Count Only The Happy Hours

Part 1: V

"So what did you find?" Nerevar asked.

Vivec blinked once. "What?"

"I'm going to assume you were scouting. It wouldn't be like you to wander without any purpose." Neht beckoned him over to sit. Cautiously, Vehk did so, pose stiff as he waited for the chiding he felt was on its way. Despite his own tension, he noted the curve of Nerevar's mouth as he added, "At the very least, come up with a good story for me."

Vivec swallowed, eyes darting between Alandro and Nerevar. "Like I said when we came in, the slums are where the most truths are," he said. "I was looking for information, no place is more honest than a skooma den when you have enough gold on you." He hesitated before adding, "I knew you three wouldn't want to go there. It's better that you don't, really; optics are everything, and whispers of a drug-addled mind only work for philosophers, not warriors." He tapped his thumb against his knee, a nervous gesture. "But I can be anything; I have no house to shame and no people to lead. So...I thought I was the best one of us to go out, and that it was better I do it sooner rather than later."

"Yes, but what did you find ?" Nerevar repeated, leaning forward. "You haven't said that."

Vivec swallowed. "Desperation. Allies. People who will..." As Nerevar raised his eyebrows, he let out a bitter sigh. "I...didn't find anything. Just as I started talking with the owner of a skooma den was when the Nords arrived."

Alandro scoffed. "Of course you didn't. You were too busy play-acting the hero to really do anything worthwhile." This time, Vivec didn't argue, and Nerevar didn't immediately step in. Alandro looked between them both, then gave a sigh as he went to drop into the last open seat between them. "Here's the thing, Vivec. You're..." His star-bright eyes glanced to Nerevar, and he frowned slightly; he was trying to edit, Vehk could tell, a very hard thing to do before the words are out. "You're...getting ahead of yourself. You can fight–I wouldn't have let you stay if you couldn't, no matter what Neht said–but you put so much of your energy into...into the nonsense you write..."

"People will need accounts of this when we drive out the Nords," Vivec said firmly.

"And we might not ."

Nerevar looked up at that, eyes wide. "We will . I know–"

"Yes, yes, Azura will guide us to victory," Alandro finished, waving his hand. "But the fact of war is that there's a winning side and a losing side. We have everything against us now–we don't even have the support of all the Chimer Houses–and logistically, losing is a very real possibility." His mouth pressed into a thin line, but he shook his head. "So your head needs to be here , Vivec. That means following orders, even if you think you know better." He waved toward the door Voryn and Sil had left through. "You put one of our own in danger, one who isn't ready for what we do."

"I didn't mean–"

"But you did . If we were a real battalion, that would get you punished far worse than a lecture. I'd dismiss you outright." He huffed as he sat back. "But we don't have the manpower for that. So if you want to help us succeed, it's time to get your head out of the clouds and be the warrior you've been trained to be."

Vivec stared at Alandro in baleful silence, then glanced to Nerevar. He wasn't looking at him; his hand covered his mouth, and his eyes were far away beneath drawn brows. No point in trying to appeal there; that look meant that Neht likely hadn't heard a word Alandro had said. Vivec started to open his mouth, but, for once, thought better of what he was about to say.

After a long silence, Alandro pushed himself back up to his feet with a sigh. "Look. Take this as a lesson–one that could have been much more painful. But it should be one of your last; you're getting too old to make mistakes like this."