Council of the Heir

Chapter Nine - playing it not so cool

FINALLY not feeling brain dead burnt out and praying this lasts 🙏

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Valor took a small sip of his tea, then lowered it back to the table, free hand massaging his aching forehead. He glanced up at Lydia, who was desperately trying to hide a smirk.

"It isn't funny." He said. Lydia coughed.

"It's a little funny."

Valor had woken up that morning in an unfamiliar place, with his head pounding and stomach rolling. After a few minutes of utter confusion, he had remembered some of the previous day- he'd saved the foreman's life, gotten paid, and headed to the tavern to see if he could collect some information. The miners there had bought him drinks, and... from then on it was a blur, until Lydia was approaching him after dark. She'd explained his position to Notch with... startling accuracy, then led him back to the mines, where Notch had brought him to his own rooms and let him sleep on the bench outside his bedroom.

Eventually, Notch himself had appeared, scolded him for getting drunk, and made him a cup of tea when he was finished. Lydia had shown up not long after that, assured Notch that she would keep an eye on him, and settled nearby while the foreman left to oversee the beginning of the day's work.

Valor took another sip of his tea, side-eying his partner. He had, of course, been the one insisting she should come, but... the more time he spent around her, the stranger he felt. She continually gave off a feeling of knowing more than she should.

"Lydia." He said at last. She lifted her head. "Did you die?" Lydia blinked.

"No...?"

"Alright." He frowned at his teacup.

"Why?"

"You knew exactly where I was last night." He told her, "After not seeing me for an entire day. I'm still trying to figure out why." Lydia went still for a moment, just a moment, but he saw it.

"I told you, I figured you would be at the tavern."

"How did you know I would be drunk?" Val pressed. "Especially since you know I've never drank before."

"A hunch?"

"You keep saying that." A note of irritation crept into Valor's voice. "What does that mean??"

"Alright, well, deductive reasoning." Lydia folded her arms, setting them on the table. "You were not in your bed, Notch checked. I thought you might be at the tavern. You weren't there. So either you were sneaking around-" she paused, lowering her voice. "Either you were sneaking around, or you were potentially drunk. Obviously I wasn't telling Notch that you were probably looking for clues, so I told him maybe you were drunk. And I was right." She lifted her hands. "Happy?" Valor grumbled under his breath. Something about her explanation still wasn't adding up, but he had a feeling that was all he was going to get out of her.

"Notch seems trustworthy." He muttered at last. Lydia quirked her jaw.

"Yeah, he's... nice."

Neither of them spoke for a minute as Valor finished his tea. Finally, Lydia spoke up again. "You should go check in with the others. I can't slip out without being seen, and they'll be worried if they don't get any communication for a while." Valor frowned, acknowledging the truth of her words.

"I'm sure they won't be too concerned." He said. "But I'll find a time to get out of the settlement."

"Well, they'll-" Lydia paused. "No, that won't... nevermind." Valor gave her a tired look and drained the rest of his tea. If she would just be straightforward with him, that would make this a lot easier. "How do you feel?" She asked. Valor didn't answer for a moment, assessing his pain.