Missing Music (Attn: Maurelle)

[Kathleen]

Kathleen woke to the sun shining in through a window, illuminating the room she found herself alone in. "This is becoming far too much of a habit" she whispered, testing her vocal chords. The words scratched her dry throat but they came. Throwing back the blankets she drew herself from the bed and set to her morning routine of making her bed, washing up and dressing. 

 

As she walked past the desk in her sitting room she absently reached for the music box she kept there. It wasn't until her fingers found it that she recalled dropping it the day before. She had tried it then to see if it still played, but it hadn't. She had gone to bed before her warder though and he did have a fondness for fixing such things, perhaps he already had it working again. She tested it out but it was just as useless as the day before. 

 

"Oh well, I'm sure he had better things to do than fiddle with my trinkets." she said to herself, turning her attention back to getting ready. She found herself humming the familiar tune though as she made her way through the motions of leaving.

 

She had papers to grade and the sun still shining in on her was calling her to it. There was no reason she couldn't do her work in the gardens under the the sun. It would be far more pleasant a place to do the repetitive simple minded task than here at her desk. She gathered the stack of papers from her desk and found herself glancing back her at music box.

 

She shifted the papers and took up the box to bring with her. Nev would need to bring the tools to the box or the box to the tools if he was to fix it and Kathleen could be accommodating enough to save him the step if she was going to ask him to take time out of his day to fix something, even if it was something  she was sure he would want to do. Besides it would be an excuse to go see him train, and she knew he preferred to do that without the added pressure of impressing her. Still she did enjoy watching and this would be a good enough excuse. 

 

She made her way out to the warders yard and found him standing ready to take on a young opponent with practice swords. The other trainees and warders politely parted as she walked by, but she couldn't help but pick up on the common growing tension at her presence. She knew they were all used to aes sedai, they lived at the White Tower after all, but most of the men, try as they might, never could quite hide their arrogant displeasure that even in their own space they were meant to walk on egg shells and go out of their way to accommodate the sisters. She often wanted to pull the ones aside who hid it less and ask if they knew what the point of the Tower Guard was, but she never did. She just tried to avoid directly getting in anyone's way. 

 

She sat for a moment waiting for her warder to look up at her and when he finally did she could see the hint of annoyance in his eyes. He knew she didn't have a good reason to be there. There was not nearly enough urgency in the bond to warrant her visit, and her standing back as she was proved it more over. The green flashed him a smile and he gave the slightest shake of his head in disbelief; it was enough for Kathleen. She sat the music box down beside her warder's discarded shirt and the contents of his pockets which he didn't take to the practice.  He would find it when the match was over and know she did have a excuse to come, if still not a good one.

 

Her stomach began to protest about being empty and she knew she had embarrassed Nev enough. That man was far too easy to embarrass. Even after all these years he had hardly eased up an ounce, she thought as she made her way back through the gathering crowd of trainees and tower guards and out of the warder yards. 

 

Kathleen Vandiar

Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah

[Maurelle]

So that was an Aes Sedai, Tywin thought as he stared at the place where she had been. She looked like any other woman even if he couldn't quite place her age. He was on break while Nev sparred with some of the students who were farther along with their training. Frankly, it was nice to give his sore muscles a bit of a break. He'd been going at it with all he had and it was showing in the way his shoulders had thickened to the point that the quartermaster had ordered him new clothing. He let out a sigh and rolled his neck along his shoulders. A glint of something caught his eye on the bench where Nev had left some of his things at the start of practice. His eyes flicked to the sides to see what the others were up to. The trainees in his stage of training were either watching the sparring matches or chatting quietly next to the well they used to drink out of. No one was paying attention to him.

 

Tywin moved and sat on the bench next to Nev's stuff just like he needed to sit for a moment, the long staff they were working with that morning going across his knees. Looking like he was staring off into the distance more than anything, he studied the things on the bench. It was mostly typical pocket contents-or at least what he knew was typically in people's pockets from years of filching from them. But there was one thing that was different. It looked expensive with it's intricate metal filigree. Carefully, watching the others out of the corners of his eyes for signs of them noticing something they shouldn't, Tywin flicked the lid up with the tips of his fingers. The second it opened he knew what it was-a music box. It didn't play, but that hardly mattered to him. He could almost imagine the look on his mother's face if she had even heard one play let alone touched one 

 

He closed it taking measure of it's size and shape. The box was small; a little large than the size of his palm with small carved legs. It would be a small matter to slip it into his pocket. He rubbed his hands over the legs of his jeans. He hadn't taken anything in the month he had been here. He'd looked-by the Light he had looked. How could he not when he was surrounded by all this splendor? But he hadn't wanted for anything. He was fed, clothed and had a warm bed that he didn't have to steal for. He was beginning to make friends that admired him not for his ability to spot a choice mark or to evade the city guards. But that little metal box sang to him in a way that no money ever could. He could listen to music without having to make it himself. The very idea was like touching his mother again even though she'd been dead for so long.

