Even a Marshal is down for a casual drink

[For William Watkins]

Grym and William had become friends before Grym had become the Marshal of Mont Daegal and Grym had always been grateful for such a friend. They didn't yet know about an whole different connection they had together. Time would tell how it might change their friendship once that information was discovered.

Grym had invited William to a popular tavern that evening for drinks. They had been here several times before and while Grym could have invited him to his private quarters, even after becoming Marshal, Grym liked to be out among the people. He was a person too and he wanted his people to see him as such. It was things like this that made him more personable and increased the support of his people to him as Marshal. Though none dared pick a fight with him. Though he could be friendly he was also someone people knew wasn't a pushover by any definition of the word.

It has been since William's wife had died and Grym had gone through the same thing 8 years ago when his twins were born. It was partly this reason he wanted to have a night out with his friend. "How have you been holding up?" Grym asked as the two men sat at a table in the center of the room, drinks already in hand.

William likes Grym for a lot of reasons, but one of them definitely was the fact that being s Marshal hadn't changed him too much. Grym still liked being amongst the people, and Will definitely preferred a drink in a tavern over a drink in the private quarters of the Marshal's Hall. He liked ambience and people around him. And finally he was ready for it again.

He had wallowed in nostalgia en depression for a while after his wife had died. Everything suddenly seemed to dull and lifeless. His house was empty, and there were no children to carry on the bloodline. It was just him and his thoughts.

But Bastian had managed to drag William out of the house. He took a sip of his drink before he even tried to respond to the question. He swallowed and cleared his throat before eventually shrugging. "Not good, what can I say? I hate waking up alone and coming home to an empty house." He ran a hand through his hair. "Libby's parents are pushing me to find a new wife, saying it's what she would have wanted, but I don't know, Grym." He shook his head and stared at the ale in his mug. "I'm glad you got me out of the house though. I hope you're doing much better than I am." He chuckled, but there was no joy in it.

That was one thing that Grym could not relate to. His house had never been quiet and lonely after his wife had died. He'd had 5 children, two of them newborns, when she'd passed. It had been a very stressful time and if it wasn't for adoring nursemaids to help, he was sure the twins would not have survived either. On the other hand, he also didn't particularly miss Kate. Their marriage had been a beneficial one but while he liked her enough, he had never fallen in love with her and often found her to be rather grating. Not that he'd admit that aloud.

"Getting you out is the least I can do," he told the man. "I don't see any need for you to rush back into marriage. As a man you still have plenty of time to carry on your line if you wish to do so." Most men did but he didn't want to assume. "Why don't you come stay with me for a while? Get out of your empty house and just be somewhere comfortable with other people around. It might be a good distraction," he suggested before taking a long swallow of his drink.