Once Balthazar reached his room, he immediately had a bath and went down to finish his breakfast. During breakfast, he thought further about Robert's situation. It was true that he had no idea about the trials one would have to face to join the elder council. Other than Robert, he could only ask his sister or grandfather. He didn't have much friendly relations or completely trusted anyone else in the family.
He called his sister whom he was trusted the most to confirm about it. He also needed to know if his sister also intended to contest for the position of an elder.
"Hi brother, good morning," said Bolena on the other side of the call. She was in a night gown, her hair fell down on her face and was rubbing her eyes as she talked to him. It was clear that he had woken her up with his call.
"Good morning, Bolena. I thought you were the kind to wake up early in the morning. What is with that stupid sleepy face?" asked Balthazar. Bolena was always very disciplined since her childhood. He had only seen her in such a situation when they both were kids and shared a room. It was quite odd for her to look like that at this time in the morning which had him slightly concerned for her health.
"I was working on the biofeedback system past midnight. I forgot to sleep in time. What do you want?" asked Bolena. "I doubt you would call so early for nothing."
"It is just a small matter. I heard that there would be a vacancy for the post of an elder since Max died. So, I was wondering if you might be interested in it."
"Where did this come from all of a sudden?" asked Bolena surprised. She never expected her little brother to be interested in family politics. Him asking about the vacancy of the elder post on death of Max had her genuinely confused. She began to think she was in a dream as that would make more sense.
"I am not dreaming, right?" she asked as she began to pull her hair to the back of the head and bound the strands to form a ponytail. She pinched herself to make sure it was not a dream.
"No, need to pinch yourself. This isn't a dream. I am genuinely interested in knowing if you are going to participate in the contest for the position in the elder council. I know that grandfather would like you to be more involved in the family matters as you and I are his only heirs left. I doubt that he never talked to you about this," inquired Balthazar.
"Did he ask you to persuade me to participate?I am really busy with my research and I don't think I need to be considering this right now. I am just 24 years old and would rather like to work on my job. Still got a lot of time to be involved in those. Just butt out of it," said Bolena with her eyes half-closed in a drowsy and irritated manner.
She already had a similar talk with her grandfather the day, Balthazar had left to Asklepian for the funeral. Winston contacted her a couple more times regarding the same. She was quite annoyed by his repeated attempts and thought that her brother suddenly asking her about this was also due to her grandfather.
"Good. I really hoped that you wouldn't be interested in this contest. Otherwise, it would be really awkward at the contest if we confront one another," reply Balthazar. He had intentionally phrased his words so that Bolena would think that he is contesting for the being an elder and would wake up properly.
As expected, his reply shocked her awake from her stuporous state. From the way, he replied it she thought that Balthazar was competing for the post of the elder. Though he had an illustrious career at the military and was considered a celebrity by people of her generation, he was still detested by a large number of members of the family's elder council for abruptly leaving the family and joining the military as soon as he got a chance to do it legally.
The elder council was not actually the most powerful force of the family, but a lot of decisions regarding the stance of the family about various issues was decided by them. There were branch family members among the elder council who cared solely for their own assets and profits. There will obviously be elders who would rebuke him and condemn him for his disrespectful behavior of the family in the past if he tried to contest.
"Are you being stupid?" she rebuked him directly. It was better she stopped him now before he was stopped by a majority of the elders who wanted their own friend or pawns to compete for that position.
"Not at all. Why do you raise such concerns?" asked Balthazar calmly.
"You stupid, brother! You're really stupid. How can you even think that those elders would allow you to get into the council."
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoever told you that I wanted to enter the elder council. I just asked so that in hopes that you wouldn't be an opponent for Robert."
"Huh!" said Bolena slightly surprised by her brother and began to think about what he actually said. "In fact, he never told that he wanted to be an elder. Was he just playing around with me?" she thought. The she got angry again when she realized that he was just toying with her.
"You ass, you were just toying with me for fun. I hope I don't find you anytime soon or I will use my warframe to beat you senseless."
"Haha," began laughing Balthazar on the other end of the call, while his sister scolded him. He enjoyed those rare instances where he managed to fool his sister when she was distracted or sleepy. After listening to his sister's rant for a few minutes about the elders and why she didn't want to participate while scolding him, he finally stopped laughing.
"I also don't want you to participate as you wouldn't be able to spend much time towards this. It would be for the best if both you and I don't compete to become elders. Due to your projects and research, you don't have the time to indulge in this. I can't be because I don't want to leave my job for the post of elder. I can't do both simultaneously."
