Aminui

The old duke Jazay was in his office working on some document he found to be extremely boring when a servant knocked twice on the door. She called out to him in a hurry from outside.

"My lord, you have a visitor requesting to meet you."

The duke made an exasperated face and yelled his discontent through the door, not looking away from the paper in front of him.

"A visitor? What don't ye understand in gates closed! Ye already let that Graube in and now ye all did it again? No one in and no one out I be sayin!"

"But my lord, it's your old friend the Muracier's ancient Aminui."

"What!" His head shot back up from the paper and he jumped down his chair immediately. "The ancient be here already! Why did ye not say so right away!"

The servants in the room and outside giggled at his reaction and having gotten what they wanted, they opened the door to let the other old man through. The old man Muracier wore his armor and was much taller and much more intimidating than the old man Jazay but it did not affect him at all.

"Me old friend be here! What a good surprise this be! It be too long since last time!"

"Jorman you old mud-trap! I'm so happy to finally see a familiar face."

The two old men shared a strong hug and a few taps in the back. Jorman was a good two head shorter than his friend. He felt regretful of a time when age had not shrunk all his body like this. Like Aminui said, he was thrilled to see someone he'd known for so long instead of a young face that didn't understand him.

"I know, these young lads be pushin us on dusty shelves."

The two men released each other and after the duke yelled "Cups!", the servant girls pushed two big chairs out for them and brought good wine along. Like usual, they were swift but not nervous at all, they placed the wine on a small table close to the duke and served him a cup. They soon also brought a large pitcher of water for the Muracier, placing and serving some on a second table to his side.

"Right, its like no one recognizes me anymore. Has it really been this long?"

"Even though my heart be disagreein, it has. Me sprouts are gettin anxious about me still be breathin."

"Your kids are still giving you trouble?"

"Aye they be frustrated I won't give up on me title. As if I'd give those foolish lads the rights to anythin! Can ye believe they be siding with Graube?"

"Those foolish lads as you say have kids of their own now, and those might possibly have kids too soon. You might disagree with them but maybe calling them lads isn't quite right."

The two took long gulps of their respective refreshments and the duke kept complaining about his sons and grandsons.

"They be lads until "I" say otherwise. They be nowhere near as good as yer own two."

"At least yours are there." The old Muracier answered. "Thanks for the water by the way, it's sizzling today."

"Ha! Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if ye removed that armor. I didn't mean no thing about the two brothers by tha way. I just be meanin I'd be prouder of yer kids than me own grand-kids."

His visitor showed some vigor like a fish just chomped on his line. His face didn't change at all but Jorman knew him too well to not see it.

"Speaking of grand-kids, have you heard about what happened in Red-Water?" Aminui asked him.

The duke immediately feigned to not know.

"Red-water? That be a kingdom away past the hills, what am I supposed to be hearin?"

Lord Aminui leaned forward in his couch and showed an intimidating face to his friend, intent on having him speak the truth. The servants all froze in front of this most scary display.

"You slithered around the question like an eel."

The duke dismissed the whole thing with a tiny wave of his wrinkled fingers.

"Don't ye be doin that face ta me junior. It be not workin. Yer dad was makin that face better than ye and he be doin it ta me and the boys before ye even walked."

Truth be told, his menacing air was barely any different than his resting face.

Aminui snorted and leaned back in his seat, taking another large cup of water on the way.

"Sometimes I forget you're so much older than me. It's been a while since anyone called me junior."

"I be workin for the Muraciers fer a long time. I be likin doin it too, even if those I be familiar with are all old and wrinkled."

"That's a lie." Aminui pointed out. Not all of them were old and wrinkled. "Jorman, listen, a guy showed up in Red-water to expose the wrongdoings of a viscount's son and left right away afterwards. He was named Muracier but no one recognized him."

"This be interestin, is this why ye be here? And I be thinkin ye just wanted to see me old bones."

Jorman tried to look pitiful but as expected, it didn't work at all.

"Don't play dumb with me now, I know you're involved old friend. The guards over there saw him leave towards Artefine by the howling road and he spoke to the count there about a teacher of his. This is the only logical place for him to be. Plus, you asked the house for a seal, there's no way you should need one. I won't hand it to you until I know the truth. I need you to tell me if this is true, whose boy is he? Is he my blood? A cousin? You may be able to talk Graube in circles but you know this won't work on me."

