Far From Home

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Vaelyn looked at him as if he had three heads. But then, distractedly she looked at his snacks and tea. But she wasn't really looking at the food.. not really. Her eyes were distant in thought.

Then she looked up into his eyes.

"How could you possibly benefit from someone like me?"

It was a strange proposal- then again, she supposed Valen was a strange man. He wasn't like most she knew.. then again, he did live in a whole other world..

Yet some things weren't too terribly far apart.

She shifted closer on her dress, leaning against a nearby wall- maintaining some distance yet keeping an open view of both the Duke and the entire study. 

"Do you honestly need a spy?"

[Hyacinthus]

Valen caught the fullness of his cautious companion's reaction from the corner of his eye and the echo of his ear-- and in spite of it, or perhaps because of it, he smiled a bit. Placing the cup in his hands down onto a small, white-and-blue-trimmed saucer near to the platter, his eyes slowly rolled away from the confections to a small, thin booklet on the table-- likely something the maids were reading, or a leftover book from prior to the library being cleared out.

"Is the idea really that surprising? Perhaps I spoke a little too candidly, then-- My apologies. No, I don't honestly need a spy." What, exactly, was he apologizing for? And with the amused smile on his face, was it even a genuine apology, or was he simply teasing her a bit more for how sharply she responded?

Who could say; The far-off, yet contemplative look in his crystalline, azure eyes as he lifted the booklet to read it proper left much to interpretation. Perhaps even to himself.

"I would like a friend, though. Or, whatever the closest thing in The Game could be called. Wishful thinking, I suppose."

A... friend? Was he being serious?

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Vaelyn's otherwise guarded expression faltered, the obvious surprise showing through. She'd have taken a step back, where she not already up against a wall.

"You're... asking for .. friendship?" She repeated, baffled still at what was his aim.

Did he honestly mean to string her along? Toy with her after.. she tried to shake away the silly kiss she had given to him at the lake side. Even she didn't know why she had been so foolish...

But this?

She wasn't sure how she wanted to reply, and cast her eyes downward while she hadn't realized she allowed the area around her to envelope in silence so she could just think... and simply just breathe.

[Hyacinthus]

Valen leaned back in his chair, his legs crossed, having set the booklet he's been looking into aside for a moment. For the briefest of instances his eyes seemed to glimmer— as if overtaken by a mischievous bolt of inspiration— and he turned that gaze on the "cornered" spy as raised an eyebrow in response to her question. Truly, he seemed to feel unprecedentedly confident in the moment. "Would you prefer your Duke asked for your hand as a lover, instead?"

...Oh, boy.

Almost immediately after those words left his mouth, he seemed to remember where he was— heck, WHO he was. With a bright blush to his face, the young noble covered his mouth, averted his gaze, and gave a curt, conversation-interrupting "ahem", before shifting in his chair uncomfortably. Well, that happened. Thank goodness that none of the staff or council were there to see it. "Wh-what I mean to say is that I have grown to trust and enjoy these interactions we've had, of late. In my position, trust is a rare thing— easily given, easily betrayed. And yet you, who I have less reason to trust than my own council, have yet to use that against me. I... would like to cherish and nurture that, if possible. And I'd like you to cherish that as well."

Goodness, was his doublet always this tight? Valen wasn't a good liar— he never had been. He spoke from the heart, always— even when it made him uncomfortable or sound unpleasant. To distract himself, he took another small, near-silent sip of the warm tea, before setting it back down on its saucer. "Of course, I have no intentions of forcing anything. I just... well. I suppose I had hoped you felt at least somewhat similarly."

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 "Would you prefer your Duke asked for your hand as a lover, instead?"

His rambling that soon followed was all but ignored- for how wide and surprised her eyes had become, froze the woman in place. Not only was she already outside of her element- dolled up in a fancy dress and almost not looking like herself in all the make up and pampering...

