“With money. How else?”
His habit of giving non-answers grated on her nerves and she almost responded in anger. Though she stopped as a thought hit her. She had assumed that he acted like this to get a rise out of her but now she realized that this might not be the sole reason. His baiting questions helped him gain control of the conversation and delayed his response. It seemed nonsensical as he still ended up giving her an answer, but only if that answer was the complete truth. Instead, she suspected that he used the time to carefully plan what to tell her, so as to not give too much away.
A sense of betrayal ran through her but she grasped that it was her pride that had gotten stung. He seemed so open and honest, but he was the leader of the resistance. It was obvious that he would be cagey when talking about himself and the group he led. In the end, she was only a stranger, that hadn’t committed to working with them. Why would anyone in their right mind give away their secrets to someone who could betray them?
It seemed like she had been a fool, and had mistaken his carefree attitude for being careless.
The longer Lidea lacked a response, the more confused Warchief seemed to become. His mocking smile turned to a concerned frown as he prepared to say something.
“Is anything wrong?”
Her first instinct was to act dumb and keep her insight to herself. Knowing an enemy that underestimated her, would always be easier to defeat. Even so, she pushed that wary side of her away. So far, he had given her no reason to treat him as a potential opponent. He had saved her life and had been nothing but kind. Even if he wasn’t telling her the complete truth, he was under no obligation to do so. Especially as she hadn’t made her decision yet. The meaning behind her annoyance was that her heart had already decided. Only she had failed to mention it to Warchief.
Thinking back to his plan, she still couldn’t accept the role he wanted her to play. Yet, she wasn’t willing to abandon her homeland, even if that meant foregoing her own happiness. But if she wanted to work with Warchief, then she needed to make sure that he was going to treat her as an equal and not as a tool.
“Warchief. I understand your vigilance but if you want me to work with you, then we can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep avoiding my questions. If you are not ready to discuss something with me, then I would rather you tell me. So let’s retry this. Where does your funding come from?”
Shock flickered through his eyes as her sincerity seemed to have taken him by surprise. For a moment it was silent and Lidea waited patiently for him to sort through his thoughts. Finally, he nodded his head in agreement.
“Sure I get that, but you also need to understand that I can’t tell you everything. Especially not sensitive information.”
Lidea couldn’t keep the smile of her face due to her small victory.
“I understand, but you can be honest. You probably already suspected it but I do intend to stay and help you with your plans. That is, if I will be treated as part of the team. I am not going to let you just use me while keeping me in the dark.”
A blinding grin spread across his face as he winked at her, breaking the serious tone of their conversation.
“I wouldn’t dare treat our prickly princess as a means to an end. Welcome to the team.”
A foreboding feeling told her that she was officially stuck with the nickname now. Before she could think to protest, her attention was drawn to the door. It flew open with such force that if Lidea hadn’t struggled with it before, she would have believed it to be made of paper. Crystal strode into the building with a bag in hand. Her all-black attire wasn’t like anything that Lidea had seen her wear before. Her flowy dress had been replaced by skintight pants and a long-sleeved shirt that seemed to be molded to her figure. The outfit bordered on being indecent, and Lidea would have looked away if she hadn’t been intrigued by the seamless and stretchy material. More concerning was the fact that she was covered in dust and scuff marks. Making Lidea wonder where she had been.
“Did trouble find you on the road?”
Warchief was already approaching the healer and looked her over to ensure she hadn’t been hurt. Crystal snorted in response, unamused by his concerns, and took a step back to point at the mess behind him.
“I’m fine. More importantly, why is my infirmary looking as if a Warchief bomb went off.”
The threatening tone in which she spoke made Lidea chuckle. Even if she still wanted an explanation for why Crystal looked as if she had been crawling through someone’s cellar. The healer’s anger and Warchief’s fearful apologetic look were too funny to ignore.
“Sorry, sorry. I was busy, but I will clean it up in a moment. First though, are you sure that you are alright?”
She gave him the stink eye before sitting down on the bed with a deep sigh.
“Just tired. Your informant at the castle wasn’t there. I waited as long as I could until some guards noticed me and started the chase. I had to go through a different passageway than normal to get here, which wasn’t in the best condition.”
