A/N: I’ve given up with trying to keep the timelines between Victoria and Haven matching, and if I do, I’ll be pulling my hair out. Rest assured, they will perfectly link up later.
Yadira
I’ve eaten supper in my room for a few nights now, just to prove I can. However, being honest with myself, it kind of sucks, so I instructed Ali to inform the staff that I plan on having supper with ‘his majesty’ in the dining room tonight. She smiled widely and said she’d do that immediately.
I sigh. She’s made it plain that she thinks Reck and I should ‘get together,’ that it would be perfect. At first, I wondered if Reck was paying her to say that, but eventually, I decided that couldn’t be the case. It’s too honest the way she says it. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons Reck hired her, that she started with that opinion; that could be it.
Now I have the task of dealing with how obnoxious he’s going to be. He’s going to read too much into it. I merely want to sit at an actual table instead of eating off a tray. It has nothing to do with him.
That time arrives, and I make my way down to the regular dining hall. I was careful not to select anything to wear that would make him think I did it all for him. In fact, I look very plain. Taking a steadying breath, I push open the door.
I almost walk back out the second I enter the room. He’s wearing pants, has the hair on his head hanging freely, but what really gets me is that he’s only wearing a vest as a top. And it’s unbuttoned.
He stands with his face looking out the window, and he doesn’t turn his head. I know he’s heard me come in because he says, “Evening. Such a surprise when the staff informed me of your decision.” His voice betrays no significant emotion. He still doesn’t look at me, acting like he doesn’t care if I’m here or not.
“I merely wished to sit at a table like a normal person. Nothing more,” I state and make my way over to my seat, the one I assume is to the right of the head of the table. Naturally, his place would be there. He must hear the chair move because he finally turns around. Then he scowls and swiftly strides over.
“What are you doing?” He points to the head of the table. “THIS is your place.”
I give him a look. “Don’t be ridiculous.” I stubbornly stay in the seat, now even more wanting to sit here.
He blinks and looks confused. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. You’ve on more than one occasion said that you outrank me. I thought it only natural to forgo my usual space.” He plops down at the head of the table.
He’s up to something. That’s not how he usually dresses.
Someone walks in carrying a wine glass. They present it to him. “Thank you, and don’t bother sending for a fresh shirt. I’m comfortable enough.”
The man does a slight bow, and Reck turns to me. “In my surprised moment, I accidentally spilled a bit of red wine on my shirt. You don’t mind, do you?”
Crap. If I say I do mind, he’ll know that yes, in fact, I do mind—because I think he looks hot. The hair being down only adds to it. If I say I don’t mind, he’ll take that to mean that I like it. “You do what you like. It doesn’t matter to me.” There. Saying it doesn’t matter works.
“Oh good. I worried it would make you uncomfortable.”
I’ve half a mind to take myself and move to the other end of the table. I would, but I also don’t want to make things awkward for the servers… whom I wish would hurry up and get to serving.
Seeing I’m not going to speak, he starts back at it. “I had a fantastic day today. I got to meet with an actual electrical engineer. Luckily for us, the old power plant was mothballed long before the wars since everyone went to nuclear power. It’s a miracle it wasn’t demolished. Still, we’re going to have to rebuild some of it from scratch. Fortunately, I have people with those kinds of skills, but they’re going to have to be taught what to do and how to get what they build to a safe standard.” Again, he pauses, probably staring at me, but I can’t look at him right now without possibly betraying my thoughts. “It’s progress. There is at least someone available to train others. Naturally, I’m placing him in charge of the entire operation and rewarding him greatly with a huge bonus should he manage to get it operational. Then our next challenge will be replacing the power grid itself not to mention mining the coal.”
I remember something Corin said about getting the coal. “And where will you get the workers for the mines?”
He almost breathes a sigh of relief… because I spoke? “Where else? More people arrive every day, and they’ll need jobs. Everyone gets assigned a job when they arrive depending on what the interviewers think of the skills they already possess.”
I chew on the inside of my lip for a moment. “I can’t imagine that working in a coal mine will be a highly-desired job.”