But one couldn't hide who Vaelyn was with mascara, or cakey foundation powder, or glittering earrings and a fancy dress-

No, Vaelyn, the frail looking , ratty haired young woman was still in there- 

But this? Asking all of that, during such a curiously subtle moment where the two ended up alone? Vaelyn narrowed herceyes at him sharply. The way he sat, the way he sipped his tea- this had not been the whimpering man she had initially stumbled into at the castle. When had he dared tease her so openly and .. and.. flirt? If that's what one could call this.


Then again... who made the moves first?


Her cheeks burned as she remembered the kiss and her embarrassment afterwards.  Was he.. here to mock her? Or did he actually want.. want.. well.. some kind of relationship?

To distract herself, she had moved to pick up the discarded book the Duke had glanced at early and pretended to be using it, thoughtfully- as if 'reading' but that was silly.. Vaelyn couldn't read. It made it more evident since the book was upside down - but the book couldn't hide how flustered she was- especially considering how close she had gotten beside Valen. 


He'd be able to all but feel her blush at how much it consumed her face-

Then she paused, and let the book drop ontop his lap where it might hurt the most.

[Hyacinthus]

"...?"

In truth, Valen was equally out of his element. It was incredibly unnatural for him, of all people, to just so openly 'chat' with anyone, let alone a stranger to his court, a spy, a variable capable of killing him in that very moment, or-- as was the case-- all three at once. The truth was simple enough, spoken plain enough-- He didn't feel in danger, despite the obvious risks he was taking at the moment. He hadn't felt in danger when they'd met in the swamps before, and he didn't feel in danger when she'd made her way into his room following his attempted assassination. If anything, with every encounter he'd had with the spy, he felt more and more safe... more free, perhaps, than he'd ever felt before.

It was an odd thing, truly; In his heart, he'd always felt as though he were locked away. Caged, perhaps, despite holding more political power, in theory, than anyone else. Worse still was the fact that he felt he needed to be there, locked away, for the sake of his people and his dukedom. But in these fleeting moments, he felt as though he could forget that, if only for a few minutes... and while he didn't have the courage to try unlocking that cage, he felt as though he could reach out of it a little.

As she came to rest near him, Valen observed with curious and bemused eyes as she, in response to his proposition, did anything and everything in his power to not display her own... hmm, shock? Surprise? Embarrassment? It was hard to tell just what was going through her mind as she took the book he'd been looking over and held it up to her face... upside down, but it was just as fun to watch all the same. 'Squirming' wasn't something he was particularly used to seeing someone do in response to anything that he said or did, in truth. He almost felt bad for asking, now.

"Just food for thought, so to speak. You don't need to give me an answer-- I feel better just from voicing my feelings." He explained with a kind smile, before continuing. "Though it would be nice to have an answer before--" He wanted to say 'before the council came looking for him', but he was interrupted by the book that unceremoniously fell into his lap.

Which was followed by the half-cup of tea he'd grabbed falling shortly behind it.

"H-haaaaa!" He wasn't sure whether to yelp from the heat or the pain-- the sharp exhale would have to do for both, as he instinctively tumbled out of the chair, and to the floor. Welp, there went any sort of control he had over that situation.

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Vaelyn winced. What had gotten into her? She hadn't meant to actually harm him, as was evident by the sudden splash of tea to his form. She just.. just...
She just wanted to make him as flustered as he made her just now! Why did he think it fair to bring it up now, when she was out of her element?

But, without much thought to her reaction, she hedted up her layers of skirts and began to help him dab away at the spilled tea.

She was still gritting her teeth as she tried to assist him. Great- would this alert the guards? Would he just throw her into jail? She had just accosted a Duke of all people! What was happening to her? Why was she being so reckless!?

She avoided his eyes, blushing more furiously at their close proximity as she ground her teeth. She almost looked.. ashamed.

"You shouldn't say those things to me," she finally spoke, moving to slip away from him since it seemed she had gotten most of the tea cleaned up and well- now it seemed both had tea stains on their fancy clothes.

