All or Nothing

Chapter 56

Arthur walked calmly out of the study, all the while suppressing his rage. The thought of someone he once looked up to suggesting that he kill his own wife just instead of the one who tortured him for over a year... he had no words to describe how he felt. It was a mixture of emotions, but one that he didn't expect was pity. Headmaster Willbeck had lived for thousands of years, but unlike him, she had all of her memories from one life to the next. Something like this would have probably driven a normal person insane, but instead she held onto the fact that she wasn't alone, that even though the three of them never remembered her, that they were a family.

"Are you ok?" Regis asked, interrupting him from his thoughts.

"Yeah, I think so. How's everyone else doing?"

"Pretty good. Caera gave us the grand tour. The dungeon was actually pretty nice, at least as far as dungeons go."

"They have a dungeon here?"

"Just making sure you're  paying attention."

"Trust me, I need a distraction right now."

"Then get up here. Tess and I are in your room, and she's seeming a bit horny. Nothing better to distract one from their thoughts than to have hot sex."

Arthur almost said something, but held back since Regis seemed to be trying to help.

"Thanks, but I think I need to warn her instead. She's strong enough to go toe to toe with Seris, so if she tries something Tess should be ready to defend herself."

"Gotcha. I'll keep close to her when you aren't around. Four eyes should be safe from the sounds of it."

"Yeah, I don't think we need to worry about his..."

Arthur stopped mid sentence at the sound of a large crash coming from the kitchen, followed by a string of profanities.

"I'll be up there in a little bit, keep up the good work."

Arthur walked over to the kitchen door and opened it, to see Alaric standing in front of some open cabinets and a bunch of pots on the floor.

"You're the cook here too?" Arthur asked with a teasing tone.

"Ha, these highbloods don't have a refined enough palate to enjoy anything I cooked up. No, I was just looking for a drink."

Arthur looked and saw a pitcher of water. "There's water right over there," he said pointing.

Alaric gave a deadpan look. "Young man, when an adult says they want a drink, what they're looking for is..."

Knowing where this was going Arthur pulled a mason jar of Pasta's special brew from his storage rune. "Alcohol?" He said finishing the old man's sentence.

"Aww, bless you boy," Alaric said, reaching out for the jar.

Arthur however walked off to another cabinet and pulled two glasses out and placed them on an island, and poured the clear liquid into the glasses. Alaric picked up one of the glasses as Arthur did, they clinked their glasses together, and Arthur took a sip as Alaric took a whiff then took a sip himself.

"Hooo, damn. That's some good stuff," Alaric stated then proceeded to drink more.

"Before the war, one of Dicathen's generals owned a tavern in the beast glades and brewed all of his own liquor. This is one of his special brews he made just for me."

"You Dicathians have some pretty liberal hobbies. I can't even imagine an Alacryan General doing something like that." Alaric commented with an amused tone before taking another sip.