Crystal spoke as if she had walked into a closed store and encountered it's grumpy owner. Not as if she had broken into a castle and got caught. Lidea let her eyes glide over her once more and wondered what secrets the half-demoness held. Obviously, she wasn’t just a healer. Which shouldn’t have surprised her, considering how old she was.
“You are in contact with someone in the castle?”
Both pairs of eyes shifted towards her before Crystal glanced back at Warchief. Giving him the chance to stop her from talking. But when their eyes met, he only hesitated slightly before giving a curt nod. An assurance that she was privy to this information.
“We do. I used to spy on the court but was recently approached by someone that wanted a deal. They would give the resistance information on the happenings in court, while we would tell them about your wellbeing.”
“Me?”
The news shocked her. She had assumed their informant to be a servant of sorts, but this was unlikely if she had been the bargaining chip. Her mother’s face appeared in her mind but she tried to shake the thought as soon as it came. She had abandoned her long ago.
Instead, she thought of Valerian. The soft-hearted prince that had been like a brother to her. She almost didn’t have to ask but did it anyway.
“Valerian?”
Crystal locked eyes with her, concern written all over her face before she nodded. Lidea cast her gaze at the ground as her mind unfurled into inner turmoil. Her childhood friend, the one that had caused her to be thrown in prison, the one that had looked on as she was to be burned to death. Now he was asking about her.
A hand closed over hers and Lidea looked up into the sapphire blue gaze of Crystal. Only now noticing that her vision was blurry due to tears.
“I have not told him much. Only that you are alive and recovering. He doesn’t deserve to know more. That he is feeling guilty does not erase what he did to you.”
She squeezed her hand and Lidea was thankful for her strong presence. Crystal was right. Even if Valerian was the only person to care about her, that didn’t take away the fact that he had also betrayed her. He didn’t even deserve her tears.
She tried to stop crying and wiped her face before she lifted her chin. Causing her to look straight at Warchief who had been standing in front of her. His orange eyes glanced over her face and eyes, securing himself that she was fine. She wasn’t as naïve, to think that these people would never deceive her. But her fragile mind couldn’t help but hope.
“So that was enough for him to give you information? Do we even know that he isn’t double-crossing us? Giving fake information instead?”
Lidea hated the tremble in her voice, but both Crystal and Warchief were nice enough to ignore it.
“We thought of this as well and have been trying to verify everything he is saying. So far, he seems to be truthful, but you are right that he is an untrustworthy source at best. Crystal was smart enough to tell him that you were going away, to live peacefully in the countryside. If he is double-crossing us, then that information should keep you out of their vision.”
Lidea nodded slowly. Thinking over the potential risks there were with using Valerian. He was the prince and in no way, was he going to betray his father and country. Yet, being mages themselves, neither was very enthused by the might of the church.
“They probably want to use the resistance to remove the Plebeieren faith from the country. Or at least vilify the church more, without having to risk their own life. It is only a matter of time before the church demands them to be dethroned, even if they have done everything the faith wanted.”
Some part of her would like to see it happen. It would have been a sweet revenge for how they had treated others. But she would rather not give any more power to the church either.
“Wait the prince does too? I thought he hadn’t inherited his father’s gift?”
Warchief’s voice made her look up from her musings and she froze as the understanding grew of what she had just revealed. A simple slip of the tongue and she had divulged the biggest secret of the royal family. One that was sure to kill Valerian if it became known. Guilt rand through her but faded, as she remembered the both of them looking on as she was put on the stand. They didn’t deserve her loyalty.
“They thought so when he was young, but after he turned ten he had a bad horseback riding incident. The horse trampled his head and he should’ve died. According to his guards, his skull was bashed in, but it miraculously restored itself.”
Warchief and Crystal shared a look. King Morto was known for his physical magic that presented itself at a higher speed than the average person. Although useful in combat, it was barely regarded as real magic by most people. Lidea was convinced that was one of the reasons that the church had not displaced him. That and the fact that Valerian was magicless, made him a suitable heir. Nobody seemed to recall Queen Emmelyne's regeneration magic. Or that she could have passed that ability on to Valerian until that very moment that he should have died. None of the guards present at the incident ever returned and Lidea didn’t dare to ask about it. The only reason she knew about his powers, was because he had confided in her. At that time, he had agreed that his father’s decisions weren’t right. However, now that didn’t seem to matter anymore.
