Young Writers Society

A/N: The chapter arrangement is so weeeeeird. Like there's a timeskip part way through this .1? Ahhhh my LMS is showing!

---

Buck burst into the living room of his mother's cottage and was met with a loud groan and a bang. He blinked and looked down at the couch, where Victane was gradually pushing himself up into a sitting position and shrugging off a blanket. There were two glasses on the coffee table, as well as thick stone casks, plus a smattering of broken glass on the floor between the table and the couch.

Victane rubbed his temples and squinted up at Buck. "Hnng... Buck? What's the matter?" He rubbed his knee as he swivelled around to sit rather than lie. "Hit my leg against the table. Oh dear... I think I knocked last night's glass off the table."

He leant over and reached out towards the glass.

"Hey, hey, woah!" Buck said, surging forward and batting his hand away. "I was as hungover as you until about twenty minutes ago. Let me handle this."

"Thank you," Victane said, leahing back against the couch. "Wait... what happened twenty minutes ago?"

"So much. I don't even know. I need to think," Buck said, as he deposited the shards of glass back up on the coffee table.

"Think about what?" Victane asked. "Are you alright?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I need to go get my parchment from my room. I'll be right back," Buck said.

"Wait!" Victane called out as Buck started towards the stairs at the other side of the room.

"Huh?" Buck asked, whirling around.

"Hilene's up there," Victane explained. "We all had a pretty late night so he slept in your bed and I slept down here."

"Okay..." Buck said, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. He moved over to the little dining table and sat down there. "Had a late night doing what?"

"Oh, just chatting and drinking," Victane said, smiling slightly. "What about you? Did everything go okay with your royal supper?"

Buck nodded and told him all about his night, with Victane smiling at him as he talked. Soon Dorrea came through with some plates of bread and butter, and some cool, clear water for Victane. Eventually Hilene stumbled down the stairs as well, pressing his fingers into his eyelids. Buck chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder, then headed up to his room to retrieve his notes from his bucket.

Simone was sitting on top of some of his clothes in the bucket, munching on a lump of bread that Dorrea must have given her. She looked up at him as he reached his hand in to find his sheets of parchment, and Buck could have sworn she smiled, though it was always hard to tell with her little furry head.

He grabbed his parchment and scooted up onto his bed, leaning against the wall at the back. Hilene had tucked his blankets back in on both sides and carefully set his pillow in the centre. Buck smiled and found himself being a little more careful as he squeezed the pillow between his back and the wall. Not that there was much damage you could cause to a pillow, but he felt reluctant to spoil Hilene's handiwork, especially given how laborious that must have been while hungover.

Shifting the papers in his lap, he worked through what he knew and scribbled down some ideas for how to approach Raddig. The main thrust of the problem was that Raddig would deny having ever seen the bracelet. He was even much bigger than Buck, and could easily push him out the way if he just wanted him to shut up. It would have to be undeniable, clear as day.

Buck jumped as inspiration struck and almost fell out the bed. He was going to have to catch Raddig in the act, whenever he sold his next gift. Something in Buck was certain that he would. He couldn't have written down what exactly, but his gut was screaming at him. At least it wouldn't get out before Buck could unravel everything. He carefully slipped the necklace in its box under all his clothes and exhaled slowly.

---

Luckily, Buck found himself an integral part of the royal valley’s burgeoning court, and his friendship with the two young royals had been solidified by their supper. This meant he had plenty of opportunity to hang around Erson, keeping an eye on when he and Raddig seemed to be making plans.

He was walking along with Erson and Myal one day as they made their rounds of the pastures. They often did this, apparently, to check on how the livestock and agriculture was coming along, and see if there were any issues they could help to solve. The royal valley as a farming system had been honed over centuries, however, so in recent generations the royal circuits had mostly been social calls, maintaining a feeling of community even with the citizens so spread out.

It did not take long for the subject of Raddig to come up.

"You've been seeing him so much more than you used to," Myal said, tilting her head and grinning. "It's nice to see, but how come?"

Erson smiled. "He was nervous for a long time - would barely pluck up the courage to meet more than once a month. But lately he's seemed more eager to see me. Keeps bringing up my trip actually, wanting to know what Resador is like."

"Resador?" Myal asked. "What's so special about Resador?"

Buck kicked a small stone down the path and gestured towards it, glad when Myal chose to kick it again when she neared it. Perhaps a small game would keep her distracted from the topic of Erson's big trip to Resador.

"Not just Resador," Erson said, "Anything I've seen outside of the royal valley. I guess he's not been able to travel much, being a shepherd his whole life."

"He's a steward now, right?" Buck said.

"He is," Erson said, "Perhaps next time I go somewhere I can take a small retinue with me. Some courtiers, now that we have a court."

He nudged Myal, who smiled and linked her arm in his.

Buck took a deep breath, not entirely certain it was his place to ask his next question. They'd been walking along under the overcast sky for about half an hour now, and would have many to go. He didn't want to make things awkward. "So, when do you next see him?"

"Oh, tomorrow evening," Erson said. "We're going to get drunk at the court function you and Myal are putting on, then spend some time together at his farm."

Myal snorted. "Spend some time together, is it?"

Erson blushed and pursed his lips. "Yes. We just figured it was easier than the stress of meeting while the revels were being set up. Perhaps not get anyone's way this time, eh, Buttane?"

Buck stumbled, accidentally kicking the stone away off into the grass on his left. It skittered down the hill and landed with a plop in the stream.

"Er, yes, that might make the setting up process go somewhat smoother," he said. He scratched the back of his neck and hoped Erson would only think his embarrassment had been caused by the reminder of that awkward incident. In reality, he’d been picturing in his head the layout of Raddig’s farm, imagining where best to hide when he spied on their meeting the following night.