The next morning, Buck found himself perched on a rock near the top of the valley, looking down at the pastures below. As a hangover cure, his mum had recommended a hike up the valley wall opposite the one they'd travelled down. Buck had called in on the two guards in the rooms he'd successfully swung for them in the palace and suggested the idea to them, which was how they now found themselves looking down at this stunning view. The little rock shelf was part of a circle of stones that surrounded a little pond, which glinted in the sunlight. Ordinarily, this might be paradise. Today, Buck screwed up his eyes and tried not to collapse right into the pool.
"How did the journey not improve your alcohol tolerance?" Hilene asked. He shoved his trouser legs up and dipped his feet into the water. He sighed, smiling. Then he went on, "We spent every night in a tavern."
Buck laughed, then flinched at how loud his own voice was. "I barely drank a thing on the way up, so I could stay calm and collect information. Last night I decided to just have fun."
"It was fun, wasn't it?" Victane said, leaning back and facing down the hill.
"Yeah. I'd been going to try and talk to Raddig more about Erson but every time I did I saw my mum glaring at me. So I figured I might as well dance."
Hilene splashed his feet in the pond, then looked up. "Wait, what about Raddig and Erson?"
Buck groaned. "I forgot how useless I am at keeping secrets when I'm hungover." He turned around to face Hilene. "So, you know how Erson already has someone he wants to marry but the Queen doesn't like them? I'm pretty sure it's Raddig. But that doesn't go farther than here."
"Of course," Victane said, twisting around to face the same way as them both.
"Whatever," Hilene said, tracing circles int he water with his finger. Buck opened his mouth to apologise for dragging him into court politics, but a moment later he frowned and said, "Wait, what's wrong with Raddig? I suppose he's sort of low birth but there's just shepherds for miles around here."
"He's a he," Buck said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh," Hilene said, "Oh."
"Yeah, I forgot they were like that up here," Buck said, "Or some of them at least." He took a deep breath. "Ugh, I am too dead to be thinking about things like this."
Carefully, he laid back on the rocks and closed his eyes. He must have drifted off because the next thing he heard was the middle of a sentence.
"-hadn't thought of that either," Victane was saying. "Do you think we'll be alright?"
"Maybe I should sing another song," Hilene said.
As Buck forced his drowsy eyes open, he heard Victane chuckle. He perhaps hadn't drifted off for that long because both were sitting in the exact same places they had been.
"How about you?" Hilene looked over at Buck. Then he quickly glanced down and said, "Um, sorry, if you don't mind me asking."
Buck dragged himself into a sitting position and blinked at Hilene. "Who am I into? Anyone... sort of. The potential for anyone, if that makes sense. Like, the gender of someone has never made a difference to me."
"You know, I don't think I've ever noticed you with anyone," Victane said. He nudged Buck. "You have your eye on someone back home?"
Buck shrugged. "Not really. I don't like doing much more than kissing, and most people don't want to stop there. So it's hard, you know?"
"I get that," Hilene said.
Buck considered asking the two of them about their love lives but wasn't sure if that was what they had talked about when he dozed off. Besides, he didn't want to accidentally have a conversation with Victane about his mum.
Before he could make up his mind, there was a call from off to his left. When Buck turned around, a short, broad-shouldered man was climbing over a fence between where they were and the next field over. He jogged over and arrived with his arm outstretched, holding something in his hand.
"Morning, folks," he said, "Message for Buttane."
He passed Buck a small envelope closed with a neat wax seal. Without even looking at the crest he knew it had to be from Myal. Who else needed a seal around here when you could just hop over into your neighbour's garden?
"Beautiful day," the man said, as Buck read the letter.
Buck looked up. "Oh, yes. It is, yeah. Sorry, if I knew your name last night I've forgotten. I've forgotten a lot of last night."
The man shook his head. "No, don't worry about it. Your name was on the tips of everyone's lips after your performance. A bunch of us think that's probably what the note is about."