 

Tywin took a deep breath as he heard the call for his training group to get back onto the sand. As he stood, the music box was no longer among the things spread on the bench.

[Kathleen]

Kathleen made her way back to the White Tower and to the dining hall where she let herself linger, slowly picking at her breakfast. Let the other's think I'm waiting for information to slip, she thought as she began to notice eyes flashing at her after sitting too long. She wasn't waiting for information, rather she was letting the work of grading wait. With her plate cleared she couldn't sit there longer without truly drawing question, so she rose from the table, taking up the papers again and headed out toward a common garden. 

 

It was a shared garden where aes sedai and accepted alike roamed. As an accepted she had spent a good deal of time in that garden watching the aes sedai, trying to learn their mannerisms or trying to over hear any news she could that someone of her station would not know. Now that she was fully raised she took a small pleasure in returning the favour to the next generation. 

 

As she sat under a fully bloomed tree marking the papers a few girls in her class came in with books, clearly coming together to study. Kathleen eyed them and shuffled through her papers, taking one from the middle of the stack to grade next. She eyed one of the girls intently as she straightened the paper before her. It did not belong to the girl, but Kathleen made a point of frowning as she read it and occasionally glancing back up at the girl. Each time her eyes raised the girl's would flash away from the green sister and the accepted's fingers would find the hem of her sleeve out of unsettled habit. 

 

When all the papers were marked and her back was starting to ache from sitting so long under the trees Kathleen gathered her things and returned to her rooms. She found Nev's shirt and a few things of his scattered around which hadn't been there when she left. She checked for the music box, but she wasn't surprised to find it wasn't on the desk. She assumed he had come back to clean up and then went to work on it.

 

She spent the rest of the day out of her rooms picking up some dresses she had ordered in the city. She insisted on getting them personally to be sure that what she ordered was what she got before they mad it all the way to her rooms. She hadn't thought twice about not taking Nev along, shopping never was one of his pleasures, but by the time she made it to the green ajah halls she the dresses were getting very heavy. She was quite relieved when her warder showed up and took them from her. 

 

"You don't have to carry my things like a lovesick boy," she said, letting the pile of clothing go into his arms before he could leave them with her.

 

When they reached her rooms Kathleen looked at the empty space on her desk, "where's is it?" she asked.

 

"Where's what?" He replied, dropping the load of dresses on a sitting chair.

 

"Have you fixed it?" Kathleen asked over him.

 

"Yes, I've fixed the 'it' I just asked you to define." Nev replied sarcastically, "Have I fixed what?"

 

"The music box, of course. Have you fixed it?" She repeated.

 

"Yes, its right there in that empty place on the desk you're staring at." he laughed as he sat down in the second chair.

 

"Oh, stop being so smart! I left it with you this morning. Have you had trouble getting it working? You know that's one of the only things I have left of my childhood, Nev. All I'm asking is where you're keeping it." Kathleen turned to face her warder while her right hand snapped to her hip.

 

The conversation continued but quickly turned from the lighthearted jest it was to a more serious question of where the box indeed could have been. Nev had no memory of the box and was sure it wasn't there when he got back to where he left his things. He rose from the chair and began to root through the things he had brought with him to be sure nothing else was missing. 

 

Kathleen began pacing through the room, worry consuming her until it began to turn to anger. It was all Nev could do to stop her from running through the halls on a rampage to find the fool who took it. But he did manage to stop her. He was right. It was far too late to go looking for it tonight. The options of action were few at this point. When the day came again there would be more leads to follow.

 

If it was still in the warder's yard Nev would have seen it. If someone had found it thinking it was misplaced they would have turned it in and Kathleen could claim it in the morning. If it truly was taken in an act of theft, it would have been by someone training on the White Tower grounds. That would mean they would be there in the morning or they would run tonight.

