I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 426: Not Alone

Down the dirt road and over the small bridge, Irene found herself going towards the village where, despite sunset quickly approaching, there was plenty of evidence of life all around.

The small buildings and houses all had smoke rising from their chimneys and occasionally she could see light peering out from the corners of windows where the oiled paper had come off after winterization or the curtains were pushed a bit aside.

Irene could only smile faintly at the sight of all the people she knew. No one moved in and no one left either, except for her. They were the same families she was used to her entire life. Some were her cousins, others were merely just people she knew.

A sense of serenity struck her, but with that serenity was chased off with the reminder of what she was set off to do that late afternoon. There was one person who was no longer there and she missed the most.

Perhaps that’s why she had avoided this place so much. It was so hard going home and knowing there would be no visits to see her grandmother, puttering around and fussing about. She was a woman who had moved and worked hard her entire life, only to be dissatisfied when things truly slowed down and she could simply enjoy the fruits of her labor.

Yet she picked back up when she had rambunctious grandchildren and instilled within them the desire to keep fighting the way that she had her entire life.

Irene willed her eyes not to water as she thought about the legendary woman. She didn’t want her tears to freeze if they fell down her face.

At the heart of the village, Irene took a turn towards the north and the buildings and houses thinned out until there was nothing left except for rolling hills covered in snow. There were hills that could be considered mountains, but they were nothing compared to the true northern mountains even further off in the distance.

However, unlike the time Irene visited her grandmother during the winter and was met with a house almost entirely covered in snow, she was surprised to see that the snow around the dwelling had been cleared out. There was a path leading up to the front door. The chimney even had smoke pouring out from it.

Irene felt a moment of anger, wondering if her father knew someone was staying there. She figured he would have taken care of this place to make sure that the memory of his mother lived on for a long time, but perhaps in his grief, he had neglected the place a bit.

When she was closer, Irene got off of Sammy and gently nudged him towards the lean-to where the horses at her grandmother’s home always stayed.

People didn’t often take well to being threatened with a sword, so Irene decided to keep her sword sheathed unless the person inside gave her a reason. She cautiously moved forward until she made it to the door, where she knocked a couple of times with her leatherbound hand.

However, her impatience caused her to push the door open anyway. It didn’t seem to be locked, so whoever was there wasn’t trying to hide themselves.

When she focused her attention to the fireplace, she was shocked to see her brother sitting there, carving a stick with a small knife. He had cast a glance over his shoulder, but when he saw it was his sister, he merely moved on and kept doing what he was doing.

"Arne?" Irene asked in disbelief.

"Would it be anyone else?" he asked. "Our parents are at home."

"I suppose not," she relented. "Although I didn’t know you left the house in the first place."

Her attention was away from her brother, and instead her eyes began scanning the place as if to find something wrong with it, but she was only met with the warm, cozy space her grandmother had been building for years. There were enough beds for a few people to visit, and whenever Irene and her brother didn’t have something to do at home, they often did stay there. They would always get an earful from their mother for staying without asking.

Irene had realized this the last time she was at her grandmothers, but it was set up very similarly to the houses she saw in the Sunstoian north. There was even a door on the far end where animals could likely come in during particularly grueling weather if they wanted to. Even the way she organized things on her walls reminded her of the north.

Satisfied with her observation, Irene turned back towards her brother.

"What are you doing here in the first place?" she wondered.

"This and that," he responded vaguely. "I just want to stay here sometimes. Father and mother’s arguing gets a bit old after a while." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Irene observed her brother for more than that, wondering if there was something more to what he was saying, but he didn’t look at her because he was still carving something. She shrugged it off and decided to remove her boots so she could join him on the fur in front of the fireplace.

"Then, you noticed something’s off with them, too?" she wondered.

Arne cast a glance at his sister, trying to read between the lines of what she was saying, but he soon turned back to his craft.

"They have always bickered, haven’t they?" he asked. "I don’t recall a time when they didn’t."

"Well, yes," she admitted. "But there was something off about them when we were at the Earl’s home. Mother got drunk and yelled at me, not caring who was around to see. My Commander even heard her."

"The Duke?" Arne asked in surprise.

It wasn’t the fact that Rochelle had yelled that was surprising, it was her drinking and making a scene in public. Both of those things could ruin her image, and normally, she was hyperfixated on ensuring her image never took a blow. That was also why she didn’t like that Irene wasn’t the perfect example of a noble daughter.

"Yes, him," Irene responded, trying to reveal nothing more about Henry than that.

"Mother isn’t one to hold back if there’s something the matter," he decided. "I would simply wait for them to say something if there is anything at all."

Irene turned away and faced the fire, allowing the warmth to kiss her face as she contemplated his words for a while. Admittedly, Arne probably knew best in this situation because he was the one always around her parents. Whatever patterns they had were probably not news to him. If he didn’t think he had something to worry about, she decided she wouldn’t either.

Arne finished whatever he was carving and blew off the top of it, causing bits of shaved wood to go flying. He then began to pick up the small shavings and put them in the fire.

"Y’know," Arne began, "Grandmother left us something behind."

Irene turned to her brother and waited for elaboration. He disappeared around the wall that separated the building into two rooms, but then he soon came out with a bottle full of something dark and scary.

"Want some?" he asked.

Irene faintly smiled at that. If there was a way to get over the uncomfortableness dwelling between her parents, it was that.

For a couple of hours, she and Arne got up to a bit of trouble as they caught up over extremely strong alcohol and the fire. Unfortunately, she also knew she would eventually have to go back to her parents’ home or they were going to get worried. She was in favor of smoothing things over with her mother, whatever it took.