Chapter Text
Tobiah Thornwood stood in the gathered crowd of minor nobles, knights, wealthy commoners and guild masters. Today’s court held was one for those whose concerns were that of a financial matter, such as taxes and certainly rules that may or may not need some adjustment. Usually such things were handled by the Master of coin and Laws, but as Viserys was an active king he held something of a rotation on what matters he would hear when he held court in the mid to late mornings.
Of course Tobiah would have been there no matter what the topic Viserys was hearing court on was, he had to be. Today was the day that Viserys would announce his intention to marry Alicent, when the first overt step towards creating the Dance of Dragons the way Tobiah knew it to happen. He was not so naive to think conflict could be entirely diverted, that had been set in stone by the Great Council and all that followed. But he could do his utmost to shift the course of how it may go and to keep the most direct line of succession as uncomplicated as possible.
The question of how? Well Tobiah didn’t quite like it, for the manner in which whatever greater force in the world that had sent him sought to make his introduction to the King was not very pleasant. Tobiah didn’t even know what said greater force wanted out of him, he hoped it was to do as he thought was best. He had only just been given control of his body, so far as the body could be called his, to do with as he pleased. He knew a deranged man would pull a knife to try and stab the king but would be cut down before he could get anywhere near him. The question was, how would Tobiah use this? He had been given the set up, but no way to know how to use it. He had simply been put in the situation, and he was supposed to make the best of it.
He hadn’t been given much time either, though that was something Tobiah could work with well enough, he had the basic outline of a plan and Tobiah had found that more times than not the outline of a plan served better than a full plan, what with the powers that be taken such joy in throwing plans to the wind and all. He could use his new appearance, which he assumed was that of an SI he had written in the past, and loosely adapt part of that background to his own tale, to validate why he knew what he did and why he might have ‘dragon dreams’. The icing on top of the cake of course was that fact he knew of the Song of Ice and Fire, something Viserys would take as undeniable evidence.
Indeed as Tobiah went over the basic outline of a plan that he had in mind he saw a bit of suspicious movement from the corner of his eye, a man advancing through the crowd on the other side of the open walkway. The man had his right hand under the left side of his jacket, which was all Tobiah needed to surmise that this was the man who would be making an ill fated and ill thought out attempt on the king’s life.
Tobiah schooled his expression to be a mix of determination, concern and suspicion, before he himself began to push through the crowd. He caught up to and kept pace with the man who pushed through the crowd in the right half of the crowd, while he moved through the left. As the man and Tobiah drew nearer to the front of the crowd Tobiah Increased his pace to try and cut him off, though in doing so he drew quite a bit of attention to himself. It did not matter though, the man with the knife realized what Tobiah was doing and made to dash forward himself.
The Moment the two of them met wasn’t anything like the movies Tobiah was watched in the past. For one, when the man pulled his knife and raised it Tobiah did not succeed in catching the hand, only in getting his first two fingers on his left hand cut. That meant that when Tobiah did catch the man’s wrist when it was over his head and the madman roaring about dragon blooded Demons’ Tobiah’s attempt was only enough to slow and divert the strike… Right into his shoulder.
As Tobiah had gotten in front of the madman and caught his wrist when the man wanted to advance towards Viserys instead it was pulled by Tobiah’s grip before slipping past it, landing the blade right into Tobiah’s shoulder. Though as painful as that was, it did give the King’s guard the opening they needed to surround the rambling madman and subdue him, though the action did lead to the knight being pulled from Tobiah’s shoulder. The blinding pain and feeling of his heart beating in his ears almost drown out the utter mayhem that descended on the gathered court. Almost being the operative word there.
Three King’s guard had leaped to action, but only two were needed to subdue the man, so the third was turning to return to his post where Viserys seemed to be preparing to make his exit. The king couldn’t quite run away in a panic, he needed to look strong and relatively unaffected, but he also couldn't stay. So he made to call an early end to the court session, Ser Harrold Westerling already moving from where he stop before and nearest to Viserys. Tobiah knew he needed to make his move now, else it would be too late.
“Good Ser, there is a message I must pass to the king, it is of utmost urgency and is related to the attack and how I knew to anticipate it. Tell his Grace it is a matter related to the Song of Ice and Fire, he will know what that means.” Tobiah poured all the desperation he well and truly felt in that moment into his voice and words. He needed the King’s guard to understand it was something that must be passed along.
Mayhaps it was luck, mayhaps it was because Tobiah had just taken a knife to the shoulder for the king, maybe it was that the King’s guard saw in Tobiah’s eyes genuine desperation. Either way, the knight did rush towards Ser Harrold and King Viserys, speaking in a low though rushed manner. The look of shock and Viserys turning immediately to look at Tobiah told him all he needed to know, he had if nothing else been successful in getting the king’s attention. And very likely that as Viserys looked to Tobiah that he truly processed the streak of silver blond hair running through the rest of Tobiah’s dark hair, and the bright violet of his eyes.
The King said something in turn to the King’s guard, and though Tobiah did not hear it, he knew exactly what was said, for the knight of the King’s guard nodded and turned to return to where Tobiah stood, clutching his shoulder and blood flowed both from that injury and the one to the finger on his left hand. The knight silently places a hand on Tobiah’s uninjured shoulder and urges him forth while Viserys calls the early end to the court session and the two King’s guard who were subduing the madman haul him up and away. So clean and ending to the scene as any could hope for, but nowhere near the end for Tobiah’s desperate half plan.
As the King’s guard’s hand leaves Tobiah’s uninjured shoulder and he takes the lead to follow after Viserys and Ser Harrold Westerling Tobiah feels his mind set to racing. He had gotten his foot in the door so to speak, but he still had a long way to go before he could consider his self appointed mission done. A thousand possible speeches, angles and ideas form in his mind and are either discarded or built upon. Tobiah would oft curse his ever busy mind, but in moments like this is was his saving grace, that he could throw a plan together so quickly and with so much thought that it would appear to most that he had not made a plan at all. High IQ’s may oft feel to have more drawbacks in daily life than advantages, but in situations like this they truly shine.
The plan was simple, for as much busy as Tobiah’s mind was, he knew well enough that overcomplicating simplicity was a foolish thing to do. The what was simple, the how was the only question, and as Tobiah often found being the case, the simplest option proved to be best and with the most benefits. He would simply tell Viserys it was to be, that he had seen it. He would allow Viserys to come to his own conclusions. If asked about his parentage he would default on what he had already written, though with more uncertainty added in. There again he would allow Viserys to make up his own mind. Because when all else failed, the observed patterns of a specific person’s mind could be relied upon.
So as Viserys ahead of him entered a room, and Tobiah was lead in after him, Tobiah steeled his resolve for what he knew he needed to do. What his fate would be there after was unknown to him, but Tobiah had come to peace with uncertainty a long time ago, and he did not mind it.