Council of the Heir

Chapter Six - well all of that went out the window real quick

Lydia woke up slowly to murmurs on the other side of the room.

She lay there quietly for a few minutes, letting herself wake up. Her chest kinda ached. Was that a side-effect of coming back to life? She really hoped it didn't stick around for long. Maybe she just slept oddly.

She could hear what sounded like Steven, Lithian and Val talking on the other side of the room. At first, she ignored them, but hearing her name had her trying to tune in on their conversation.

"We may as well ask." Valor was saying. "We're not forcing her to do anything." Oh boy, what was he up to?

"An' if she says yes, then what?" Was Steven's response. "She'd be in danger."

"She's virtually immortal!"

"But she can still suffer." Steven countered. "An' I promised Lizzy I'd keep 'er out of harm's way." Was Val advocating for taking her with them...?

"Having an immortal ally could be a valuable asset." Valor insisted.

"I wouldn' even be considering this if I thought we had time t' bring her back." Steven grumbled. "As it stands, we need t' get Lithian out of town. An' I prefer not t' bring him to my sister's house, just in case he's-" He was interrupted by a knock on the door. When Lydia didn't hear the men get up to answer it, she pushed herself up off the couch, stretched, and crossed over to the door to pull it open.

Immediately, her jaw dropped. "Gracie??"

"Hi Lydia." Grace smiled, giving her a little wave. Behind the redhead was one of the town guards, who had undoubtedly escorted her there. Lydia pasted on a smile, grabbing her friend's hand and tugging her into the house.

"Oh my gosh, what are you doing here? I didn't expect you to visit so soon!" She managed, giving the guard a smile before shutting the door. As soon as it was shut, she spun to look at Grace again, smile dropping. "Okay seriously, what are you doing here."

"I couldn't just-" Grace cut off, looking at Steven, Valor, and Lithian sitting at the kitchen table. Her gaze lingered on Lithian for a moment before returning to Lydia's face, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I couldn't just stay there after what you told me!" She whispered. "Don't worry, a soldier brought me here, I was safe."

"You would be if the soldiers weren't the ones killing people!!" Lydia hissed back.

"Grace." Steven cleared his throat. "Do yer parents know you're here."

"Um... no." Grace ran her fingers through the hair that lay over her shoulder. "Well... kind of. I left them a note. They didn't approve it." Valor frowned, looking to his uncle.

"We'll have to bring her with us."

"No." Steven shot down the idea immediately. "We can't."

"We can't bring 'er back, either." Lithian broke in. "The guard who brought her here now knows that she's asso'sciated with you. If 'e sees you wit' me on our way out've town, she could become a target." Steven scowled, looking down. "It's th' ones who know too much, innit?" Lithian added, a bit more quietly.

"Unfortunately." Steven agreed. He looked back over to where Grace and Lydia stood, the former anxiously combing her fingers through her hair. "...what'd she tell you."

"Nothing." Lydia interrupted before Grace could say anything. "None of your business. We need to talk." Grabbing Grace by the arm, Lydia lead her into the adjoining room and shut the door.

"What do you mean the soldiers are killing people??" Grace hissed as soon as the door was shut. "Why didn't you tell me before??"

"I didn't think you'd come after me! I told you I was gonna come back!" Lydia whispered back. Before she'd left, she'd shared some insider info with her friend, not limited to the conversation she'd overheard between Steven and Lizzy.