Chapter 40: True Epitome of an Awakened
Walking down the corridors of his family home with the crests of House Stormbourne felt like a cruel joke, one Godric had to grimace at in silence as he swallowed his pride and followed the man to the chamber where his grandfather, the hero who fought on the frontlines of humanity against the wild beasts, spent most of his days.
Of course, instead of Godric’s grandfather, who would spend hours every afternoon telling him stories of his battles against the wild beasts and his countless adventures inside dungeon gates, when the door swung open, an unfamiliar figure sat in the leather chair once belonging to Richard Blackstar.
"Godric Blackstar," the man in the suit announced.
The person sitting in the black leather chair lifted his gaze slowly, almost uninterested in the arrival of Godric, whom he had apparently asked to speak to.
He appeared to be in his early thirties, which wouldn’t make sense as the leader of House Stormbourne was said to be in his late forties.
He looked exactly as one would expect someone from House Stormbourne to look. Silver-white hair, violet eyes, skin as pale as white jade, and sharp features.
Godric knew immediately who he was.
Even if there were no pictures of him available to the public, everyone knew the names of all the Great Leaders.
The man before him was Lucian Stormbourne.
He studied Godric first, before turning his attention to the man beside him.
"Thank you, Gabriel."
Gabriel bowed curtly and closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Godric all alone in the office he once played in with his grandfather.
"Godric Blackstar," the Leader of House Stormbourne stood, a smile that failed to reach his eyes flashing across his face. "Please take a seat."
Godric stood longer than the courtesy allowed. Taking in the sight of the office where his family pictures used to be, completely replaced by images of people he didn’t recognise.
The Leader of House Stormbourne sat first, then spoke in a low, almost amused voice:
"It must be an odd feeling. Coming back to your family’s home after that many years to see someone else living there..."
Godric turned, pulled out an empty chair, and sat down before answering:
"It’s smaller than I remember... and much older."
"Ah yes, it has been quite a while. Ten... no twelve years? It’s truly a shame what happened."
The leader of House Stormbourne looked somewhere distant for a moment, reminiscing about old times.
"I still remember the day I met your grandfather. He was the true epitome of an awakened. A man of unbroken conviction and a will to carry it till the very end. Once I heard my own father, leader of our house, laugh at the idea of the five great houses. ’Five?’ he said, his laugh was almost infectious, he said there were no great houses, just a man and those who were lucky enough to follow him."
The sudden praise caught Godric slightly off guard.
His grandfather was never one to boast, so hearing someone, especially a Leader of a Great House speak so highly about him was unexpected, to say the least.
A moment of silence passed, Lord Stormbourne looking somewhere distant once again before turning back to Godric. "I’m sorry I got carried away a little bit. You must be curious why I invited you here."
Godric didn’t respond, but his expression confirmed the suspicion.
"I wanted to thank you for bringing my niece back home safely. It was truly unfortunate what happened to you two, but I am glad she had someone this... capable... by her side." Lucian stood, stretching his arm toward Godric, who quickly returned the gesture.
"We got lucky that the gate closed when it did."
"Luck... I hear there was a leader down there, someone commanding a human settlement...?"
Lucian stared deep into Godric’s eyes.
There was no way the Leader of a Great House didn’t already know the identity of who the leader of the human settlement in the dark city was.
Which means that for some reason, he was trying to see if Godric would lie.
The interesting question was why?
Could it be that there is something Daren knew that even the leader of House Stormbourne is worried about?
Realising Lucian’s gaze narrowed slightly at the sudden pause, Godric quickly replied:
"Daren Stormbourne. I take it he’s a kin of yours?"
"My son, actually."
Only now did the Leader of House Stormbourne release Godric’s hand, the simple handshake lasting far longer than it should. He then lowered himself back in his leather seat and spoke:
"He was an ill child. Truly a shame. Sometimes family of even a Great House can turn out wrong. Isn’t that right?"
Godric nodded, knowing well he was referring to his father.
"If that’s all I need to get back home, my sister is waiting for me."
"Ahh, yes. I did hear about your little trouble on the outskirts, a gambling den called... ’the vultures’? What a despicable name."
’Here we go...’
Godric expected the suited man’s arrival at the scene of the massacre to come back to bite him, and now he was certainly about to find out how.
"Consider that matter handled."
Godric blinked.
’What?’
A matter of killing two dozen criminals and a dozen police officers on duty handled by a Leader of a Great House by simply saying so.
That was the true strength of the Great Houses.
Influence that stretched through every inch of civilisation. Even if the man in a suit, Gabriel, if Godric remembered correctly, slaughtered a hundred police officers, the government wouldn’t even raise a finger if there was even the slightest chance of upsetting any of the Great Houses.
Lucian stood up, offering a handshake for the second time. "Let’s call it even for bringing my niece home safely."
His smile was even further from his eyes than the last time.
Godric stood and returned the gesture, the man’s grip was now slightly harder, his gaze dark.
Nothing involving Great Houses was ever this simple, and Godric had a feeling that this was no different.