Chapter 143
Two Stories
The castle as a whole was afire with excitent, with everyone in a great rush to prepare for the impromptu tournant that the Prince was throwing. Most excited were those keen on participating, especially after learning about the rewards--every participant will get a full gourd of ale regardless if they win or not, and every winner will get one extra gourd for each victory. Furthermore, there were special rewards for all those who place in the top ten, and so of the more experienced and confident ones had already locked themselves up in the last-minute training to possibly be in their strongest state for the tournant.
After all, even for just the tenth place, they were guaranteed three personal lessons for the castles Commander of the Army, Captain Derrek. For most, that was more than enough, and that was just the tenth places reward. The reward for the winner was especially breathtaking, as they would imdiately be Knighted and tasked with serving as the Princes personal guard for life, the highest position a commoner could ever dream of achieving.
In-between, there were also the talismans specifically crafted by their own castle's Exorcist, special weapons, armor, even sessions on magic, as well as permanent titles. Even without those, there would be fire as there was little else to do whilst deeply snowed in, but the rewards were like adding a lake of oil on top of the raging blaze, stoking it to high heavens.
The atmosphere was more than palpable--it was ripping like lances through the walls, and every conversation between any number of people was dominated by the discussion of the tournant--who might join, who might win, which rewards were more enticing, and many-a-promise between a young lad and a young maiden flagging victories on their na.
While the castle was on taphorical fire, Sylas, Asha, Ryne, and another girl, Rynes personal maid, Luna, were in the basent, preparing the talismans. Sylas was quite rusty still, but Ryne looked like she barely slowed down. It was evident, from the way she moved around the small room, that she likely spent a lot of ti in here, familiarizing herself as much as possible in her own ti as to be able to do it so smoothly. She held her shoulders heavy, as always, and words were incapable of lifting up that burden.
Sylas didnt think it strange; after all, she was a teenager--and a very stubborn one at that. Once her lot was decided on sothing, dispelling that dream was harder than ripping out a stars core. And she was very determined--determined to prove to everyone, herself and the world, that she was capable of being an Exorcist despite everything. Though she still stumbled here and there and it was clear so coordination was lacking, she was spry and quick about the lab, and even quicker when it ca to drawing runes.
Unlike Sylas, she rembered all the ancient runes and had refined their usage further, creating talismans that were far stronger than the ones Sylas used during the castles defense. Naturally, none of those would be handed out as rewards--the ones to be handed out were fairly simple, such as a protective charm that deflected a blow to the heart, or a talisman that started a fire, or enhanced the blade for a while. None were outright deadly, though so were clearly better than others.
Alright, lets take a break, Sylas called out, pouring himself a cup of ale and yanking open a massive to--it was empty, actually, and was ant to be his temporary diary where hed pour out every bit of knowledge he recalled and study it further. Since he planned on staying in this loop for at least five-six months, there was a chance so learned things might slip him, and he couldnt afford the risk. As such, he settled on writing down everything in the form of cliff notes, using breaks as monts to dedicate himself to it.
What are you writing? Ryne quizzed as she nibbled away at so bread while Luna cleaned up the working tables behind them. The latter was a young girl herself, no older than eighteen, and though she seed sowhat awkward, she at least didnt seem to be a bad person.
A love story, Sylas replied. As an expert on loving soone, I could use your input.
Ugh, Ryne groaned though flushed still, lowering her head. No way.
Youve gotten better at hiding it, he chuckled. Still not great, though.
Leave her alone, Asha ribbed him gently. Dont listen to him. Nobody knows.
Really? Because you two know. And now Luna knows, Ryne added. And Im fairly certain that everyone knows, Valen included.
Whats wrong with knowing? Sylas said. Ive known for a long, long ti that Asha was into , but I kept it down, you know.
You did? Asha glanced at him. Why do I have a feeling that isnt the case? My mory may be a bit fuzzy, but its not entirely wiped.
Setting that aside, Sylas said. Weve pretty much frad out all the talismans, right? Going any stronger than these might be too strong.
Yep, Ryne nodded. Honestly, even these are... iffy. If you werent pushing , I wouldnt be handing them out.
Im not pushing you.
