Kismet’s Tale

      Mavin fiddled with his pen. He pulled out a parchment from his drawer and penned the words: 

     Dear Kohl,

    So how are you doing, friend? It has been weeks since we had parted. I hope that your affairs with Maria are going well. By the time that you receive this letter, the package of marinated boar should be in the post office of Sudugar. Now, you may wonder if it would rot, but it seems like there are delivery services these days that are much more efficient if you pay well. I might have overdone it by sending you fifteen kilos worth of marinated boar, hell it might have been rather problematic, so I had included some additives and spices to the package. Now, I doubt I would receive a letter since I barely had time to tell you where my home was. I may not get your letter, so do not bother. Now you may ask, why am I sending fifteen kilos of marinated boar? Remember when we reunited? You asked me about the demifiends, and how I explained that they are nothing more than big animals?  Anyone can cook a good roast of these delicacies, but I must insist that you follow the traditional Lazon recipe for the sake of your tongues, for it would be a shame if you fail to somewhat taste the following recipe.  As for how much it cost, do not bother asking, for if I have so much, then I would have sickened by eating too much. Perhaps, you will share the same fate? In any case, I intend to send only this package. Give my regards to Maria, she’s a fine woman, and for the love of all that is good and just. Don’t try to do what you tried to do before we went back to Sudugar.

    Best regards,

    Mavin Tomas.

Mavin laid down his pen. He let the ink dry on the table before folding it neatly, and inserting it into an envelope. He then rang the bell. A servant appeared in his study.

“Please deliver the letter, I believe that we talked about the package? Have you made sure that the meat is sealed?”

“It is. It is our freshest work, and it is contained inside one of the containers. It would not certainly not rot.”

“Good work,” Mavin pressed the letter forward. “Send this letter alongside this package. This package belongs to an important friend of mine. One of the few people who had somewhat lessened my burden in the war. You know what that means, Ike.

“I understand, Sir,” Ike said calmly. He took the letter with him, left the room, and closed the door. When the room became silent, Mavin went back to his documents when the door was pushed open. A tall man in a Lazon military cape and gear strutted inside the office.

He walked in front of Mavin, gave a heart-to-head salute. “It’s good to see that you are settling in.”

Mavin raised a brow at this man. “Logain, I was sure that you were in the borders of Dinia?”

He lowered his dominant hand. He stood tall in front of Mavin like a sharp sword. Sharp eyebrows, striking eyes, and a jawline that could cut through steel. The border general had chestnut-like hair, and he had braided the side of his hair to a three-knot.

“I was at the borders. But I had already settled the pressing problems. You said it yourself, no? That I must rely on my good people other than doing it all by myself. I could do much more with the help of my brothers, and that is a lesson that I must not forget.”

“Please Logain, you make me sound like I'm your teacher.”

“Are you not? Have you not spent so much of your time lecturing us? Beating us so that we may understand that Lazon is not a single entity, but a body composed of many parts?”

Mavin regarded him casually. “You’ve grown eloquent, Logain. Hard to believe that the bastard that keeps on going about how he is a lion among sheep has started to care about us mere 'sheep'.”

“Brother, if you are a sheep, then you make lions feel like sheep. Besides, I doubt that anyone would throw merit as much as you do.”

“Please, you make it sound like you didn’t spend so much time guarding our borders and defending it successfully. I praise you for that, Logain.”

“Now, praise from you is something that would make my head swell.”

Mavin leaned back and laughed. “Oh Logain, do you dare to show this brazen behavior in front of your subordinates?”

“They might sadly die of shock, Brother. Besides,  there are only a few that I would dare respect and show them my kinder side.”

“The son of battle speaking like this would have shocked anyone.”

“And the Ghost of Dinia speaks as if he is not someone worthy of respect? What is more surprising is how I heard tongues speaking that the two reapers in the field had formed a bond of marriage.”

“It’s true.”

“How...strange. Lady Bellatrix had married a Ghost. What a strange time we live in?”

“You say that as if you're unconcerned by the walking metal that carries ammunition and the planes.”

“Weapons are weapons. But that nuclear bomb that you speak off was quite shocking, as if God had enough of humanity’s foolishness, and decided to lash out his thunder at us.”

“Now you believe in God, Logain?”

“I may start to believe in our Ancestor Spirits. If such magics could exist then the thought of a deity that could do so much more than conjure wind is fascinating to me,” his eyes softened. He looked at Mavin up and down and then rested his back on the seat.

“Truthfully, I came here to see you, Brother.”

