Chapter 70 - 71
Before Alistar knew it, dinner had come and gone. Thereafter, the party only persisted for an hour more, at which point Caedmon requested that the workers and servants begin to clean up. The adults had drunk a lot of wine today, a drink that Alistar would never have guessed had the effect of dulling one’s senses and changing their behavior. Take Alder for instance, a man who was always light on his feet. He had drunk more wine than anyone else, and by the evening’s end his movements were sluggish and dull, his short hair in complete disarray. The grease that normally added to his dignified look now held his dark strands in the silliest of positions, though the happy-faced man didn’t seem to notice.
Alder had been quite entertaining in the hours leading up to dinner. At one point, upon seeing the kids having so much fun with their wrestling, he had convinced Stason to enter into a match of their own. The former had excitedly proclaimed that if he won, his prize would be a kiss from Madeline, while the latter—who was in a similar state of inebriation—sought a kiss from Patricia. The ladies had been quick to point out that they had never agreed to such a thing, though the chamberlain and the stable master had ignored their protests and engaged in a very intense struggle to throw the other to the ground.
After an exciting two rounds Alder ended up winning the best of the three, his face lighting up as Madeline rolled her eyes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He’d gloated about the reward to the envious Stason with a bright smile on his flushed face. Patricia had furthered the stable master’s frown after telling him not to hope for a consolation prize, which gave Alistar the sense that she enjoyed teasing him. This had surprised him, since Patricia wasn’t one to tease others, though confusing as it was he hadn’t sensed any malice behind her words.
Caedmon made sure to have some of the gardeners walk his friends home, but only after everything had been tidied up and brought back inside. Once things had settled down and everyone on the estate had either gathered together in the dining hall or retreated to the privacy of their rooms, Caedmon asked Alistar to accompany him to his study for a chat.
When they arrived at the room, his uncle lit the surrounding lanterns with a thought before leading him inside, pausing to close the doors behind them. The room had been quite messy the last time that Alistar had been here and it was in an even sorrier state this time around. The pile of books on the floor had more than doubled in size, and even the spare desk was littered with disorganized parchments that depicted strange, incomprehensible schematics, let alone the desk that his uncle preferred. The smell of parchment was still quite strong, though it was accented by the distinct scent of recently-dried ink, a telltale sign that the room had overseen a significant amount of work from its owner in recent days.
Alistar wanted to ask his uncle about the interesting drawings that filled many of the pages that sat discarded on his desks, but he was aware that Caedmon had brought him here for a reason, so he decided to put a rein on his curiosity for the time being.
"As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you." Caedmon grabbed two of the extra chairs and dragged them to the centre of the room where he arranged them so that they were facing one another. "Go on and take a seat."
Alistar sat on the chair nearest to him.
"What did you want to talk about, Uncle?" He had a feeling that he already knew, but he had learned early in life that it was best to keep quiet and listen when somebody had something of importance to say.