A/n: Welcome to volume #3 of A Second Golden Age! Please make sure you have read the prequels 'Chances' and 'Her Majesty the Queen' before diving right into this story. Many thanks to all the readers and reviewers of the previous volumes. Without further ado, here is the continuation of the cliffhanger we left you on. ;D
(Cair Paravel, Narnia)
~Chester's POV~
"Bates? Hey, are you alright?" Colson knocked on the door again. "May I come in?"
"Shit," I said frantically, somehow finding the sense to keep my voice down. "Shit, shit, shit."
Lucy climbed off me, absolutely horrified. Nobody could know that she was here, especially after what happened last night, meaning her engagement. If Colson were to walk right in and see us in this…titillating position, we would have a lot of explaining to do, and that was the last thing I wanted. Because Lucy and I were arguing and I was desperate to get her to leave, we did not even lock the door, so now Colson could walk in at any minute. Gosh, we were two idiots, at each other's throats one minute, and making out on the bed the next minute.
"What do we do now?" Lucy whispered, picking up her garments from the floor.
I followed suit and raised my voice so Colson could hear me. "Yes, yes, I'm perfectly alright!" I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "Just give me a minute, I'm…uh…I'm just…getting dressed!" I added, and put my clothes on as quickly as possible.
"Where do I go?!" Lucy whispered again, smacking my arm to draw my attention this time.
"Um, under the bed?" I pointed, not at all knowing what to do.
"No, of course not!" She whispered fiercely.
"Uh, the…the bathroom?" I suggested, fastening my belt buckle.
"Are you ready yet, Bates?!" Colson asked again, sounding more impatient this time.
"Wait! Um, just a moment, Colson, please, just give me a second, I'll be real quick," I babbled, shoving Lucy into the bathroom. She locked the bathroom door as quickly and as quietly as she could, as I bolted toward the door to let Colson in, trying to look sleepy so that I could lure her into believing that I had only just got up. "It is way too early to be annoying, Colson," I grumbled, sitting back on my bed.
Once she walked inside my room she looked around and frowned at the sight: a boot, a tunic, a jacket, scattered all over the floor.
"Whoa, what happened here?!" She questioned.
"What?" I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "What happened here, Colson?"
"Look at your room, Bates! It is a mess! Goodness gracious, your clothes are all over the place, and this is just so very uncharacteristic of you. I swear, you are the tidiest person I know; that was why I made you my undersecretary. You and Queen Susan could probably have a neatness contest — but honestly, this place, it is just…" she shook her head. "Bates, was someone here with you just now?"
My hands began to tremble and my mind went blank. Did she hear something?!
"Huh?" I ended up conjuring meaningless monosyllabic utterance, so that I would not raise her suspicions any more than I already had.
"You know, was Louisa here just now? I mean, well, you and Louisa, a few drinks and a bed," she said suggestively, shrugging.
"Oh," I said, sighing in relief. She thought it was Louisa. Thank goodness. "Well, maybe she was here, maybe she was not here," I answered strategically. "Why?"
"Never mind. I just came to check on you because I thought you seemed upset last night. You know, you left, right after Lucy announced her engagement. You didn't even tell me about it and had me looking for you all over the ballroom. I thought you had snuck out again and gotten into a bloody fight."
"Oh, well, that was…not at all what happened. I was just…no, I wasn't upset about anything," I lied, feeling horrible about lying to my best friend.
"Bates, you know that if you are upset, you can talk to me, right. I am always on your side, and look at me: I've got a big belly, so how fast can I run? I can't; I am always here for you. I know that you are most likely not happy with the news of Lucy's engagement because you have feelings for her, and trust me, I would really like to have you as my brother in law, but –"
I stood up abruptly. I knew that Colson preferred me as Lucy's partner rather than Marquess Xavier, but right now Lucy was in the bathroom and I bet she could hear our entire conversation, so the last thing I wanted was for her to listen to her sister in law talk trash about her fiancé. Sure, I did not like him, but I did not want Lucy to have to hear that. So I rose to my feet and led Colson out to the door.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Colson. I'm fine. Thanks for checking on me, though," I said hastily, but she frowned when we were at the door.
"Are you kicking your best friend out of your room?" She folded her arms.
"No, it's not that. It's not like that, really. But I just woke up and I should probably take a bath because…well," I sighed. "You know, me and Louisa, a few drinks and a bed…" I explained humorously, quoting her.
She nodded slowly, but still had that questionable look on her face. I tried my hardest not to look nervous, but she just knew me so well, I thought she could see right through me.
"Alright," she said after what felt like months and years. "We can talk later. I'm sorry if I woke you though. I was just concerned. I probably would have barged into your room at 2 in the morning last night had Edmund not stopped me. I'm glad I didn't because I wouldn't have wanted to have walked in on you and Louisa in the middle of something."
