The Demon's Concubine

Chapter 19

She patted her flushed cheeks to ground herself. Thinking of Natsu right now would make her sad, and she wanted to be in high spirits when she met the fairies. Speaking of which, Lucy nearly bumped into Mavis when the woman stopped in front of her.

"Here, they've been dying to meet you, I don't want you to get trampled." The queen laughed as she held onto Lucy's hand before opening the large castle doors.

"I'm baaaaack!" She called, the people in the entrance room going quiet before bursting into cheers at the sight of their queen.

Lucy was astounded to see so many people in the entrance hall, in fact, it didn't look like any entrance hall she'd ever seen. It was a very open space, and there were booths along the room and in the corner, there was a… bar? What kind of castle has a bar in the entrance!?

The blonde's thoughts were cut short when she heard someone call her name, and she smiled brightly when she caught sight of Wendy.

"Lucy! You're here!" She said as she jumped into the blonde's outstretched arms. They hugged tightly until the people in the room began asking aloud if this was the Lucy they've been hearing about. 

Lucy looked between Mavis and Wendy, the two giving her encouraging smiles. She noted that Zeref wasn't here, and assumed he'd already ventured into the castle. She took a deep breath before facing the crowd of people.

"Um… hi, everyone…" Her face broke out in a flush when everyone cheered for her simple greeting. These people were definitely very lively. Wendy grabbed her hand and guided her further into the room to greet everyone.

"No way… I thought you guys were just kidding! Natsu actually managed to get a woman!?" A man said, and Lucy gaped at him.

"Gray?" The man narrowed his eyes at her for a moment and then at Wendy, who merely shrugged.

"How do you know my name? Oh, don't tell me that idiot has been talking about me..." he groaned, and Lucy giggled brightly. Natsu had been talking about him, but she wouldn't tell.

"I know your father, Silver. He showed me pictures of you." She giggled some more as Gray flushed, he probably knew of the embarrassing pictures Silver had shown her. 

"I'm happy that you could finally visit, though I wish Natsu could have joined you." The blonde turned to see Erza, the knight in casual clothing and a soft smile on her face.

"Yea, but I'm glad to see where Natsu grew up! I've never seen a castle quite like this…" Lucy didn't realize she'd called Natsu by his informal name, but Mavis was relieved that she'd finally relaxed upon meeting her fairies. 

"Who would've thought Natsu would've snagged such a babe!" A brunette came and draped an arm across Lucy's shoulders, flashing a wink as the blonde flushed. 

"C'mon Cana, you're gonna make her uncomfortable…" A woman with short white hair said as she removed Cana's arm from around Lucy, giving an apologetic smile. "I'm Lisanna! It's nice to finally meet you! I can't believe Natsu actually has a girlfriend!"

Lucy smiled before she ducked her head down and fiddled with her hands awkwardly. "Uh… well, I'm actually just a concubine…" 

The room fell silent, and everyone sent accusing glances to Erza and Wendy. "You never said she was his concubine…" Gray whispered to Erza, the redhead shrugging unapologetically. 

"Oh, well that's okay, dear. Any friend of Natsu is a friend of ours. Welcome to our kingdom! I'm Mirajane, by the way." A woman spoke kindly as she approached, patting Lucy on the shoulder comfortingly.