Chapter 144: Suspicion (Bonus - )
The elder covenant had reconvened for the umpteenth time. This time, all of them were present, there were many matters to discuss, so they were all summoned again.
As Alaric and Esty had left their duties in the Ironfell stronghold, it was now easier to attend the meetings.
The matter at hand being discussed was Rhaenys’ succession. Even as an elder, she remained the number one Elf mage in the Elf continent of Astoria. But the academy had graduated a mage who was worthy to take her place and as a result, she would be stepping down ceremoniously.
There were also matters like Armand siring a new heir and the birth of a half-human, half-Dragonborn.
Most of them kept their issues to themselves, like Lucien almost being banished from the heavens for having an affair with the wife of a god.
No one had raised the important matter they had come there for yet, they all discussed in circles, getting to the frivolous matters before attacking the main issues.
"I saw this boy first hand, he might even be a stringer mage than me. I fear." Rhaenys said, her face expressionless as always.
"Why fear, you should be proud, it is a thing of joy to see the next generation surpass us. As for me, I will train my daughter to be better than me. She needs to see the world in a way that I never did." Armand said, the rest of the covenant members looked at him in surprise.
It seemed as though having a child had made him soft.
"For the first time, I have witnessed a human born with dragon blood flowing through his veins. He will receive stigma, but I have no doubt he will grow up to accomplish great things, just as the prophecy says." Banqui added.
Each and every one of them was sharing new things that was happening in their lives, and as wholesome as it sounded, the real issues also needed to be tackled. At least that’s what Alaric thought.
He sat there in silence with his wife and he folded his fingers in front of his face. There was a lot going through his head, he was worried for Joe Joe, and he also thought about Rhoarin and Elena, and Jacob, who he hadn’t heard from since the day he visited his dreams.
"I was able to contact my spy." Alaric interrupted the discussions.
"What?" Rhaenys asked, wanting Alaric to repeat the words that he had just spoke.
"I said I was able to contact my spy, you know how I told you all I was going to contact someone to go on the mission down in Helmand?"
The rest of the elders were quiet, they might be strong, but they were old, Alaric was surprised that none of them had anything go say, as they might not have remembered, but he just waved it off as early signs of dementia.
"I can’t believe you all don’t remember." Alaric continued. "Anyways, I contacted him and gave him the job, he’s down there as we speak."
"Oh we remember, Alaric, we were just waiting for you to get to the point." Banqui said with a straight face.
"Hilarious Banqui. Anyways, he’s down there as we speak." Alaric responded.
"Have you heard any word from him?" Sylvanor asked.
"Nothing yet, but I’m sure I’ll hear from him as soon as he finds something out."
"Okay then, so when you hear from him, please let us know." Banqui said with a clap.
"Will do."
***
When the meeting was done the elders stood off in corners or the room,any discussions were going on at the same time.
Alaric noticed Banqui standing off to the side. Leaving Esty’s side, he walked up to Banqui.
"Alaric, good to see you again friend." Banqui said heartily, but Alaric was not buying it.
"Banqui, do we have a problem?" Alaric asked.
"Problem? What do you mean problem?"
"Is it just me, or did you not take my input about the spy I sent down to Helmand seriously?" Alaric asked with an expressionless look on his face, he wasn’t the kind of person to let things go. He always attacked any problem he faced head on, and if he felt like he was being disrespected then he wanted to know why.
"Noo! I apologize friend—it’s just—we’ve heard so much about people infiltrating this place and we never hear anything from them. I’m just tired of investing too much in it. I apologize if I came off as rude." Banqui apologized.
"Is that so? Well this is someone I trust, it’s safe to say that if I don’t hear from him then I can assume that he’s dead already. Nobody wants that."
"Yes my friend. Nobody wants that, I’ll be happy to hear any feedback he brings. If it gets us closer to stopping the demon king’s antics."
"Yes, definitely, pardon me for attacking you, I just don’t like being disrespected. If you ever have a problem with me, or how I do things, let me know." Alaric said, his facial expression unchanging.
The truth was that he had begun to suspect Banqui, for him to dismiss the matter like that, although there was no concrete progress yet, it was odd. And the rest of the elders just kept quiet about it.
"No disrespect here my friend. Like I said, I’m sorry for making you feel that way." Banqui said, patting the man’s shoulder.
Alaric was never good at hiding his suspicion, no matter how hard he tried. He stared at Banqui for a moment, and then turned around, grabbed Esty’s hand and they both walked out of the meeting room.
Banqui stared at them until they had completely disappeared from his line of sight.
They both used to be very close friends. Infact, they had formed the Elder Covenant together, hence why they were the most respected.
But these days, he just didn’t know, he didn’t want to think the worst about Banqui, but he could sense something was wrong.