Sue jumped. "I er…King Lin, sir, I…get out." She said firmly, seeming to recover from her stammering. "These are a lady's quarters, and said lady is in the bath." Her voice was quiet, but firm. "You have no business in these rooms. If'n you need to speak with Miss Celeste, I can tell her to come and speak with you. An' if'n you needs to leave a message, I can writes it down for you. But get out." She pointed to the door, standing between Lin and the door to the bathroom.
Lin came to a halt, eyeing Sue with thinly veiled distaste. "And who exactly are you? Regardless of what type of rooms these are, I need a word with the witch." His voice brooked no tone for argument, though he did step back, eyes flickering with something almost like fear, as Pluto got inbetween him and Sue, a low growl sounding.
Sue lifted her chin slightly. "I'm the maid, sir." She replied, smoothing hr dress. "An' you can have your word with Miss Celeste after she's done with her bath." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "I don't want to call the guards on you, sir, but if you won't leave, I'll have to."
"I-It's fine, Sue." Celeste's voice was soft as she stepped out of the bathroom, a silk-like blue robe wrapped around her figure and tied carefully. She hadn't been able to find a towel before Lin had showed up. Her hair looked slightly dry, like she'd been standing there a bit before coming out. "You don't need to call anyone." She shot an assuring, if slightly weak, smile at the girl.
Sue narrowed her eyes slightly. "Are you sure, miss Celeste?" She asked, stepping aside slightly. "If'n he's goin' to bother you, I can make him leave." She said, fiercely loyal to the girl she had been told to serve.
"I'm sure. Thank you. Pluto?" Pluto's ears flickered to show he was listening to her, though she didn't speak out loud further. After a moment, the wolf moved to sit beside Sue, eyes never leaving Lin.
Lin scowled, reaching forward as though to grab Celeste's arm. She flinched back, and Pluto's growl made him pause, before he motioned to the door. "In the hall. Come." Celeste nodded, following him into the hall with one last reassuring look at Sue. She didn't quite look like she believed her own reassurances.
Sue frowned, and followed them to the door, closing it behind them. She stayed behind the door to listen. Not to spy, but to make sure Celeste would be okay. She was a fiercely protective and loyal little person, and she didn't want to see any harm come to Celeste under her watch.
"We do not have time for you to bond with the help, witch." Lin's voice spat, each word knife-like in tone. "We have more important things to worry about than socializing and taking baths."
"There's nothing wrong with bathing, or being friendly." Celeste responded, her voice not wavering despite the shuffle of her feet that could be heard. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Ah, right." Lin nodded, seemingly filing their original conversation away, whether for later or never. "The boy king."
Sue's eyes flickered slightly, glancing down at her feet and the plain, pale grey dress she wore. She bit her lip, not sure if she should continue to listen or not, but…if it concerned her king, her first worry should be protecting him, not the privacy of people she didn't know.
"What about the King?" Celeste didn't add the 'boy' before the word king, using his actual title and not the insult. She gave him the respect he deserved, at least in her mind, the respect he'd earned from her.
"You have talked with him already, but I want you to keep doing so. Gather information, earn his trust, I assume you can figure out how to do all that, and why." Lin said, a sneer evident in his voice. "And remember. If that stone were to end up in the wrong hands…" He let his words trail off, leaving Celeste to finish the sentence herself, in her mind.
Sue shifted, quietly listening. It was well known that King Soren was overworked and incessantly nagged by his court. There was a reason that the court had earned the name "Court of Wolves". Many of the nobles would do anything to further themselves, and it was no secret that the Duke would love to dethrone Soren, and replace the young king with himself, though the Duke had only a tenuous claim to the throne.
"He is weak right now. Spread thin, and overworked in all areas. He should be plenty easy to manipulate, especially for someone like you." The sound of Lin's feet moving reached Sue's ears, as though he was walking away, only, he almost seemed closer. He was towering over Celeste, a cheap intimidation tactic that he knew worked way better than it should. "You can't afford to not find that stone. Do you hear me?"
"Y-yes, I do." Celeste affirmed, her voice finally wavering. She didn't move or speak again until his footsteps had faded completely, when she pushed the door back open and slipped in, locking it behind her. "I should have saved that bath." She said, her voice just a bit too quiet. "Go ahead. Listening in had to give you questions."
