Vidkun Trost: Watching

Vidkun looked down on the scene as it was being played out. He "hmph'd" and unconsciously bringing his hand up to his grizzled gray almost beard.

"You summoned me, sir?' Georg said, coming out of the darkness. The younger knight bore the scars and wisdom of battle yet he looked to Vidkun with almost awe.

Vidkun used his eyes to point to the scene; a torn and bleeding body surrounded by foes.

"Ah..." Georg said quietly, "a witch, who is a woman. This does not bode well."

Vidkun snorted. "For someone who married into the family, you certainly see our weaknesses easily enough."

"I meant no disrespect, sir."

"Georg." Vidkun raised a hand to silence the young knight. "You did your best by Frieden and the children. You earned my respect."

Georg winced at the comment. "My best was not that good, sir."

"Ah, till carrying the old hurts?" Vidkun glanced away from the red and blue mage stones to look at Georg. "In our family, 'your best' means a lot of things, but it is never a mark of humiliation."

"I failed."

"No, you did your best. Just like he is trying to do." A long, aged finger pointed as the man's body fell to the floor. "If he dies, has he failed? To us, no. One does not consider the odds, or possible untimely demise, when choosing the right course."

They listened to the conversation between the man and the woman for a moment.

"He seems to be trying to seduce her." Georg said. "What of his woman?"

"She is strong." Vidkun smiled. He held up a glowing finger to keep the young knight quiet.

“You wished to see how I would respond?” The woman said. “And what have you learned?”

"I could promise not to kill you, Gethwe." The man said.

"He is strong." Georg said.

"Or brash." Vidkun shrugged. "The former if he survives, the latter if not. He is playing his strengths against no real hope of success."

"Sir, why am I here? To see my cousin die?" Georg asked.

"Hopefully not." Vidkun replied. His flexing fingers emanated a warm hue.

"Ah, you have gathered essence for him?"

"Maybe..." Vidkun frowned. "Or maybe we will need it if his tormentress tries to follow him into the spirit world. As you so clearly pointed out, our family does not do well with witches. Or women. Especially women who are witches."

"I never realized that what I considered 'luck' before was my family watching out for me. Things would have ended a lot sooner otherwise."

"They ended for him, you know." Vidkun's eyes dimmed a little. "That day saddened me greatly."

"He fought well, though. I have heard the tale."

'Yes." Vidkun sat back, and sighed. "He and I spoke that day, you know. He was so in shock that I am not sure how much he really gathered. But he must have heard something, because his life changed greatly afterwards."

"You imparted wisdom, I am sure." Georg said, half listening to the conversation below. "What are the stones?"

"No idea, my boy. And no, I told him he was being a stuck up fool for ignoring such a good woman on the pretense of 'her welfare'."

The man smiled thorough the blood caked on his face. "A guest should be no less gracious than the hostess and it would interest me to see why you chose the stones."

Georg said nothing as Vidkun's fingers tapped a glowing rhythm on his knee.