There was something there that made each of them forget their true mission. Lydia was drawn to the ancient maps and the like, several of which she was disappointed to know that either she or Andrew had discovered in the past forty years; Tim, while still close, couldn’t resist the urge to mess with whatever artifacts were in sight; Henry and Tavin found age-old records, muttering things to each other that she didn’t even attempt to understand. It took several neutral reminders and reassurances that they could come back later for them to completely get back on track.
The room they eventually discovered was pretty small, all things considered. It felt more like a storage room than anything else—various trinkets were scattered around what seemed to be haphazardly, whether they be piled on top of each other on shelves or scattered across the floor. What made it stand out from the average storage room was the kind of stuff that was inside of it.
“Aren’t these all a bunch of long-lost artifacts..?” Tim questioned, giving one look at Lydia before going to touch one of them. “The kind of stuff legends are actually right to say that they’ll never be found.”
“It’s the perfect place for all of them to be,” Henry pointed out. “Maybe someone got them, gathered them all here, then since no one else was worthy enough to get in, they were presumed to be lost to time.”
Tavin carefully picked through a few that were together on a shelf. “Doesn’t that feel pretty convenient, though? They’re already here, so there’s no need to put in that time to get them.”
Lydia hated to think that he had a point and, understanding that it could make it better or worse, said, “Well, either way, these are the kinds of things the Stones have been trying to find for our entire lineage. Luckily most of them are small so we can bring back as many as possible for Dad to look at.” She carefully stepped around some of the trinkets on the floor to get to the back of the room. “Now, how to figure out if one of them is what we need to find the next clue..?”
“Why don’t we try the ring?” Tim offered, pulling it out as he said it. “It doesn’t look like there’s any text to read or projections to watch, so it’s the only clue we have.”
“It changed before,” Henry agreed, “maybe it could change again?”
The mutual agreement from the other two gave Tim the assurance he needed to look around with it. It didn’t look like anything was happening for a little while, until he got further in and closer to one of the trinkets beside Lydia.
“It’s this one,” she said. “The reflection’s changing a little.”
“But only a little,” he mumbled.
“It’s probably like when the reflection changed the first time,” Henry remarked. “It didn’t really show through until Granddad let it be in the sun for a little while, so maybe this needs to be close to the right clue for long enough.”
“We should probably still check the other artifacts,” Tavin suggested. “It could be another one that’s close to here and not necessarily this one in particular. We can’t take all of these with us right now so we need to be sure we have the right one.”
Lydia nodded. “I’ll keep this one in my satchel for now until we know it’s what we’re looking for. We can check around the rest of the archives a little, but I’d like us to be heading back to Mathieu’s estate before sundown.”
…
She went through all the events of the past few days when they returned to Mathieu. She hadn’t bothered paying attention to where the boys went off to, having all the trinkets they gathered with her and showing them to Mathieu, though assumed they weren’t getting into trouble anywhere.
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He looked over all of the things in front of him. “These are quite the finds you made. Were they really all together?”
“I took a few more on our way out that I think Dad would’ve liked, but mostly, yeah. I tested some of the ones that I knew what they did, and they match each legend’s description perfectly.”
His curious gaze turned into a more distant stare, something feeling like he had knowledge she didn’t. “Why did you put them all there?”
“I don’t understand. This is the first time I’ve seen any of these in person. How could I place them there if I didn’t even know that they were real?”
“You realized you wouldn’t be able to stay here forever—that there’s only so much time you can have with them. But in the process, didn’t you just ruin a part of what made you choose to do this in the first place?”
“Alright, you’re starting to get a little weird. Are you drunk or something..?”
Mathieu snapped out of it at that moment, shaking his head. “Completely sober.” Now it seemed he didn’t know any more than she did, if he even remembered what he said at all. “Well, anyway, I couldn’t imagine having to go through with all of that. I don’t imagine it was easy, having to work with people like that with the boys’ wellbeing at risk.”
She tried her best to get over what was said too. “I just did what I had to. If I’m going to be honest, that’s the most terrifying thing I’ve done while adventuring in a while.”
“No wonder! If I had to guess, there’s precious little left in this world that could scare the famed Lydia Stone, but a love of one’s family means many things. I applaud the fact you seemed to have handled it so well and recount it like any other part of your adventure; were I in your place, I’m nearly sure I’d give myself a heart attack.”
“I guess after a while you learn to put on that characteristic attitude even at the worst of times.”
“Are the boys as fine with it as you seem to be?”
“They all knew that, one way or another, everything was going to be okay in the end. It wasn’t too long and there wasn’t really anything but threats. I think the only thing that they might still be worried about is if they’re going to come back; I hope, at least, that after a little while they’ll be able to forget about it entirely.”
“Would you like me to try to figure out where the Messengers might be? As long as they’re still in Quennell territory, I should be able to keep an eye on them. I may even be able to point Lady Onesa in their direction for her to deal with them, given what they said they’d do to the four of you.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. For some reason… I don’t think they’re going to be coming back any time soon, if at all. Even if they did, I doubt messing with people more or less being sent by a god is the smartest idea, no matter what they did while they were out.”
Mathieu gave it a moment of consideration. “I suppose that makes sense. I’ll still be here, though, if you ever decide to change your mind.”
She smirked. “Don’t forget I’m friends with the king and commander of the army. Kiah will probably help take care of something if I ever decide I need it.”
He grinned too. “Not interested in what a count has to offer? Ah well.” He rose from his chair to leave, before remembering something else and glancing back at her to ask, “How’s Tavin doing, by the way? He didn’t look too good when you came back and it sounds like it’s been a taxing couple of days for him.”
“He’ll be fine with some more rest. We’re probably going to be staying here for at least a few more days until he’s ready, but that gives us plenty of time to sort out all these new artifacts and the next clue.” When she’d looked at the ring’s changed reflection this morning, it looked like the man from the last projection they saw in Palus; that was the only thing they knew, though, and aside from that there was hardly anything to go off of.
“You’re welcome here as long as you need, and I’ll be more than willing to host you if you decide to return.” Mathieu waved goodbye and left.
Lydia gathered up the trinkets, now taking the time to properly sort through them. They needed to be as safe as they could during their trip; if they were all what legends said they were, a few were especially dangerous, so she made an effort to be careful. She imagined the look Andrew would have when she showed them to him; the pride, the amazement… maybe even a compliment. It was something that she always strived for yet only obtained once or twice in all her time adventuring—best yet, she’ll be able to share the accomplishment with her sons.