The Wisdom of a Grandfather
POV: Alexandra
Growing up I always paid attention to whatever wisdom my grandfather had to give me. This was no exception even if I feel like I wouldn’t see what he was saying about my being the pillar of strength for my family. I sighed, “I’m not so sure I will ever see it the way you do but you are welcome to try and tell me about it.” He chuckled, “I am very well aware of your stubbornness to see things a certain way but you will have to trust what I am about to tell you.” I shifted away from him to sit in my chair once again so that I could give him the proper attention that he deserved. He sighed, “I will tell you a story about what happened after your aunt and grandmother died. After they both were taken from us, I slipped into a depression. I lived each day on autopilot in a sense. I woke up, did my work as a duke, ate, and went to sleep. Outwardly, I would show that everything was just fine but inwardly, I was being eaten away by my grief day by day. The day Reggie got married to Talia should have been a joyous day for me but all I could think about was how his mother was missing this day. His sister was not here to celebrate his marriage to such a remarkable woman. When they announced that Talia was pregnant, it should have been such a happy day for all of us. Outwardly, I was so happy for them but inside I feared for the health and safety of Talia and the babies. The night that she went into labor I was so on edge thinking that Reggie would have to experience what I had to go through. When they announced that the boy had died, my fears had begun to come to fruition. Reggie would have to mourn the loss of his child. Then like a light in the darkness, they announced that Talia had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Talia was alive and well as well. We would still mourn the loss of Ashton but we still had Alexandra. I remember entering the room to check on Talia and meet you. A small bundle was handed to me and as I gazed down into your face, it was like the veil of darkness was lifted from my brain. Your mere existence, my child, has brought me out of my sadness and there is strength in the power of your presence. I know there are many who could attest to that.”
He had never told me about how my birth had changed his life like that. I always suspected that becoming a grandparent for the first time was very life-changing but the fact that the darkness left him the moment he saw my face was something that was profound. He smiled at me, “You see now?” I shook my head, “That doesn’t show that I am the pillar of strength, gramps. That just shows you love me.” He sighed, “It also shows that you being around gave me strength. Let’s move on to more of my evidence, hm?” I nodded, “If you think you can convince me, you can try.” He smirked at me, “Okay. As you grew up, the constant bullying was something that would, from time to time, get to you that is true. Think of this though, how did you usually handle it? With grace and class, yes but also with inner strength to get you through those twelve years of your life. Do words bother you now?” I shook my head, “I know my worth. Whatever anyone tells me rolls off me like a drop of rain.” He winked at me, “See? That is strength right there.” I sighed, “I’m not sure that proves that I would be a pillar of strength for this family.” He gently leaned back in his bed, closed his eyes, and sighed, “You’re so hard-headed just like your father.” I smiled, “Who do you think he got that from?” I looked at myself and cocked an eyebrow, “Oh that sass! That is definitely Talia in you. Let me continue with another story then. Talia had lost her brother quite a few years ago, her grief was hard on us all. You remember well, right?” I nodded, “I had wondered why I never got to meet him if he was such an important person to her. When you all told me of my origins then it made sense. She walked around like a zombie for a long time until she started to put her mind to her art and sold her pieces back home.” He sighed, “She was making so many trips at that time that your father thought she was ignoring you. You never complained though. Remember what you told your father at that time?” I nodded, “I told him that she had to deal with her emotions in her own way and we would need to be patient.” He winked at me again, “I know your mother very well. Had your father gone with his own instinct instead of listening to you, that would have been a huge fight between them. Your wisdom to see that and point it out to your father, that’s also a strength.” I looked down at my hands clasped in my lap, “I merely told my father what I thought.” He patted my hands, “And you saved them from needless arguments that would have affected their marriage. You are a lynchpin in this family, child.” I looked back up at him, “Oh yeah? How?”
He pointed to a pitcher on his tea table, “I will tell you but I really am thirsty. Help an old man out.” I smiled at him, “Of course, gramps.” I walked over to the table and poured a glass of water for him and brought it back to him. He took it and took a big gulp from it then set it down on his nightstand. He nodded at me, “Thank you kindly. Now let me enlighten you on your being a lynchpin because I have two examples. I will tell you the first now. For eighteen years, I watched my son and his wife raise the beautiful daughter they brought into this world. I bet you didn’t know how much they suffered for losing their son though. The death of a child is so hard to deal with, especially when you have a constant reminder that he should have been around in his twin sister. Often, on stormy nights, I could hear your father consoling a sobbing Talia. You both were born during a bad storm on a winter night so any time the weather shifted your father knew that this would painfully remind Talia of her son’s death. Imagine that one day, a holy figure finds out a connection between her twin daughter and her living twin son. Would that not be a vital thing? Your existence brought a mother, a father, and a son back together.” I shook my head, “That was more Grand Pretre.” He sighed again and shifted in his bed, “I was told that you had an instant connection with him. Do you think he would have bought that he was a Batiste if it hadn’t been for that connection? If you didn’t exist, Talia and Reggie would not have ever known their son.” I didn’t know if the awareness of Ashton’s existence had anything to do with me but I was entertaining the idea in my head. I sighed, “So what is this other example then.”
