Ink & Crown

Chapter 80 – The Conversation

After exchanging their contact details through their wristlinks, the conversation came to a natural pause.

Eiran reached for his payment, but Lucien waved it off.

“This one’s on me,” he said.

There was a brief pause before he added, with a faint hint of amusement,

“But next time, you have to pay.”

Eiran let out a small laugh.

“Alright,” he said. “Then I’ll make sure it’s a big order.”

Lucien gave a slight nod.

Eiran stood up, adjusting his bag.

“I’ll let him know,” he said. “About coming to meet you.”

Lucien nodded once.

“Just tell me when,” he said.

Eiran gave a final nod.

“Alright. See you.”

He turned and made his way out of the café, the steady movement of people continuing behind him as if nothing had changed.

By the time he reached the tram, the noise of the café had faded into the background. He took a seat near the window, his thoughts already moving ahead of him.

The opportunity was there now. That part was done, but the harder part was still ahead. Convincing his uncle would not be simple.

Eiran leaned back slightly, looking out as the tram began to move. The city passed by in a steady flow, but his attention was elsewhere. He knew how Taren thought, how he held on to things longer than he should, especially when it came to the past.

This would not be a simple conversation. But it was one he had already decided to have.

By the time Eiran reached home, Taren was already there, seated at the table with a few papers in front of him. He looked up briefly as Eiran entered, taking in his expression almost immediately.

Eiran barely had time to set his things down before he began, the words already forming.

Taren raised a hand, stopping him before he could speak.

“We’ll talk while we eat,” he said. “It’ll get cold otherwise.”

He gestured toward the table.

“Your mother already ate and went to sleep.”

Eiran paused, then nodded, forcing himself to settle down as he took his seat.

They started eating.

It didn’t take long for Taren to notice the restlessness.

Eiran’s attention kept shifting, his movements slightly quicker than usual.

Taren let out a short laugh.

“What happened?” he asked. “You’ve been fidgeting since you walked in.”

Eiran didn’t wait any longer.

“Uncle, guess who I met today.”

Taren leaned back slightly, thinking.

Given the excitement, the answer seemed obvious enough.

“Some celebrity from a shoot?” he said. “A popular star?”

Eiran shook his head, a faint smile forming.

“No, not that.”

He paused briefly, then continued.

“My work finished early, so I went somewhere else.”

“Where?” Taren asked.

“Stone and Quill Press,” Eiran said. “I met a person called Gareth Rendon there.”

Taren’s attention sharpened immediately.

“Stone and Quill?” he repeated.

The name wasn’t unfamiliar.

It had come up earlier at work, in connection with the new name they found out called Crownspire Publishing, when searching for the place Lucien’s book got published.

He had assumed it was a rebrand.

Though even then, it had not entirely made sense. The last he had heard, that press had been on the verge of shutting down.

Now Eiran was saying he had been there.

“Why did you go there?” Taren asked.

Eiran gave a small shrug. “I don’t know. Just felt like it.”

He leaned forward slightly. “That’s not the point.”

Taren looked at him, waiting.

“They’ve been acquired, uncle,” Eiran said. “Stone and Quill is now fully owned and completely under the new company Crownspire publishing.”

Taren frowned slightly.

“So, it wasn’t a rebrand after all,” he said quietly. “They were bought out.”

“Yeah,” Eiran replied. “I spoke to Gareth who’s the previous owner of the press. He’s still there.”

Taren looked up again. “Still there? Doing what?”

“He’s handling the press side of the company,” Eiran said. “They kept him on managing the same press he used to own.”

Taren leaned back, considering that.

“That doesn’t happen very often,” he said. “Not in this kind of traditional industry like printing press.”

He paused briefly.

“Either they trust him very much, or they don’t have anyone else to run it and had to make do with it. As not everyone can adjust to the mentality of going from owner to the employee in their own company they used to own”

Eiran nodded.

“He seemed fine with it,” he said. “Actually better, from what he said. No pressure about the company shutting down, no constant risk hanging over him and can oversee the press work with a peace of mind.”

Taren gave a small nod.

“That’s something, at least,” he said.

Eiran paused for a moment, then looked at him more directly.

“Uncle,” he said, his tone shifting slightly, “can you guess who owns Crownspire?”

Taren frowned annoyed by his nephew’s suspenseful way of talking.

“Stop dragging it out,” he said. “Just say it.”

Eiran let out a short laugh.

“It’s the same person whose book you went after.”

Taren stilled for a moment processing what Eiran just said.

The answer came quickly, but it took a second to settle.

“…Lucien Ashborne?”

Eiran nodded, unable to hide the reaction.

“Yeah,” he said. “The same one uncle.”

Taren didn’t respond immediately.

The thought took a moment to align with what he already knew.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” he said after a pause. “He’s way too young isn’t he?”

He leaned back, thinking aloud now.

“And this isn’t the kind of field people enter at that stage of just starting out. Not unless there’s a strong backing willing to support him.”

He paused again. “His family, maybe and they might be very rich to support him like this.”

Eiran shook his head.

“No,” he said. “From what I heard from Gareth, it’s nothing like that. They just had a small café and they were barely getting by before.”

Taren looked at him again.

“Then how…”

“The café situation turned around and improved rapidly,” Eiran said. “He changed things there with new recipes and it was a hit with the customers and word got spread and quickly became popular in the surrounding. Then there’s the book which was a big hit and many people started to visit the café just to see him and this in turn made the café even popular and now they are even opening a new branch of the café at MICF. And then this Crownspire publishing now which acquired this press.”

