Young Writers Society

A/N: Full disclosure, I haven't spent much time planning Buck's mum's personality... by which I mean I forgot to do it. I have an idea in my head but the seeds I'm trying to plant are a little rushed. Let me know what you think I guess?

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Dorea led them back up the hill a bit, and west, walking along parallel to the side of the palace. It stretched out for even longer than buck had realised from the angle he'd seen it before. It would actually be quite exciting to explore all that, but for now he followed his mother as she ushered him and the guards into her cottage.

He didn't remember the living room very well - all his memories just seemed a little dark. But as he stepped through the door, he realised that was because the lighting was just poor. There were two windows, but both were small squares quite high up in the wall. Glass wasn't as readily available up here, and even the homes that lacked glass in Resador City could afford to have nice big windows because the air they were letting in wasn't too cold. If Dorea's windows were any bigger, the cold northern air would filter in and give them all the chills.

The sofa was made of a long wooden crate, with a few planks as a backboard. There were thick woollen blankets piled on top of each other to sit on. It wasn't as uncomfortable as Buck was expecting, but it did force him to sit with somewhat better posture than he was accustomed to.

"So how was the journey?" Dorea called through from the kitchen. Buck could hear the clank of metal and water being poured. A moment later a hissing began, which he assumed was the kettle being put on, because soon his mum came back and sat on a thin wooden chair nearer the door.

"Not bad," Buck said. "I had forgotten how beautiful a lot of the countryside is. Plus, I had some interesting conversations with folk I met in passing on the way here, so there was rarely a dull moment."

Buck glanced at Hilene, who was sitting at the same little circular table as his mum. He didn't seem to have flinched, so perhaps he only had an aversion to plotting and information gathering if Buck tried to rope him into it.

"Is that right?" Dorea said. "What sort of conversations? Learn any interesting information?"

Buck rubbed the back of his neck and could have sworn his mum smirked. He'd thought what he'd said could just as easily have been taken as him talking about hearing lots of interesting ghost stories, but his mum seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

He shifted around a little. "Well, I did hear something about Erson that makes what happened at the palace make more sense."

At this, even Hilene's eyes widened. "You did? Is it fixable? I thought at the time that was harsh on you, you know."

"I appreciate that, Hilene," Buck said, smiling at the concern in his voice. "What I learned may well be common knowledge up here, and judging by the number of travellers headed for Resador City maybe it's common knowledge down there too by now. But anyway, I learned that Erson is already in love."

"Oh..." Victane said. Then he seemed to pause to let it sink in properly. "So that's why he hated the suggestion of marriage. But then... why isn't he simply married?"

"You really don't know?" Dorea asked. The kettle started to whistle and she had to go back to the kitchen, but she called through, "The Queen doesn't like the match."

Hilene scoffed. "According to that shepherd, the Queen doesn't like a lot of things."

Dorea poked her head through from the kitchen. "And which shepherd was this?"

"He didn't say his name," Buck said, reaching into his pocket for his parchment. "Why?"

Dorea shook her head. "Never mind. And that's Prince Erson to you, by the way."

Hilene gulped as she disappeared again. "Oops."

"Don't worry about it," Buck said, finding himself grinning a little, "I think she was telling me off more than you."

When Dorea came back through holding the first two mugs, Buck got up to help her with the others. When he came back, Hilene was saying, "I just wanted to check. Like, it wasn't a big deal exactly."

"What's this?" Buck asked, handing a mug of tea to Hilene.

"Oh, just that shepherd. The whole thing about not seeing many people of my complexion. It's probably not a big deal, honestly." Hilene raised his hands as if in surrender.

"It is true that we don't see many folks with darker skin up here," Dorea said, accepting her own tea from Buck. Buck's and Victane's had been put on a small coffee table in front of them. "But I'd hope it wouldn't be an issue. Most folks don't seem to mind what they do get coming up from the south."

"What's that?" Victane asked, sipping his tea.

Dorea tapped her own mug. "Exotic foodstuffs."

Victane snorted his tea with the least dignity Buck had ever seen from him. He looked down at the contents of his mug. "A fair point."

In the silence that followed, thoughts fluttered about in Buck's head but he couldn't get them to sit still. And underneath them all was a warm fuzziness whenever he looked at his mum, which rather distracted him from any attempt to join dots together. He put the thoughts from his mind for a moment, and settled into chatting with his mum and his friends.

Eventually, Buck had to bring the conversation around to sleeping arrangements. He'd warned Hilene and Victane that there wouldn't be room for all of them in his mother's cottage, but he would pay for a stay at an inn using Pires's money.

"Mum, is there an inn nearby?" he asked.

"Not exactly," she said. "There's bothies dotted around that people sometimes stay in if there's space free."

Hilene's eyebrows shot up. "What if they're all full?"

Dorea chuckled and shrugged. "Then everyone squeezes in tighter together."

"I don't suppose there's any chance that Buck here could sing for our board in the palace?" Victane chuckled.

"Ah, it's not like back down in-" Dorea started to say, then she leaned forward and exclaimed, "Actually, I tell a lie! I almost forgot that the Princess has decided to invite some performers to the palace this evening. I think she's getting a little jealous of her big brother."

Buck too had almost forgotten about Princess Myal, but more her existence in general than some court she may be assembling. He had heard very little about Erson either before the past two weeks, away down in Resador. The city especially was like its own little world.

"I could do that," he said. "What time?"

"I think some people might have been milling around for a while already. Just whoever's not busy with their livestock will probably drift in and out," Dorea said, waving one hand slowly back and forth.

"Will they be expecting, er... ballads on the slower side?" Buck asked.

"Who, the shepherds?" Dorea tilted her head to the side. "Not particularly. The Princess though, you might want to go easy on her. Nothing too intense, alright? Her family haven't had much time for singing these past few years. Actually, I suppose the palace has never been known for song around here. That's more of a campfire thing."

"So what do you think, Buc- Buttane?" Victane asked.

Buck glanced towards his mum, wondering if she'd been hoping for a night at home with him. But she was smiling, and so was Hilene, so he looked back at Victane and said, "Nice and easy. Yeah, I... guess I can do that."