A little blood between friends

When last we checked in with House Drake, the heir apparent and her bevy of half brothers boldly fought off an incursion by the covetous forces of House Buckwell.  having firmly established the town as the base for a new frontier, the Drake family headed south to learn what had become of their relief force.  rather than encountering Uncle Anders and the Drake Company archers, they found a deserted road and odd, over-sized footprints.  Lady Ella said upon seeing the tracks "This has a bad Hodor about it."

Returning to Castle Drake, the band found the bailey littered with idle armsmen not of their house.  Indeed, among the banners present were those of House Hayford, House Highgarden and the hated Buckwells.  Maester Gyles flew into a righteous rage, demanding that Celia present herself to the new lady of House Drake.  A war of words ensued as Celia insinuated something shady-nasty had gone on during the heroes' absence.  She had the lawful will of the departed Ondrew Drake whereas the unsealed letter borne by Gyles must be a fake.

Celia's guests stood shocked and dumbfounded as the Maester tore a strip off her hide (and pride) before berating the harpy back into the lair.  Ella reiterated that she was named heir even as Celia advanced her own son Torrhen as the new lord of the Drake Household.  In a fit of rage and sensing that his honor was about to be compromised, Torrhen snatched Celia's forged will and tossed it into the fire.  This act of defiance outraged his Uncle Anders and the two exchanged words.  Foolishly the exchange came to blows and Anders swung at his nephew, apparently disregarding the fact that the young knight was still clad for battle.

Torrhen easily turned aside the strike and returned one of his own.  Having sheathed his sword in Anders' gut (which caused an alarmingly loud belch a la Phil Collins), Torrhen turned angrily on his mother.  Her interference had nearly sold the house to its enemies and Ella into a marriage contract with Highgarden.  "The Silent Sisters are always looking for people," Torrhen declared.  Ella spurned the Highgarden offer knowing that marrying into a Westerosi family would mean surrendering her Dornish birthright and her ability to lead the house.

Having upset Celia's plans, the heroes seized the Hayfords and Buckwells as hostages.  Having already dealt the Buckwell's a serious blow, holding their heir hostage was a modest coup for the Drake family.  Maester Gyles dispatched ravens to the Buckwells offering to exchange their heir for a year's tithes.  The Buckwells agreed and offered to meed at Pembroke.  At roughly the same time news came from Pembroke from Ser Uther Frey of the Night's Watch.  Ser Frey claimed he was besieged in the village smithy, accused of foul murder.

Though the coincidence in locale was odd, the Drake's vowed to uphold the house honor and lend aid to the Night's Watch.  Knowing that the Buckwell's and their allies were also heading to Pembroke with treachery in mind, the Drake's drew forth their armies and summoned the forces of the newly founded House Fitzdrake to assist.  If the Buckwells thought the prisoner exchange could be warped into an ambush and slaughter, they were going to be terribly surprised.

Ella countered the Buckwell aggression by proposing a marriage pact with House cafferen, an ally of the Buckwells.  In exchange for remaining out of the fight, Ella promised cafferen a quarter of the Buckwell lands.  if they should actively support House Drake, they would gain a third of the Buckwell lands as well as join the two houses together by the marriage of her younger brother Thedric to the Cafferen's eldest daughter.  In theory, the cafferens agreed.  How the situation would play out in Pembroke is yet to be seen.

House Drake has outmanuevered treachery from within and aggression from without.  Will this last minute alliance with cafferen turn the tide of battle and destroy the Buckwells once and for all?  Has House Drake overstepped its place engaging in this most dangerous game of politics?  Have Maester Gyles' clever manipulations totally hodored House Drake?