But you said--
Oh, so, saying sothing qualifies as pushing you?
...
Of course it does, Sylas corrected himself after another elbowing. Dont worry about it. Ill personally beat the notion into whoever wins them that they are not toys and that if it gets out into the wide world that theyre in possession of talismans, their very gnarly deaths will be a fine addition to that tale.
Okay, but seriously--what are you writing? Ryne asked. All the while, she could hear the pen pressing against the paper, singing a familiar lody.
Im writing, Sylas said, his fingers never stopping. History, so to say. Things that happened and things that matter. One day, this Kingdom will have a saying--if you want the truth, you cant go wrong with Sylas uh... to of history so curt? Anyway, theyre gonna say sothing cool and flattering, Im sure of it.
"... nothing shakes that confidence of yours, huh?" Ryne chuckled, taking a sip of tea. "I wish more people were like you, to be honest. The perhaps lesser version of you, but leaning in that direction.
What? Arrogant pricks who think they can do no wrong while they set the world on fire with their farts because they never look back at the chaos theyve sown?
That might yet be the most literately beautiful way you described yourself, Asha said with a smile. Were going places, definitely.
As the atmosphere quieted, Sylas concentrated. There were many things to jot down onto the paper, and many more that hed already forgotten, praying that they would co to him in the dreams. However, it was growing easier, since a good chunk of the scatterbrained details from before now ford a fra of sorts--it didnt all appear as just random chunks of information bearing no influence on each other. It was... a story. A story still filled with holes, but a story nonetheless. No, he mulled inwardly, its two stories...
Sinking further into his thoughts, he realized that the reason most things didnt fit was that they didnt necessarily belong together. It wasnt just one, overarching story that had everything tied unto itself. It was two stories--Sylas, Valens, the Kingdoms... and then the other story, one he dug out recklessly, the story of the dead, of the tis before the Kingdoms founding. Those had no direct links to him--only those which he himself forcibly fabricated. If anything, they existed outside of him and he, instead, dragged them into his own frawork.
Two stories clashed like two boats and exploded into millions of tiny chunks, and now he was trying to build a single boat from the pieces instead of two. While so overlap existed, naly in the cultists working with the dead and against the Kingdom and in the na of the Empire, the overlap was forcibly extorted by him. If he had stuck to the goal, cultists would have simply been rebels that he would have dealt with naturally. He wouldnt have known of their connection to the dead, or the living crossing the border to commit robberies, or even of the discrepancies between the Empire and the Kingdom.
Though he desperately wanted to believe it... not everything was connected. And even if so links existed, they werent hard-coded, so to say, into the nature of the tales. Most lay stilled and fabricated on the floor of his dreams, dead on arrival, leading him astray. Putting down the pen, he took a sip of ale and began stroking his beard. He was happier, he realized, for it.
After all, splitting it whole into two made two decently-structured stories with a few holes still rather than one overgrowth that seed to not have enough plugs for all the leaks it was breeding with each new revelation. At the very least, now he could compartntalize. With each new piece of information, rather than trying to force it into the fra it didnt fit, hed have two choices.
For now, he decided to focus on the problem west of the village, one of the n hiding in the caves and conspiring with the dead and siccing them onto the castles of the living. It would be a solo journey, he knew--even with the Gods blessings, Asha was still too slow. With each reset, her body would reset too--and, blessings of the gods notwithstanding, she was frail and weak and slow. At the very least the first few tis, while he examined the situation, circumstances, and their numbers, he would be better off alone, afforded freedoms beyond those he had while she was with him. Though shed be soured and unhappy, it had to be done.
The true reason, however, beyond the shallow excuses was quite simple--he was afraid shed see the side of him that... wasnt pretty. He was still angry--beyond angry. Angry that the dead have co to the walls ti and again, and angry that the dead had caused so much pain and suffering to this place. However, he couldnt exactly bla the unfeeling, unthinking dead for it--but he could bla the living who guided them to the castle. As such, he feared he might lose himself the first few tis in that anger and rage and beco soone else entirely. Soone he didnt want to be... but soone that still lived and beat loudly within his chest, ready to co out rather quickly and sharply, if the circumstances dictated so.
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