Chapter 9 Happy Birthday, Izen.
Izen Von Arbencroft, duke of Safeharbor, sat on his throne in his main hall and nodded in thanks to another lower noble. Every, single, one of the boot-lickers had brought him something utterly useless. A flimsy shiny sword, a barrel of wine from their territory, a thoroughbred horse that, funnily enough, had awful night vision. Every gift was a waste of either space or resources and most of them were even ill thought out. At least the wine was a personal gesture from one lord of a territory to another. Unlike his wife, Izen did not have a ball to celebrate his birthday but rather held a simple banquet where any who wished to come were free too. The only restriction that he had put in place was that their entry to the feast was entirely dependent on them bringing a gift that was worth more than the food that they would be eating. This meant that some of the richer merchants from Sapphirestone had stopped by and given him even more useless things.
Izen’s storeroom was once again going to be filled with small amounts of high grade spices and perfumes along with countless other ‘goodwill’ offerings. Thankfully, one of the merchants was one that he had dealt with during his adventuring days and could be trusted. That man, and his company, would soon be tasked with discretely selling most of his birthday gifts. Any gift that couldn’t be tracked directly to him was fair game as far as Izen was concerned. By this point in the reception, he was beginning to wish that it was over, or at the very least, he could have a break. Half a dozen more soulless gifts later and the two that he was both excited for and were dreading walked into the hall.
“Duke Arbencroft.” Isaac greeted him with a grin and a nod. Lenna gave the duke and duchess a short curtsy from beside him and smiled at the duchess.
“Lord Darkness.” Izen replied with an equal nod. “I heard that you are planning on leaving on your honeymoon soon.” He gave Lenna a nod as he turned his attention to her. “Again, congratulations.”
“Thank you for hosting our wedding.” Lenna replied with a casual smile. There were still some nobles in the hall that either hadn’t left yet or were waiting their turn to speak with the duke and they all started whispering amongst themselves at her reply.
“It was our pleasure.” Sera spoke warmly.
“I know you were expecting a spectacle upon our arrival so we’ll make it quick before we enjoy your wonderful food.” Isaac told the duke and duchess with a casual smirk. “Our gift to you is,” Isaac let silence hang in the air for a moment. “our honeymoon.” Isaac’s smirk turned into a grin. “We will get out of your hair for a little while so you don’t have to worry about demigods stopping by.”
“I, see.” Izen replied. “I am not sure if I consider that a gift, anymore, you have been a chaotic yet reliable presence for most of the time that I have known you.”
Isaac hummed in thought. “Well, I guess we will need to come up with another gift then.” He said and made a show of holding his chin in thought.
“There is always the shield.” Lenna played along.
“That would be a good one, we could probably do better though.” Isaac replied. “The shield of Jallen V’Nova is a good backup though.”
“We could give him the sword too.” Lenna offered. “They are amazing proof of an incredible victory.”
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“A victory that we had a firm hand in.” Isaac agreed. “Well then, Duke Arbencroft, would the sword and shield of Safeharbor’s oldest villain suffice?”
Izen’s face actually showed a bit of surprise as he hadn’t expected a gift of such an incredible magnitude as that from the pair. If he was being honest, he half expected the joke gift to be the real one. “That, a gift like that is far too great for another birthday on my long list of them.” Izen replied. “Though, you already knew I would say that.”
Isaac grinned. “Over the past few days I have been increasing the stores of materials. I trust you can handle everything in my absence.” He told the duke. Isaac had been, in the background while everything else was going on, forcing the bone golem of Shaeo’ahna to continuously produce drider silk for the Silverstrand family and he and Izen’s joint venture. By the time of Izen’s birthday there was enough drider silk in storage to keep the Silverstrands busy for a year or two. Isaac had just pushed any part of his own responsibilities pertaining to their joint venture off onto Izen while he and Lenna were away. That, in and of itself, was still not worth the extravagant gifts that the duke had just been given, but it was also a symbol of Isaac and Lenna’s eventual return, as the pair would be wearing the rest of Jallen V’Nova’s gear while on their adventure.
“I will handle everything, even after you return, if you so wish.” Izen replied. “It is the least I can do. Thank you for bringing me the first piece of usable wall decorations I have received today.”
“Izen.” Sera snapped in a whisper and nodded towards where a noble was standing off to the side. That noble was the one that had given him a flimsy sword made of pure electrum. It sparkled but was good for little else.
“Permission to approach?” Isaac asked. There was fifteen feet between them which was close enough to have a casual conversation but not nearly close enough to bestow upon the duke the gear of a slain villainous legend.
“It will always be granted to you, my friend.” Izen replied and rose to his feet as Isaac and Lenna approached. Sera joined him and they waited patiently for the duo to arrive within arm’s reach.
Isaac reached down and a swirl of shadows obscured his hand up to his elbow. A moment later he withdrew the shield of Jallen V’Nova. Isaac withdrew and then handed Izen a black steel round shield that was as tall as his chest. The shield had a massive hexagonal diamond set into the middle of it and was covered in hundreds of golden inlays. Many of them were a part of the enchantments but some of them were just for show. In the end, if seen from a far enough distance, the shield glittered and sparkled. Unlike the useless sword that Izen had been given, Jallen’s old shield was capable of taking a fully grown dragon’s claw without anything more than a simple scratch, that wasn’t to say that whoever was holding it would survive. In addition to its monstrous resilience it was also capable of maintaining a Reality Shield on its own after its wielder gave it a bit of mana as a push to cast the spell. Izen did not have the mana necessary to do it but his son did. It was a gift that would be passed down through the Arbencroft generations for as long as there were Arbencroft generations.
Izen received the heavy shield with grace, though it was clear that he was not as fit as he once was. “I will keep this both within reach and in a place of honor at all times.” Izen said as a thanks to Isaac and Lenna. “For what good is a shield if it cannot be reached when needed.”
“Good.” Isaac replied with a smirk. “Though I hope you never need to use it, I am glad that it will be available for you to do so.” He finished and then reached into the shadows once more. He withdrew a brilliant shining longsword a moment later and offered it to Izen with both hands. It was a standard longsword design that was just barely small enough for Jallen to use in one hand. That meant that for someone like Izen it was a two handed sword without question. The long but relatively slender steel blade was covered in golden lines that marked out each of its myriad enchantments. The returning enchantment would be useless for anyone who wasn’t a V’Nova as only V’Nova’s were crazy enough to actually practice throwing their longswords like javelins. The Dawn Capacitor was tuned specifically for Jallen, so it would never be useful for anyone else, but Izen wasn’t a paladin anyway so that hardly mattered to him. The hardening and sharpening enchantments were strong and reliable though so they would at least always be useful. In all, it was a high quality sword that’s real worth came from who it once belonged to.
Izen took the offered sword with more grace than the shield as he was more used to large swords than solid steel shields. “Every time I look upon this blade I will remember our battles together. Make sure that you both return before my next one.” Izen told Isaac with a smile of his own.
“Of course.” Isaac replied. “As long as your next battle happens in the dark, I will be there.”
“Good.” Izen said with a nod.
“Happy Birthday, Izen.” Isaac spoke calmly and deliberately.
“Thank you, Isaac. Enjoy the food and, if I do not see you again before you leave, enjoy yourselves on the surface.” The duke told his younger and much more enigmatic friend.
Isaac laughed. “That is the point.” He said with a nod a step backwards. “Until next time, may the moon watch over you and the Reaper leave you be.”