Chapter 96 Biscuit?
Isaac appeared next to the duke’s cluttered and dimly lit desk. He had a tray of biscuits in one hand and a mug of mushroom tea in the other. “Do you ever leave this place?” Isaac asked the duke as he carefully sat the tray of biscuits down directly on top of the most stable of the piles of parchment and paper.
“Those are…” Izen began but it was too late to stop Isaac so he just sighed. “Less and less this time of year.” He confessed.
“Oh?” Isaac asked and handed the older, much more worn down, man the mug of mushroom tea before he pulled a teacup with pomegranate and rosehip tea out of his inventory. “What’s so special about now?”
“We are about to go into winter, which means our shipments of food will slow down and get more expensive. His and Her Majesty's birthdays are coming up at the end of the month.” Izen went on but stopped to take a sip of the mild stimulant he had been given. “Perhaps worst of all, Lucious’s unending invitations to tea with every unmarried noblewoman under the age of thirty. They all seem to forget that Lucious will take my place, down here, in the dark. All they see is him and not what he is tied to.” He sighed and shook his head.
“He’s a smart and good looking duke-to-be. What mindless maiden wouldn’t want him?” Isaac joked.
Izen chuckled softly at Isaac’s jab at the noble girls of the kingdom. “If I could pass the burden of this place off onto someone other than my son, I would, but it has to be him. He has been trained in almost every aspect of keeping this domain from starving and being enslaved by our neighbors. He is also the only one with the right political mind and charisma to keep the crown funneling money into this place.” Izen rubbed his temples. “You’ll help him, won’t you?” Izen asked and looked up at Isaac.
To Isaac, the duke’s words were not words of a ruler but of a father who only wanted what was best for his son. The lack of ‘proper’ speech really drove home to Isaac that Izen was not making the request from his station, at all. Isaac gave the duke a warm smile. “After everything that you’ve done for us, everything that Sera has done for us, we’ll try.” Isaac promised him.
Izen sighed in relief. “That is a weight off my shoulders. I know you told Sera that you would, but hearing it directly from you is much more reassuring.”
Isaac chuckled. “Unfortunately, as per the usual, I can’t just stop by without adding paper to the pile.”
Izen nodded. “The throne.” He replied.
“Yes.” Isaac said. “What should I do with it? Alexander said that you wanted to talk with me personally about it.”
“I think you should give it to the king, not to use but as a trophy.” Izen explained. “I am sure that he has heard many things about you, some of them true, some of them false, many of them conjectures. Making a show of gifting him something like that will not only be a show of good faith, but also be something entirely out of character from what he is expecting of you. As long as you keep subverting his expectations then he will be wary of reserving judgment of you, at least until you have met in person. That should go a long way in maintaining your self sovereignty. Especially after the show on Sera's birthday.”
Isaac frowned but nodded along as Izen spoke. “You are right, it is very out of character to gift to someone I have never met an ancient relic that is older than the country that he rules.” Isaac replied. “Izen, I’ve met with two demigods this week. I am not some free spirited, theatrical adventurer who is trying to keep in everyone’s semi-good graces like some court jester. I am willing to offer it to you as a thank you gift but if I do that then I expect you to use it, if not, then I’ll keep it for myself. Lenna and I fought that absolute menace ourselves and it was his throne.”
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“Two?” Izen questioned. It was clear that that was the part that he had gotten hung up on.
“Yes, Time stopped by for dinner to tell me that she knows everything about me and to show me that as long as I am in this world, she is the highest authority. That was not what she meant to portray, but casually almost stopping time like that, and answering my questions before I even asked them proved it enough.” Isaac went on. “She seems nice but she also asked me some morality questions and I answered them truthfully. Do you know why?” Izen shook his head but before he could say anything Isaac answered his own question: “Because I wasn’t sure if I would ever get to see a sunrise if I dared to lie to her.” Isaac slumped back in the chair across from Izen. “I got off topic but what I was trying to get across is that if your king wants a new throne then he can take it from someone else, or have a new one built. Only people I owe a lot to get gifts from me.”
Izen nodded slowly. “I think we have both had a rough few days, biscuit?”
Isaac laughed and shook his head as he took one of the small crumbly cookies from the tray and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth. “These are really good.” He said around the mouthful of crumbly sweetness.
“So, the throne, what have you decided to do with it?” Izen asked him to get him back on topic completely.
Isaac swallowed the treat with some help from his tea and then settled into the chair more comfortably. “It’s too heavy to put anywhere in my house without reinforcing the flooring, which is fine, but it’s not like I am some storybook villain living in an abandoned castle in a place that is always dusk with thunderclouds overhead. What am I supposed to use a throne for? It isn’t even that comfortable. I’d rather have one of these.” He said and patted the arm of the chair he was seated in.
“You could take over Contantis, replace everything that happens to have color with either black or silver, cover the streets in fog, place sporadic flicking glowing stones at every intersection, and then make some threat for world domination.” Izen offered. “Then, when some poor child who was saddled with the fate of the world shows up with a legendary sword from the king’s armory, that definitely won’t be strong enough to kill you, you can take a hit only to burst into shadows and escape to lick your wounds.”
“I never took you for a theater enjoyer.” Isaac said with a straight face.
“Whenever we go to the capital, Sera makes sure we catch a play before we return. I have no say in the matter.” Izen explained. “Not that I have ever tried to argue.”
Isaac sighed. “I am no closer to knowing what to do with the throne.” He groaned. “Only… never mind. I know exactly what I am going to use it for.”
Izen raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“I am the Lord of all that is Dark, right?” Isaac said with a twinkle in his eye that instantly gave Izen a feeling of pure dread.
Izen sighed. “Yes.”
“Then whenever, wherever, I need to greet someone, I will have Shamesh plant it in the ground. The thing about the villain in an ancient ruined city was a great idea, thanks.” Isaac praised his friend.
Izen sighed and rubbed his temples. “I should have kept my mouth shut.”
—
“So that’s why I need you to teach Shamesh the spell that Karthen used.” Isaac explained to Alexander.
“You want to use the entire internal space of the Nebulous Warehouse to hold a throne that you do not even want, just so you can use it, what, once, for pure theatrics?” Alexander questioned.
“Yes.” Isaac replied.
“Mana have mercy.” Alexander swore and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, at least it will be a good test to see if he can learn new spells.”
“If so, would it be possible for you to teach me how to teleport?” Shamesh asked the court wizard.
“Short range teleportation? Sure. Long range? Probably not. I had to learn it backwards because the theory never made any sense to me and it would take too long to teach you.” Alexander replied. “As it is, I have spent too long away from the array and I need to prepare for the royal birthday celebration.”
“Thanks.” Isaac told the young wizard. “And Alexander, if there is anything you need, let me know.”
“Actually, there is something. If you could keep an eye out for any magic items that cast spells without the user needing to know magic, please acquire them and I will reimburse you.” Alexander replied. “It has started to become a problem and no one has been able to track down where the items are coming from.”
Isaac nodded. “I can do that. Who knows if we’ll find any of them though.”
Alexander smiled. “That’s good enough. Knowing your luck, I am sure you will find yourself directly in the middle of it at some point.”