Chapter 7 After The Ball
Chapter seven
After The Ball
While there is nothing quite like a ball and a first dance, what comes after is often where the story begins.
-Tales From Meridea, Volume III
Warm light and plush silk inlaid with cotton surrounded Luci in a perfect nest of comfort.
Muscles stretching, she reveled in how good it felt to be in bed and wake up to the sun’s embrace.
Outside, birds chirped a sweet melody. Everything was perfectly as it should be.
Except that wasn’t quite right. A nagging in the back of her mind knotted and twisted until she was forced to consider that to be awake meant surrendering blissful ignorance.
Memories rushed her like a wild east wind, forcing her to sit up. Maybe they had been dreams? Terrible, beautiful dreams. Lifting her hand to her lips, she felt the ghost of almost kisses that had felt stolen and right.
“Oh, thank the light!” Brielle’s voice was too high, worried. “Mrs. Blakesley, please tell my step-mother that Luci is awake.”
“About time,” muttered Mrs. Blakesley from across the room, but Luci could have sworn there was a hint of a whispered prayer as the door closed behind her.
Brielle. With a remarkable lack of grace, Luci flung herself free from her cocoon and found Brielle sitting cross-legged next to her.
Well. Brielle was alive and well through the worst of her storm.
Thoughts of trickster princes and impossible magic fled her mind as she pressed her hand to Brielle’s forehead. Cool. No fever.
A rush of air left Luci’s chest, and it was like she could take a whole breath once more.
Tension released in waves down her body, her shoulders dropping and her back loosening.
Being away from Brielle when she was sick was not an experience Luci intended to have again.
This was her place. Not a castle, she could barely breathe in.
“Are you all right?” Brielle said, gentle and hesitant.
The only time Brielle had ever taken that tone with her was when she had come back from Picadilly Street. Like she was afraid remembering would break Luci. It settled over her, changing the elation she had just been feeling to something else. Something wary.
“I’m fine,” Luci said. “Just happy you are feeling better.
Brielle reached out her hand and took Luci’s in hers. Her round eyes had a silver mist as if she were seconds from losing her composure. It was too much for Luci’s frail heart, and she pulled her friend closer, wrapping her in a tight embrace.
Shoulders shaking, Luci held her as she worked through the darkness that clouded her.
“I’m all right, Bri. I promise.” Luci murmured.
Brielle pulled away with tracks of tears running down her pale cheeks. “It’s not okay. Look at you.”
Her fingers trailed over the cuts on her hands, and Luci was forced to admit they were off-putting. The gashes were deep, and someone had stitched them, but she had no memory of it. No memory of anything after she got in the carriage.
“The prince did this to you,” Brielle said with more menace in her voice than ever before.
“No!” Luci began, voice too high. “I mean, he did, but not really. It’s his fault, of course, but I don’t think his intention-”
“Intent does not supersede impact,” Brielle said.
Chin held high despite her waning tears and lips pulled tight; she was more commanding than Luci had ever seen her.
All in defense of an injustice she believed Luci had endured.
Maybe it was warranted, but for some reason, Luci couldn’t muster up the energy to hold a prince accountable that she would never see again.
“You would have loved it, Bri. The gowns, the decor, the glamour.” Luci said.
“You don’t have to tell me if you aren’t ready to talk about it, but you also don’t have to pretend everything is okay when it isn’t, Luci.”
There was a hurt in the words that she tried to hide, but there was nothing Brielle could have hidden. She was simply too good for deception. One of the things that made her irrevocably beautiful.
“He didn’t hurt me like that.” Luci swallowed, “He took me to the room of mirrors.”
Brielle gasped, hand rising to her mouth. “Luci…”
Words seemed to fail her as she stared with wide eyes.
Yesterday, Luci would have rolled her eyes at the anticipation the thought of magic produced, but after last night, everything had changed.
There was no explanation for the images she saw and the way she felt.
Magic existed, but it was also terrifying.
“I saw-.” Luci swallowed. “Things. I don’t know how to put them into words, but when it was over, the glass broke, which is how I got these.”
