They say blood makes you related but
loyalty makes you family
Luckily for Wessex—well, luckily for them both—Loren had quite a bit of experience with royals who wished to be treated as if they are nothing special and yet still would take offense at the slightest disrespect. So it was an easy mantle for the Launceleyn to assume. He inclined his head in acknowledgment, voice polite and deferent. ”As you wish. And understood.” While he caught the note of jest in her voice, he felt it best to treat it as the request it was.
As the queen stepped easily over the threshold, the summoner wondered idly whether she’d been here before. Well, obviously she’d been here before, but the real question was how well she knew the manor: if she’d indeed been involved with Edy then it was possible she knew it very well. Then, however, Loren had much greater concerns on his mind than whether or not the two royals had been fucking. Wessex was indeed here about LongNight, and the summoner didn’t feel nearly as prepared as he would have liked to have been at that point. His anxiety wasn’t helped by that last word she threw in there. Presumably they’d get to that.
Sighing, Loren ran a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture, no longer bothering to try and put up a facade in front of Wessex. It was too tiring and trying for him to maintain these days, though maybe it would come back to him with time. ”I wish I had better news to report. I made plans to get supplies, but they met with varying degrees of success.” The food and water would hopefully come through, but the summoner didn’t know about anything else. ”I was flat out refused medical supplies when I requested them, though I believe it might be best for Ronin to handle that. However, I obviously defer to your judgment.” Going through the list of tasks that he’d been assigned (and the few he’d taken it upon himself to deal with), the Launceleyn pondered what else to tell her and in what order.
”I did some research, and will barricade all the entrances except for the front door when the time comes in order to prevent the monsters from getting in or the people from letting them in.” Or the people from getting out, which he knew might be a problem, but they’d get to it. Loren bit his lip and gave Wessex an appraising glance. ”Honestly I feel the biggest problem remaining is convincing people that the Manor is a safe location. There are enough bad memories, and enough worries about Zariah either coming back or somehow being able to spy on anyone inside the walls that it might be worth just migrating everything over to the temple and having everyone gather there. Maybe it's just superstition, but I can't think of many ways to change their mind about this place in the short amount of time we have left.” It sucked to admit that the one idea Loren had thought was good was probably terrible. ”We might want to prepare the temple anyway, so we have two locations to gather just in case.”
There was still more. ”Remi, Jigano, and I will meet soon to determine if I can summon the Spark Bird. If I can, Rexanna indicated that the Ascended could copy the ability from me, at least a few times.” Loren was not at all looking forward to that experience. But he’d never forgive himself if his personal problems got in the way of saving someone’s life. Pausing for just a moment to let Wessex process all that, Loren found his fingers beating a tempo on his thigh and stilled them. This next part was going to be delicate. ”If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, if I am successful in my efforts, I think it would make sense for me to go and show the fairies. While we don’t seem to have summoners to spare, they might have some of their own. I know that our relationship with them has been fraught of late, and I don’t have a personal relationship with any of them, so I’d likely need an escort. But I feel that this might both be a gesture of goodwill and help save their lives if the monsters do indeed prove capable of leaving the Hollowed Grounds now that the barrier is down.” That was a lot of information, but hopefully the queen had kept up. If not, she could always ask him to repeat himself.
Actually, he might remind her of that fact. ”I think that’s everything, but if I missed something or if you’d like me to elaborate, I’d be happy to do so. Also, I believe you indicated there was something else I could help you with?” That’s what that mostly had to mean. Honestly, Loren had probably just spoken more words to another person than he had in quite a while, so he would welcome a bit of a reprieve.
Strangely enough, the conversation turned to Loren’s few remaining relatives. Sighing, he gives Wessex his most put upon look. ”Beatrix and Jace are a handful, and understandably don’t like me much at the moment.” Very few people liked him these days, however, so the summoner had gotten used to it. ”But they are fine, thank you for asking.” As for whether it was a good move on their part to basically abandon children in need, well, Loren obviously was too diplomatic to comment on that (although he agreed with Wessex’s assessment).
She kept going on about the children, however and he gave her a surprised look. ”I suppose that makes two of us who are not good with kids. But thank you. I appreciate it.” Then he hesitated, a nervous look in his eyes, foot tapping in an anxious gesture. It was probably a bad idea to say anything to this woman that was not strictly necessary, but the sentiment she’d expressed had so closely echoed what Remi had told him about Zariah that Loren knew he couldn’t stay silent. ”You know, Remi told me Zariah made a similar promise not to harm Aoife.” The Launceleyn paused, finally meeting Wessex’s eyes. ”And then Zariah broke it. I vowed to do everything in my power, including sacrificing my life or taking hers, to prevent her from threatening another child ever again.” His voice came out firmly, without a hint of doubt. Then, he looks down, hoping Wessex doesn’t take it the wrong way. ”That wasn’t a threat, to be clear. Just...I don’t know. Something I thought you should know, something to keep in mind.” That something was that history had a nasty habit of repeating itself, and if this queen started acting anything like the last, then Loren would oppose her. If that was a threat that cost him his head, so be it.