 

Nev said he would get a list of anyone who left the Tower after the music box went missing, but even if he got that list tonight it wouldn't do to go waking half the tower guard for a music box. He didn't say it, but it would also give Kathleen a chance to calm down and it would give the would be thief the chance to explain himself to her that she wouldn't be so willing to give in her current state.

 

 

~Kathleen Vandiar

Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah

[Maurelle]

It wasn't like Tywin to feel so jittery after a theft. Granted, he hadn't really had that much time to think about it between sparring sessions, weapons inspections and stuffing his mouth. But it sat in his pocket like a hot coal. He wasn't even really sure why he had taken it in the first place. It didn't work. But the idea of having something so nice in his possession... He shook his head and the normal smile on his face turned into a grimace. He knew what was bothering him. He sighed and began another circuit between the leather leaf tree and the tinkling fountain. It was sculpted to look like jumping fish so real you almost expected them to swim off. And he was distracting himself. He needed to make peace with himself over this theft or he would never getting any sleep-he was out past curfew as it was.

 

So why was it bothering him? He puffed out his cheeks and actually examined where his thoughts wanted him to go. It bothered him not because he took something-he had done that all the time before. It didn't bother him because he had stolen from an Aes Sedai- any one that trusting with their things deserved to be stolen from in his opinion. No, what bothered him was the fact that if they found out it was him who took the music box they would likely kick him out on his ass. His lips pressed themselves into a thin line as he stared at the fountain unseeing. He was just coming to the conclusion that he actually wanted to be here, and not just because it had been his father's last request. He liked the people here. He liked not worrying about having a roof over his head. Bloody ashes, he was beginning to even like the training.

 

Tywin shoved his hands into his pockets letting his left one cover the outside of the music box as he resumed his pacing. He was threatening this life he was building over a music box that didn't even work! What was wrong with him? His speed picked up so that he was closer to running rather than to pacing now. What was done was done. He doubted that he could remember much about the Aes Sedai beyond what she had been wearing-clothes were the first thing you assessed about someone to determine if they were a good mark or not, and it was second nature to him. He could imagine what would happen if he went up to Nev and tried to give it back. He winced and let out a breath. The music box was his now for good or ill. His best bet was to make sure no one found it.

 

Decision made, he rolled his shoulders and turned on heel back towards his little room in barracks. He needed two things-sleep and a secure hidey-hole. Sleep would have to come first as he would look ten time more suspicious if he was caught wandering the grounds after dark.

[Kathleen]

Kathleen woke to the same lonely veiw of the empty space beside her in the bed that had greeted her the morning before. She got out of bed and folded the sheets back up out of habit before making her way to her wardrobe to dress. She stripped out of her nightdress and into a white dress with green vine embroidery. It was a light material which moved easily. 

 

As she walked past her desk her fingers once again reached for the music box. When they didn't find it the green's temper flared at the memory of the conversation the night before. "I will not assume it was stolen." she asserted, trying to extiquish her growing anger. "I will not. There could be a good reason its missing. I will be patient. I will." 

 

When she was finished getting ready she left her rooms and the green ajah halls on a mission. Though she kept a look of reserved good nature and sparred a smile for a few passing faces her gate clearly showed she was walking with a purpose and she was sure it stopped a good number of people who may otherwise have stopped her to have a word. 

 

She went first to the study of the Mistress of Novices on the off chance it had been found by one of the Tower's girls and delivered to Valerie Sedai, or more likely it had been found on one of the girls and confiscated by her. Either way, the Mistress of Novices was the first place that came to her mind and it was the first location it could have been that crossed her path. 

 

Kathleen knocked on the door and waited for Valerie's call to enter. A wave of mild anxity hit her as she passed through the archway of the door and she let out a soft laugh at the thought that this room still brought any amount of fear to her even after all the years she's had since she put on the shawl. She asked after the music box but the Mistress of Novices had not seen it or heard any word of the girl's under her charge having it. She said she would keep and ear and and eye out of for it. Kathleen thanked her and moved on with her search.

 

She stopped in with the front office and she stopped a few servants to inquire, but no one had heard anything of it. She hadn't been expecting too much from any of those stops though. It would have been a fluke to have found it here. It was last seen in the warder's training yards, the odds that it would found within the halls of the Aes Sedai were slim. No, it was more likely to be found in the warder's yard and after a quick breakfast that is where she headed.

