Fate/Blood Reign

Chapter 3 - Lord Gaiuslink

London. The City of Fog. Its urban panorama was watched by Lord Declan Gaiuslink, comfortably seated in his office in the Clock Tower. The room was of modest dimensions. Inside there were eight bookcases, with six shelves each, where hundreds of books had been ordered by publication date; the mahogany desk had four drawers on the right and left; on one side there were all the documentation concerning the Clock Tower and the Mage's Association, on the other everything that regarded human politics. On the desk there were only a large hourglass, a small statue of Demosthenes and three rectangular containers: the first, in gold, confined a fountain pen; the second, in silver and gold, held a dip pen; the third, in refined wood, contained a quill.

Declan Gaiuslink was a tall, thin man, with a clean-shaven face, blue eyes, thick eyebrows and short brown hair. He always dressed in black and always carried a cane, with a silver horse's head handle, at his side.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

A girl of nineteen walked in. She had short red hair, brown eyes, and a soft face on a well-proportioned body. She wore a white sweater over a blue skirt. Once inside, she reached into the pocket of her brown jacket.

"Linda Ashborn," Declan said, resting his arms on the desk. "You're far from Adra Castle. What brings you here?"

She took a letter out of her jacket and tossed it onto the table. "Did you really think I'd stand by and tolerate your taunts?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said with an amused grin.

"You literally 'asked' me to leave the Holy Grail War. So, since you didn't have the courage to tell me to my face, I decided to pay you a visit in person. How's that?"

"I was just trying to be nice, Miss Ashborn, there's no need to be so aggressive. You're still young and naïve... and I care about my students, you know? Do you really think you have what it takes to win a Holy Grail War? That letter was just a way to make you think about your actions. That's all it was."

"I have Rider by my side. As long as I have him, I have nothing to fear. So stop this act, I don't want to suffer your fake pity... and I'm warning you: send me another letter and you'll regret it." She headed for the exit.

"Wait a minute."

She stopped. She turned to him. "What do you want now?"

"Please... um... close the door."

She did so hesitantly, but remained where she was. "What do you want?"

"You were once my apprentice, Miss Ashborn. I know we never got along particularly well, but you were still my responsibility for a while and you've always had a great talent, and so I was wondering: why sacrifice that and your own life in a Holy Grail War? You're nineteen, right? You can do whatever you want. You can continue your studies and continue working with the Clock Tower. You have a future ahead of you. Are you really willing to burn it down just for a wish?"

"Are you seriously going to repeat to me everything you wrote in that damn letter?!" She approached angrily. "I'll fight and you won't stop me. I'm not a child. I know what I'm doing and I'll continue on my way. If you have any problems, you can go to hell! Or you can face me! Right now! I'm not afraid of you!"

"Now you're exaggerating, you know perfectly well that we can't do that... not here, at least..."

"Yeah, just like I thought. You hide behind the rules like the coward you are. Meet me on the battlefield and you'll see what I am capable of."

With that, Linda left the office, slamming the door hard. Declan Gaiuslink stood there for a few seconds. He took the letter, tore it up, and threw it into the trash can. He left his desk and said,