"Then, why are we discussing this?" asked Bolena puzzled.
"Though I don't want to be an elder, I would like to have someone I trust to be one. Robert is a good choice. With his as an elder I would have a decent access to their private information and there is also the issue of the threat on our lives. Someone was helping Max and I would like to have an elder who is as concerned about it as me."
"So, you thought of Robert. You would have him be an elder rather than me? Your own sister."
"Stop playing. I know that you wouldn't be interested. I would like you to also support him for the present vacancy in the elder council."
"Even if he becomes one, you can't really rely on him for information if grandpa or Walter want to hide it."
"Of course, I can't. But it doesn't hurt to have more on our side. It would also be of use when you actually want to be one of the elders. Think about it."
"I am fine with it. But also talk to grandpa. He would like me to participate. If you convince him, I would be very glad and support Robert."
"OK. I will convince him. But you already told him that you weren't going to participate, right?"
"Yes. Repeatedly. But you know that sometimes he can be really stubborn."
"I guess. I haven't really seen that side of him."
"Well, compared to an idiot who could just leave everything he had in his life and join the military, maybe he is not that stubborn after all."
"Wow. People really like to rub that it my face a lot," thought Balthazar.
"Don't worry. Leave that to me. I will talk to him. You can also tell him my idea if he contacts you again," he said to his sister.
"OK, then. Talk to you later. My head hurts from all my work and this crap."
"Wait. Wait. But this isn't why I called you."
"You have something else also on your mind."
"Yes. I didn't think of asking you to support Robert till I called you. I only asked it once you told that you weren't interested. It was then that I realized that you would also have a decent amount of influence in the family due to Winston being the Patriarch."
"So, what did you actually call me for?"
"Robert asked me to help him in the contest. But I have no idea what it might be about? You should have some knowledge regarding this, right? So, I called you to ask what could I provide Robert that he already doesn't have? I couldn't put my finger on what he needed me for?"
"Oh! You are worried about that? That is very simple. It is because he a young generation contestant," said Bolena and cut the call.
"Huh!"
Balthazar could make heads or tails of what she said. She told it in a way that it was fairly obvious and he shouldn't require further explanation of it. He immediately messaged her, "What the hell was that supposed to mean. I didn't understand anything from that."
Bolena had already entered the bathroom and wasn't interested in talking about the topic any further. She simply messaged back to her brother to talk to Winston about it he would be able to provide more information on it and also not contact her till he convinced Winston to stop pestering her from competing for the post.
She didn't reply to any further calls and messages he sent after that. "And you have the nerve to call me and Winston stubborn. You hypocritical cow," he thought as he resigned to the fact that she wouldn't respond any further.
With nary another option, he messaged his grandfather that he wanted to talk to him about the contest for the position of elder. Within a few seconds, he got a message back from Winston to meet him at his office on the sixth floor of the east wing.
He walked to the sixth floor thinking about how he would convince Winston. As he reached the sixth floor, he found Winston waiting at the door of his office for him. "Come in," said Winston ushering him inside. He closed the door and immediately looked at his grandson in a proud and happy manner.
"I am happy that you are taking such initiative on your own. I never thought that you would concern yourself about family matters," said Winston as he hugged Balthazar. "But it is truly not advisable for you to do it right now. You just got a famous and have a brilliant career in military. I would like you to focus on that."
"I don't intend to leave the force anytime soon. But I still think I want to garner more influence here. There were many things that I didn't understand before. So, I left before. Now I realize I need a bit to have a bit of influence so as to actually find out what happened and help myself and Bolena."
"That is all nice and well. But there are some issues. Your posting is not determined, and you don't have much influence outside the military. There are few jobs that you can't have to serve as elder in a family. You need to be able to stay at the areas that you to protect and govern most of the time," explained Winston.
Winston had his own plans. He wanted his grandson to support Bolena for the position of elder. He also wanted his grandson's help in convincing Bolena. He was intentionally steering him towards that point. But sadly, his plans were bound to fail as his grandson and Bolena had completely other plans.
"There is another option if you really want to increase your influence in the family. You can support someone for the position and help them to attain it," continued Winston.
"I had the same idea. That is why I came to you to talk about Bolena," said Balthazar.
Winston was pleasantly surprised on hearing Balthazar as he thought that his grandson was already considering the same thing that he was about to suggest. He took a careful look at him as he sat on his worktable.