 

She entered the grounds and slowly walked back to where she had left it. She made a point not to look like she was there to suspect a thief or even to look like she was looking for something lost. She was simply there to find her warder, as she and the other sister's who came to the training grounds so often did. She didn't want to spook the theif into hiding, if there was a theif at all, she reminded herself in an attempt to keep an open mind. 

 

She would look for it on her way perhaps it got kicked away from Nev's things. Perhaps it was turned into the training staff as a lost item. She made her way across the training ground once again, looking for anything that could lead her to it on her way to finding someone to ask about where she would find it if it were turned in.

 

~ Kathleen Vandiar

Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah

[Maurelle]

Breakfast had been a hurried affair consisting of a crusty roll, milk with honey, and a couple of boiled eggs-all things that Tywin had managed to charm out of the cook on the excuse that he was going to get in some extra practice that morning. She had been delighted with the idea, saying how few of the trainees showed such dedication to their training. He hadn't liked lying to her-she reminded him something of his mother, but what was done was done. The music box was burning a hole in his pocket and he had maybe a bell before the yard was full of the other trainees and instructors.

 

Tywin scanned the area just outside the small armory outpost just next to the training ground from yesterday. This would most likely be the best place to stash the music box until he got access to the rest of the grounds and it was empty this time of the morning. He pulled on the latch-the door was locked. He huffed out a breath-a small white cloud of mist escaping his mouth. Another quick scan of the yard as he pulled a small rolled up pouch from his other pocket. He had hoped to not need these tools anymore, but his father had given them to him. Now, he was just glad to have them. Carefully, he inserted a piece of metal longer than the door was thick between the door and the its frame just below the latch. Slowly, keeping one eye on the entryway to the grounds, he lifted the metal. He gave a small shake of his head as the resistance he encountered gave way. A simple latch lock. Anyone with half a brain and a thin enough piece of anything could've unlocked the door. He put the piece of metal back into it's sheathed slot in the roll and the roll into his pocket.

 

He pushed the door open and walked inside. It was dark and he could just barely make out the weapons in their racks. Now all he had to do was find a little used pile of weaponry and stash the box. Tywin moved with caution around the weapons for a little while before he found what he was looking for: a pile of half rusted scythes. They were likely a relic from when the armory shed had been used as a gardening shed or some such. He squatted and pulled the music box from his pocket. He ran his fingers over the filigree and hesitated. Did he really need to hide this? Surely whomever own it would've raised the alarm yesterday when they noticed it missing if it meant anything to them. Maybe he was being overly cautious, but it would be better not to have it in his possession for at least a little while. He pushed the base of a scythe to the right causing a large cloud of dust to rise. He fell back and coughed hitting the base of a bunch of staffs sending them crashing into several shields hanging on the wall. With a loud crash, these fell banging into their fellows as they went. Great. Just bloody fantastic.There was no way the whole Tower hadn't heard that.

[seiakera]

Kilrin stopped in her tracks, her brows knitting together in a frown as she looked at the closed door of the armory outpost. She knew that the armory master had just left to go into Tar Valon on a business errand that she personally sent him on. Perhaps just some weapons fell, but she knew the master was not that careless and sloppy. She had inspected these outposts, they were clean and meticulous. These days, you couldn't be not cautious, especially as a Master at Arms of the Yards and the White Tower.

 

She pulled out her keys and walked up to the door, taking stock of the windows. If there was someone in there, they would either try to escape. Or attack. As soon as she unlocked the door, Kilrin pulled out her sword and swung the door open, allowing the light to chase the shadows away.

 

A boy rose to his feet and her lips thinned to a tight grimace. She recognized him as a trainee, he had joined the ranks not too long ago. Racking her mind for the details, she stepped in with her sword still unsheathed. "Care to explain what you're doing inside a locked armory outpost, boy?"

 

ooc: I didn't know if you wanted the music box discovered just yet? Let me know I can edit if need be

[Maurelle]

Tywin wondered if the bit of dust he had inhaled had actually been snakes instead as he took in the sight of the Master at Arms standing in the doorway with her sword drawn. He was going to need to the Dark One's own luck to get out of this one. He licked his dust covered lips and grimaced at the taste before deciding to just go with the excuse he had used on the cook minus the charm. Kilrin was quite immune to it.

