Chapter 173 - 174
Alistar pushed all weighted thoughts from his mind as the others began to make a game of racing to finish their ale. Joining in with fervour, he entertained the reckless competition until he was well and drunk, the Lawsons constantly retrieving the jugs from the table in order to refill them in the cold room at the back end of the tavern where the ale was stored.
A short while after their reckless game had come to an end, a red-faced Zech spoke up in a boisterous voice. "Aren’t we forgetting something?" Raising his cup, which he didn’t seem to realize was empty, he said, "Lessa was just promoted to a sixth-tier apprentice mage. That’s a big deal, isn’t it?"
"You were?" perked up Rosa, pride in her usually timid eyes. "That’s amazing, Lessa! That means you’ll be a full-fledged mage before long."
Lessa abruptly lowered her head, her mood deteriorating in an instant. Seeing this, Anice threw a grape at Zech’s head. Normally, such an accomplishment would have been worthy of the highest praise, but under Lessa’s circumstances it simply meant that she was destined to leave for the arcannia in Valay sooner rather than later. After all, the moment she became a full-fledged mage, her father would send her off to become acquainted with the aged noble that was destined to be her future husband. After her most recent advancement, this would happen after her next promotion.
As the atmosphere around the table became quiet and cold, Alistar raised his cup with a gentle smile and gave Lessa an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "Don’t be so gloomy, everyone. It’s a rare thing for someone her age to make such an achievement, so we should be proud of her."
Seeing that he of all people had spoken up in regards to the sensitive matter, the others followed suit and raised their cups to toast their friend’s impressive accomplishment.
"All things aside," he said to Lessa in a quiet voice, "You should be proud of yourself, too."
She gave him a meek nod, thanking him with half-hearted words.
Seeing how the mood had shifted, Zech took it upon himself to refill everyone’s cups and flagons with fumbling hands before reinitiating their previous game in the hopes of moving on from the unwitting awkwardness that he had so callously created. The others welcomed the idea, and once again the Dozen began to drink the Lawson’s homemade ale with enthusiasm.
Alistar and his friends hung around until the later hours of the evening, at which point they had no choice but to call an end to the festivities as the majority of the group were too inebriated to continue on.
"Alie," mumbled Anice as everyone gathered outside of the tavern in the cold autumn air. "I don’t want to go to the triplets’ house. I want to go home..."