Ashton poked his head in the door, interrupting our conversation, “So, just to let you know, the General is here to see me. I’m going to go ahead and make use of the study to meet with him. I won’t be back for a while but I did find Teddy in the basement and let him know that you have summoned him. He said he was in the middle of making the potion but that he would be up once he bottled them and cleaned up.” I smiled at Ashton, “Thanks, Ash. I think we’re having an interesting enough conversation that it should be fine to be deprived of your presence for now. Good luck with the General.” Ash gave us a thumbs up and shut the door. My grandfather mumbled, “I wonder why the General would come here without an announcement. It must be an emergency then.” I shrugged, “Who knows, Ash is like his second strongest soldier in the Citadel so it isn’t strange to me that he would show up where his top two soldiers are staying.” He nodded, “I suppose that makes some ounce of sense but let’s move on shall we? My other example is you finding and reuniting Talon with Talia and Vanessa. You can’t tell me that they don’t see you as a lynchpin in finding him.” I sighed, “I really just don’t see it.” He grunted, “I don’t know what more I can do to convince you that your existence and strength keeps this family going. You think I’m the pillar of strength of this family when it is actually you who is that pillar.” He was frustrated that I couldn’t see what he thought I should see. He was knitting his brows and fiddling with the sheet which meant he was processing how to get through to me. I leaned forward and placed a hand on his and said, “You need not work so hard to convince me, grandfather. I will choose to believe you.” He sighed and shook his head, “You don’t really believe it though and that is the problem. I need you to really believe it. I think I know of a way though but I’d need to talk to your fae friend about it.” I furrowed my brows, “What are you scheming, gramps?” He leaned back in his bed and crossed his arms, “Nope, not going to say. You know that I am hard-headed as well as you pointed out earlier. There’s no earthly way you are going to get my plans out of me.” Once grandfather got into this stance, I knew that it was an exercise in futility to try and prod information out of him.
A knock sounded in the room and Teddy poked his head in, “You wanted to see me?” My grandfather smiled and waved him in, “Yes, I would like to talk to you about Tyleesh.” Teddy’s face lit up and he hurried into the room enthusiastically, “Tyleesh was my mentor so I have no problem talking about him. What about him did you need to know?” I spoke up, “As you know, he came from Blackwood Manor but had he ever talked to you about his real origins?” Teddy shook his head, “He always said that even though he was born elsewhere that his life began in Blackwood Manor. He even wrote it in his journals that he left behind.” My grandfather sat up quickly, “He has journals?!” Teddy looked panicked, “Please Mr. Batiste, you cannot move around like that or you will send your heart rate up quicker and we don’t need that! Yes, there are journals. I brought them with me and had thought about bringing them up with you. I will bring them to you after our talk.” Grandfather sat back gently, “Okay, thank you, Teddy. I want to tell you that Tyleesh was brought here from the Seely Realm along with his mother and sister who were sent to live under His Highness’s care and protection. Tyleesh stood here at Blackwood until he wanted to set out on his own. He studied for a time in your lands. Do you happen to know what happened to him after that?” Teddy looked down sadly, “No, it has been haunting me when he wasn’t in his room when we got home. We asked the Citadel to look into it because it had seemed like a struggle took place but they said they wouldn’t investigate because he was a filthy half-breed. I had not known he was fae until today so I’m not sure how they knew that.” Grandfather sighed, “There’s still a bit of a fae stigma amongst the older generation sadly. This was under the former General sadly so you likely wouldn’t get help. I don’t often feel relieved at anyone’s death but the day he died I was relieved.” Suddenly Ashton poke his head in again, “Um, sis, I need to talk to you about the investigation into…um…uh…your attempted assassination. We got some information from Prince Blake.” I looked up at him, “Just spit it out.” He sighed, “The Order has indeed deployed a necromancer and the one after you is confirmed to be one of the undead.”
