Well, Warlund had disappeared again. He’d been doing that lately, if anyone were to take notice. His hunt had been cut short by news out of the South, and now he’d been coming to bed later, rising earlier, and after training with Raven for a few hours every morning, the Duke disappeared. No one saw him from late in the morning to late in the evening - and on more frequent occasions, Josie was to go to sleep without her husband by her side. Something occupied his mind - it had done so for days.
Warlund stood in the ducal bedchamber, peering out a window. He’d been standing there since Josie had left to check on the children before beginning her day. The hours passed by and yet he’d remained by that window, staring out at nothingness.
"Yes, I want fresh lilies for all the graves. Leave them in the Great Hall and I'll be back down to get them. I just want to grab my shawl," Josie spoke to a servant as she opened the door to the ducal bedchamber, coming to a stop as she found Warlund staring out of a window.
"So. You do exist," she said simply, closing the door behind her. "Have I done something to anger you? To keep you away?"
A moment of silence gathered and passed before the Duke answered her. “We’re not on the same page anymore. Don’t think we’re on the same page about anything. There’s been a lot happening and I have lost sight of what’s important.”
He glanced back at her. “You need to find another steward for the House.”
"Are the children and I not important?" There was no anger in her voice, as she spoke. She paused for a moment before moving to sit on the bed.
"I will send out inquiries today for the position." Josie stared at Warlund's back. "Perhaps, if you tell me what is on your mind, we will be on the same page again. I do not care for this… whatever it is. I do not like going to bed without my husband and waking up with him gone."
“What’s on my mind…” A huff of laughter fled him. “Well, that’s the crux of it, Josie… For the first time in my existence, I don’t know what I want.” Warlund turned to face her, and she’d see he hadn’t been sleeping well. Bags were forming under his eyes and he looked desperately tired. “For the past year, I have felt different. I can’t explain it, I’ve tried to explain it to myself but I can never find the words to adequately express what I feel. It’s a slumbering pit of malice, spite. This new devilry inside of me is upsetting the carefully forged balance of my life.” Warlund gripped at thin air, trying to describe it but knew he was coming up short. He sighed. “See? It doesn’t even make sense when I say it aloud.”
“There’s no order to anything!” Warlund shouted. “It’s all chaotic and I can’t stand it.”
Josie frowned at his appearance, and rose from the bed to go to him, reaching out for him, but pulled back as he shouted.
"Well," she said calmly, "I suppose we should start with what you do want. The Duchy, your legacy, me, the children, has any of that changed?"
He frowned. “No, none of that has changed. You’re my wife and you’ll always be my wife.” Warlund looked past her, eyeing the door. “I don’t know what I want beyond all this…” He gestured about him. “Beyond you, Everstone, my legacy.”
“And this feeling is not one I can ignore. It gnaws at me.”
“There’s no escaping it,” he added in a somber tone.
Warlund may have noted a look of relief wash over Josie's face at his words about her. "See, we are on the same page where the important things are concerned." She smiled up at him and reached out to caress his cheek with her palm.
"Why must you want more than that? Why is having a wife who adores you, Garadin who will be as strong and cunning as his father, and Adelaide, who I daresay will be more her father's daughter than her mother's, not enough?"
“May be enough for lesser men…” Warlund offered, allowing her touch. “But it’s not enough for me. I want more. Everstone, you, our children - it’s not enough.”
“I want to leave Garadin an empire. I want to leave him with everything he’ll need to flourish. And, in time, he can expand in whichever way feels best.”
"I want Garadin's empire to be the North," Josie answered with a smile, before pulling her hand away.
"You say life is too chaotic. You want order. And I would agree, it is. I would like nothing more than for all these threats that show up at every turn to be gone for good. To wake up and not wonder who or what will be the cause of our latest calamity." Pausing, Josetta tilted her head and peered into Warlund's eyes.
"But forging an empire is chaotic. We can expand our lands by buying up as much of the North as we can, but we will also need to conquer those who oppose us - who stand in our way. So to that end, do what you do best. Take what should be ours. Build the empire that the Blackfyre name deserves here in the North. War is after all part of your name. Rain down fire and you will be the chaos."
“No doubt Everton was aware of this when choosing to name me,” Warlund said, rolling a shoulder. He pulled away from her and started towards the nursery. Cracking the door, he leaned in its frame and peered over Garadin and Adelaide. Silence gathered.
They were the future of Everstone and all else acquired before Warlund forfeited Azeroth. In truth, he knew he wanted more: another son, or two. Perhaps another daughter. He wanted a large family. But he also knew how families would war against one another, despite the wishes of others. Josie may envision a future where all of Garadin’s siblings would serve him in some capacity but life was never so simple. It was naïve to imagine a world where Blackfyre didn't spill its own blood.
“Yes, you’re right. Acquiring what I want will be chaotic. But not for me… Chaos can be a powerful weapon when wielded by the right man.”
Jossetta smiled, watching Warlund watch his children. "Time will pass and before you know it, you will peer into the nursery and see your grandchildren. Garadin's children. Adelaide's children. Children of the children we have not had yet. In the end, it will all be worth it. Whatever you decide to do or not to do."
She approached him again and placed her hand gently on his back. "I think a point comes in everyone's life when they are no longer a young man or woman. A point where they look back on what they have done with their life and either have regrets for not doing enough, or too much of the wrong thing. You are not a man who has regrets. Everything you have done has brought you to this moment. Purposely brought you here. You need only take control of your next step for these thoughts that plague you to disappear."
“I don’t have regrets,” Warlund offered. “I need no reminder of the decisions I’ve made - they’ve all brought me to this moment in time, and now I stand upon the precipice… Sway but a little and I will fall, and I fear I’ll drag you down with me: you and everything I’ve built.” He turned, facing her and taking her hand in his. A pause followed for a brief moment, his eyes locking hers in a back and forth embrace. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, Warlund pushed past her and started for the door. “There’s something I must do. See you for supper.”
@jossetta @house-everstone
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