“That is a strong power to have. I doubt the people of faith would leave him be, if they knew.”
Amazement showed through Crystal’s words. Giving Lidea an indication of how rare Valerian’s ability really was.
“Thank you for telling us.”
Lidea only nodded. Still feeling conflicted about betraying her once dearest friend. She hoped that they would never have to use that information. At least now they had more context to understand what Valerian’s motives could be.
“No problem. I am at your side, remember?”
Warchief gave her a funny look. As if he knew that this wasn’t as easy for her as she made it out to be. However, she was distracted by the disappointment radiating off of Crystal.
“You decided to stay? Why? Don’t stay! Go and live your life!”
Lidea was surprised by the sudden intensity of her emotions. Although she knew that Crystal hadn’t wanted her to join, her response seemed to be excessive. Leaving her almost too stunned to react.
“I am not making this decision lightly. I just can’t leave my home country…”
“Damn, your country! Your life is too short to spend it fighting!”
Tears were pooling in her eyes and Lidea could only look on in silence as the healer ranted on in her native tongue. She had never intended to hurt her and had a hard time seeing why she was this upset.
After a while, it was Warchief that came to stand between them.
“Stop Crystal. You are getting carried away. The girl has a right to choose her life.”
Instead of calming down, the half-demoness turned her fury to him.
“Till what end? It is bad enough that you always want to fight, why her as well!? She is even younger than you! You should have never proposed this ludicrous plan to her. Lidea is only a child! When will you understand that this is wrong!? When she lost her eye for good? Maybe a leg or an arm? Why do humans never understand how fragile they are!?”
Although she was practically screaming into his face, he didn’t back down. Eventually just shaking his head when her anger simmered down enough for him to interrupt.
“Neither of us is planning to die. But you have to understand that our lifespans differ. You might see us as children, but we are both adults and have the right to make decisions for ourselves.”
Crystal went from indignation-fueled rage to emotionless in an instant. Her new state scared Lidea more than her anger had.
“I have to go pray.”
Grabbing the black bag she had brought, she walked to the end of the main hall and disappeared behind a door. Leaving Warchief and her stunned in an uncomfortable stillness.
“Why is she so angry?”
Lidea whispered as it felt almost wrong to disturb the quiet. She looked over to Warchief who was still staring at the door. Her words seemed to snap him out of his pondering, and he started to clean up the mess he had created before answering her.
“She is half demon folk. They not only live longer, but their emotions run hotter than ours. It means that she forms deeper attachments to people she likes. Crystal is angry, because she sees you as young and vulnerable, and doesn’t want you to get hurt. As long as she has lived, she has seen many humans die already.”
Lidea listened but didn’t question him further. It was hard for her to grasp the differences between the two kinds. Although she understood his words, she still felt Crystal’s reactions were off and uncalled for. But maybe, if she had grown up among demonkin, the healer’s behavior would have been completely normal to her. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was more that Warchief wasn’t telling her.
As he continued his cleaning, Lidea grew to be increasingly anxious. Glancing over the door, she expected the healer to return at any moment. Lidea suspected that her presence would only cause the argument to start up again. It would be good, to give her and Warchief some space to talk.
“Is there a key to the house, I asked for?”
Her question made Warchief turn away from his tidying to look at her before shaking his head.
“No, why do you ask?”
“I thought go and take a look. It would do me some good to have some space.”
Warchief looked at the door in the back before returning his eyes to her. Slowly nodding his head in understanding.
“Fair enough. I will accompany you.”
“That isn’t necessary. It is just down the hill. I will be fine.”
He frowned and started to object but Lidea ignored him. She collected her new clothes and pushed them back in the sack, before making her way out of the building.
“Thank you for everything Warchief. I will see you tomorrow at training.”
“See you tomorrow.”
He had finally given up on changing her mind and left her to go. Once outside, she felt as if she could breathe again and started to walk toward the house that would be her new home. Trying not to think about how her next meeting with Crystal would go.
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