Chương 60: LAUGHTER BY THE FLOWING WATER

The sun was high now, filtering through the dense canopy of the Blackwood Forest in long, shimmering columns of gold and green. They were miles away from the Keep, near a secluded tributary of the main river—a spot they had frequented in their youth. The air was fresh and cool, carrying the scent of running water and cold stones. Alaric, usually clad in the heavy, formal silks of his station, was dressed simply in worn leather trousers and a sleeveless tunic.

He sat on a smooth, river-polished stone, lazily casting a line into the clear, rushing water. Roric, equally at ease, was downstream, using only a short spear and his heightened senses to gauge the movement of the trout. For two of the most powerful men in Blackhaven, the silence was profound, broken only by the burble of the stream. Alaric let out a deep, contented sigh, leaning back on his hands.

"It took a truly magnificent lie to get away from Eddie this morning," he admitted, shaking his head.

"My darling Elara is better at it, but my head of security is relentless. I'm certain he's currently searching every chamber and market stall as we speak." He sighed.

"If only he wasn't so rigid." Roric chuckled, the sound deep and resonant, echoing softly off the trees.

"He just worries. He remembers the old days, when being left alone meant we were about to set something important on fire." He straightened up, having speared a plump trout with effortless precision, and waded to the bank.

"I'm sure he's having flashbacks, seeing how close our children have gotten over the past month." Alaric winced slightly as he reeled in his empty line.

"Yeah. Jamie is now an honorary resident of the Keep, Aina is radiating enough pressure to compress coal into diamond as she sees the girl as a rival for some reason and our Elias is caught in the middle, The perfect plot."Alaric said with a smirk as he got up from the rock in order to change his position.

"Thats good, Jamie doesn't have friends because of her spitfire nature but she seems more at ease when she's with Elias. Though I would have prefered if both of them met under different conditions instead of sneaking out into the forest."

"Speaking of," Alaric said, settling onto another rock at the opposite side of the bank and casting his line again, the movement fluid and graceful.

"Did you find what caused the sudden surge in those beasts?" Roric shook his head.

"No we haven't. The sightings seemd to have increasd over the past month especialy along the main road to Blackhaven but we have all that under control.'' A soft breeze blew over them and the water rippled under the fishing line.

"You know, I like slow moments like this, times I can forget all my administrative nightmares," Alaric began again with a sigh.

"The Monetary Stabilization Act is meeting heavy resistance. You've heard haven't you? The Free Guild is furious that we pushed through that five-to-one conversion fix for the Crown Solar against the Standard Pound. It was supposed to ease the burden on small merchants."

"It is necessary," Roric confirmed, running a damp cloth over his spear.

"The Trade Union retaliated by hiking the price of Blackwood lumber in pounds, effectively starving us of liquidity and hitting the local economy. It's a war fought with coin, but the tactics are vicious." Alaric sighed again, the sound echoing his exhaustion.

"And every skirmish is tied to the instability in Aethelburg. King Aerion Zeppelin isn't getting any better and my support for the Stabilization Act—which would give the throne, whoever occupies it, a solid economic foundation—has only made me even more of an outlier among the nobles who want to take advantage of the situation. The only other person who isn't in any of the groups is Ortis Mellou But even he is occupied with other duties and cant be counted on to back me up."

"Not that he would anyway." Roric said, eyeing a fish that was swiming nearby.

"Exactly," Alaric agreed, lowering his voice conspiratorially.

"The other lords are openly backing their prospective heirs now, using every financial or militant maneuver as a means to increase that heir's influence. It's been a pain in the ass to keep them all in line. But even I've been pressed repeatedly with the question: Who does Lord Alaric support?" If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Alaric pulled his line taut, then let it slack again, watching the water.

"My answer is always the same. I support the decision of the King. King Aerion has ruled us for forty years and brought this country more peace and prosperity than any other ruler in the last century. It is not my place—or the place of any ambitious noble—to preempt his will or his choice of successor. I serve the throne, not the factions circling it like vultures." Roric nodded slowly, his expression one of concentration as he lunged at the fish nearby but missed it and watched as it swam hurriedly away.

There was silence for a few moments then Roric spoke.

"I bet the nobles are especially vexed by you, given yor past history as a Mundane person before awakening at a late age, the idea that someone they used to look down on has the most influence among the circle of influencers. Well, minus Ortis of course." He straightened and looked up at the sky.

"It feels like only yesterday we were dealing with things far simpler than corrupt nobles and dying Kings," Roric mused, glancing into the dark, dense woods.

