Chapter 30 To Believe
Chapter thirty
To Believe
There was a girl who believed too much and wished too often. And in the end, the world was better for it.
-The Whispered Tales of Blythe
Sunset painted pink and orange over Brielle’s bed as if it wanted to linger with her a little longer.
The moon forced it down to rest till morning came.
Luci lay next to her best friend, watching Brielle’s chest rise and fall over and over.
It was the same thing she’d done since returning the night before.
People came and went, Noah to administer more of the flower’s tonic, Lucien, to sit and watch Brielle breathe with Luci, Ira to try to convince Luci to step away to take care of herself, Lord Treveon to make sure it wasn’t all a dream, though he always left with thin lips and none of his spiteful words.
In fact, he hadn’t said one word to Luci since the moment Brielle started breathing once more.
Lady Margaret came twice to press a kiss to Brielle and Luci’s foreheads and to tell Luci she did a wonderful job.
Once Max stopped by, but he complained that sick people made him weary, and he left.
Sometimes, after having no luck convincing her, Ira would send in Gladys to try, but no force on land or sea could have pried Luci away from Brielle after almost losing her.
Mostly, there was Calcifer. He rotated sleeping between them and Brielle’s pillow above her head. He never strayed far from his mistress; whether he understood how close they’d come to losing her or the trauma inherited in his adventure, he was firmly attached to Brielle.
As Luci watched the sunset through the evergreen trees and faraway mountains in the distance, she brushed a strand of hair from Brielle’s cheek and tucked it behind her ear.
Brielle didn’t stir, but her breath was even, and her color was better than it had been in years.
Her cheeks were pink, and her lips were rosy red.
Exactly like the story of the sleeping princess.
Sometimes she would wonder if this was all a terrible trick.
After all, the stories always said magic was never what it seemed.
There were often prices to pay. Every now and then, she would get lost in those thoughts, and she would struggle to find air while worry racked her body.
She needed to be calm for Brielle, so she pushed the thoughts down and buried them.
A knock on the door had her shifting, but she didn’t get up except to murmur that whoever it was could come in.
She was starting to get good at recognizing footsteps, and the heavy footfalls said it was one prince.
“Back again?” Luci asked.
“Yes, well, this time it’s for a favor,” Lucien said. “I’m not used to delivering meals, but here I am.”
He came around the opposite side of the bed and set a gold tray filled to the point of ridiculousness. Three drinks of varying colors, chicken, roast beef, potatoes, cheese, grapes, a slice of chocolate cake, and an apple pie.
“I’m not hungry, but thank you,” she added the last slightly begrudgingly, given she still did not like him.
He took his seat while simultaneously running his eyes over Brielle’s face, searching.
The dark circles under his eyes had now retreated, and he was back to his princely state in a loose shirt and dark pants, hair freshly washed and styled.
Part of the reason Luci tolerated him was that when she arrived, there was no denying how affected he was by Brielle's state.
It made him a little human, but only a tiny bit.
“Listen, if you could just eat like a bite of something so my brother can stop harassing the kitchen staff and Gladys and me, I would be forever grateful. Apparently, because you aren’t eating, you are probably dying, because that is very unlike you.
If this doesn’t improve soon, poor Max will be enlisted. ”
“Max could never be coerced into doing anything,” Luci said.
Lucien shook his head with a chuckle that almost made him seem good-natured.
“I’ve been told you are stubborn, but think about it this way. People are going to begin to get suspicious when my brother is more concerned for his fiancée’s servant than his actual fiancée. So maybe eat a few bites to spare us that crisis.”
That was more the Lucien she knew and expected. Calculating and manipulative. She hated that he was right. No one knew that Brielle dissolved the engagement, and until she woke up, it would only place scrutiny on her when she awoke.
Reaching over, she plucked a grape from the tray and plopped it into her mouth, glaring at Lucien.
“If I eat, will you leave?” she asked.
His smile fell as he leaned back in his chair.
“Why do you dislike me so much?” he asked.
This was not the conversation she wanted to be having.
In fact, the only person she wanted to speak to was Brielle, but almost dying took a toll, and she was sleeping peacefully.
