Chapter 16 To Live #3
Brielle's smile crept up once more, but it was sad like an innocent adrift on the ocean.
“He’s not mine, Luci,” she said.
What an odd thing to say. Of course, their bargain said that he wouldn’t hold Brielle to the engagement, but that was just a formality.
“Not yet–”
“Do you want to know why I’ve been so happy here? Why did I do all this to begin with?” Brielle asked.
Luci shrugged, unsure if she did or not.
“You are always so stubborn.” Brielle groaned, throwing back her head. “I did it for you, you ridiculous woman. I’ve been happy because of you. All of this is for you.”
The world stilled, even the birds and the trees hushed their journey in witness to Brielle’s confession.
“What do you mean?” Luci asked.
Brielle sat back and sighed. “I thought you would be happy here if I gave it enough time. That would stop standing in your own way and give in. As always, you are too stubborn, and so I see it will take more time.”
No sense at all. The individual words made plenty of sense, but together they were just nonsensical.
Even still, they soothed something dark within Luci that was suffocating her.
That moment between the words and Brielle's understanding of them, there was nothing that gave away that she agreed with her father’s assessment.
Instead, Luci at least knew that Brielle rejected them even if that didn’t make them untrue.
“You are not a symptom, Lucinda Blackthorn, and if I hear you say that ever again, I will force-feed you pickled sardines until you admit you are a ridiculous human being.”
Wrinkling her nose, Luci scooted back from Brielle, who was slightly terrifying when she got like this. Not to mention that there was potentially nothing as horrifying as pickled sardines. The problem with loving someone with your whole life was that they quickly learned your weaknesses.
Undeterred, Brielle crawled towards Lucy, white night gown shimmering like a mermaid from the ocean’s depths. Luci braced for the impact of whatever she’d earned, but Brielle merely placed her hand over Luci’s heart and met her gaze.
Glistening tears welled in her big eyes, but didn’t fall. Her lips quivering, she pressed harder against Luci’s chest.
“You are my home, Lucinda Blackthorn. Not a place, not a prince, not an idea– just you.”
Noah was wrong. Living for someone else didn’t mean you lost yourself. It couldn’t, because of this feeling. This pressure over her chest and the rightness of it all was better than any independence. Luci didn’t need to know who she was so long as Brielle did.
Reaching her hand out, she pressed it to Brielle’s heart just as they had when they were girls.
“You are my home, Brielle Treveon. Not a place, not a prince, not an idea– just you,” she echoed.
The first tears fell in unison, and the world was right.
Even if Luci was the symptom, she would stand by Brielle while they found a cure.
A symptom was only a bad thing without a remedy, and if that remedy was a prince, then so be it.
Luci would stand and bear witness because there was no price she wouldn’t pay for the woman who was her home.
Brielle sniffed and wiped at her tears, settling back on her knees.
“There. Now, no more nonsense,” she said.
Amusement settled over Luci, and it was a release of tension that lessened the straining muscles of her neck and lowered her shoulders. She may not know much, but she knew what mattered.
“I know where the flower from the vision is,” Luci confessed.
Better to get it all over with now. Down below, Calcifer let out a pitiful meow.
The furball was sitting with his big green eyes, pleading. After successfully making eye contact, he let out another mournful sound.
“You are a cat. You can jump up if you want, pets.” Luci said.
“Don’t be mean to him. Jumping is hard for him.” Brielle said.
Sure enough, slipping off the windowsill, Brielle scooped him up into her arms and pressed kisses to either side of his cheeks. In answer, Calcifer began rumbling with mountainous purrs, settling into Brielle’s arms.
“He’s a terrible cat,” Luci said.
“He’s the best cat.” Brielle countered, snuggling into his endless fluff.
Rolling her eyes, Luci settled against the windowsill, letting the cold night air leak through into her skin. It was a nice reminder of what came next.
“Max already told us he figured it out. Ira is planning on leaving to go after it in two days.” Brielle said before Luci could speak.
“What?” Luci sprang forward.
Lips spreading in amusement, Brielle nodded.
“In the vision, he was holding a torch in a cave and laughing. So he and Max came to the conclusion that it had to be him who went after it.” Brielle said.
A coldness settled over Luci.
“That doesn’t mean anything. If that were the case, then–”
Brielle lifted an eyebrow and ran her hand over the now sleeping Calcifer, smoothing down his wild orange fur.
“Then you would need to go as well,” she finished.
“I won’t leave you,” Luci said.
As if it were nothing at all, Brielle shrugged and slid off the windowsill, making for the bed.
“Is that what you want? Should I go?” Luci asked.
Brielle settled Calcifer along the bed, and he stretched out his legs and arms before yawning and curling into a ball. Careful not to disturb him, Brielle slid beneath the blankets and settled into the pillow with a long sigh.
Luci followed, tucking herself into her side of the bed, heart pounding while she waited for her fate to be decided.
“Brielle?”
“I have a feeling fate doesn’t care much for our input. What will be will be.” Brielle yawned.
“This isn’t a fairytale,” Luci whispered into the dark.
The night stretched out before them, bearing witness to the fear of tomorrow.
“Of course it is,” Brielle said, the words stretched out.
Always a dreamer. Always a romantic. Maybe this was her fairytale.
After all, she had a prince who was willing to climb mountains for her.
Perfect blond hair and petite frame, Brielle was beautiful and made for a painting.
Delicate, kind, thoughtful. A princess in every sense of the word.
Who was Luci to deny the truth that was wrapped in a shiny bow?
“Maybe it is,” Luci whispered.
Where there should have been happiness, there was a ball that weighed down her stomach, eroding everything it touched. Hollowness in its destructive wake. Brielle deserved better than this pit swallowing her whole.
She could be happy for her friend. It was an easy task. For the rest of her days, Luci would dye her hair black and smile every time she watched Brielle whisked away with her prince. Because that meant that Brielle was healthy, and there could be nothing more beautiful than that.
She would be happy.
The thing about the dark, though, was that it saw and understood unspoken truths even when no one else did.