The Knights of Grimm - Act 4 - Whispers of Arkhonex

Chapter 21 - Painful Memory

Whitley

After the incident at Solomon Karadin's...

Jacques paces back and forth in the office he always stands in, with his youngest child sat in a chair before him, normally the kids would look frightened of being brought in here by his command. Yet Whitley just looks bored, showing no care for what he did to Solomon, all because he annoyed him. "What were you thinking, Whitley?" Jacques questions with a roar in his voice, Whitley furrows his brow and he huffs a sigh.

"What does it matter? He was just a criminal, he was underneath our power." Whitley shrugs as he sits there, trying to defend his case, but Jacques is having none of it, shaking his head with his blue eyes staring his son down.

"It matters because he was the one that ensured that our passage of supplies into Vacuo was ensured. With the White Fang everywhere at the time, and now of course – we needed defence from them. Unlike what happened the last time when we lost the whole shipment." Jacques explains, staring at him and desperately trying to get this message through to his son.

"Do you understand what I am saying here, son?" He questions.

"Not particularly, no. With the Acolytes of Lien, we don't need him." Whitley shrugs as he sits there, and Jacques grabs the bridge of his nose, groaning with desperation for his son to wise up to the real world. Jacques shakes his head as he stands there, about to teach Whitley a lesson.

"Tell me, what strength do the Acolytes of Lien have?" He asks him curiously, so Whitley goes for the obvious answer.

"Military force." He answers.

"Yes, what others can you name?" He asks him curiously, but that question stumps the young adult sat in the chair, searching his mind for the answer but nothing comes up for him. Like when someone uses the internet browser on their computer but no matter what it is that they type nothing appears for them.

"I..."

"You cannot find any, can you? That is because they are primarily a military force, whereas Karadin was different. He had thugs, but he also had major pull in the Vacuo Council, extra funding and lots of unique specialists. Things that made the transportation of our dust supplies much easier. Not that it matters now since you have cocked this all up thoroughly enough to nearly start a war between us and the Cartel. That is the last thing we need on our table right now with the White Fang on us." Jacques explains, staring right at his son with a raided voice at the end of his explanation.

He sighs, sitting down in his chair as he massages his brow with his thumb and forefinger. "It doesn't matter anymore...what's done is done...I just wish you weren't so careless." He sighs as he sits before the boy at his table.

"The man had it coming." He defends, still not accepting his responsibility in all this, angering his father more and more with every single time he repeats the cycle.

"Did he? Because I have heard many concerns about your state of mind recently, from making brash decisions and punching those who disagree with you in the nose. It will only be so long until you piss the wrong man off. Ortega is already showing concerns as well, and the man has never been wrong about these kinds of things." Jacques explains, and Whitley raises a brow at his father.

"So, what? You've been conspiring behind my back?" He questions, and Jacques rolls his eyes.

"You make it sound like the things I have heard have been whispers, it has been shouting. And I have seen the damages done to reputation over those five years when you were in charge, you kept everything going but you also have been known to hurt employees." Jacques explains to him, remembering the reports that he read about his own son.