"Do you remember the night we; you, me, Elara and the others, smuggled three Awakened Boars into the Professor's office?" Alaric laughed, a genuine, joyful sound that hadn't been heard in the Keep for weeks.

"How could I forget? The Professor nearly had a heart attack When he entered the room. We were the Seven of the best and worst Students of Fazhan University. The'Glory Seven'."

"We were," Roric said begining a chuckle that soon developed into a laugh." You, M e, Elara, Licht, Farnsworth, Tess, and Othma r. Our professor, Seigmund, always got so mad. He had the right vocabulary for every single one of our antics, didn't he? I swear, he had a special syllabus just for chastising us."

"He did," Alaric confirmed, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye.

"Professor Seigmund taught Flow theory like it was a grand philosophy. He was a brilliant man. The greatest artificer on the continent, perhaps even the world." He looked at Roric.

"Back then, everyone thought you and I were awkward, and everyone thought Elara and I were mortal enemies. We argued constantly." Roric bowed his head and laughed.

"You and Elara at loggerheads was the highlight of every term. No one would believe, looking at you two now—the Lord and Lady, ruling with such perfect harmony—that you once nearly destroyed the entire Flow demonstration lab trying to prove whose theory of Flow Resonance was superior."

"That was over a decade ago," Alaric murmured, a touch of sadness entering his voice.

"And after the Academy and becoming a seasoned hunter, you met Raizelle. God, Roric. No one would have believed that the most awkward, quiet member of our infamous group,, would find such a woman. She was..." He trailed off, realizing his mistake. Roric's laughter died instantly. He didn't look up, but his large, calloused hand instinctively reached up and touched the intricate silver pendant he wore—the one belonging to his late wife, Raizelle L. Thorne, —a constant, painful reminder of her absence.

The air around him suddenly grew still and cold. Alaric internally swore, berating himself for his carelessness.' Idiot, why'd you bring it up?. After all this time, the man still hasn't recovered.' He saw the pained intensity of Roric's grip on the silver chain and knew the depth of the void Raizelle's death had left. Alaric swallowed, thinking that he was in a similar position, though his circumstances with Elara were different.

'If anything happened to my beloved Elara... I'd probably still not have recovered. Roric is strong for moving foward even though his heart is still in the past.' The silence stretched, thick and painful, until Roric finally broke it, his voice rough but controlled.

"Have you heard from any of the others?" he asked, bringing Alaric back to the present.

"The rest of the Seven?" Alaric exhaled deeply, gratefully accepting the change of topic.

"We all seemed to scatter like leaves in the wind after the Professor vanished. No one, not even the Order has heard from or knows where Professor Seigmund vanished to. As for the others, its pretty much the same as what you know. Farnsworth went North, pursuing ancient secrets. Tess is supposedly running a successful smuggling operation in the Free Cities and no ones heard from Othmar since then. I don't know whether they're still where we know them to be or they've moved on."

"And Licht?" Roric asked, now looking up, a faint smile returning. Alaric shuddered dramatically.

"Ah, Licht. He always had the strangest taste. Obsessed with eternal life and preservation. He's the only one who still actively tries to communicate. Ibet he sends them to yoy too, these one-way missives—cryptic messages detailing his exploits and... exotic bones of Beasts. We never have a way to return the message. He's been sending me samples of what he calls 'petrified spiritual marrow.' Utterly useless, but very expensive to ship." Roric laughed again, the tension finally broken.

"Yeah, I got those too. Always the eccentric. He sent me what he claimed was the fossilized tail of a Sleipnir once. Said it would cure my awkwardness." Alaric shook his head with fond exasperation.

"Never change, Licht." He smiled, a genuine, warm light in his eyes, and looked at Roric.

"Speaking of Elara, she wrote to me this morning. She mentioned a new discovery..." Roric said.

'That woman, I told her to keep it secret for now.' Alaric muttered looking away in embarasment. Roric walked over, placing his hand firmly on his friend's shoulder.

"Oh, whats this? Can the Still-one not look at his friends face after such a fantastic performance?" He leaned in, a conspiratorial grin spreading across his face.

"If any of our friends found out about this, forget disbelief, they'd go insane. Anyway, does your son know?" Alaric gave Roric a playful shove.

"He's not yet aware, naturally. It's to be a surprise."

"A'ight bro.'' Roric said as Alaric quickly caught his fishing pole before it got dragged off, expecting to reel in a big one put only getting a fingerling, warranting a laugh from Roric.