Chapter 93 - Night Conversation

Chapter 93: 93 - Night Conversation

"Not yet."

Amelia shifted slightly on her blanket. The room remained dim, illuminated only by the pale glow of a small mana lamp they had left near the center. Beyond the two entrances, the buried ruins were almost silent except for distant dripping water and the occasional creak of roots somewhere inside the stone.

"Is this your first time doing something like this?" she asked. "Going somewhere for several days, exploring ruins, sleeping underground... all of it."

Adrien thought about it for a moment, although the answer was obvious. "Yeah. I only awakened my Core a few months ago. Since then I’ve spent most of my time moving between Greymoor, or other territories of my family and places where somebody was already waiting for me."

He turned his head slightly toward her. "Apparently my introduction to being an awakened was skipping the exploration part and going directly to people trying to kill me."

Amelia laughed quietly, careful not to wake Lucien. "You make it sound like you were disappointed."

"I wouldn’t have complained about starting with a few Barklings."

Her laughter softened, and silence returned for a few seconds. Adrien could hear Lucien breathing steadily from the other side of the room. The Ranger had fallen asleep with impressive speed considering they were several hours beneath the forest and surrounded by monsters.

Amelia adjusted the blanket around herself. "When are you planning to go to Sylvamir?"

"After we finish what we’re doing here and I deal with everything that needs my attention back home. There are still matters involving the territory, and I don’t want to leave immediately after taking on more responsibilities." Adrien paused. "After that, we’ll go. You and Lucien are coming with me anyway."

"Grandfather already decided that part for us."

Adrien gave a small smile. "It sounded less like a suggestion."

Amelia remained quiet for a moment before asking, "And after Sylvamir?"

That question required more thought. Adrien stared toward the ceiling, where thick roots had forced their way between ancient slabs of stone. Every time he believed things might calm down, another problem appeared. He had awakened his Core, fought Léon, survived a dragon, discovered the slave camp, dealt with Gaspard and somehow ended up involved in relations between two kingdoms. Predicting what came after Sylvamir felt optimistic.

"I don’t know," he admitted. "With everything that keeps happening around me, I’m not sure planning that far ahead is useful."

"You must have something you want to do."

Adrien considered it. "I’d probably like to investigate my father properly."

Amelia didn’t respond immediately, and Adrien continued while looking toward the ceiling. "The entire situation still feels strange. The more I learn about him, the less sense his execution makes. My mother doesn’t believe he betrayed the kingdom. Your grandfather doesn’t believe it either, and Vael knew him personally."

He folded one arm beneath his head. "Alaric had enough strength and influence that I can’t understand why he simply allowed everything to happen. Either he couldn’t defend himself, or there was a reason he chose not to."

Amelia’s voice was quieter when she answered. "Is that what you were thinking about in the bath earlier?"

Adrien turned his head toward her. Even in the weak light, he could make out her silhouette on the blanket opposite him.

"You were watching me that closely?"

Amelia went completely still. Adrien couldn’t properly see her expression in the darkness, but the hesitation before she answered told him enough.

"I wasn’t watching you."

Adrien let the silence sit for a second. "I was joking."

Amelia exhaled. "That wasn’t funny."

"It was a little funny."

"No."

Adrien smiled to himself before looking back toward the ceiling. "But yes. I had a lot on my mind. I’ve always liked thinking while taking a proper bath. It helps when I need to sort through things without doing anything else at the same time."

"That’s surprisingly normal."

"What were you expecting?"

"I don’t know. Maybe that you stand in the middle of a forest staring at a wall until you solve whatever is bothering you."

The conversation faded again. Neither seemed particularly tired, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. Somewhere beyond the room, water struck stone at a slow, regular rhythm.

Several minutes passed before Amelia spoke again.

"Adrien."

"Hm?"

"Do you regret what happened in the capital?"

This time Adrien turned fully toward her. The question had come quietly, without the confidence Amelia usually carried when she spoke to him about simpler things. Adrien studied what little he could see of her face.

"Have I done something that made it seem like I do?"

"No." Amelia answered quickly. "You haven’t."

"Then of course I don’t regret it." Adrien’s response came without hesitation. "We both wanted it. There’s nothing for me to regret."

Amelia didn’t answer immediately, so Adrien continued, a little more calmly. "If you’re asking because I’ve acted normally since then, that’s because I don’t think what happened needs to make everything between us strange. It happened because we wanted it to happen. That’s enough for me."

"Alright."

There was a softness to her voice that hadn’t been there before. Adrien settled back onto his blanket and glanced toward her again.

"You?"

"No."

Her answer came almost as quickly as his had.

"Good."

A faint metallic rattle suddenly came from the other side of the room. Adrien’s attention sharpened for an instant before he realized it wasn’t one of Lucien’s alarms. The Ranger had moved, knocking one of the arrows beside his blanket.

Lucien sat up and rubbed a hand over his face. "Alright. My turn. You two can sleep. I’ll keep watch."

He reached for his quiver, then extended his other hand and began manifesting his bow. "If I see anything coming in here, I’ll put eight arrows through its head before it gets close."

Adrien stared at him. "Just don’t confuse me with a corpse while I’m sleeping."

Amelia immediately laughed under her breath.

Lucien slowly turned his head toward Adrien. The murderous look he gave him made Adrien reconsider whether making that joke while the man was holding a bow had been his best decision of the night.