Adelphe's Convalescence

An Unbelievable Offer

An Unbelievable Offer

Not knowing anything was the worst part of her uselessness. Addie just had to sit there, her fingers drumming impatiently against the arms of her chair as she stared out into the storm, waiting for another bolt of lightning to illuminate the ship again.

The few times that it obliged her, she could tell that the ship wasn't moving. It remained hovering over the Quicksilver District, near but not directly beside the Sacellum, the second largest building in the city. If she wasn't wrong, it was near a rather large dock. Not the one below the Bronze District that served as a massive docking station for the larger ships of the city, but an on-plate dock that could serve multiple small ships or a singular large one.

No one was shooting at it, but it also wasn't trying to attack them.

This unknowing was driving her insane. She wasn't used to not knowing things, she especially wasn't used to just sitting down while something bad could be happening.

Her tea, sweet rolls, and food had all grown cold as she ignored them in favor of trying to stare pointlessly through the storm at the ship. She was certain that if it was a problem then it was going to be handled, but not even being privy to that information was infuriating.

While waiting, she stared harder at the vessel, trying to glean any scrap of information she could.

It was decently sized, but not so large that it could hold any kind of fighting force. It was one of the Stargazer class ships, which were Gascony ships used for peaceful missions. Which meant that it had no weapons and was built more for comfort than deployment. Just from the size, she couldn't imagine that it would hold more than a few people along with the crew and staff.

"My lady? You didn't eat."

Valerie's concerned voice floated into her ear but Addie only noted it with a distant part of her mind as she continued to stare through the rainy glass.

The young girl didn't sound worried about anything other than her lack of appetite, but Addie wasn't surprised. Most of the common folk wouldn't recognize a Gascony ship on sight. They wouldn't have reason to fear a seemingly peaceful ship that was docking, even if it was during a bad storm.

"Didn't Lady Felicie bring you this plate?" Valerie was asking, staring at the cold chicken with a sorrowful frown of concern. "And you barely touched your tea. My lady..."

"Valerie..." Addie took in a breath then let it out slowly. "Can you reheat it for me?"

She beamed eagerly before nodding, taking the plate back. "I'll have the chef make you a new one."

"That's really not..." Her voice faded away as Valerie was already walking away quickly.

Addie rubbed her temple in annoyance. She knew that they were only trying to care about her, but she really wished that she wasn't being treated like an invalid.

Time continued to pass by entirely too slowly and nothing happened. Valerie returned with a new plate of not only freshly cooked chicken and potatoes, but a side of steamed greens and a freshly buttered roll. They were trying very hard to entice her into stuffing herself full.

The food turned to ash in her mouth, however Valerie remained hovering nearby. Not obtrusively, and she was out of Addie's sight, but her presence was obvious and quite clearly she wasn't going to leave this time until she saw Addie eat.

While she was a paladin, Addie was not accustomed to being surrounded by servants and maids. Felicie was, but she also spent most of her time here. As a spy, Addie sometimes didn't even have access to basic necessities, never mind such luxuries.