4 Chapter 4 (1/2)
The gigantic door creaked open as the dust swirled around it. Gerald was standing in front of the Ancestral Chambers,stunned. He'd never been here before. Apparently, he was too young to be brought here before leaving the territory, and it wouldn't have been wise to show him something so important before sending him off to the family's enemies.
He was supposed to pay respects to his ancestors here before being named Viscount. It was tradition, and honestly, he was more than a little curious about these chambers.
He slowly stepped into the large hall, followed only by Arthur and Uncle Rudolf and no one else. Luckily, old Arthur had the sense to not mention the matter in front of everyone else, and so the annoying Renard didn't have a chance to snoop around this matter. Gerald didn't think that he would have to wait long for the Duke's rat to start sniffing over everything, though.
The hall was neither too wide nor too narrow. The first thing Gerald saw when he stepped insidewas the large statue at the other end of the hall. It was a standing stone statue of a man with a sword in his hands. The sword was planted in the ground while the man rested his hands on its pommel. The standard warrior stance when being painted. It was easy to execute for a whole day without getting sore arms.
The peculiar thing about the statue, though, was its face. It was without one. There was almost nothing there. It was like the craftsman who carved the statue left a blur over the features of whoever it depicted.
Surprisingly, it was Uncle Rudolf's voice that explained the peculiarity and not Arthur's. ”That is the Great Ancestor, Gerald. Your father was supposed to bring you here to pay your respects when you became sixteen years of age. The Great Ancestor isn't anybody in particular. It is all of your predecessors. Every head of the family had his blood buried below that statue.”
”How do you know all this, Uncle Rudolf?” Gerald raised an eyebrow as he asked.
The old man scratched at this grey hair slightly before smiling with what seemed like apology. ”I'm afraid I wasn't completely clear with you, Gerald, before all this. I didn't know you'd be heir to the family,” he said with a sigh.
Gerald narrowed his eyes. More secrets? Uncle Rudolf was awfully full of them, starting from his Warrior strength all the way to this. ”Are you going to tell me now?” Gerald cocked his head.
Uncle Rudolf nodded. ”I'm sure that you have already figured out that I'm not just your steward, yes?”
Gerald nodded. He really wouldn't deserve any explanations if he was stupid enough not to see it. Uncle Rudolf was much more than that to him anyway. He was a protector, a teacher, and a man of great counsel.
”My household has been sworn to serve your family for generations,” Uncle Rudolf started. ”It's better to say that there would have been none of us if it weren't for your ancestor, though. We were saved by one of your ancestors. And out bloodline is sworn to always be in your family's service”
”So you and all your descendants will have to…” Gerald trailed off. It was kind of sad. He would feeling sorry for himself if he was Uncle Rudolf.
”Yes. But we don't just do it for a long gone debt. We do it because we are part of the house. I was raised by your grandfather, and he treated me and my father before me like family. And I'm sure you will treat my daughter like family too. We don't begrudge you our loyalty; otherwise, we would have left long ago.”
Gerald nodded. It didn't make sense that they would be forced into this. He was thinking too much. Nobody would do something like this without wanting to do it, no matter how indebted they were. ”Thanks, Uncle Rudolf. I appreciate it.”
Uncle Rudolf smiled gently and nodded. ”Now,” he said. ”You should observe these paintings of your predecessors.” The old man gestured towards the walls on both sides.
Gerald was surprised to find a collection of paintings, that had escaped his notice, crowding the walls for space. He didn't look into the details of any painting, but most of them seemed to be about some epic encounter or battle. ”What are these exactly?” he asked.
”These are the most important moments each of your predecessors have been through. Hard-fought battles, treaties that took decades to come into being, and all sorts of achievements that are worthy of being remembered,” the old man explained.
Gerald walked to the nearest one on his left. He was surprised at the sight. This one was quite different compared to the raging battles and epic poses of the other paintings. It was of a man who looked wiser than any other Gerald had seen. The man was pointing at the air as if he was giving a speech and under his other hand was a parchment. The patchment didn't leave much to the imagination. It was the standard parchment of treaty that nobles used. It did look like an older kind, though. As if it was some original form that the newer ones were inspired from. Around the wise-looking man in the painting, stood a group of people, carrying axes and wearing decent hides.