“Aunger told you?”

“He did. That man calls  himself a shadow, but his heart is swollen and warm.”

“I see. Then have you done what I asked?”

“I have done what you asked. “

“Thank you.”

“Do not bother. If Brother can just enlighten me for a moment. There are many ways to go about this. To lose such talents would be detrimental to Greater Lazon.”

“Logain, I know that you are someone who begrudgingly worked with me. When we were young, you had mocked me, insulted me, and had tested my patience time and time again. How many times have I beaten you down? How many times did I have to teach you a lesson? I treated you all better because you are the leaders of this country. Our homeland is as large as nations and one could even argue that it is as big as the Empire if it weren’t for the impassable terrain and the mountains that stitched our homes.”

“Aunger...he is someone who is devoted to you, Brother. He thinks of you as a sage, a wise man, and a prodigy that has been given to Lazon during such an era where men can no longer honestly stab and bash other people's heads. An era where even the greatest warrior could be shot down by a bullet from a hundred yards away,” Logain  said.

“I have told you the plan already.”

“And to me it is nothing more the same. As instructed, I had defended Lazon from the tripartite-alliance without fail. I have made sure that we will not suffer from the disasters of war. If you can just grant me this wish--,”

“That’s impossible. Even if I do grant your wish, it would take less than a year before my condition gets worse. I might have not fared better if I had not severed the Imperator’s hand. I can persuade my body for two years, but I must face this myself,  I have said to you and to the Hounds about the final goal. Winning does not come easily, and it should be fortunate that we’ve gained advantage. I’m merely giving time to Greater Lazon, and it is because we have our own roles to play that I must do this. This is the only thing that we can do without losing more than enough.”

Logain's face did not show approval. Mavin could only frown and leaned forward. His eyes telling Logain to listen to him closely.

“Think about it. It wouldn’t be long until they learned who was the one who pulled the trigger on Alfred Silheid. The Field Marshal, he’s a good man with an absurd popularity when it comes to the three alliances. How the man could achieve such a level of fame and love among them is still something that I don’t understand completely. If anything, I didn’t plan for this, but it is convenient, and we might as well include it in our plans since it would somewhat lessen the burden on the relations between the Empire and our neighbouring countries. I doubt my life would be easier, I can only imagine how many would call for me in the courts to justify why I had to shoot a lot of people in the war. It might not have mattered if it was just any soldier, but it's because I was the one who pulled the trigger on Alfred Silheid that it would matter to them. Logain, do you really want to see me in the courts? Being thrown stupid questions on why a soldier should have done this and that?”

“No, I wouldn’t wish you that. What would they know? They are nothing more than old men who had not gone to war. And even they do try to wrongly prosecute you then we would just need to--”

“What? Start another war? Send good young men to die? Send our people to die? Throw our new bomb at the fucking people who doesn’t give two shits about what their leaders think? People who just wanted to live their lives in peace and quiet? And for what? For me to not be scolded a few demented old men who are eager to get some face?”

Logan quieted, but didn’t agree.

“I know that you are eager. Please, let this be, it’s better that we do this. Besides, we’re just delaying the problem, not solving it. I told you to set up all our artillery and weapons in Alzed’s Peak. It should work for a moment, but I would have to rely on the black iron to do the job.”

“One for the power frame and one for your personal use. Aunger had made sure that it would be there for you.”

Logain lowered his head.

“Brother, are you doing this out of Robert’s will?”

“No. Robert...he was the one that didn’t like my guts. Robert called all of you my brainless followers, and in a way he was right about that. I might have truly spoiled you guys if you and Aunger come pleading to throw away the goal that we’ve spent years trying to achieve. From the very start, what we wanted was to give enough time for Lazon to prosper.”

Logain looked at Mavin, then he hung on his head as if he had given up on something. “Bah, I know it was useless to try, but at least I have to try and do it.”

“Did you come for such a useless thing?”

Logain didn’t answer. He slammed his fist down and quieted Mavin. “I was rude, I shouldn’t have questioned your resolve, Brother. Ah really, you are still the same, Brother. Really, that Aunger, thinking that I can somewhat even come close to convincing you.”

“It’s fine,” Mavin said. “Anyway, since you are, do you have any work that you need to do?”

“I’ve been working long enough that they should permit me for some leisure, Brother.”

“Good, let’s have a meal and a drink. It has been a long time, Logain.”

Mavin and Logain walked out of the study room and went out of the great manor and found a place behind the great manor where they carried their beer and snacks for them to enjoy.