As much as she didn’t want it, maybe it was better that it happened now while Brielle was asleep.
Whatever attachment she’d formed to him was only temporary.
After all, Luci spared her the knowledge of what an awful person he truly was.
“It meant nothing to you, didn’t it? The words cost you nothing, let alone the force,” she said, sitting up and meeting him inch for inch.
His brows furrowed together, and Luci knew she was right.
A moment she played over and over in her mind was lost to his memory.
Never filed away under life-changing moments that she replayed over and over in her mind.
Wondering if she should have said or done more.
Looking at him now, she knew it didn’t matter. It was never going to matter.
“What a shame such a proud house name went to such a weakling,” she recited with all the animosity it was originally spoken in.
Lucien’s lips thinned, and he sat a little straighter, running a hand over his face.
There was emotion there, but it was feigned.
“And then I said, thank the light above that you were born third so we’d never have to suffer a rule by an incompetent nitwit,” she said.
A long sigh broke loose from him, and he nodded, resignation in the drop of his shoulders.
“And then I struck you,” he said.
Luci brought her hand to her cheek as she often did when she recalled the memory, but this time she didn’t hide from it. She faced him and held his gaze.
“And then you struck me,” she said.
He nodded and dropped her gaze, opting to glance at Brielle before he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and pocketing his head in his hands.
“I was a lost kid desperate to feel powerful, and you made me feel small. I lashed out in the only way I knew how to take that power back. I’m sorry, Lucinda. I’m not that kid anymore.”
Part of her wanted to believe him for Ira’s sake, but up until a minute ago, he hadn’t even recalled the memory.
“She doesn’t know what you said about her, but if I have to tell her, I will. I don’t know what you are playing with her, but she’s been through enough. She deserves a chance to be happy.” Luci said.
“And I could never make her happy?” he said it like it wasn’t a question at all.
“She is kindness embodied and good to a fault. She deserves someone as equally good and kind,” she said.
Lucien tilted his head, and Luci knew by the way he studied her that she already hated what he would say.
“Good thing she is engaged to Ira, who is both of those things,” he said.
It cut as much as she thought it would. Just like that, she was sixteen in a garden maze, feeling two feet tall.
A spoiled prince was reminding her of how much power she actually had.
Everything she condemned Lucien for was a trait she was partially guilty of.
She was cynical and stubborn. She may not have been spoiled, but she certainly wasn’t good or kind.
“Maybe it’s better that way,” Luci said.
Lucien’s eyebrow rose.
“Giving up so easily? That doesn’t sound like the Lucinda that Brielle and Ira speak of. I suppose you would be the first to offer them congratulations on their wedding day,” he said.
“Wouldn’t you?” she asked, knowing he was too selfish to understand.
He stood up and flicked a piece of lint off his shoulder.
“If that was what she wanted, then yes, I would, but we both know it’s not what either of them wants.
So you can dislike me for a wrong I did you ten years ago, but know that I won’t be silent and watch her trap herself in a marriage where she isn’t loved the way she deserves to be.
Ira is a good person. He always has been and always will be.
A perfect Prince Charming, but you and I know that he’s in love with someone else.
If you actually loved either of them, you wouldn’t subject them to a fate where respect supercedes love. ”
His words were nails in the coffin she’d built for herself, and he knew it. Yet it wasn’t in his nature to win and walk away. Lucien Vencia needed to know he’d left his opponent decimated before he could walk away. So when he was nearly to the door, he turned around and leveled her into oblivion.
“Maybe I’m not the selfish one after all,” he said.
Too slow to process and six feet under, Luci waited until the door shut behind him to ask what a spoiled prince knew of love, but maybe he knew more than a broken servant after all.
Another day passed, and Luci decided eating was better than suffering another visit from Luien, who was yet to darken her door again. Meals and snacks were made in regular deliveries, but Ira didn’t come anymore either. Only Noah and Gladys visited now.
Gladys tried to coerce Luci into washing up, promising to stay with Brielle the whole time, but Luci refused.
She’d gone away when Brielle needed her most, and even though it saved her life, she wasn’t leaving her side again.
Not while she could help it. Eventually, Gladys gave up and left, promising to come if there was anything Luci needed.