Holding her hands out before them, Brielle reached out and lowered them. Gentleness and kindness radiated from her despite the worry that shone in the creases around her eyes and the slight frown she wore.
“I believe you. If you say that’s what happened, then that’s the end of it, but Luci, if it all exploded, how is it only your hands and arms that were hurt?”
Fair enough.
“The prince covered me with his body,” Luci said.
Luci could practically see Brielle rewriting the narrative in her mind, and as her lips grew into a wide smile and her cheeks flushed, Luci saw the fairytale she had concocted.
This time, she really did roll her eyes because, of course, Brielle would see a romance where there was none.
An annoying voice in the back of her mind whispered it wasn’t nothing, but that was all the time spent reading books.
The reality was that he had locked her in that room, and like Brielle said, impact superseded intent.
“That’s very romantic.” Brielle half whispered, half squealed.
“Lady Margaret told me that all anyone could talk about was how the prince had been captivated by you and swept you away. She said Lady Annabeth was practically fuming with smoke from her head. It all sounded wonderful until she told me how she had found you and how he had asked for discretion. Of course, we thought the worst, but this- Luci, you have to tell me everything you saw. Do not skip a single detail,” she wagged a finger at her, narrowing her eyes. “I’ll know if you do.”
There was no arguing with Brielle when she got like this, so Luci huffed out a long sigh and threw herself back on her pillow and recited every detail, breath, and moment of the night before.
Part of her wanted to conceal the moments that had stolen her breath.
The almost kiss, the pull she felt to him, the charm that oozed from him in droves.
But it was Brielle, and Luci was not in the habit of lying to the only person who had ever mattered.
When she was through, and her throat ached for water, she closed her eyes and let darkness consume her while Brielle sat open-mouthed next to her.
At least a minute back before she made any noise, which came out as a half-groan, half-chirp of delight.
Despite her attempt at stoicism, Luci felt her mouth tug up and humor drip into her blood.
“Lucinda. Blackthorn.” Brielle said.
Luci groaned at the oncoming onslaught and dragged a pillow over her face, which was quickly stolen from her.
“You are blushing!” Brielle accused.
Light above. She was not. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut, but she hadn’t. These were the consequences of her actions. Luci rolled over until her face was flat against the pillow, nearly suffocating, which was fine.
Seeing an opportunity, Brielle squealed and thrashed around until she landed with her head on Luci’s back, lying sideways on the bed.
“You are in love.” Brielle sighed wistfully.
Choking on the lack of air, Luci pushed herself up, gently heaving the crazed woman beside her.
“I spent an hour or so with him, you see. And he locked me in a room where I sustained grievous injuries,” she said, holding out her hands as evidence.
Brielle shook her head, face beaming as if she hadn’t been on death’s door less than twenty-four hours ago. That was the thing about Brielle. Life was always too precarious and too unpromised not to live every moment.
“Lucinda Vencia, Queen of Meridia,” she said, sitting up straighter.
“I abhor you,” Luci said, dryly.
That sent Brielle into a fit of giggles, and Luci would have been lying if her chest didn’t feel lighter hearing them. She would allow declarations of love and daydreaming if it elicited those sounds from her best friend.
“Here I thought you would be more interested in, I don't know, the part where I told you magic is real.”
Brielle’s giggles came to a halt. “I always knew it was. It isn’t a surprise, but we should talk about what it means for you.”
Luci’s mouth twitched as she let her eyes dance over the room they shared, where Calcifer attempted to trap a beam of light in his paws from where he was spread out in a cloud of fluff on the floor. It was actually pretty adorable, but Luci wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of telling him that.
“Luci, it’s a hero’s calling. She said it was a map.”
“You said.” Luci corrected.
“Yes, magic me. So you should take heed.” Brielle said, forcing Luci to meet her gaze.
“I am not going on a quest.”
And she wasn’t. There was one thing that would always be true, and that was that Luci was meant to be by Brielle’s side.
Magical forces or not. What even was the purpose of a quest?
A map to what? It was all nonsense. Except for the feeling that filled her at seeing Brielle full of life, none of the paleness she held now flooded Luci.
