Chương 122: Book 2 Chapter 74 - Having Words

Lord Goren was a proud man. He had every right to be. His house's financial success was due, in large part, to his own genius. He had single-handedly taken the Goren family from a run-of-the-mill noble family to the upper echelons of society in Easton. His personal wealth had more than tripled in the last decade alone. The feud in Easton had helped propel him even higher in social standing.

The war had been hard on House Goren and their allies, but the same could be said about House Norse's and House Heniton's factions too. Everyone had been hit hard, but many of the houses in Easton now looked up to Lord Goren as a leader. Recovering from the feud would take time, but he was sure his house would come out stronger for it in the long run. It had come as no surprise when Baron Norshod had invited Lord Goren to the mediation council, along with House Norse and House Heniton.

As the leaders of the three factions, it made sense for them all to attend. Everything would honestly have been perfect if it wasn't for one small, tiny, miniscule detail. Shian Yountal. To everyone's surprise, she had participated in the duel herself. Even more surprisingly, the duel had been to the death, rather than to submission. To top it all off, Lord Mage Vondeer was her opponent, and she had… won? It still didn't make sense. Everyone was talking about the duel, and what it meant for Easton.

Lord Goren didn't care for frivolous speculation about the city, but he did care about what that meant for him. For House Goren. What worried him most were Lady Yountal's words to him before the duel:"I told you that we would have words at some point, Lord Goren. Maybe today is that day." He shuddered now, even just thinking about it. He hadn't slept all night, worried that she might show up at any moment. She'd certainly seemed ready to cash in on that promise after she killed Lord Mage Vondeer.

She had gestured to Ugor that she was ready for him in the arena, and Lord Goren had no doubt that had Ugor gone down there, she would have killed him, too. Ugor had run off in fright, and Lord Goren doubted he'd get a refund. Luckily, with the baron's sudden intervention, the feud was likely over at this point anyway, so that was all water under the bridge. So long as Lady Yountal didn't raze House Goren to the ground, everything would honestly turn out just fine here.

Had he been wrong to deny her access to helping her people leave his territory during the feud? He felt justified in his reasoning. Allowing people to come and go, for any reason whatsoever, would have invited spies into his midst, something he could not allow as the designated leader of his faction. The others were trusting him with their safety, and he had done what was best for the group.

He hadn't anticipated Lord Mage Vondeer's involvement, in that he had personally escorted Lady Yountal and her group outside the quarantined area. At the time, he had been furious, but had no recourse against someone as powerful as Lord Mage Vondeer. That man did what he wanted in Easton, when he wanted, and no one could tell him otherwise. Except, apparently, Lady Yountal. Hence Lord Goren's current state of stress. The knock at his door came suddenly, startling him out of his thoughts.

"My Lord," his butler, George, said as he stepped into his office.

"Lady Yountal is here to see you, just as you predicted. Shall I show her in?" Lord Goren's heart skipped a beat, but he nodded shakily, doing his best to project an air of confidence. It wouldn't do for his servants to see him flustered.

"Yes, George, show her into my office here. I am ready to see her now." George bowed respectfully and disappeared back into the hall. Lord Goren suddenly realized his lips were very dry, and he licked them nervously as he waited for Lady Yountal to arrive. His neck felt very hot, and he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. His two bodyguards were stationed in the far corners of his office, like usual, but they were both tier 2. They would be of little help if Lady Yountal was here for blood.

Lord Goren had advanced to tier 3 decades ago, which was one of the reasons he was the head of House Goren. It was also one of the reasons for House Goren's incredible success during his tenure as house head. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. In a city like Easton, tier 3 was the pinnacle of power, and Lord Goren had always imagined himself one of the stronger tier 3s in Easton.

With many tier 2 retainers on his payroll, and Lord Goren himself at the helm, House Goren was one of the most influential houses in Easton. All of that had meant squat once Lord Mage Vondeer arrived in town, and apparently, Lady Yountal was more than his match. Lord Goren shuddered almost imperceptibly once again. The door to his office opened once again, and his two bodyguards straightened their postures slightly. George entered, followed by Lady Yountal.

