Certain Matters

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan waited in his dining room for Tristan and Sammael, his oldest sons. He had made sure that Demetri had closed off the room, and had stressed to the rest in the house that no one else was to be present. Having a small dinner prepared for the three of them, he had the places set, one to the left and one to the right. He stroked the stubble on his chin, wondering what was taking them so long.

 

[Sammael Stark]

Sammael strode confidently into the room and stopped a few feet behind Valcan. "God aften Far," he said firmly. He seemed in an odd good mood, a slight smirk on his face.

 

[Valcan Drage]

"God dag deg også, Sammael. Please, take a seat." He gestured to one of the seats next to him, and continued, "I figured you two wouldn't mind a light dinner. Would you like anything to drink?"

 

[Sammael Stark]

Sammael gave a curt nod and sat down beside Valcan. "Just water tonight. Dinner is definitely welcome."

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan murmured quietly, and immediately, a glass of pure water appeared in front of Sammael, the crystal expensive and ornate. "I had the house elves prepare chicken and rice for tonight; not that fancy, I know, but it shall serve." A glass of pumpkin juice appearing in front of himself, he asked, "How have you been? I haven't seen you around lately."

 

[Sammael Stark]

"I have been well, thank you. Edvard and I are working on getting a place together, and I have been working a bit more lately. How have you been Far?"

 

[Valcan Drage]

"I have been quite well, thank you. I have been working much also. I just found out, however, that I am going to have another grandchild. And surprise surprise, it isn't Tristan's." He smirked at the joke. "It's Lief's. I had quite an argument with him the other day about it, however."

 

[Sammael Stark]

Sammael's eyebrows raised. "Lief is having a child?" He seemed rather surprised by this. "What was the arugment about?"

 

[Valcan Drage]

"Yes, and I had to learn through Brunhilde. He was not going to tell me until later." His expression darkened. "I asked him if he was going to marry the woman, and he did not give me a complete answer. I told him that he didn't have a choice. That kid's not going to be raised from a young age with a set of incomplete parents, if you get my drift. He became angry with me, but oh well." He smirked, and then inquired, "Do you know where the hell Tristan is? I ought to beat the tar out of him for his late @ss."

 

[Sammael Stark]

Sammael was not entirely sure what to say about Lief and his child, so he simply did not say anything. "Far, I stopped caring about where Tristan was when I learned of him and Morgase." He had no contempt in his voice, in fact no emotion at all. He picked up his glass of water and took a rather large drink.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan's expression was blank as he listened to Sammael's explanation, his jaw taut. "Of course, Sammael. I would find that quite reasonable." He smirked. "I am quite amazed at your calmness on the whole situation. Proud, too. I would expect as much from my better son, however." Valcan couldn't say as much for himself when he had found his wife cheating on him.

 

[Tristan Drage]

Tristan apparated into the dining room, his expression tired. He smirked as he saw his glaring father, knowing that he was late. "Good day, I say," he introduced himself quite confidently, taking a seat at the table without being asked to.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan snorted. "Good day, right. What caused your tardiness this time? Manticores break down the house again?" He glared at Tristan, angry at the impudence of his son's cockiness.

 

[Sammael Stark]

Sammael smiled proudly at Valcan. "Thank you Far. I have come to terms with it and decided it is much less stressful to simply let it go. Family drama is not what we need right now. There are far more important things to worry about, such as the girls."

 

[Tristan Drage]

"Nope," Tristan replied without missing a beat, "The manticores haven't been out to play, but the unicorns got into the flower patch. Buggers." He smirked, enjoying being a smartass while his father could do nothing about it. He fought back the impulse to kick back and place his feet on the table in front of him, and instead put his arms behind his head, rather cockily. "So, why are we here in the first place? I daresay not for some juicy gossip over a combination of tea and crumpets?"

 

[Valcan Drage]

"You're Welcome, Sammael, Valcan said, nodding his head. Valcan decided to ignore Tristan's first comment, saying, "Did you not read the fine print on the last letter I sent you?" he snorted, rolling his eyes. "Or are you just out to ask questions that you already know the answer to and further irritate me?"

 

[Tristan Drage]

Tristan rolled his eyes in turn. "Then, I may say, let us get on with it." He muttered that he wanted a glass of lemonade, and it appeared in front of him.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan rolled his eyes. "If you wish."

He sighed. "The matter I wish to discuss is the girls, and where they shall be staying over the summer. Elizabeth does not need to be worried about furthermore; if I am correct, she has already eliminated herself from the prophecy by her own decisions. I'm not saying that my theory is necessarily true, but I believe that is time to focus more on my granddaughters; Sophia and Estrella. Both have a chance at it."

He took a sip of his wine before continuing, waiting to hear their thoughts.

 

[Tristan Drage]

Tristan looked to Sammael at first, and then to his father. "So you're saying that Elizabeth doesn't have a chance anymore? How do you know that?" He shook his head. "I'm not going to lie to you, Far, I'm pretty skeptical about this whole prophecy thing; Divination has always been a bunch of cloudy bs, if you ask me."

 

[Sammael Stark]

Sammael had been listening silently, sipping at his water for some time. He now set his glass down and looked to Valcan. Although he did agree with Tristan about Divination, he knew better than to say anything out loud at this moment. He was anxious to see how Valcan responded though.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan gained control on his anger, as it first threatened to erupt in his eyes but it soon disappeared. As he aged, he found it a lot easier to not lash out at his son's prying impudence, and his voice was deep and husky as he replied, "Besides the point of your opinions, which hold no water at this point, yes, it is hard not to be skeptical. But we need to deal with the issue at hand. Will your daughters be staying here for the entirety of the break or with you part time? And where?"

 

[Sammael Stark]

"I think it will be easier to keep Sophia in one place over the break. The less moving the less change of things going wrong. I do not, however, want her to be treated as a prisoner. I have seen how Estrella has been treated in the past and I will not stand for Sophia being treated as such."

 

[Valcan Drage]

"I agree fully, Sammael. I myself did not approve of the way things were handled over the past few breaks." His voice was deep and husky. "I actually believe they should be treated just like everyone else; they should be allowed their wands, and they should be allowed to owl their friends, within reason. We can not have those outside being suspicious." He smirked. "If the girls feel as if they are in a place of comfort and they believe that they are free, they will have no reason to run, nor alarm their friends as such." He looked to both of his sons, waiting to see what they thought of this. "This also includes eliminating those in our group that would treat them as such. I believe that unless on the occasion of a meeting, we should only have those of the family and our friends. You two both know who I'm talking about. No Winterlings, no Rasputin, none of them that the girls would find threatening."

 

[Tristan Drage]

Tristan's response was quiet, his mood brooding. "I would suppose that Estrella would stay here; she would still have to recognize you as her guardian, Far. Convincing her of friendliness might be the issue, however."

He cracked his knuckles lightly as he remembered the state of his daughter over the break. He would not allow that to happen again. "If I may add in, Far, you might not want any of Lucius' lot around."

 

[Valcan Drage]

"You can leave that up to me," Valcan said quietly, "I am thinking about making an appearance wherever she chooses to go over the Christmas Break. Just so she can meet me, and we can discuss things. I could convince her that I am her friend." He smirked; there was so much that these two didn't know. He was particularly good at decieving and convincing; how else would he have risen to such a position of power?

"Of course not. Lucius is a doddering idiot. He is simply a figurehead, if it will." He smirked. "One of the Dead man's puppets, you might say."

He turned to Sammael. "Does your daughter trust in you?"