[Hyacinthus]

"H-hold a moment, please... goodness."

Flustered wasn't necessarily the correct word for Valen, who yet struggled to regain his bearings after the veritable heart attack delivered onto him by his fickle companion via tea cup. Even as she moved to attempt correcting her 'mistake' by staining her own dress, the young duke merely did what he could to stop her— no sense, in his mind, of her dirtying such a nice dress on a whim.

Granted, that was another difference between the two of them— one he struggled to keep in mind. Values. What he'd been raised to believe mattered, and what she'd been forced to learn mattered (likely for her own sake) were two entirely different things. As the tea cooled and settled into his waist, his pained expression was slowly replaced by a smile— either attempting to hide his discomfort, or genuinely amused by the situation so deeply that it overrode said discomfort.

"Point taken," He eventually conceded, a deep breath following afterwards as his somewhat sheepish eyes looked up at her own, "That was a step of teasing too far. Forgive me— I was having a bit of fun at your expense, I think."

The explanation was very... Valen. Equal parts sincere, naive, and oblivious of the intentions that lead to it. Slowly, as if testing the weight limit his legs could take, he began to rise once more; fanning himself a little. The hot tea had given a slight rise to his body temperature. "I'll have to have the council prepare another set of clothes before we depart— though I wouldn't be surprised if they had already thought to do so."

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At his words, she glanced at him, then lowered her gaze as she stepped away to give him space to rise. She hated that her face felt like the flames of a fire. And that she felt so.. akward- like each limb and action she took were wood.

What had she gotten herself into by agreeing to this? Fueno... no... she couldn't blame him. She agreed. This was her job. But why had it lead to something like this?

No.. no this had all been on her own. Each time she encountered the Duke, something drew them together. It didn't make sense. They lived in completely different worlds- lead completely different lives...

And she was here to spy on him.
And he knew it.

The words he spoke rolled about inside her brain, making her heart race and keeping the pink color staining her cheeks. He cherished their time together? Was he actually considering..

No that would be foolish. And if he were... he out ranked her by... about as much as anyone could out rank her. 

"I shouldn't have kissed you," she said softly, eyes ashamed- almost angry, as she looked at the ground. "Back at the lake..."

That's what she needed to say.. needed to do..
But why did a spike of panic.. of fear grip her that she'd lose this? Whatever this may be.

[Hyacinthus]

Valen blinked.

Wait... Surely she wasn't still dwelling on that situation, was she? Certainly, it had been a surprising revelation for Valen, her sudden and seemingly (from his perspective) unprovoked expression of her feelings... but he'd already accepted them. He'd had more than enough time between then and now to really ponder what that kiss meant— and while he didn't, and couldn't, know the depths of her emotions, he could understand that there were... some. Of a sort, anyway.

His mother had once told him a story about a woman she attended lessons with— about how that woman had met a dashing young man of an opposing noble house, and how that woman's unbridled disdain, venomous disposition and passionate beliefs against that man were so great that, in spite of himself, he fell in love with her. And she, in spite of herself, found that those strong feelings became so muddled and confusing in her heart that they blurred into the realm of attraction. A messy story of love amid politics— the sort that his mother loved to read about.

He was no Casanova, nor Ardal Rhond— he had neither the life experience to really understand another person's heart, nor the charisma to command said feelings. But what he lacked in both fields, he made up for in earnestness... or so he liked to think. "Hm... I should apologize then. I fear I've made your personal circumstances rather complicated by willfully involving myself with you."

He thought for a moment, before taking a step or so away from the spy, and toward the table— coming to lean against it for support as he considered what he could do to make right the whirlwind of emotions he'd unknowingly kicked up. "...Admittedly, I regret little of what happened at that time— perhaps just that I didn't ask your name when I had the chance, but... Hm."