Taren was silent for a moment.

“So, he runs the café, writes the book… and now owns a press,” he said.

Eiran gave a small shrug. “Seems like it.”

Taren let out a slow breath.

“No wonder he refused so directly even though the terms were not good and very harsh, he was very decisive with no hesitation,” he said.

His gaze lowered slightly.

“If he has that kind of confidence in his own work…to go so far as to buy a press and even start a new publishing company, does that mean he has many more works yet to be released and confidence that they will do well or just interested in this business…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. The thought was clear enough.

It wasn’t just blind confidence; it was a decision backed by a massive risk that most wouldn’t even think of in his situation. And that, more than anything, is very admirable for him.

Eiran watched him carefully and thought this was the moment as the reaction was already there. Now he just had to say the rest.

Eiran continued, leaning forward slightly now that he had Taren’s attention.

“Gareth said he’s handling more than just the press right now,” he said. “Since the company is still new and they’re only working on one book, he’s overseeing most of it for now.”

He paused briefly before adding,

“But he also said that won’t stay like that for too long as he can’t handle all of that himself. They’ll have to expand. Bring in people for different roles once things start growing properly.”

Eiran glanced at Taren, trying to see if the point had landed.

“Once that happens, he said he’ll go back to focusing on the press side which he knows the best,” he said.

Taren gave a small nod, but his expression didn’t change much. It was clear he hadn’t connected it yet.

Eiran let out a quiet breath and continued.

“After that, I went to the Ashborne café,” he said. “It’s completely packed. Didn’t expect it to be that busy.”

Taren listened, while eating.

“I met Lucien there,” Eiran added. “We spoke for quite a while and he’s a nice guy.”

Taren gave a faint smile.

“From what you’re saying, he seems to know how to handle people well, as during our meeting due to the business discussions we didn’t have the opportunity to talk much about other things than the book” he said.

Eiran nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “He even covered my meal.”

Taren let out a small, amused breath at that. “That helps,” he said.

Eiran didn’t linger on it.

“I asked him about the publishing side,” he continued. “Whether they’re planning to hire.”

Taren’s attention sharpened slightly again. “And?”

Eiran held his gaze.

“I told him I know someone with deep experience,” he said. “Someone who could actually help build things properly from the ground up.”

Taren didn’t need to hear more than that, as the meaning was already very clear of what his nephew is trying to get at.

He looked at Eiran.

Eiran met his gaze without backing away.

“I didn’t say we’re related,” he added. “Just told it’s someone I know very well.”

Taren’s expression remained steady. “What did he say?”

Eiran didn’t hold back this time.

“He agreed to meet and have a talk, uncle,” he said. “Just like that.”

There was a hint of excitement in his voice now.

“He didn’t get annoyed or anything. He just said to let him know when and come meet him at the café. That’s it.”

Taren was quiet.

Eiran leaned forward slightly again.

“What do you think, uncle?” he asked.

Taren didn’t answer immediately.

His gaze lowered for a moment, as if he was weighing something that wasn’t easy to put into words.

Eiran didn’t wait too long this time.

“Uncle,” he said, more firmly now, “I’ve already told him about you and boasted about you quite a bit. You can’t just ignore this.”

Taren looked up again.

Eiran held his gaze.

“He’s building something from the ground up,” he continued. “And he’s doing it well. You’ve seen what he’s already done. The café, the book, now the press.”

His tone remained steady, but there was urgency beneath it now.

“If you get in now, you’re part of that something from the very beginning,” he said. “Not later, when everything’s already set and there’s no room left for you.”

He paused briefly before adding,

“You won’t get chances like this often, uncle.”

The words settled between them.

Eiran leaned back slightly, but his attention didn’t waver.

“Just go and talk to him once,” he said. “That’s all I’m asking.”

Taren looked at him for a moment longer, then spoke.

“You seem very sure about this,” he said. “That it’s going to be a good opportunity. That it will work.”

Eiran didn’t hesitate.

“I do,” he said.

Taren’s gaze remained steady.

“Based on what?” he asked.

There was no challenge in his tone, only a need for clarity.

“The café?” he continued. “He improved it, yes. But he grew up in that environment. That’s not unexpected.”

He paused briefly before going on.

“The book, I’ll agree with. From what I’ve seen, he’s an exceptional writer.”

His voice remained calm, measured.

“But publishing is different,” he said. “It doesn’t run on one book alone.”

He leaned back slightly, still watching Eiran.

“You need consistent work. Multiple authors. Systems that take time to build.”

Another pause.

“And tell me this,” he added. “Why would established authors choose a new company over ones that are already proven?”

The question settled between them.

Eiran didn’t answer immediately.

He didn’t have a structured response ready.

When he did speak, his tone was simpler than before.

“I don’t know,” he said.

Taren watched him, waiting.

Eiran gave a small shrug.

“I can’t explain it like that,” he continued. “I don’t know how all those things will work out.”

He paused briefly, then looked at Taren more directly.

“But I still think it will,” he said.

His voice didn’t rise, but it carried a quiet certainty.

“I just have that gut feeling and intuition,” he added. “That he’s going to make it work.”

A short pause followed.

“And if that happens,” Eiran said, “this becomes a big opportunity.”

He held Taren’s gaze. “For you.”