 

"Locked? I was merely trying to get in some early practice...The door wasn't locked," his voice was steady if a little fast-evening out as he spoke. He didn't like lying, but he had too much practice to let his lack of comfort show. A good lie, after all, could be the difference between the gallows and your next meal on the streets. The music box was on the ground next to the scythes where he had dropped it in order to cough. Thankfully, there wasn't enough light yet to reach it and set off a shine. He still needed to pull her attention away from it. "I am, however, a bit clumsy..." Tywin bent down away from the box and made to pick up one of the shields that had fallen. He gritted his teeth a little at the weight. It was a full shield that would cover him from ankle to chin and made of metal. He was glad the rectangular thing was not something he had to practice with.

[seiakera]

Kilrin sheathed her sword, her eyes narrowing at the boy. Tywin. I remember now. "Clumsy, are you? Shame for that. A clumsy Tower Guard is worthless around these parts, more likely to get themselves killed." She knew he was lying - the Master Armorer never left the outposts unlocked, he was too meticulous and a control freak to allow that. But the best way to handle liars was to catch them in the act. That was the tricky part. She leaned back against an empty water barrel, crossing her arms over her chest. "You best clean this up. I want everything back the way they were and then we'll talk about what happens to those sneaking off into places they shouldn't be."

 

ooc: Kat, ready when you are!

[Kathleen]

Kathleen heard the crash of falling weapons and her whole body spun on instinct. Without missing a beat she began to pointedly make her way in the direction. She wouldn't have the people in the yards thinking her jumpy, sooner they think she noisy, most of them most likely would expect an Aes Sedai to be nosey and pushy and go check it out. 

 

She made her way to the armory  was quite pleased to see Kilrin already attending. At least the response time of the staff was decent, even if their charges weren't quite up to standard. She almost called out to the woman she had come to find, but starved it off in recognition that her missing trinket was far from priority when there was a disruption in the armory.

 

Kathleen held back as the Master at Arms gave the Mistress of Novices from Kathleen's memories a run for her coin. She couldn't see Kilrin was scolding but she could see clear as day it was a scolding. Kathleen waited until the punishment was out then she stepped up, making sure not to let the woman return to her prior business until she was informed of the music box which went missing from her grounds.

 

"Excuse me a moment, I'd like a word." She didn't give anyone time to move or speak before she started up again, she just gave enough of a reminder to herself to restrain from accusing theft outright. "I was in the yards yesterday and left a music box among my warders belongings for him to fix. He had been sparring when I left it, but it was missing when he gathered his belongings." Kathleen was speaking to Kilrin, eyeing the Master at Arms as she approached. As she reached the angle needed to see within the armory she politely passed the glance to the child within.

 

As she glanced into the building she tried assess how much damage was done, perhaps the woman didn't have time for this news if something dire had happened in there. As her eyes fell to the scythes and she paused a moment to the shape beside it. She thought she was seeing things when her eye hit the rectangle, placing images of what she hoped to find where it never should have been, but she gave it another glance over and found herself stooping toward it to check it out.

 

Kathleen Vandiar

Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah

 

phone call..can't finish...

[Maurelle]

Mother's milk in a cup, could this get any worse! Tywin did his best to make his nerves look like the result of being in the presence of the Aes Sedai and not the fact that he recognized her as the one who had left the music box in the first place. He shoved suddenly sweaty palms into his pockets and nearly jumped out of his skin as the Aes Sedai described the music box laying near his feet. Why had he been so foolish? He should never had taken the box. He felt like he was standing balanced on a razor blade as he thought of all the work he had put in to adjusting to life here and everything was in jeopardy because of his rashness.

 

He looked up as the Aes Sedai cut off and felt his heart jump into his throat as she moved towards the box. Not thinking-far closer to outright panic than he would ever admit-he moved to stop the Aes Sedai and collided with her. They ended up in a heap on the floor with Tywin attempting to snatch the offending box off the floor.

[seiakera]

Kilrin was momentarily distracted when an Aes Sedai approached her. She racked her memory, trying to recall the name of the woman before her but there was so many Aes Sedai in the Tower, she failed at the task. Listening, she held in a sigh at the mention of a missing trinket. Customarily, Kilrin wouldn't give it any attention but it was an Aes Sedai's music box that was misplaced in the Yards. Action was expected.