“It will if I make it better paying than some. Like anything in the past, different jobs have different pay scales.”
I cut my eyes over to him to see him watching me intently, so much so that I have to subdue how much it startles me. “Well, what if that still doesn’t entice people to the job?” I’m baiting him. I want to see if I can get him to admit to me what he possibly admitted to Corin.
He takes a breath. “Then I offer more until people bite. There is always a magic price.”
I stare just as intently back into his eyes as he does mine. “But what if that price is higher than you want to pay? What if that price is so high that you decide to go a different route to get workers?”
He blinks and gives me a kind of shrewd expression. “Are you insinuating something, Yadira?” He pauses. “We ARE talking about coal miners’ pay, correct?”
I back up in my chair. “What else would we be talking about?” Oh dear, I hope he hasn’t tried to make some kind of twisted innuendo out of everything I said.
He does a kind of shrug for hands. “I’m merely trying to determine the root of this line of questioning you’ve thrown my way. It doesn’t seem random.”
I glare. “I’m merely expressing concern over how the labor force in this city is treated, especially when it comes to less-desirable jobs. I want to make sure that certain… methods… for handling the labor issue aren’t attempted.”
A look comes into his eyes now, and he returns my glare. “Are you trying to say that you’re making sure I don’t reinstall slavery as a ‘method’?”
“Well, that would be one awful way to do it, wouldn’t it?”
“It would, and, contrary to what I may have said more than a year ago, I have no desire to create that kind of a civilisation.” He must know that I heard about what he’d said from Corin.
I do nothing but stare at him, trying to read his expression. “But you admit you said it.”
“I did. To Corin and no one else. It was a passing thought said in anger… as most things I said in those days were said.” He appears to be chewing his words.
“He told us.”
“Apparently, and now, I have an entire settlement of people having that opinion of me. Marvelous.”
“Did you honestly expect anything less? Surely you don’t think they all see you as a hero in a fairytale.”
“No, but I didn’t suspect I’d become the boogieman of a bedtime story!” he yells. Then he takes a breath and puts his hands over his face. “Yadira, all I’ve wanted is for people to have a safe place to live. Yes, my motives were sometimes directed to gaining more power in order to create that safer environment. I suppose more than sometimes, but it was always in an effort to protect the ones I care about.” He takes another breath and moves his hands. “But that’s not how it’ll be remembered, will it?”
“What I heard about you is that you crave power and whatever means you can use to get it.”
“It’s true! But it’s because of all of us, I was the one with the cool head! The other three would just as soon punch someone as look at them. Leaders don’t think that way, not good ones. We needed a cool head to lead, and others were approaching us, wanting to join. I naturally became the leader, even they agreed, even if they insisted upon that ridiculous ‘council’ where all anyone would do would be sit there and argue while getting nothing accomplished. Since I’ve become king, I’ve taken this city from a grouping of muddy shacks to a proper metropolis.”
“I’m not saying you’re not good at what you do. I just want to make sure you don’t slip back into the temptations absolute power can offer.”
“Like I could ever even consider doing anything of the sort since your arrival.”
He doesn’t get to continue because at that time, the servers arrive with our food. As we eat, we have a bit of an audience. I can only guess this is nothing new, but I’d wager this is the first time they’ve actually bothered him by their presence. I can sense he has much, much more he’d like to say.
As it is, he still manages to keep up a kind of small talk. We even talk about the weather of all things.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I plan on stealing Niel from you a few nights a week.”
I can’t resist. “I didn’t think your interests went in that direction.” I smirk.
He laughs. “I need him to teach me his martial arts.” Then his eyes pierce into me. “And my interests only go in one direction and have ever since she walked into my throne room.”
Damn him and damn myself for setting that up so perfectly for him. “I was only teasing.”
“I wasn’t.” The corners of his mouth lift.
I stand. “That’s me finished then. Good evening, Reck.”
He stood with me. “I was hoping to continue our earlier conversation.”
I’m already walking to the door. “Perhaps some other time.”
Next chapter: back to Orion and Corrine!
After the End 