To Love, Once Again

Chapter 20

Lucien leaps across the table in a decidedly un-kingly manner.

"Please! No!" Sera tries to go forward to stop them, and winces at the sharp pain in her side.

It take only a moment for the chairs to clatter to the ground as they're overturned.

The man looks prepared, jumping back from his chair and drawing his sword as Lucien lands on the spot where he was just sitting. He smirks as he provokes Lucien.

The nobles are quick on their feet as they move back, as far away from the action as possible.

"Something wrong, my king?"

A maid screams as the other knights seated at the table immediately rush in to block Lucien. Sera realizes then, from how quickly they responded, that there was a reason why so many knights sat intermingled with the nobles at the King's table.

The knights weren't seated to only accompany, and guard the King against danger.
They were there to protect the others from the King.

Lucien roars at the men who pile on top of him, trying to lock him down.

He fights them off with nothing but his fists, body moving with a feral grace, transitioning smoothly from one position to another.

Some are knocked down to the floor, moaning in pain, while others leap in to replace them, as quickly as Lucien throws them off.

The other man laughs and spits on the ground. None of the knights touch him, but their dislike for the man is obvious.

"All I want is a taste of foreign woman. My dear brother shouldn't be so strict." Jeering, he points with his sword at Sera, and then back to Lucien, who grits his teeth, as he is held back by his men.

Lucien seems to gain some lucidity as he calms, no longer fighting back when his men try to pin him.

One of the knights holding Lucien shouts back.

"You're nothing but a mixed-blood bastard with royal blood! Why don't you challenge him to a proper duel, like a real man!"

Sera can't believe that the creep is Lucien's brother. He'd never mentioned one. No one had ever said anything about one. But now here he was, sitting at the King's table, now provoking the King. Yes, they both have red hair, but the similarity ends there. Lucien is tall and massively built, his aura completely dominating any room, while his brother though having a similar musculature to any knight, while a good size himself, is not as tall nor muscular. She probably wouldn't have noticed him at all without the icky-feeling looks he kept sending her way.

"Silence, knight! Watch your words, you are speaking to I, Dorne, the future illustrious King. " He preens, puffing his chest out and strutting around just like a peacock. He's really enjoying being the center of attention, Sera thinks.

"I was planning on a more dramatic challenge, but this'll do." He straightens his tunic and slicks his hair back, messy from running away like the fox he is.

Lucien slowly stands up, the boiling anger contained and shuttered. His eyes glow in an unholy light though, seething embers that shine past their restraints, silently watching this pathetic wastrel.

"I challenge you, brother, for the Thornmere throne. Three days from now, I will see you at the training grounds. You can watch as I take your throne, your new Queen, even the maid next to you."

"I accept your challenge. In the meantime," Lucien speaks with a firm tone.

"You will not speak to her. You will not touch her. You will not even look at her. And if do any of these three things, I will take it as a sign of rebellion, and I will put. you. down."

"Who? Your new Queen?"

Lucien pulls Sera forward from the crowd circled around the two brothers.

Putting a hand at her waist and pulling her close. He states with strong conviction.

"Her. She's mine."

Sera can't contain the burst of happiness that goes off like a firework within her.

He still wants her.

Lucien pulls Sera forward by the wrist through the spectators, who naturally part before them to make a path.

"I'll see you at the duel."

Leaving those words behind, Lucien leaves the room, Sera stumbling behind him.

"Keep the throne warm for me while you still have it!" Dorne calls out after them.

They both ignore him. For now, he seems harmless. Compared with Lucien's renown as a fighter, with the title of Red King, Dorne didn't look like a match. What worried Sera was the confidence with which he so boldly challenged Lucien. Going on what he said about planning to challenge him anyways, Dorne looked to have some kind of plan. And he truly believed he would win. There was something wrong with that picture.

One King and King's maid climb the stairs, towards the King's bedchambers. She struggles to keep up with his long strides, her free hand pulling up her soft skirts to match his pace.

Sera was apprehensive why he was bringing her here. She'd done her duties, hadn't she? Served him during suppertime.

The answer comes to her as soon as the doors to King Lucien's bedchambers open.

Steam rises from the claw-footed bathtub placed in the center of the room.

Hilda hadn't told her she was required to bathe him, too.

She wasn't ready for that kind of skin-on-skin contact. Sera steps backwards towards the door.

Lucien has his back turned towards her, taking out a small wine bottle from who-knows-where, uncorking the stopper with a popping sound, and downing the contents in one go.

The slight flowery scent, mixed with the scent of wine, makes her pause. She's smelled that scent before.

Lucien drops the empty bottle onto the thick carpet, and begins to loosen his shirt.

Sera's mesmerized by the tanned skin that appears, bit by bit, as he undoes each button.

With mechanical movements, he takes off his shirt, revealing a back riddled with scars and fresh wounds. His arms have bandages on them, dotted with spots of red. She needed to make sure his wounds hadn't been reopened from his activity earlier.

She berates herself for not noticing sooner. His long sleeved simple shirt, and his face which showed no expression of pain, had thrown her off. Lois did say she brought a lot of poultices and medications for the King.

Sera reaches out a hand towards the silver white marks that cover his back. There were more scars than before. The biggest scar cut into his side, tightening the skin around it. It looked burned, like someone messily cauterized it, instead of sewing it up, like she'd taught. He'd suffered so much pain while she was gone. Sera could only blame herself for it.

Before she realizes it, she's tracing that scar, lightly, with her fingertips.

"What happened to you, Lucien?" she whispers.