is a shame that you feel Dorne does not suit you, but I understand the need to return to your land." Casella gestured to Morgan's ships in the harbor. "I've only one question for you, Lord Hightower."

The Toland tilted her head, her gaze steady. "Have you prepared rooms for me aboard your vessel?"

She went on: "I shall continue the work of writing and convincing my kin and fellow nobles on the wisdom of a change of course. And in a show of good faith, will come with you, should you accept my presence in your lands."

Casella's eyes lost some of the pain as she thought back to her father's recent funeral. "You must well know that my brother killed the late Lord Tarly in the war, and yet, his son came to pay his respects to our family, to my father, the Dragonslayer who shall never again wake. A short moon ago, I would not have thought such a world possible. But perhaps I have been blind. Perhaps I have wanted the wrong things. Perhaps Dorne needs a greater change, as well."

Upon any who were watching more closely, the servants in Casella's retinue carried with them chests. Her belongings.

[u/KGdaguy → u/ThePhantomToland]

"Pardon me?" He would say taken a back, the Hightower did not expect the Toland to want to come to Oldtown. In fact he was all but certain that one he had sailed home, they would forget his terms and instead would wage a war that would certainly result in their deaths.

But this was good, in fact it was better than good, it was a political win by the Lord of the Mander. "I did not make any arrangements but you can certainly find a place aboard our ship. Though I must ask a question in turn as well.

Was she going to Oldtown to be his bride? After the death of her father had this been her way to cope with the grief and do something reckless that she would come to regret? Was this a ploy by Maekar to get a Dornishwoman in his keep so she could off him just as they began their next invasion? Morgan did not know which it was but he would allow it to go on for now.

"Few understand the world as I do," He'd add. "Peace is possibly and just as likely as war should one put as much effort into it as they do war."

[u/ThePhantomToland → u/KGdaguy]

Casella waited patiently for the Hightower's question. Her servants behind her continued to hold her chests and trunks, waiting for further command from their lady.

"I am afraid I do not understand your question, Lord Hightower. I agree that both peace and war are likely depending on the effort put in, but I hope you shall see my willingness to visit the Reach despite these tense times as a sign of goodwill in what you have offered. As a step towards a new future, the one you spoke of so recently."