And then a thought came to mind. A rather foolish one, and a disappointing one in his mind, but one born of the Duke's instilled sense of needing to pacify and yield to everyone around him.

"...Would you prefer that I pretend that never happened? That we've no relation in that regard? It would allow you to pursue your aims undeterred I presume. If it please you, I could take my leave of this room— pretend that we'd never spoken, never met. You're the resourceful sort— I imagine if you didn't want me to see or notice you again, you'd have no trouble making it so."

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She couldn't help but feel a surge of anger spike within her belly.  She tried to calm her emotions, but it seemed around him, they were hardly her own- or atleast not in her control.

And she wasn't sure why she was upset. Wasn't that basically what she was asking for? And still...


"Ah.. forgive me! I didn't realize the library was already occupied!"

Vaelyn nearly jumped clean out of her skin. Spinning around, she was ashamed not to sense the presence of someone else entering the library. A hand bad instinctively went to her waist, where a hidden blade rest. But she froze when she noted it was an elderly gentleman with a far too friendly of a smile and a long white beard.

"Oh goodness, Duke Valen! I hadn't realized it was you here. Please, pardon my interruption. I only meant to step away from the crowd."

[Hyacinthus]

For a fleeting moment, Valen's brow raised and his eyes widened— if only slightly. He felt his heart skip a beat as a flash of emotion sprung across the woman's face before him. He had no expectations— only hopes that his words would be enough for her to honestly express whatever it was that she wanted. And for a moment, it seemed so— at least, until said moment was interrupted.

The onset of another voice was like a bucket of water on Valen's soul. Just like that, the moment passed— and whatever fleeting wish he had seemed to vanish with it. He stepped away from the table, adoring a more suitable posture for a Duke, and raised a pardoning hand as the new face apologized for their interruption.

"Ah, worry not, good sir. We were just finishing a conversation." Valen trained his eyes on the older man with equal parts kindness and reserve, followed by the chair beside him as he courteously returned it to it's tucked-away place, and the cup to its saucer— all the while sparing not a glance toward the woman he'd been speaking with.

Perhaps he was wrong, or perhaps she was simply unwilling to make a choice on her own behalf— he could not know, but the older man's entrance reminded him that while he waited, the world— and more importantly, his duchy— waited longer still for him. Regardless of what he wanted, he could not simply set aside his title, nor his burden, forever— so he decided to make the best choice he could figure for both of them. He felt himself deflate a little— his ego, his 'self', retreating into a safe place within his heart at the thought.

He had fun— more fun than he'd had in recent memory. But he still had to be a Duke. It was time to return to the world of political exhaustion and manipulation, of being used and looked down upon from the shadows. "I've some other matters to attend to— not the least of which being a change of clothes. If you'll excuse me," He curtly stated, before heading out of the library.

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Vaelyn, he might have noticed, had used the appearance of the old man to slip out of the room.  She didn't go too far, lingering - if only for the reason to ensure the Duke was safe. 

But why should she care? This was ridiculous. She was here to get information, and well- she supposed she was getting something. Once she heard the Duke was excusing himself, she began to make her way towards the ball room, but paused- uncertain. 

What if she ran into someone that wanted to dance? And shouldn't she be sticking close to Valen? He  was her primary target, after all. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be here.. 


A strange thought occurred to her. She should have taken whatever he was offering. The friendship, the.. whatever...
It would keep her close. And the closer she got- the more secure her pockets could be lined with coin. Not everyone could work as a seamstress or milk maid or even a Duke...

No, Vaelyn's job was to get information and make money doing it. She was lucky Fuena kept her around. But.. well...

Fueno seemed to have a better eye and was always a step ahead of Vaelyn- no matter what she thought...
And she had a sneaking suspicion he left her alone here on purpose- so that something like this might happen.

She wouldn't mind... infact she shouldn't mind what she was doing.  It was her job...

And yet....
Something happened to the way she perceived the Duke, and it made her second guess each step she took.