LOREN
Loren didn’t know exactly where Remi’s surprise came from, so the librarian just gave the man a puzzled look. ”Really.” While the summoner’s magic might be powerful, the summoner himself was not, barely able to sling a few spells around before needing to rest. It was unfortunate—and since coming back he’d been weaker than before, it seemed—but there was nothing he could do about it but build up his strength again. There didn’t seem to be much point in continuing the joke, especially after they began speaking about Ronin. ”I know. And I’m sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must be like for you.” Hesitating, Loren gave the other man an apologetic look. ”But even so, I don’t think he would’ve welcomed me back as a friend.” The blight might’ve been bad in Ronin, that much was true; however, the anger and indifference in the king was real enough, and entirely justified. ”If you...if you ever want to talk about anything…” The Launceleyn trailed off, turning his head away from the alchemist.
When Remi began to talk about a fair contest, Loren rolled his eyes. ”I don’t know how to break this to you, but you’ll be waiting quite a while if you want the contest to be fair. You are much more powerful than me at the moment, it sounds like, and I don’t see that changing any time soon given how slowly I pick up magic” Seeing as the Launceleyn didn’t want there to be a next time—yet knowing full well Remi would not drop this—the best he could hope for was putting it off for as long as possible.
The Launceleyn flinched when the other man’s foot poked the summoner’s leg; however, despite the panic that rose in his gut, he simply moved his legs into a cross-legged position to get them slightly farther away from Remi. Hopefully the other man would think the movement was natural. ”I healed you, you big baby.” Loren’s tone was more annoyed than teasing, but at least he hadn’t yelled or burst into tears at the contact. Yay, progress.
”Who said anything about you being the one to let my blood out? I might not have friends but I do know other people.” The summoner’s voice came out in a drawl that was becoming increasingly familiar to him. However, the alchemist’s points about why the amulet might be useful were hard to argue against. Indeed Remi might be right: giving others the ability to venture out safely might be incredibly useful. ”Wait, the Ascended can go outside during LongNight? No one had mentioned this to him yet, as far as he knew. ”Alright fine. Let’s wait to see if I can actually summon what we need, but if I can I will store the spells in as many amulets as you’d like. For other people.” Not for himself, because Loren would get over his issues with touch and pleasure for the greater good. ”It would be good to have one at the second location, at least, since pretty much everyone I’ve spoken to would rather take their chances outside than stay in the manor.” The Launceleyn’s voice turned bitter, and he realized just how much the dislike of the manor and, by extension, his family, was bothering him.
A beggar's book
outworths
a noble's blood