The old duke made some sort of pout and shook his head slowly. He had been ordered my Chinui to keep his mouth shut but...

"Ehr, fine, ye be winnin but only because it be ye."

The old man got back up from his seat and went around his large desk to look into a drawer. In it, he used a key to unlock a small box and brought a parchment out of it. He walked back up to his friend and placed the letter in his hands.

"This be a letta I got from the lad, It be written by yer son."

Aminui didn't ask which one because the answer was obvious and eagerly ran his eyes through the words displayed on the parchment. He quickly found an intriguing sentence he read out loud for his friend.

"Treat the boy I sent you like my son. That's a weird way to phrase it, do you have some explanation?"

"I be perplexed by it too first. The lad got the hair, the face, the demeanor, the name, everythin. If he not be his son, I be havin no clue who's son he might be. He be closer to yer youngest, I be admittin, but the age be not matchin and he be sayin Marcy is not his true mother."

"So you're not sure he's my blood?"

"I am convinced he be! I just can't show any unavailable proof without the general yer son."

"You meant undeniable." A servant girl intervened to be helpful.

Those girls liked to giggle at his antics but they truly were helpful most of the time. They brought a bit of life to his surroundings. even if they weren't always right.

Aminui shot an eye towards her and answered on a casual tone.

"No, he meant unavailable, his sentence is just strangely constructed as per usual. Do not interrupt again."

The girl shut her mouth right away had a slight shiver and took three whole step back just to be safe.

"Hah, don't be like that to the lasses, they be really helpful ta me. The lads and lasses here be not understandin half of what I be sayin."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it as a threat, I'm just used to ordering soldiers and I don't like outsiders intervening in my personal matters."

He was saying that but in fact, he always had an overly serious face. He was born with a head to intimidate those around him, his eyebrows had a natural angry angle, his jaw clenched on reflex when he relaxed, his eyes barely showed any emotion at all and his voice was like rolling thunder even in his calmest state. His old age hadn't helped him in that regard, his brows sunk over his eyes making him look even more angry than before even though he was obviously excited and cheerful. It wasn't a reason to not tease the man about it however.

"I know ye be very curious and eager to learn what be hapennin Junior but don't scare off my lasses, those be less nagging than me late wifey."

"I said I'm sorry already. You're worse than my guys back home worrying about my age. You should be the one feeling guilty instead! Why didn't you tell me anything!"

"Because of that letta of course, see at the end of it."

Aminui looked down at the paper again and scanned the rest of the message.

"Don't tell anyone about him until he's ready and most of all don't tell my lord father because he's bound to do something excessive!" His voice got louder and louder as he read that sentence. "I'll show him excessive if I can get my hands on this son of mine! He goes off and hide from the empire, hides this lad too and I'm the excessive one! At least he had the smarts to send him here to learn."

"I only be followin orders from the great general your son, me friend."

"Well now I'm here and I'd like to make my own idea about him. Is he in class or something? Can he be called here?"

"Sure he can be brought here. Lass, go get the lad fer us will ye?"

One of the servant girls close to the door bowed in understanding and slipped out of the room in an instant while Aminui gave a large smile to his old friend. That was a rare occurrence, his face was made of stone and emotionless, he barely ever showed such a bright expression.

"Great, I can't wait. While we're waiting, can you tell me about his progress? What's he learned yet? Is he any good?"

"He be an interesting one for sure that lad. Lass over there, bring me the papers on him, will ye?"

The old man Aminui listened carefully to the old duke talking about Emp while they waited for him to show up. He also quickly scanned paper reports from the teachers about his progress in different classes. All the while, the right corner of his mouth had risen so much everyone in the room could see his teeth shining in interest.

The duke couldn't help but chuckle to himself, it had been more than fifteen years since he last saw him show anything else than neutrality on his face.

*-*-*-*

Emp was currently in Blackbull's office listening to her speak about the appropriate manners to adopt when invited to a reception. Aside from the usual topics he failed to remember, she was telling him that wearing his armor inside was not an appropriate thing to do.

"It is not appropriate to wear it in my office either, what made you think this was a fine idea?"

