Final Meeting of James and William

The Final Meeting of James and William was a meeting that took place between William Lovie III. and his father James Lovie II. where James told him about many of the secrets he had kept before eventually leaving never to return.

The Meeting of James and William would lead most directly to the establishment of two things in the form of the creation of the Magi wards throughout the Kingdom of Lucerne, and secondly the discovery of House Portmane as basically a cadet branch of House Lovie.

The Meeting

The Rise of Lucerne I saw the destruction of the world, and knew I had to stop it. There was nothing left to do but become bigger then everyone else. The Empire was never going to be the beacon the world needed it to be. Westros was on fire. The Bretonians had reached for the stars and been burned. And the old shadow of Numeron was fading far too quickly. It was left to us in Lucerne to change the fate of all those who wished to reject darkness. We were the last hope for a world who had long since given up on believing.

I was awoken by a crash near the bed. Despite the loud crash I looked beside me and Bella remained asleep, and looking over I saw Ashley playing with the rattle hanging from above her bed smiling as if the most happy thing in her life was right before her. Getting out of bed I went to where the noice had come from and discovered nothing, but again I heard a noice. This time the noice came from outside the room, and I walked through the door finding darkness outside of the few candles that remained flickering. Following the noice into the next room I walked inside and nearly fell down when I saw my father sitting in a chair. "Do not scream son I mean you no harm." Everything in me wanted to scream. Everything inside my soul wanted to lash out at him and kill for everything he had done. Back when I last saw him I knew only a sliver of what he had done. The massacre of a plague, the destruction of Tree Hill, the attempted destruction of Gondor, it just kept going and going. "You give me one good reason why I shouldn't slash your throat and bury you beside the son you forced into madness, and made me kill." Seeing him brought up everything that had happened at Berne. I thought of poor Amber lying broken beneath me as I carried her fallen body back home. I thought of my poor son Thomas who would now grow up never knowing the love his mother had for him. I could tell him as much as I wanted but it wouldn't change the fact that she was gone. For whatever reason though with him sitting in front of me I thought of my broken brother. In his final moments I had seen him for he was. A scared little boy who had just wanted to be loved, and when he realized he couldn't have that he broke. "I'm sorry you were forced to deal with that, but I am not to blame for the madness in his soul." It was always an apology to me. Even as Alice was brutalized it was me he apologized too. "He just wanted you to say one nice thing. How much different would he have been if you had said one god damn nice thing to him." For a moment he flickerered as if battling within himself, but in barely any time the battle ended and he continued. "I didn't come here to talk of that brother. I came here to discuss more of the mistakes I have made. This is nothing but a spirit in the myst that I now inhabit, and already I have been senced by men better then I ever was. In the end I must tell you of things I have done wrong that you will never know if I do not." "Thats a list too long for any man to keep track of." "Perhaps it is, but I love you son and you deserve to know." "Say it and begone from here spirit." "Long ago. While you were just a baby I visited Lorderon briefly on my way to the wars in France. During this time I met a women. This women has three of my children. These three children do not have the shame of knowing who I am, or what I have done, and for that you must keep in mind. Find them in Lorderon, and make them whole. Do not make the mistakes I made with our family and hate those who deserve nothing of the kind." "It never ends with you does it." He looked pained as he continued speaking. "I never meant to hurt you son." "I believe that. But you did mean to do every other violent. Depraved. Hateful thing you did." "I didn't enjoy doing those things. I had to protect you. I had to protect the kingdom." "How did destroying Tree Hill protect anything?" "This will be the last time we speak son. I know that may not pain you but for me that's the most painful thing to imagine in my entire life. I watched Kingdoms die. Watched armies destroyed in front of me. Those things don't even compare to the love I've had for you since the moment I first saw you. The first time I held you I knew you were it for me. You were the thing that would drive everything in my life, and I truly with everything inside of me wanted nothing more then your happiness. I know it all went to hell, and after this I'm going to be completely consumed by the things in my mind that are wrong...but I just want you to remember that you have a family now and you must protect it the way I never could. You must protect House Lovie. You must."

Aftermath

The Rise of Lucerne I saw the destruction of the world, and knew I had to stop it. There was nothing left to do but become bigger then everyone else. The Empire was never going to be the beacon the world needed it to be. Westros was on fire. The Bretonians had reached for the stars and been burned. And the old shadow of Numeron was fading far too quickly. It was left to us in Lucerne to change the fate of all those who wished to reject darkness. We were the last hope for a world who had long since given up on believing.

"Alice?" "I'm up. What is it Will?" "Father was here." "Where is he now?" "He's gone." "What happened?"