It was, in fact, or at least probably. Myal requested to see him at his earliest convenience to discuss the possibility of a long term position. It was so formal - jarringly so compared to the smiling man who still hadn't introduced himself - that he almost read it in Erson's voice.
"Okay," he said, "I'll be right there. Might have to go quite slowly down the hill though, so's that I don't pass out and fall."
The man laughed far too loudly and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm glad you had a good night, man. I'll let her know you'll be there."
The man said goodbye and headed down the grass towards the path. Buck thought when he reached the path he would zig-zag along with it. Instead, he crossed it, then continued to stroll down the steep bumpy hillside.
"People around here have far too much energy in the mornings," Buck said. He looked around at Hilene and Victane. "Don't suppose either of you want to carry me down there?"
Hilene swirled his hand around in the water. "I think I'll stick around here if that's alright. It's so peaceful."
"Oh," Buck said. "Of course, that's fine. See you at my mum's for lunch?"
Hilene nodded. "For sure."
Buck looked around at Victane and let a smirk play around the corners of his mouth.
Laughing, Victane rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, alright."
He crouched down and let Buck clamber onto his back, then gave him a piggyback all the way down to the palace.
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125,005 Literary Works • 672,809 Reviews
Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world)
It is time to charge through chapter 8,
First Impression: Looks like Buck's plan might work which is good except of course the grand plan might not pay off at all. Once again its a great tone that you've developed for the story with the humor coupled with seriousness although I feel that we don't nearly enough mentions of Buck thinking of saving his father. Besides that song we don't see him get that emotional about it.
This is a great description and very nice opening paragraph.
Well that's a nice little bit of information.
That was a very smart decision by Buck.
Good for him. At least his part of the plan is working somewhat.
So they're no longer supposed to guard him after they arrived here?
Well that was a nice little image to end on.
And that's it for this one.
Overall: Some fun little reminiscing and we build up to meeting this princess. It does a good job of showing the direction the plan is headed. So I'll just go read that then.
Another one where I didn't spot much that was off. As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.
Stay Safe
Harry
Man, Biscuit, I connect so hard with Buck right now wow.
It also just... means a lot to me that these characters don't actually label the different ways of feeling interested in other people. Like, I know it's partially the setting/time period, but that's a thing that can tie into cultural/linguistic differences, sort of like what Jabber was talking about, and it's also just like, nice?
I'll admit most fiction I've read involving LGBT characters has been pretty modern, and in modern English we've got lots of terms for a lot of identities, but as someone who is basically in Buck's boat let's be honest, it's really reassuring to hear those feelings expressed almost exactly the way I'd express them, without any terminology. It makes it more accessible, and I honestly have never really liked the terms.
Also is Hilene's "I get that" like a "me too" or a "bro you cool that's chill" kind of thing?
Because man. I stg every time I make a friend who feels the way I do about physical affection, my heart just skips. Even if nothing comes out of it.
ANYWAYS. ENOUGH OF THAT.
So of course there's the business with Victane and Buck's mother, and that's fun, but it's also a cute tie back to how Victane sort of sees Buck as a bit of a child figure in his life. I hope that no matter what happens between Victane and Dorrea, we see Victane grow as a father figure for Buck.
It's also so nice that in this recap of information, we build a lot of tension. Like, Bucket gets this information, and it makes things worse, even though we just had the victory of him... you know, gaining information. And also suddenly poor Hilene is like 'oh shoot,' and it's always cool to see how new events/knowledge effect people who aren't directly involved in the plotting and scheming.
Okay that's it for now. On to the next one!
-Vento
Yeah, I knew from the outset that Buck wouldn't have the widest ranging queer vocabulary. Firstly, it is a vaguely medieval setting (the idea is I want the feel of a DnD game, so it's all over the place on purpose), so there hasn't really been the internet to facilitate that explosion of labels. Secondly, the place he's from has been chill with all kinds of sexuality and gender identity/expression for a long time, so he's never really *needed* a label. Like, he's never come out to anyone before this.
