A Warrior's Despair

Chapter 6

~~Later that day

Former Commander of Squad Six, Lanceleot Mallard, Commander of Squad One, Jorah Mormont, Commander of Squad Two, Joram Isumbras, Commander of Squad 13, Claudius Lannister as well as the stoic Commander of Squad Ten, Ivan Bordeaux were all seated within the mansion of Mormont. Bordeaux had only been present because he was curious about the blond beauty, Celeste. The senior Knights knew about her and would surely be sharing the informations with them. That was why he even bothered to be present. Coming to a gathering like this was not something that a respectable head of the Bordeaux Clan did. But because he was curious, he came.

For Mormont and Isumbras, since they were brothers in everything, but blood, they always got together whenever they had time. But this was a different occasion. Their friend was back to their lives.

"Was she always like that?" Claudius was the first to broke the silence. Celeste was not subtle whenever she spoke and seemed to be cold. She was also rude and for the lack of better words, disrespectful.

"Yes and no..." Isumbras trailed off. Looking intently at the younger Knights.

"When we first met her, she was awefully quiet, but deep inside, I think she had always been cold. She was always brutally honest. Especially when it has something to do with the Grandmaster. Several times we caught them bickering like they were equal. We've asked about it, of course, but she would always ignore us. As time passed, we got used to it eventually."

Mormont smiled upon hearing what Isumbras just said. "Celeste was a good person. For that, we welcomed her even though none of us knew where she came from. We were only aware of the fact that she was already a lot older and was on par in strenght with the Grandmaster, but she returned to the Academy for our sake. When we were together, we discovered that she was like any other girls. She would even drag Isabel to go boys-hunting as she liked to call it. During that time, she had already broken countless of hearts."

"I found that hard to believe." Bordeaux snorted as he crossed his arms. She looked nothing like a flirt. She seemed to be all business and not taking any nonsense.

"No, it's not." Smirking, Mormont took a sip of his sake before continuing. "We were all present when the Grandmaster told us the truth. With a woman of her caliber, it isn't too hard to believe that Celeste lived much of her life alone. When sensei invited her, she was given a chance to start afresh. To make up of all her loneliness and pain, she chose to always have us or some other guys beside her. Before she left the Academy, she was always with a new guy. She never seemed to get tired of them."

"Was it fear of being alone again that compelled her to seek out guys?" Mallard asked particularly to no one.

Isumbras shrugged. "Might have been. However, that all changed when she quit the Academy. There was little she cared for when she's still with us, but before she left, she already stopped caring about everything, even our friendship." A forced smile etched on his lips. Suddenly, he remembered something which would probably get him killed, but it was always amusing to see the funny look on people who would hear it. "Do you know that we once thought she had an affair with Isabel?"

"What!" Claudius automatically spat the tea he was sipping earlier. Some of the liquid landed on Bordeaux skin which earned an angry scowl from the man as he grimaced on the wetness at his hands.

Mallard, being playful as he was, only smirked. "Was it serious?" This was definitely gold. He could never have guessed that Isabel would have a physical affair with anyone.