"Its cooler in that armor than outside of it."

Emp had finished his training outside not too long ago and decided to keep the armor afterwards. Outside, the temperature was so hot that he ended up alone in the field. Even if his armor did not have any cooling enchantment, he would have trained in it anyway but since it did, he found that the heat was more bearable with it on than otherwise.

Blackbull was also suffering from the heat and was fanning her face as she talked but still expressed her discontent to his behavior.

"I know the Muraciers tend to not understand that wearing their armor in public gatherings isn't a good thing but I feel like I told you this many times already. When you meet a noble wearing your armor, it makes it seems as if you were about to go to war against them."

"But you know this isn't the case, why would I need to suffer the heat if I can escape it? I'll remove it when the air cools down."

Blackbull sighed and shook her fan twice more to blow some fresh air at her face.

Soon after, while Blackbull was telling him about something new, the door was knocked upon. By the demand of the teacher, Celtine let the servant waiting on the other side in.

"Forgive my interruption but the school ancient wishes for the young Emp to be led to his office."

"Right now? What for?"

"An important visitor presented himself today, his lordship the Muracier ancient." The girl declared.

"The Muracier ancient? Who's that?"

Emp had never heard of him before. He wondered what was his role with the Muraciers and what sort of person he was.

Blackbull seemed a bit dispirited by his question but wasn't overly surprised.

"I almost can't believe you don't know about him. I'll have to tell you all about him in as many details as possible before I send you off."

She addressed herself to the servant right after.

"Please wait outside, I'll send him with you in a few moments."

The girl nodded and exited the room politely to let Blackbull impart her teachings in peace. Not willing to have the old men wait for too long, she explained as briefly as possible who was the Muracier Ancient to Emp.

"The old man Muracier is like an older version of his two sons. His name is Aminui Muracier, he was the great general before his son Chinui and worked for the father of the current emperor. The duke Jazay worked for him a long time before great general Chinui inherited the title. Knowing all these old men well, I believe he could still easily hold the title himself, the only reason he does not is because of the traditions, one general per emperor, no more. He gave up the position when Emperor Billow Grandbois took the crown and unless Chinui died, he will never hold it again even if requested. He's the current head of the house and manages everything from Highsteel."

"He's the head? Isn't Chinui the head?"

"But he's not here now is he? Who did you think ran the whole thing while he was away? Graube?"

"No, I just thought they were able to supervise themselves. I understand though that it would make sense that someone would do the work while Chinui isn't there."

"You have to be aware however that he is not replacing the Great general, he is only taking care of the household. The duty and title of Great general is still held by Chinui even though Graube currently does most of the work. Of course, all of this is speculation on my part as I do not know what the Great general is currently doing to appear so rarely."

She said rarely but she really meant never. Chinui hadn't been seen since the battle in the thundering pass.

"Thank you, I think I got it."

"Good, then you can now go meet your grandfather, do not make a fool of yourself. He will need to side for either you or Graube in the end just like the rest of your household."

His grandfather... Emp had never thought about this. It was obvious that Chinui and Chijou had parents too but he had never put it together that they might still be alive and would be considered his relatives too.

"Teacher, before I leave, I'm curious to know about my grandmother."

"Lady Korine Bellrun Muracier, she's a very headstrong woman. One has to in order to withstand the nonsense of the Muraciers. They say she could kick an armored knight down from his horse easily in her youth, rumor has it that she did just that to Aminui and it was what seduced him. She is the first of his four wives and the only one who gave him any child. I heard that he took the other three at her request to protect them and never had feelings for them but don't go around repeating it.

It is highly unlikely that she came with him this time around as she never leaves Highsteel, she has some hips problem stopping her from riding a horse or standing up for too long."

Emp nodded and felt some similarities between his nominal grandmother and Marcy. Didn't Marcy fight against the brother for something silly as well? Maybe every Muraciers felt attracted to an extent to women strong enough to beat them up?

"Thank you teacher. Do you want me to come back after this?"

"No, this will be all for today, you may take a break. We'll follow up on today's subject and events tomorrow."

Emp gave her a respectful nod and picked up Celtine before exiting the room. The servant wasted no time and guided him down the path he now knew very well.

