"Don’t be upset," Arne requested, to Irene’s disbelief.

"I won’t be," she assured him.

"I need to leave this place before I take the reins," he admitted. "Just for a short time. I would like to see what it’s like to be a knight for a while and climb ranks on my own accord, not because of what father’s laid out for me."

Irene had an urge to lecture him, but she resisted. She had been on so many adventures she had lost count, while Arne stayed in north central Chemois and simply learned the ropes of the lands. She and her father could be considered good knights, but that was because they had so much experience under their belts.

She would be selfish to be upset that her brother needed it as much before he truly took over as the lord of this region for good. Their mother was still technically the lady. Irene would have to look at more knights being placed in this area while Arne was away—wherever he would go.

"I understand," Irene admitted. "Have you put some thought into where you would like to go?"

"Actually... Commander Lothian was willing to help me with that," Arne admitted, recalling a conversation he had with the southern Commander.

+

While Commander Lothian had no children of his own—Henry being the closest, admittedly—he could tell when someone was going through more than they let on. It was just like a knight, or at least a knight’s son, to try and shoulder everything wordlessly.

Once Henry and Irene disappeared for the evening after their wedding, there was a while that Arne stood there, staring at the bonfire as it slowly died.

Since the maids were handling the cleaning up of the garden and Celia was occupied with Rochelle, Callum decided to approach Arne who was all alone.

"A lot of big changes all at once," the Commander uttered gently.

Arne was knocked out of his thoughts when the older man approached. He bowed at his waist, not wanting to seem disrespectful. He had heard that southern nobles were a bit pickier than northern nobles, so he wasn’t entirely sure how to behave.

His lack of life experience made him entirely unaware that both Callum and Henry were born into the peasant class, as indicated by their darker skin. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The Commander cleared his throat. "I don’t like being bowed to like I’m some king," he stated.

When Arne lifted his head, he felt embarrassed to see the man was only offering him ale. Full ale, not the watered-down stuff that his parents usually allowed him to have.

"Ah, thank you," Arne responded, and he took the ale, quickly bringing it to his lips. After a few gulps, he sighed. "Yes, a lot of changes. But trying to learn so I don’t look like an idiot when I’m supposed to attend things for the nobles on my family’s behalf."

They both stared into the waning fire as they talked.

Callum chuckled at that and shook his head. He wasn’t exactly a typical noble himself. He didn’t particularly like the fraternizing they did. Knights were his preferred company. Well, knights, but mostly Celia.

"Luckily your father wasn’t known for his socializing skills but being a great protector of these lands," Callum insisted. "That comes with being a knight."

"Something I’m unable to achieve considering my father doesn’t have much time left," Arne responded, drinking down more of the golden ale, doing anything he could to soften the bitter feeling.

"I was serious before when I said you could come south and figure it out for yourself," Callum admitted, turning to Arne and regarding him a bit more directly. "Your mother can stand in as the lady of these lands until you’re ready to take over. I’m sure that your new Duke brother-in-law would have no trouble directing more protection to this area until you’re ready to command it on your own."

+

"Did you know that, during the war, it was my dream to serve as a knight under Commander Lothian?" Irene admitted, a bit embarrassed.

The conversation was luckily making her feel more even and less emotional despite the reality of losing their father lingering over them as they chatted.

"Really? He’s like that?" Arne asked, unaccustomed to the stories of the southern knights.

Irene nodded. "When we had a lack of a duke and the only Commander I knew being old and inactive in the knighthood, I was jealous to see a Commander who fought alongside his knights without hesitation," Irene explained. "And Commander Lothian is legendary in his own right. He started off as an orphan and is now one of the King’s most trusted. People send their sons to him all the time in the hopes that they can get the sense of honor that he has."

However, Arne had to bow his head at that.

"Legendary knights," the younger Litharion uttered, being reminded of his father and why it was such a tragedy he was being taken from them early. "I’m surrounded by them, after all."

Irene couldn’t help standing up and going to her brother. She hugged him tightly and the way he held underneath her arms made him feel like he was small as he once was.

"I’m sure father told you it’s up to us to create more legendary knights," she uttered. "He believes in us. I believe in you."

"I feel like I’m going into this blindly and I’m going to ruin his reputation," Arne admitted, his voice wavering.

"You’re not," Irene persisted. "You could never. Please come to Henry and me if you ever feel lost. And if you move south, we will make an effort to see you. Any knighthood would be grateful to have the Litharion son in their ranks. The name will get your foot through the door, but it’s up to you to hold onto that opportunity."

Irene offered a weak smile, her eyes watery, and she grasped her brother’s hands. She knew better than anyone that their father’s name was a strong one and meant a lot, but if she had been weak, she wouldn’t have made it as far as she had. She knew her brother had that fighting spirit inside of him as well.

They shared a few more words before Irene started feeling tired. Admittedly, she hadn’t been sleeping much at night, and all these heavy emotions were weighing on her unbelievably.

She decided to lie down, but sleep didn’t come easy at first. She heard footsteps outside of her door, thinking Arne was leaving after watching over her for a while.

However, she heard her husband’s voice say, "He’s asleep."