A Drink With A Friend(Henry)

[Dante Grixis]

Dante walked into the dimly lit bar from the cold, dark night. His cloak was wrapped tightly around his frame and he pulled it closer around him. The bar was only slightly warmer than the weather outside, the chilling wind blew through the cracks and holes in the walls and ceiling, the fire offering only minimal warmth. He ordered two pints of the most expensive ale the Bear carried and took them to a table close to the fire.

The pub was quite empty tonight, only a few old men scattered around the establishment, all drinking alone, were patrons tonight. Dante liked that, he didn't want to be surrounded by people tonight. He kept himself from drinking his pint of ale. He wanted to wait for Henry to get there.

His face was no longer bandaged, but the cut still looked new and red. The fire cast arcane shadows on his face, what portion that was exposed under his hood, that made him look older and more sinister than he was. He pulled his hood off and ran a hand through his hair and began to reminisce.

Henry had been the best friend he had since coming to Camelot, the two of them almost inseparable. It was strange that when they first met that Henry almost hated Dante, but through some strange turn of events they had become fast friends. They drank together, fought together and bled together. They had robbed the magic school and Henry had even broke Dante out of prison. If anyone could claim to be Dante's brother it would be Henry. They were born in different places, under different circumstances, but something just bound the two of them together, tempered them like steel in a fire.

Dante smiled to himself as he watched the door for the arrival of his friend.

[Henry Renold]

Henry winced as his cloak snagged on a nail in the tavern door and wrenched his shoulder back behind him. His wound from the rescue mission was still painful as ever and the Brotherhood medic had told him he should be resting for at least a few weeks while the flesh healed. Henry had fast decided that the medic was an idiot.
Unhooking his cloak from the doorway, he shuffled inside, taking more care now to protect his arm. A quick nod at the barmaid told her he would be having the usual, and finally he arrived at Dante's table.

Things between the two boys had been strange recently. Dante had the weight of his impending duel with Arthur on his shoulders, and Henry still felt an unbelievable guilt for the murders he had comitted.Combined, it had meant neither of them had felt particuarly sociable and so they hadn't seen each other in a few days.
"Alright brother?" Henry smiled, clapping Dante on the back with his good arm. It was a term many of the brotherhood used for each other but it had always meant more than that to these two friends who had looked out for each other when they needed it most.

Henry pulled up a chair and thanked the barmaid who brought his tankard to the table.
"How are things?" He asked, taking a deep sip of the musky liquid and sighing.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante smiled at Henry and nodded as he took a mouthful of the amber liquid. "Not too bad. How about yourself?" He knew that Henry was still a little uneasy about his first kill, it took time to get used to the fact that you had just ended a life. In spite of that Henry seemed to be hiding it quite well. When Dante had killed the prince who had murdered his father so many years ago it took him weeks to cope with it. His motive was revenge, Henry's was somewhere between survival and anger that they had taken Gill.

He took another gulp of the ale and placed his mug on the table. "And how are things with Gill?" He asked. He knew that their relationship was a strange one, an endless cycle of love and hate. He wondered if saving her from the kidnappers had brought the two closer and perhaps now the cycle would end.

[Henry Renold]

"Coping." Henry said with half a smile. He had never voiced his opinions about killing to his friend, but he was fairly sure Dante just knew. He was getting more used to the idea of having murdered the men in the forest who had captured Gill, but he still had violent night-terrors where he would wake up in cold sweats- although these were becoming less and less frequent.

He began unbuttoning his cloak as Dante posed his second question and Henry's half smile turned full width.
"Trust you to ask about that!" He laughed. "Perhaps i should also be asking you how things with Evie are these days? I haven;t heard her name once since we came back from the forest. You haven't gone and blown it already have you?"
It felt good to be lighthearted and forget their worries and Henry continued chiding and joking at Dante's expense for some time. Finally he sighed, exhausted with laughter and answered the question.

"Well Gill is doing well and I think things are good? I don't know...how do you even tell?" He grinned and raised an eyebrow. He really didn't have a clue.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante laughed. "No, haven't ruined it yet." He smiled at his friend. This was the most relaxed he had been in days. He took another sip of his ale and shrugged. "When I figure out how to tell if it's working, I'll let you know." He replied with a grin over the lip of his mug. "I'm glad to hear our efforts were not in vain though." He said and smiled and put his mug down. "I don't know what I'd do with you if we had failed." He said jokingly.

He knew Henry well enough to know that if they hadn't brought Gill back alive that he would be a wreck. He would either drink himself to death in a couple of days or do nothing but sulk. Henry had a good sense of humor and was quite a genial person if you knew him, and he wasn't in one of his moods. Lucky for Dante, he wasn't in one of those moods.

[Henry Renold]

Henry laughed nervously, he didn't know what he would have done if the pair of them had failed to rescue Gill either. Possibly killed many more men, maybe killed none at all but gotten himself killed instead. It all made his 2 or 3 murders look a little insignificant.