It didn't take long for the board Celtine carried to dangle in front of his eyes.

< Are you nervous about meeting him? >

"I think I am."

Emp had not met a Muracier since Chinui so he had no idea what to really expect. Should he trust the rumors about how the Muraciers all acted? Who knew how exaggerated they all might be?

The man he was about to meet could be considered his grandfather in the way that Chinui who unknowingly gave his blood and Chijou who unknowingly lent his soul could be considered his human fathers.

If possible, he wanted to get along with him, he had kept a really good impression of the grumpy man he met in the woods and wanted to please his father. The man would no doubt have a huge influence on what came next for him so he hoped to land on his good side.

In another line of thought however, he feared that the old man would dig for the truth straight away and ask for something he couldn't properly answer. If he was to ask who his parents were, Emp would not know how to answer properly, he had never ceased being confused about who was part of his family and who wasn't. Were his creators his only true parents or was Chinui included too for giving him blood and name? Now that he thought about the name, Chinui had just lent him the Muracier name for the time he'd be in school, he wondered if he'd loose it after. Would Calla turn back to being Calla Champom instead of Muracier?

The worst of all was about archery. The ancestors never helped him hit his mark with a bow. They didn't recognize him, he didn't have any it seemed. Wasn't that an irrefutable proof that he wasn't truly a Muracier?

He feared the old man he never met before might get angry about any of those things and from the usual reactions of everyone around him, he knew for a fact that getting any Muracier angry was not a good thing at all.

He couldn't tell him about any of his objectives either and possibly not even state his full name. He didn't really know anything about him so he didn't know how he'd react to the gods, to Celtine, to him already having a wife or his lack of outstanding talent.

So yes, he was nervous, his heart was beating at an unusual speed like he was about to encounter a beast in the woods. Any number of things could go wrong and that was truly the last thing he wanted right now. All of his plans could crumble in an instant because of that man he knew next to nothing about.

"Are you nervous too?"

He asked Celtine in return. That man was a true Muracier after all, he had been a great general and must have fought a countless amount of times against the tribes. He was like Death himself for the cursed-bloods.

She hurriedly wrote an answer, her face showed a confident smile.

< Not too much. You are truer to your name than you think, everything will be fine. With you, I don't think anything bad could happen to me. I am more nervous about meeting someone from your family for the first time than for meeting a wall chief. >

Emp didn't understand what she meant with the sentence but he was slightly more curious about the last few words.

"A wall chief?"

< That is what the Muraciers are called in my tribe. They lead the man tribes like a powerful chief and always show up with flags of a wall. Plus, they are like a wall themselves, the tribes can't get in while they're there unless they punch a hole through it. >

"That's funny, I didn't know. Also, thank you for believing in me. I'll try to not disappoint you."

< You will not. If I can give you an advice, you should act with him like you would want others to act with you.>

Emp smiled for her and acknowledged her advice with a raised thumb. Soon after, they reached the office of the director and the servant announced their arrival after a few knock on the massive door.

"Lords, student Emp has arrived."

"Let him in." Was the immediate answer of the duke.

The girl opened the door for him and after removing Celtine from his shoulders and placing her at his side, he stepped into the room.

Two old man were sat into the room, one of them he knew well but the other was no stranger either. He was the old man with the imposing armor he saw ride through Dark-glint a few weeks ago. He guessed this was the Muracier head, he had short messy grey hair, a harsh evaluating gaze with brown irises, large brows, no beard and from this close, a similar face to Chinui.

Right away, that man rose from his seat and dominated the room with his size. He was even taller than Marcy and Chinui, dwarfing everyone Emp had ever met. He was almost a bear in the shape of a man and the imposing armor he wore didn't help to make him less intimidating. Emp hoped he would get this big too in the future but he highly doubted it, even Strength wasn't that tall. Emp was getting pretty close to Marcy but this was just ridiculous.

While he was detailing him, the old man did the same in reverse, scrutinizing all his features for all the details that might lead him to some clue about him.

Neither him or Emp showed any happiness or anxiousness from meeting the other, they just stared with serious faces in an attempt to understand the other.

The duke didn't say anything and Emp wondered if he was supposed to bow or something. He chose against it, in part because the man was supposed to be his grand-father but mainly because of Celtine's advice. The visitor spoke first, he had a strong voice that didn't show any hint of old age unlike his hair or skin.

