Chapter 168: Have Faith
Alaric sat on his couch, slowly sipping wine from his glass. It was nightfall, exactly one week and four days since he sent Joe Joe on a mission to infiltrate the enemy’s territory.
He could feel a buildup in his chest. It was a bad omen, he knew something had gone terribly wrong, but he just didn’t have enough evidence.
Joe Joe was always forthcoming in his assignments. Infact, one week was enough to receive reasonable feedback, no matter where the man was sent to.
Alaric swirled the century year old wine in his glass, he feared that he may have sent a very good friend to his death.
He could not even entertain the thought, Joe Joe was resilient, he would not die so easily. Not the Joe Joe he knew.
Regardless, he could not take the thought off his mind, he was lost for words on what to say to the rest of the elders. How could he tell them his plan had failed? Or that they had yet again failed in sending a spy.
"Three times is a pattern." He muttered to himself as he took another sip, the time slowly passing. The only thing that could be seen outside was the luminescent glow from the twin moons, shining down on the rocky terrain that surrounded their house.
His mind drifted back to his conversation with Banqui, there was no way three experienced parties of spies would be sent into Helmand and all three would fail in such a short time. It was unheard of, even someone as experienced as Joe Joe was taking so long to report back.
There had to be a discrepancy.
"There is definitely someone feeding information to Morbius, or the demon king himself." Alaric muttered again, gritting his teeth and squeezing the glass in his hand.
The mere thought that his deduction could be true angered him seriously, he could not believe that after what they went through fighting against Morbius and the rest of the demon army, someone would turn their backs and sabotage the entire world.
"I can’t tell for sure if it’s Banqui. I think it’s better if I tread lightly and observe them all, if it does happen to be him—I swear by my blood I will vanqui—"
"Are you coming to bed?" The soft voice of a woman sounded from behind him, interrupting his powerful declaration.
He turned around to meet the gaze of his wife Esty, she wore an undergarment made entirely of silk and her hair was packed in a neat bun above her head.
The light coming directly from the moon seemed to accentuate her already beautiful features.
Alaric only grunted, clearing his throat, he gave her no response, as he wasn’t sure of what to say.
Esty looked at him for a moment, her eyes glistened as she moved closer.
’What has got him so worried at this time of night.’ She thought to herself as she sat on the couch right beside him, slowly taking the glass full of wine from him and placing it steadily on a small table.
"What are you worried about?" She asked, turning his gaze to meet hers.
Alaric grunted again, taking a deep breath, this was his wife, he had no reason whatsoever to keep things from her. He had never done it before, and it wouldn’t start now.
"We haven’t heard from Joe Joe in almost two weeks." The man said with a grunt, his eyes were heavy, but so was his mind.
"Oh, that? He’s probably taking his time with it, or fulfilling one or two side quests. You know Joe Joe—"
"Yes I know Joe Joe, but I have a very bad feeling, I feel like I have sent him to his death." Alaric said. "It plagues me, I just can’t get it off my mind."
Esty took a deep breath, she took a good look at her husband. It had been a while since she saw him in such a state.
Alaric was a very carefree man, who believed everything that happened was by the design of the Heavens.
But he always got like this whenever a close family member, or friend was involved in a very dangerous situation, especially if he was the one who sent the person into such a place.
So she understood why he would feel this way. It was odd that Joe Joe would take this long to complete a simple in-and-out mission, but the stakes were high, since it was the Helmand and it involved a very powerful, evil being.
So it was also understandable why he would take a long time.
"What we fear the most, is very likely to happen to us." She said with a smile. "You taught me that saying. Remember? When Rhoarin grew extremely sick as a child, you were the only one who had absolute faith in the fact that he was going to be well again."
Alaric looked at her, not saying a word, he had almost forgot about that incident, an incident that almost spelled a very bad story in the history books of the Ironfell bloodline.
Rhoarin had been sick with something called Beckeenwater disease. The survival rate was less than ten percent. But Alaric maintained his faith, he never gave up on his son. Even while Esty spent the entire time panicking. He knew his boy was strong, and he knew that whatever doesn’t kill a person would only make them stronger.
He smiled as the memories all came slipping back into his mind. "I remember you were very upset the whole time, running helter skelter. Haha." He laughed for the first time, forcing a laugh out of the woman as well.
"Trust in Joe Joe in the same way, have faith. And if faith is not enough, we’ll give him till two weeks." She winked, forcing another laugh out of the old man as she got off the couch. Making her way back into the room.
"What would I ever do without you?" He asked her.
"Absolutely nothing dear, now follow me into the room before I make you sleep out here."
He quickly darted behind her, leaving the glass half full of wine on the table.