He was glad that he wasn't the only young man who found girls so puzzling though. Even before having to rescue Gill from the thieves, he had never known if she liked him or not. Now it was rather obvious but if she hadn't gotten herself lost who knew where they would both be now? He had to laugh. He really was hopeless.

"So what brings us here then?" Henry asked, bringing a more serious tone to the evening. It had been his friends idea to meet and Henry figured that there must be more of a point to it that just a social gathering. Usually the pair happened upon each other by accident and for Dante to arrange something like this so suddenly....Henry guessed it might be to do with the upcoming battle with the Prince of Camelot. The fight had been a long time coming, in fact the pair had already had several severe rounds with one of them always getting a bad injury but nothing more. Although Henry had never really fully understood Dante's hate for all things Pendragon, he cared about his friend more than anything and would back him til the end. As he sipped his drink, he thought he sensed a reluctance to talk about it and decided not to push the subject further until Dante was ready.

"Hey," He asked suddenly. "What happened to that egg thing?"

[Dante Grixis]

Dante sighed. He would much rather talk about other things, things that didn't relate to his fight or the stone. He took a gulp of his drink and said slowly, "Well, Evie... she... Arthur caught her with it and took it back." He shook his head. He was angry when he found out but he knew it wasn't her fault. He hoped that Henry wouldn't be too angry, but by all right he should be. The two of them had risked a lot to get it, and once they got it they knew that it was worth more than they could imagine. Now it was gone and they weren't a coin richer.

He sighed. "I'm sorry Henry." He took another gulp of his drink and shook his head again.

[Henry Renold]

Henry shook his head and smiled.
"No, don't worry. Somehow I feel relieved that its gone. I mean I have no idea what it was...but I reckon it might have caused us a whole heap more trouble."
It was true. From the moment he had first held that egg he had felt a strange urge to protect it- one that he couldn't control. He worried that had a situation arose, he wouldn't have been able to control that urge and he might have died trying to protect it.
"No its better that its gone." He mused and finished his pint.

"Hey do you remember when we first met?" Henry laughed after a few minutes of silence. Conversation was a lost art on these two.

[Dante Grixis]

"Well I'm glad you're not too broken up about it." He said and took a sip of his ale. They sat together not saying anything for a good minute before Henry spoke. Dante laughed, "Yes, that was an interesting time. Who would've guessed that we would end up being as good friends as we are?" He said with a chuckle. As he recalled it Henry had wanted to fight him, for no particular reason, the very first time that they met. Somehow though the ended up as the duo that sat together laughing and drinking.

[Henry Renold]

"Its hard to imjagine us not being brothers now." Henry mused, smiling nostalgically. He had thought Dante an arrogant, selfish fool to begin with, yet now he looked up to him more than Dante could ever know. He thought he would do well if he was even half the man Dante was.

"So what now?" Henry asked as he finished his drink. He didn't feel much like another tonight but tomorrow was the battle with Arthur and he didn't want to leave unless Dante was ready.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" He asked with a sombre tone.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be." He said simply and drank the rest of his ale.

In truth he was nervous, for the first time in his life he was afraid to go into combat. He supposed because before he had never had anything to loose, now he did. He was sitting across the table from his best friend and he had just left the company of Evie, he couldn't quite comprehend the effect his death would have on the two of them. He had been doing nothing but training up until today and he was at his best, but the doubt continuously crept in.

He looked at Henry for a moment, "Should I..." He couldn't say it. "Should things turn out poorly, I want you to have my home, along with everything in it." He said. He had thought it over for a long time, at he knew that Henry needed a new home. Henry's was more like a hut whereas Dante's had real walls and a stable roof. He pulled a key from his pocket and slid it across the table. "If it comes to it."

[Henry Renold]

Henry stood up, his hands in front of him.
"Dante, I...Don't even say it. You'll be sitting here tomorrow night just like always, laughing about the fact you tried to give me your home!"
He picked up the iron key and tossed it back to his friend.

In truth, Henry too, had been trying to put the imposing battle out of his mind. He didn't like to doubt Dante, but Arthur was the crown prince and the finest knight Camelot had supposedly ever know. If he lost tomorrow. Well what would he do without him?
It just didn't bear thinking about and he was trying to blow it off- pretend that it meant nothing to him. But he had to say something, just in case.

He finally settled on "I love you man." before walking calmly out of the door.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante nodded. "You too." He watched, breath held until his friend left and the door closed quietly behind Henry. Dante couldn't wrap the idea around his head that this might be the last drink he ever shared with Henry. To tell the truth the thought terrified him. Dante looked at the iron key that had been tossed back to him. He rolled it over in his hands, inspecting it for a moment, then slid it back into his pocket.

He sighed deeply. The battle was less than twelve hours away. He needed his rest. He slowly left the tavern and made his way home, praying to whatever God may be listening, that he make it out of the battle alive.