For what it's worth, in my head Buck is panromatic asexual, or pan ace for short.
Kind of both? I haven't decided Hilene's exact sexuality but he's also not het, but he doesn't have the exact same orientation as Buck, so this was more of a "yeah I get the feeling of it being weird that people up here don't respect us", plus he's already had that with the race thing as well.
Thanks for the review
Ohhhhh I'm worried about Hilene for some reason. I hope he's okay.
I know he likes his peace and the freedom of being away from Resador, but I can't help but think something is bothering him right now.
Also, I thought it was his job to guard Buck, so this makes his staying behind even more concerning. Granted, he always appeared a bit distant back in Resador when he was working, but he was still working, so he seems to have some amount of responsibility or diligence in him that makes his staying behind noteworthy.
SO WEIRD THING HAPPENED TO ME but as I was reading Buck's explanation about Erson and Raddig, and how the three of them considered how normal it was for them down in Resador as opposed to the people of the valley, I totally thought of Buck's friend whose name I had forgotten. But said friend was going to adopt a child with his husband and it made me happy and I LOVE that this foreshadowing is there to lead up to this Big Reveal. (Reviewing is so much easier without a cold, lemme just say. I recall details way better.)
Also, Victane's line about how "it was fun, wasn't it" made me giggle because I SHIP HIM AND BUCK'S MOTHER 130%. AND HE HAD SO MUCH FUN. I WANT TO HEAR MOOOORE.
I also really like that this conversation brings into light the cultural differences of Resador and the valley. Whether the reader figures out the Big Reveal or not, taking a moment to reflect on the conditions that Buck and friends has to deal with now is significant. Hilene already has the potential conflict of dealing with racism, and now Buck's discovered that Erson has to deal with prejudiced against homosexuality.
Also, Hilene's reaction to Buck's "He's a he" was the cherry on top, too. Like this is completely normal to them, so watching Hilene come to terms with the idea that there's still a bias against it is super effective here. It really brings into light the stark difference in attutude between the two cities/cultures. Very awesome visual.
If Hilene turns out to be LGBTQ as well, the poor guy's gonna have a lot of conflict surrounding him AND YOU BETTER BE NICE TO MY BOY HE IS PRECIOUS TO ME.
The fact that you make Myal sound like her brother so much is just awesome. I love when genetics and familial traits are apparent.
Also HOW EXCITING that Buck is already being offered a position in court. Now, this -- AHHH I LOVE HOW YOU DID THIS. So before, we are led to believe that Erson would have to hire him up somehow and the idea just seems like so crazy and hopeless. Then there's his sister, and he got an invitation IMMEDIATELY. It's like a carrot that was given to Buck before more bad things happen to him, and I love this little mini success. Like YES. BUCK DID IT. but ogod now what about erson--
This messenger, too. XD I love this guy. He's so open and honest, much like the opinionated shepherds in the valley, and he's just like. He just admits that a bunch of people know about this letter to Buck even though no one has obviously read it. So he must've just chatted away with people and mention he was delivering a letter to the new entertainer in town and omg.
AND VICTANE GIVES BUCK A PIGGYBACK OMG i love victane so much. Is it weird that I have so much love for these guards ???
I also miss Simone. But I REALLY look forward to seeing Myal again and getting to know her better while watching her interact with Buck more. Get a better feel for how this might progress. AND DUUUUUUDE BUCK IS IN. DUCHESS' PLAN IS STILL ON!!
Hmmm I may have slightly forgotten the guards were here to you know, guard. I%u2019m going to keep Hilene staying behind but I%u2019ll slip in a line about it not really being a three man job to go have a chat with Myal ^.^
Thanks for the review
I keep forgetting what replying on mobile does to apostrophes xD