Lord Goren's eyes were immediately drawn to her left hand, where she was now missing two fingers. The hand was wrapped tightly with white bandages, accentuating the wound. Lord Goren stood and bowed. He was a proud man, and under any other circumstances, he would have been loath to bow so deeply to someone he hadn't considered his equal before now. When it came to the safety of his house, however, he would do what he must. Giving Lady Yountal some face here might very well save many lives today.

"Lady Yountal," he said as he rose, his deep voice carrying naturally throughout the office. She studied him with an icy glare for a few seconds, her arms folded across her chest. He swallowed hard, then gestured to the open seat across from his own.

"Please, have a seat, my lady." She remained standing.

"Is Ugor gone for good?" He nodded hastily.

"He is. I have not seen him since the duel. I presume he returned to Portish."

"Good," she said with a firm nod, relaxing slightly.

"What are your plans now, Lord Goren?" He hesitated. His mind raced to figure out what she was getting at. If he could discern what she wanted him to say, what she wanted to hear, this conversation would go a lot more smoothly.

"Has Baron Norshod invited you to mediation talks?" she asked, not giving him a chance to finish his train of thought. He nodded once again.

"He has, along with Houses Norse and Heniton. Did he invite you, my lady?" A grimace passed across her face, but she hid it quickly.

"Yeah, but I already told him I won't be there. You guys started this mess, you can figure it out on your own." A clue! It seemed that House Yountal still didn't want to get involved in the feud, even if it was to help clean things up. Lord Goren filed that away as an important detail to help guide him through the rest of the conversation.

"Certainly, my lady," he replied smoothly.

"With the baron's help, I'm sure we will come to an equitable arrangement." She sighed, uncrossing her arms. Instead of an intimidating figure, she suddenly looked very tired. And small. She really wasn't a large person.

"I hope you're being sincere, Lord Goren," she said, the tiredness showing through in her voice now.

"I'm sick of Easton being a war zone. People need their lives back. Can I trust you to help ensure those mediation talks head in a good direction?" Was this the part where she ripped him a new one? Were they about to have those 'words' she had alluded to? He nodded hesitantly.

"You can, my lady."

"Let's call it even, then," she said wearily.

"Help get things back to normal in the city, and I'll forget all about our past disagreements."

"Truly, my lady?" he asked with a note of disbelief in his voice. Could she truly be so magnanimous?

"Truly," she confirmed with a nod of her head. The tension eased slightly from Lord Goren's shoulders.

"Then I shall do everything in my power to ensure a positive outcome."

"You should know," she added after a moment, "Kane Vondeer was largely responsible for the feud here in Easton. He's the one that stoked the fires between House Norse and House Heniton, and framed your house's involvement." Lord Goren gasped softly. He had wondered why his name had been dragged into the fray in the first place.

"But why?" he asked before he could stop himself. Lady Yountal looked as if she knew the answer to that question, but was pondering on whether or not to divulge the information to him. She tapped her foot slowly on the ground as she thought.

"Let's leave the past in the past," she said finally.

"I'd rather not be the one to stoke the fire now, especially with things finally headed toward resolution. I just thought you should know, since it might help with the mediations. The disagreements between all three houses were fabricated, at least in the beginning, by Kane Vondeer. With his disappearance, it should be easier to find common ground now." Lord Goren graciously ignored the sugar-coated version of Lord Mage Vondeer's death. If she wanted to pass it off as a 'disappearance', who was he to argue?

He was just glad that this current conversation wasn't devolving into violence. Especially after what he'd seen in the arena. If Lady Yountal needed a champion in the upcoming mediation talks, Lord Goren was happy to fill that role. Whatever it took to keep her ire pointed away from House Goren, both now, and in the future. He bowed in response to her comment.

"Thank you, Lady Yountal. I will inform the other houses. I'm sure the information will help smooth over the mediation talks in the coming days." She nodded once again.

"Great. I'll keep an eye on how those talks go. Don't disappoint me, Lord Goren." With that, she turned and left the room. Once the door was shut, Lord Goren collapsed shakily into his chair. He couldn't believe his luck! That went better than the best possible version he had rehearsed in his head. He was alive, his house was still standing, and as far as he could tell, no one had died. All he had to do was strive for peace in the upcoming mediation talks, and he would be scott-free!

That was a small price to pay for the massive lightning strike he had just dodged.