"Kid, did it take you so long because you put on your armor?"

Emp shock his head.

"No, I was already wearing it, I was with teacher Blackbull."

"Do you know who I am?"

"According to Blackbull you should be my grandfather."

The old man didn't deny or confirm, he stepped closer to stand in front of Emp and presented himself.

"I am Aminui Muracier and I came all the way from Highsteel to meet you. What's your full name?"

That was one of the questions he feared so much. Since he believed that Aminui would react the same way his son did towards lies, he had no choice but to answer as clearly as possible.

"According to my hunting card, it is Emperor Muracier."

"What?" The duke said from the side.

It was true that Emp never revealed his actual first name to him, he had forgot he didn't know. For now, the two Muraciers ignored him. Aminui just frowned a bit and asked further.

"According to you?"

"Just Emp, Emperor is a ridiculous name."

"Why remove the Muracier?"

"I am not convinced that I deserve it."

"But you didn't hesitate to use it in Red-water before."

"It was the most efficient and effective way to achieve what I needed then."

The answer seemed to satisfy him because he went straight for the next subject.

"Your worst grades are in customs with that crow Blackbull, is it because it's boring and you'd rather fight outside?"

Emp felt confused by the question, it felt completely disjointed from the previous topic.

"No, It's because it's illogical most of the times and it has no practical use aside from not upsetting nobles."

The right corner of his mouth rose into a half grin, Emp didn't know whether it was a good sign or not but it was the first emotion he let show since the beginning.

"Good," he said before pointing two pitchers on the table behind him. "Would you like a bit of wine or would you rather have water?"

"Water please."

"Because you want to keep your senses sharp?"

Emp frowned a bit, was this actually a Muracier thing? People kept telling him things like that but he never thought this was a real thing. He feared his next answer might disappoint him.

"No, I just don't like the sensation I receive when I drink Alcohol."

He could stomach the taste somewhat but he hated the feel of it. Marcy tried to to have him drink many times over to get him used to it but he never did. Once she learned his family name, she stopped for good saying it couldn't be helped.

Aminui's grin widened by at least twice its original width.

"You're not lying to me are you?"

"Aren't you supposed to know If I'm lying or not?"

"So you would lie if I wasn't me?"

"Of course not, it just makes everything more complicated. I'd rather say the truth right away."

Now the old man was just full on smiling.

"So whose blood is running through your veins?"

That was easy, Love told him specifically that she took Chinui's blood.

"Chinui's blood is running through my veins."

"Haha! No lies! I can't believe it, it's true! I do have a grand-son! Come here kid!"

The next few moments were filled with the loud clanking and scrapping of metal as the old man squeezed Emp into his arms and slapped his back merrily. Emp was just really glad that he asked it this way.

Once the old man was satisfied, he wrapped his arm around Emps shoulder and brought him to the table in order to have him sit with the duke and himself. Celtine followed them and stood behind his chair.

"This is great! Fantastic news! Finally something good happens. I was thinking I'd have to watch my branch of the family wither but look at you! You look like a younger version of my sons, it's great! Chinui didn't even tell me he met someone so tell me kid, what sort of woman is she? What's her name? What is she like?"

It went so well just before but the old man had to jump straight up into a question he didn't want to answer.

"I'd rather not answer that." Emp said with a reluctant face.

The expression of the old man instantly turned sinister.

"What? You don't trust your own grandfather?"

"It's not about trust." Emp denied by shaking his head. "I really do not want to say it to anyone and it is even worst in front all those people. I know you will be displeased by the answer and I do not think that this is the right time or place to talk about this. Maybe I will tell you another time but not now. If it can make it better for you, there are only five people in the world that know who my... mother, is. Celtine here is one of those that know."

The old man turned his gaze towards her. Celtine flinched right away and shifted her weight to hide behind Emp better.

"Even if you glare at her she won't tell you." Emp told him raising his hand in between them to cut his view.

Even though she had said that she wasn't nervous, that glare was obviously making her uncomfortable.

