LOREN
Remi might have had a response already ready, but Loren shot back his own reply swiftly. ”When has that ever stopped you from trying to see the best in me or anyone else?” It was both a blessing, for those the alchemist chose to help see the light within them, and a curse, for those the other man failed to see as truly evil. However, helping Remi see the difference wasn’t the librarian’s job. His only task here was to make sure that the alchemist didn’t put the summoner on an undeserved pedestal, or have the other man come away from here thinking the Launceleyn was anything but a tool. And one to be used sparingly at that.They’d muddled through it all without thinking, and now they were stuck. ”What if it only seemed that way, and was not true in fact?” The librarian still wasn’t sure if Ronin and Remi had spoken of Loren’s reunions with both, but it hadn’t necessary seemed that the king was content with his position. Then again, the summoner was going off half-remembered and out of date information. ”I know he wants what’s best. But that doesn’t mean he wants to lead. It might just mean he feels he has to.” The Launceleyn spoke in a gentle and patient tone, hoping he hadn’t really pissed off the alchemist. As for Wessex, well, not knowing the woman herself, Loren could hardly pass judgment on her as a leader. So he’d trust the other man’s evaluation of the queen.
Then Remi asked how what they had now was any different from what the librarian was suggesting, and Loren had to think long and hard about the answer. Although he knew he should probably just remain silent, especially given how protective the alchemist was of his husband (very understandable and admirable), the summoner responded with the only answer he can think of. ”Because...who is there, now, to tell them no, to stop them, when something they do is wrong, or misguided, or out of line? To strip them of their position if they act in a manner that harms the people they’re supposed to serve. I’m not saying Ronin and Wessex will do anything like that. I don’t think they will. But whoever follows them might not be so benevolent. What then? Another violent revolution?” Maybe Loren was being naive and optimistic and not actually realistic, to think they could have anything more than a simple monarchy, or duarchy; however, that’s what Remi told the librarian to be, and so he’d be that, especially when the alchemist couldn’t. ”Look, we have a chance here to build something that will last beyond the current moment, that can survive both good leaders and bad, both times of strife and times of peace.” Just setting up a government now due to who they thought could lead in the present moment was incredibly shortsighted.
However, Loren wasn’t going to press this point too far, especially if the other man would continue to be close-minded. Instead, the summoner just looked down, shoulders slumping. ”Look, I really don’t know the situation well enough to give advice. And I am not a political expert, whatever you might think. But…you asked for my opinion, or at least implied you wanted to hear it. If you’d rather I say nothing at all, I’d rather that as well.” He couldn’t keep having the alchemist shoot down the Launceleyn’s ideas because Ronin wouldn't like it, or because there were no other easy options. Sometimes, though, doing what was right was hard. However, while the librarian enjoyed being useful, found value in it, that didn’t mean he liked being thrust into the position Remi had inadvertently put Loren in.
The Launceleyn wished he’d never asked Remi for details, because listening to their proposal turned out to be too much for the librarian. Although he was already looking down, he turned away slightly, scuffing at the ground to avoid running from the spot. Just because he was making an effort to be okay and to be the alchemist's friend and nothing more didn’t mean he could stomach hearing the story of their betrothal. When the other man finished speaking, Loren was silent for a long time. ”I-I’m happy you both found each other, and that it worked out.” He hated how pathetic his voice sounded in that moment. And he hated that it was basically the same response he'd given to Ronin.
”That’s fair.” Still, the librarian was recovering, so he only looked up when Remi agreed to go back into the manor. Seeing as Loren did not yet fully trust his voice, he simply nodded and turned to start walking back to the entrance.
A beggar's book
outworths
a noble's blood
