The Demon's Concubine

Chapter 18

Mavis looked back at Zeref's retreating form before flashing Lucy an apologetic smile. She asked the green haired guard to escort Lucy to her room before exiting in the same direction as her husband. 

"Follow me." The guards said as she guided Lucy through the halls.

"Can I have your name?" Lucy asked in a soft voice, a little weary of crossing any lines. She never really spoken to the guards in Tartaros, and seeing as this was also Zeref's kingdom, she wasn't sure how similar things would be here in Alvarez. 

"Brandish." The woman simply said. She couldn't shake the feeling that Brandish was familiar, but the blonde wasn't sure if this was just her personality or if this was how servants were usually spoken to. Speaking, of which, Lucy found it very odd that she'd hardly seen any servants at all as they made their way through the halls. 

"Queen Mavis doesn't like having servants, she likes to take care of herself on her own. To compromise, king Spriggan limited the amount of staff here. There's only a few maids and the royal court." Brandish suddenly said, as if she'd been reading Lucy's mind. 

Lucy assumed "Spriggan" was a more formal name for Zeref, just as Natsu is referred to as "END". She snickered to herself when she remembered her demon's first name is technically "Etherious" and that Zeref had been the one to give it to him. She wondered if she'd ever get to talk to the mysterious king, but a part of her wouldn't mind at all if he carried on ignoring her.

"This is where you'll be staying." Lucy took in the large room as Brandish opened the door for her, the blonde having to hold in a gasp. The room was even larger than the one in Tartaros, and there was even a grand piano in the corner. 

"But… I'm only a servant… why such a large chamber?" She wasn't complaining, but it was definitely odd.

"...You're a concubine, no? Your room is the same room Sir END would stay." The guard gave her a confused look. "You… didn't know that?"

"Oh, right, of course! I'm sorry… I'm still a bit new to being a concubine…" 

Brandish nodded, "I see. You must be pretty special. We were given strict orders to make sure nothing happened to you." Before Lucy could respond, Brandish had already left the room, closing the door behind her.

Lucy sighed as she walked over to the piano, playing a short tune to ease her nerves. Natsu would always ask Lucy to play for him whenever he was stressed, and it was something she was glad she could share him with. The short tune turned into the first song she'd taught him, and she immediately began missing Natsu and Happy. 

She decided to stop playing, it was only making things worse. All she could do is hope that her boys would be back soon, and that she'd get alone time to talk to Natsu about her possibly being pregnant. 

Lucy decided to read something, skimming through the bookshelf in the corner of the room. There was a book that she'd read when she was little, and Lucy smiled brightly as she picked it up.

It reminded her of her mother, this book being one of the first novels she learned to read. It was written in an ancient dialect of the gods, and a part of her was curious as to why they'd have a book like this here.

"Lucy? How're you feeling?" The blonde shrieked at the unexpected comment, quickly apologizing and bowing her head when she realized it was Mavis entering her room. 

"I told you not to worry about formalities here, dear. I just wanted to see how you were doing, Natsu said you've been sick lately?"

"Oh… yes, just nausea… it could just be from all the recent stress, though…" Lucy tried her best not to be suspicious, she did not want anyone knowing about her pregnancy before she got a chance to speak to Natsu about it.