"Didn't expect you to be that involved in this matter," said Winston in a depressed manner. "Don't misunderstand me. I am all in for supporting Bolena to the post. But she is not interested in it."
"I know. I am also supporting her decision. I don't want her in this contest. At least, not right now."
"I am confused. You don't want her to compete?"
"I don't want her to compete as she is also in the same situation as me. Though she has you supporting her, she can't stop her career for this. She has military contracts. It is better if she gets more influence and popularity on her own. It might not be wise for her to give her research up now."
"I know that kid. But this is a great chance and I want her to take after me. You do understand that right."
"I understand grandpa. I know that this is a chance you wouldn't want to let go. You want her to be able to protect herself. But I think I have a better idea than pushing Bolena. It isn't me."
"Talk to me. I am listening," said Winston folding his hands.
"I want Robert to fill that vacancy. I hope that you would be supporting him."
"Robert! I don't want Robert to get the position. It would pose a bunch of problems for you and Bolena that you can't think about," said Winston shaking his head.
"I know you are worried about another person supporting Walter. But Robert isn't like Walter. He wouldn't do anything that might harm either of us like letting us be bait."
Winston almost slipped off the table when he heard Balthazar. He knew that his brother had tendencies to be a bit cold blooded sometimes. But he didn't expect his grandson to know about it. "What do you know?" he asked keeping his composure.
"I know enough to understand your concerns, grandpa," said Balthazar. He realized a long time ago, that Walter didn't just send him out of the family to train. But he was also a bait for anyone who would continue to target Balthazar, Bolena or Robert.
"Then you understand why I don't want another elder to be supporting Walter. Robert would completely follow Walter. It is hard for even me to stop Walter sometimes. I don't want..," stopped in the middle of his sentence and began sobbing.
Balthazar had never seen Winston get this vulnerable. He was always strong and opinionated. Sometimes he stood strongly with some opinions to help his family, but never did he ever cry in front of someone. It was the first time, he had done this someone before other than his wife and daughter.
Balthazar was initially shocked by this sudden change in his grandfather, but then he realized that his grandfather was actually crying and hugged him. It looks like Winston's trust in him improved by quite a lot if he was like this in front of him.
After a small period of time, Winston controlled himself and wiped his face with a cloth. "I am sorry. I was overwhelmed by emotion for a small amount of time," he apologized.
"It is fine, grandpa. Happens to the best of us. It is tiny thing."
"It is just that I never expected you to be able to understand why I have a problem with Robert taking the position of an elder. This is something that most wouldn't understand."
"I know that you think that Robert would support Walter, if a situation calls for him to choose between the two of you. But, believe me, he wouldn't follow Walter blindly. Their relationship was never in a way that Robert would choose Walter over his own conscious and put someone in danger."
"You don't know Walter like I do. Even if it is against his conscious, he might get convinced by Walter."
"I agree I don't know him as well as you do grandpa, but I do know Robert very well. Trick and traps in the dark aren't his forte. They are mine. I just need you to trust me on this. I will make sure that no harm shall befall either Bolena or any of our friends due to him."
"Hahahaha," laughed Winston loudly then he looked at Balthazar and then continued laughing in a crazy manner. "Trust you? Why? On what basis should I trust you blindly. I don't even have a clue how you found out about Max. You have too many secrets for anyone to trust you."
"Grandpa, I am your grandson. Why can't you simply trust me to take care of my loved ones."
"Under normal circumstances, I would have. But your secrets make me wonder if you are having ulterior motives. Though I trusted you with your secrets on Walter's insistence. I am not willing to do so with Bolena's life. I am not a gambling person person. If you want me to trust you with someone's life, I need you to prove yourself."
"What would you need for proof?"
"Something like convincing to write an agreement to put in a vote in the council in my favor when I and Walter are against each other. That would be really proof that you can control him. It can also help me protect you."
"That is a total waste, if you want to protect Bolena. How about having him provide a document in writing that he wouldn't ever cast his vote in the council that could potentially cause harm to Bolena or me. Doesn't that sound better?" asked Balthazar.
"Definitely, if you can actually get it done."
"Consider it a deal then grandpa. Will be calling you in an hour or so. Be ready for it. Also, I have a few plans outside Asklepian but within Elysium. I want you to confirm with Walter if the Nirbaadh Pirates are still after me," said Balthazar walking out of the door. "Take care."