Was that what was being offered? Brielle’s life?
It would be a decision that would kill her.
To save her friend by leaving her. Either way, Luci was not prepared to chase strands of fantasy in the hopes of salvation.
Here at Blythe, she could take care of Brielle.
Maybe it would never be what was promised in those images, but it wasn’t worth the risk of it all being nothing and leaving Brielle alone.
No. She was staying right where she was.
“What if you can bring magic back? It would change everything.” Brielle pleaded.
“Everything is fine the way it is. We have each other.” Luci said, folding her arms.
Brielle’s eyes softened. “And we always will, but the world is bigger than you and me.”
Luci gave a petulant snort, which was more than she cared to give to the matter.
She was saved from Brielle’s guilting about making a difference to the world by Lady Margaret slamming the door open, curlers in her hair, and yipping dogs at her heels.
A too-pink robe was half haphazardly tied around her, and half her face was painted in rouge.
It was a sight that Luci hadn’t anticipated, but more than that, it was the sight of the letter with the Treveon seal in her hand that made her stomach drop.
“Luci, darling, thank the light above you are awake and well. I was just getting ready when Mrs. Blakesley informed me, but I thought I would give you two a moment before I barged in. At least that was before this arrived, and now I must insist you both get out of bed and ready yourselves. What a remarkable day!”
She lifted Drusilla up and pressed a kiss to her nose, which finally made the dog stop barking for a minute, but Stasia continued on with her incessant raging. Having enough, Luci dragged herself out of bed and went to the beast and squatted down.
Trying to look as menacing as possible, she said, “If you don’t stop, I’m going to pick you up and show you affection.”
Sure enough, the threat was enough because the dog huffed out an irritated breath and jumped on the bed to curl up in Brielle’s lap. Calcifer hissed from up on the wardrobe, clearly furious that his game of catching the light had been interrupted.
“You’ll be fine, Cal,” Luci said.
The cat might be fine, but Luci was less sure about herself as Lady Margaret pulled her into her with a hug and pressed a red-lipped kiss to her head.
“My girl, I should have known you had it in you, but after what happened last night I had thought-” she trailed off, searching Luci’s face, “Well, darling, I don’t know what happened, but I am not certain how you could refuse, but even if you did we would find a way, except-”
Her mouth fell open, and the color leached from her face. “Oh no. I didn’t think- I forgot.”
“Lady Margaret?” Luci asked, gently.
In answer, she handed Luci Drusilla, who immediately began a low growl until Luci released her. Thoroughly put out, she went and sat herself next to Brielle, who was anxiously petting Stasia.
“You are pale, Step-mother,” Brielle said, gently.
It was as if someone had reached inside Luci’s body and squeezed her heart, dread filling her every breath. Whatever was on that letter was something that was dangerous. She knew it like she knew her own name. That letter would ruin everything.
“I- Oh, no, what are we to do? I thought-” Lady Treveon’s hands trembled.
Without warning, she leaned to the left, her balance giving way, but Luci was there in a moment, and Brielle in a few after that. Together, they helped her to a nearby chair, and Brielle gently reached for the letter.
“May I?” she asked.
Lady Margaret let out a pitiful wail, but handed it to her all the same.
Luci watched with increasing nausea as Brielle’s eyes rapidly skimmed the paper before raising to hers. There was a horror that Luci had never seen before in her eyes as she dropped the letter, letting it fall to the floor, shaking the entire manor.
“The prince has declared his engagement,” she said slowly.
Well, that had been a bit dramatic. That was the plan after all.
Lady Annabeth would make a terrible queen, but if that was what the prince chose, then may they be very something together.
The word wasn’t quite clear as there was a sickly pull in her gut at the thought of them together. Probably pity for Prince Ira who was-.
“To me.” Brielle finished.
The world spun, and Luci clasped her arms around her stomach as if that would somehow hold back the bile rising in her throat. Her eyes locked with Brielle’s, and she silently wished her not to say another word.
But wishes only worked in stories.
“And he is on his way to Blythe at this very moment.”