 

Then the Aes Sedai glanced inside the outpost and a look came across her eyes. She stepped forward into the room and the next thing she knew, Tywin collided with her and they fell to the floor. The boy made a quick motion towards the pile of scythes but Kilrin was faster. She grabbed the boy by the collar and yanked him back, slamming him against the wall and holding him there.

 

"Are you harmed, Aes Sedai?" She glanced at the woman who pulled something from the pile of weapons, the something that Tywin was going for.

[Kathleen]

Kathleen grabbed hold of saidar as she fell to the armory floor under the sudden weight of the boy. She restrained her instinct to attack while she fought to land out of harms way of the the weapons at her feet. As she reached out with air to restrain the boy the master at arms pulled him off her and Kathleen turned her attention to the object she now knew was in fact her missing music box.

 

"Are you harmed, Aes Sedai?" Kilrin asked as she forced the boy against the wall.

 

"I have most certainly taken worse, Kilrin, but I do expect more from the future tower guards. I expect to attack beside them, not to be attacked by them. I am sure your expectations are higher than this child's display, as well." Kathleen took up her music box and began scanning its surfaces for any signs of damage. "You have made very grave mistakes today child, but I'm sure the Master at Arms will see your actions corrected?" She raised her eyes to meet Kilrin's in question. This boy fell under the other woman's charge and Kathleen knew Kilrin would not be pleased to have such an episode representing the quality of tower guards she was training. If anything Kathleen believed the Master at Arms would be harder on this boy for having witnessed the attack.

 

"I will leave you to deal with this child, but I would like to hear back on how he came by this," she held out her music box as she spoke," and why he thought to risk his future in this guard by attacking a Sister of the Green Ajah just to retain a music box that was not rightly his." 

 

Kathleen didn't hesitate long enough to hear any excuses before she turned out of the armory and strode off through the Warder's Yard in search of Nev.

 

Kathleen Vandiar

Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah

[Maurelle]

In being shoved against the wall, Tywin's head hit the wall leaving him dazed. Through the fog of induced confusion he heard the Aes Sedai speak and knew that it was all over. They were going to toss him out in the street. Light, they might toss him out of the city! He had managed to lay hands on a Green Sister to boot. Even if he somehow ends up staying he would never become a warder. If he was lucky he would end up a trainee forever. He waited for Kilrin to turn her attention back to him and almost wished he had feinted fainting. He hung his head and refused to meet her eyes. How did he explain that he hadn't intended the Aes Sedai harm? That he had just panicked and wanted her as far away from the evidence of his folly as he could get her? Light have mercy, how did he explain the theft in the first place? He doubted she would be willing to accept the excuse that it had him feeling sentimental and that being sentimental meant stealing things to him. It looked like he had managed to screw things up yet again.

[seiakera]

A thief. Kilrin could scarcely believe it. She released Tywin and glared at him.  Typically, thieves were dishonorably discharged from the Yards and escorted out of Tar Valon but their ranks were so thin. She couldn't afford to lose any more guards, especially after the reports she was receiving about Tywin's training progress. This one was actually promising but she couldn't risk any festering distrust from Aes Sedai either. 

 

"Explain yourself, Tywin. Tell me why I shouldn't throw you out of my yards for stealing from an Aes Sedai and attacking her." That wouldn't be enough, of course. He would have to be disciplined, she had a few ideas lined up.

[Maurelle]

OoC: Oh noes! She has ideas!!!! <.< >.> Run!

 

Tywin inhaled through his nose and exhaled out his mouth. They weren't just going to toss him out on his ass? Hope bloomed low in his stomach and he wondered if the loss of it would be more painful than the lack of it. He would say anything as long as they let him stay. Anything. But for once in his life he had no idea what to say. So he would try for the truth. He had much to loose, but it could not make it any worse. He gathered his courage and looked Kilrin straight in the eye.

 

"You should," the words were firm. "I'll admit to the theft. I can't justify it, so I won't. But I didn't attack her." Tywin inhaled and kept talking. If he was, metaphorically, going to hang for it he'd hang for the right crimes. "I didn't want her near the music box. I didn't want her to show everyone that I had been foolish enough to steal something here. I didn't want everyone to know my past...to know that I am a thief and have been one since I was old enough to hold a pick. I panicked...thought I could get to it first and...I dunno, hide it somehow. We collided." The wind blew out of him as his finished his speech. There it was done. It was up to Kilrin to decide if it had been enough.