"I'm not glaring, I was just focused, I don't do that face on purpose to scare the lasses. It's been twice already since I got into this room that I was accused of that. Why can't the lasses nowadays defend themselves properly anymore? How come they rely on you two so much? When I was younger, they'd just glare back at me in those cases. Why is everyone so weak now?"

"I don't be thinkin its age, I be thinkin that the lasses hangin out in highsteel just all be strong willed."

"Might be."

The old Muracier accepted the answer of the duke but didn't seem all that convinced.

Emp didn't think that Celtine recoiling in front of this old man meant that she was weak at all. In her state, facing a man like him known to have fought and won against cursed-bloods all his life, hiding behind him was pretty much the only sensible thing to do.

"So tell me, why are you willing to tell a cursed-blood but not us?"

Of course, he had seen she was a cursed-blood right away even though she seemed human at a glance. He had fought them for so long.

"It has got nothing to do with her being a cursed-blood or not. I was told by Chinui that I should not give those information to anyone so I chose to only say to those who I knew what they would do with what I told them without a doubt. I don't know you or the duke enough to be certain of what would happen if I said it. Rather, for now, I feel something bad would happen so I will keep it to myself."

"Fine, so she knows because she's a sealed slave despite being a cursed-blood, who else knows?"

"My other slave, Chinui of course, I told Marcy and my wife."

"Wait you have a wife already!"

His grandfather almost jumped out of his seat and whipped his head towards the duke to seek some answers about this massive information he ignored.

"Errr... Oops? I might have forgot ta tell ye?"

"What in the ancestors!" He turned back towards Emp with the same stone cold face even while sounding so surprised. "But... I feel like I'm repeating myself but... Who is she? Where? Is she fierce?"

Fierce? Emp tried to stick the word to Calla in his head but there was nothing less fitting than that.

"Is she more like Marcelia the girl my sons liked or is she more like my Korine?"

"I never met Korine?" Emp answered hesitantly while thinking Calla wasn't close at all to Marcy's personality.

"I'd say she be better described by delicate than fierce me friend." The duke added from the other side of the tables.

"She what? Delicate? That's not good for anything! That won't make for strong kids, you need a headstrong girl, someone with guts and the strength to back it off." He told Emp strongly while clenching his fist in between them.

Emp felt displeased Aminui said Calla wasn't good for anything.

"But you have not even met her, I would like it if you did not belittle my wife like that."

"I'm sure you like her but she's just the first wife right? We can still fix this with the second or third wife. Old man, isn't there any girl in this school of yours who'd be a more sensible choice?"

"There be this lass who's like a storm pickin fights with everyone includin me. She be havin a name outside too and..."

The more he heard the two elders talk, the more upset he got. Quickly, he couldn't stand it anymore and rose to his feet again. Pointing an accusing finger at his grandfather, he spoke strongly to stop their nonsense.

"That's enough already! No one speaks ill of my Calla, not even you! She's perfect as she is, there's nothing to fix! You can feel however you want about her but you'll keep it to yourself."

Aminui turned his head towards Emp again and the two stared motionlessly at each other for what the servants present felt to be awfully long time. The old man showed no signs of being angry or offended at all while Emp looked more serious than actually angry.

Finally, the old man raised a hand, palm forward to express his surrender.

"You're right, If someone told me my Korine wasn't a proper lady they'd end up with their heads driven ten feet underground in the minute. Even though I'm right, I just met you and I've never seen that wife of yours, I was too eager to help you out and acted too quickly. I just want to make sure the family will be fine long after I'm gone. Don't point your finger at your elder, I'm just trying to help you. I'll let the subject rest for now. Let's talk about something else instead, there's still a whole lot I need to know about you. I need to know what I need to do to bring you up to shape. Jorman told me you didn't know any of our tricks either so I'll need to drill them all into your head."

Emp wasn't that appeased by his answer and felt a bit lost that he'd jump into a wildly different subject right away but another thing was eclipsing those thoughts. Aminui was saying that he wanted to show him the Muracier's techniques even though Emp was in the middle of an argument with him. Emp couldn't help but be extremely excited about this.

The corner of his mouth rose almost against his will.

"Good, I knew you'd like the idea. Now sit down and tell me all about what you can do, that armor and your training. I am pumped to begin! I'll be able to train some new blood like in the old days, it will be so refreshing!"