Sue blushed, and looked down at her feet. "I-I'm sorry, miss. I just…I didn't want you hurt, and then…I don't want me king hurt neither, miss." She bit her lip. "Please don't hurt me, I didn't mean…" She put her shoulders in, still looking at the floor. Many ladies in the court had a habit of hitting or otherwise hurting a maid that displeased them in some way, or even if the lady was just having a bad day and needed someone to take it out on, maids were seen as an easy target. Many lords did the same.
Celeste blinked, her eyes widening slightly in horror as something like knowing flickered across her face. "Gods, no, I wouldn't-of course I won't hurt you. Curiosity, worry, whatever the reason you were listening, I can't and won't punish you for that. For anything, I swear." She spoke hurriedly, as though worried if she slowed down, Sue wouldn't believe her. "Especially not by hitting you."
Sue bit her lip, then nodded slowly. "Alright, miss Celeste." She said softly, looking up at Celeste slowly. She fidgeted with her dress for a moment, still biting her lip. "I-I…what stone?" She finally asked softly. "A-and what enemies?" She swallowed, still fidgeting with her dress.
Celeste adjusted the fabric of the robe, making sure it was on right. The markings over her heart were visible, at least the edges that seemed to be crawling outwards, and if you looked long enough, they seemed to move. "The stone…it belonged to my father. It was usually known as the Eye of Aurael, and it was supposed to enhance magic greatly, capable of making someone as strong as a demigod, allegedly." She said, focusing her multicolored eyes on the ground. "King Lin…wants to find it, to keep it out of King Soren's hands, because he believes he plans on using it." She didn't sound at all like she believed that, more like she was just repeating information.
"But…I fails to see how King Soren using it would be a bad thing." Sue said slowly. "I means, he's young, yeah, but…he ain't a bad king, not at all, miss. He's done the best by us servant girls than any king what came before him did." She said. "'sides, the king's got too much trouble here in his own court, like, to use a weapon on somethin'. And… what's King Lin goin' to do with it, anyways?"
Celeste shook her head, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "I don't-I don't know. I don't know what he's going to do with it, but he said he wanted to hide it. To lock it up somewhere safe, where no one could get ahold of it, and no one could use it to hurt anyone." She tugged a hand through her still-damp hair, , meeting Sue's eyes. "And I know your king isn't a bad king. That's…part of what's making me uneasy, part of what's making me question this. Because he isn't as bad as King Lin said he was, as I assumed he was."
Sue nodded slowly. "Oh…" She said, chewing on her lower lip. "Well…if King Lin isn't going to use it, and King Soren isn't goin' to use it, wouldn't it be safer just to leave it where it be?" She asked, shuffling her feet. "I means…if no one be going to use it, then don't it make more sense to just leave it be?"
"I don't know where it is. Someone could have it right now, someone here, and could be planning to use it." Celeste said, though she almost looked like she was trying to convince herself. "And I can't…take that chance. Not when I know what it's capable of." That, she seemed to believe, seemed incredibly sure of. She couldn't risk someone getting a hold of it and using it for evil. A repeat of her father was the last thing anyone needed.
"Well… couldn't you just find out, and if no one was going to use it, leave it?" She pointed out. "Or…or if you're so dead set against anyone usin' it, couldn't you just take it yourself, an' hide it?"
Her brows drew together as she frowned in thought, tilting her head. After a moment, she nodded, slowly at first, and then picking up a bit of speed. "That…makes sense. Hiding it myself, or just making sure it was already secure and keeping an eye on it."
Sue gave a cautious smile, not sure if she'd said the right thing. "Yeah. Then nobody with any bad plans can get ahold of it." She gave a tiny smile. "Plus it keeps the king safe. None of us servants wants him replaced. 'Cause the closest in the line of succession is the Duke, and the Duke…" Sue shuddered, and busied herself smoothing out the bedsheets and making sure there was no dust hiding on top of the dresser.
"Yes. I'd…like to get the chance to get to know him a bit better, so keeping him safe, for the sake of the kingdom and that, would be ideal." Celeste nodded, watching Sue with a tilt of her head and an oddly calculating look, like she was deciding on something. "The Duke…has he ever-done anything to you?"
Sue hesitated, hiding her shaking hands in her skirt folds. She took a breath. "Yeah, but…it don't matter much, miss Celeste. There isn't nothing anyone can do about it. The king's tried. He's made rules against stuff like that, but…at the end of the day, it don't matter. Nobles do what they want. 'specially the Duke, him bein' the second most powerful man in the kingdom, like." She looked down at her toes, hugging her arms around herself.