As the queen stepped easily over the threshold, the summoner wondered idly whether she’d been here before. Well, obviously she’d been here before, but the real question was how well she knew the manor: if she’d indeed been involved with Edy then it was possible she knew it very well. Then, however, Loren had much greater concerns on his mind than whether or not the two royals had been fucking. Wessex was indeed here about LongNight, and the summoner didn’t feel nearly as prepared as he would have liked to have been at that point. His anxiety wasn’t helped by that last word she threw in there. Presumably they’d get to that.
Sighing, Loren ran a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture, no longer bothering to try and put up a facade in front of Wessex. It was too tiring and trying for him to maintain these days, though maybe it would come back to him with time. ”I wish I had better news to report. I made plans to get supplies, but they met with varying degrees of success.” The food and water would hopefully come through, but the summoner didn’t know about anything else. ”I was flat out refused medical supplies when I requested them, though I believe it might be best for Ronin to handle that. However, I obviously defer to your judgment.” Going through the list of tasks that he’d been assigned (and the few he’d taken it upon himself to deal with), the Launceleyn pondered what else to tell her and in what order.
”I did some research, and will barricade all the entrances except for the front door when the time comes in order to prevent the monsters from getting in or the people from letting them in.” Or the people from getting out, which he knew might be a problem, but they’d get to it. Loren bit his lip and gave Wessex an appraising glance. ”Honestly I feel the biggest problem remaining is convincing people that the Manor is a safe location. There are enough bad memories, and enough worries about Zariah either coming back or somehow being able to spy on anyone inside the walls that it might be worth just migrating everything over to the temple and having everyone gather there. Maybe it's just superstition, but I can't think of many ways to change their mind about this place in the short amount of time we have left.” It sucked to admit that the one idea Loren had thought was good was probably terrible. ”We might want to prepare the temple anyway, so we have two locations to gather just in case.”
There was still more. ”Remi, Jigano, and I will meet soon to determine if I can summon the Spark Bird. If I can, Rexanna indicated that the Ascended could copy the ability from me, at least a few times.” Loren was not at all looking forward to that experience. But he’d never forgive himself if his personal problems got in the way of saving someone’s life. Pausing for just a moment to let Wessex process all that, Loren found his fingers beating a tempo on his thigh and stilled them. This next part was going to be delicate. ”If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, if I am successful in my efforts, I think it would make sense for me to go and show the fairies. While we don’t seem to have summoners to spare, they might have some of their own. I know that our relationship with them has been fraught of late, and I don’t have a personal relationship with any of them, so I’d likely need an escort. But I feel that this might both be a gesture of goodwill and help save their lives if the monsters do indeed prove capable of leaving the Hollowed Grounds now that the barrier is down.” That was a lot of information, but hopefully the queen had kept up. If not, she could always ask him to repeat himself.
Actually, he might remind her of that fact. ”I think that’s everything, but if I missed something or if you’d like me to elaborate, I’d be happy to do so. Also, I believe you indicated there was something else I could help you with?” That’s what that mostly had to mean. Honestly, Loren had probably just spoken more words to another person than he had in quite a while, so he would welcome a bit of a reprieve.
Strangely enough, the conversation turned to Loren’s few remaining relatives. Sighing, he gives Wessex his most put upon look. ”Beatrix and Jace are a handful, and understandably don’t like me much at the moment.” Very few people liked him these days, however, so the summoner had gotten used to it. ”But they are fine, thank you for asking.” As for whether it was a good move on their part to basically abandon children in need, well, Loren obviously was too diplomatic to comment on that (although he agreed with Wessex’s assessment).
She kept going on about the children, however and he gave her a surprised look. ”I suppose that makes two of us who are not good with kids. But thank you. I appreciate it.” Then he hesitated, a nervous look in his eyes, foot tapping in an anxious gesture. It was probably a bad idea to say anything to this woman that was not strictly necessary, but the sentiment she’d expressed had so closely echoed what Remi had told him about Zariah that Loren knew he couldn’t stay silent. ”You know, Remi told me Zariah made a similar promise not to harm Aoife.” The Launceleyn paused, finally meeting Wessex’s eyes. ”And then Zariah broke it. I vowed to do everything in my power, including sacrificing my life or taking hers, to prevent her from threatening another child ever again.” His voice came out firmly, without a hint of doubt. Then, he looks down, hoping Wessex doesn’t take it the wrong way. ”That wasn’t a threat, to be clear. Just...I don’t know. Something I thought you should know, something to keep in mind.” That something was that history had a nasty habit of repeating itself, and if this queen started acting anything like the last, then Loren would oppose her. If that was a threat that cost him his head, so be it.
LOREN