"I know, and it's fine. I'm alright. Trust me," I smiled, and she left. This time, I made sure to lock the door. "You can come out now," I tapped on the bathroom door.
Lucy, now decently dressed, walked out, still looking tense. "Thank Aslan. I thought we were in deep trouble. Do you think Gilda got suspicious?"
"Perhaps slightly, but it's not too bad. I can handle her," I replied.
"Good," she sighed. "By the way, have you seen my cardigan?"
"Oh," I looked around the room and found it on a chair. "Here," I handed it to her.
"Thanks," she said, recovering from the sudden interruption. "I better go. Before anybody else finds us."
I nodded and unlocked the door, opening it and peeking outside to make sure that the coast was clear. When I confirmed that it was, Lucy exited my room hastily.
~Gilda's POV~
Once Bates shut the door, I blinked twice. I had spotted Lucy's cardigan hung on the chair. There could be no mistake, because I, out of all people, would be able to recognize that cardigan. I gave that to Lucy for her birthday, so how could I get it wrong?
Now everything became clear to me. I had figured out why Bates was so, so desperate to get me out of his room. And why he took so, so long to open the door. And why he looked so, so nervous to see me. Because Lucy was with him, in his bedroom, probably hiding somewhere. But hey, contrary to popular belief, I was not a cold-blooded monster. I preferred to not put my best friend into a compromising position, even though of course I did not appreciate that he was lying to me, so I pretended to buy the excuse he had given me.
Still, Lucy, newly engaged, yet was doing something...unorthodox with Bates? And by 'something unorthodox', I meant that they probably had sex. They were both cheating. They were both two-timing. Naturally, I was no one to judge, but I did not know what to make of this.
~Ines' POV~
I felt as if I had been asleep for months. But when I was finally awake, and I rolled over to my side and opened my eyes, it was the best morning I had ever had in my life, because I got to wake up to Peter's smile. Suddenly I had the urge to pull the covers further up to cover my body, but then, it had quickly sunk in that I was married now, so there was really nothing to cover up.
"Hey," he said tenderly. "Did you sleep well?"
I nodded and smiled. "I don't think I had ever slept so well in my life," I answered.
Suddenly his stomach growled, causing both of us to laugh.
"Well, someone is hungry, I see," I giggled.
"Come on, I can't be the only one. Surely you must be hungry too," he chuckled.
"That is indeed true," I replied, while he was the first to find the energy to get out of bed, putting his clothes on.
"I'm going to get Duchess Lavinia and Marchioness Sonya to prepare you for breakfast. I'll see you in the dining room, alright?" He grinned.
I nodded and beamed at him, watching him exit the room. I got up and put my nightgown on, because, well, I could not be completely naked, even though I was going to change into some day clothes. My ladies in waiting arrived shortly and helped me get ready, but before we were done, Peter had burst into the room once more. I took a peek behind the screen but I was surprised to see that Peter looked as if he had just seen a ghost, looking pale all of a sudden with his eyes wide open and his jaw dropped.
"Are you alright?" I inquired worriedly.
"I…I'm fine…"
"Well, you don't look very fine. What's wrong?" I enquired, frowning.
"Uh…" he hesitated. Oh, right, he wanted some confidentiality. Signaling for Sonya and Lavinia to make haste, they dressed me up promptly and left the room.
"Alright. Now you can tell me what's happened," I said.
"I saw Lucy in the hallway just now," he reported.
I rolled my eyes. "Peter, seeing your sister in the corridor is not a valid reason to look so…taken aback."
"No, I mean, she…I saw her exit a bedroom, but not her bedroom," he explained.
I nodded slowly, beginning to catch up. "I see. Well, now that she is engaged to Marquess Xavier, and they are obviously in love, I reckon it would be normal that they would want to show their love…physically," I said calmly. Ah, I remembered that just less than a year ago I was so, so, so against the idea of sex before marriage, but now I was gladly accepting the idea of it. Probably because now I had come to understand why some people would not want to wait. "However," I added as I suddenly thought of something. "If my memory serves me right, His Lordship does not have guest chambers here at Court. He resides in Ridgeway Manor with his family, which…is not far from here, right?"
"That…that is exactly the problem. It wasn't Marquess Xavier's chambers that I saw Lucy come out from either. If it were his bedroom, I would have understood, and I wouldn't have much of a problem with it, since he is her fiancé after all, but that was not at all the case," he replied anxiously.
"Then whose bedroom did she walk out from?" I questioned.
"Duke Chester's," he answered.
"Oh…you mean, Gilda's best friend?" I asked. When he nodded in response, I pressed on. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am, unless my eyes had tricked me."
"Well…wow, I really wasn't expecting that either, but…let's just…try not to jump to conclusions or make any assumptions. We shouldn't immediately think that Lucy had spent the night with him or something like that," I said, breathing deeply and trying to be as calm as possible.
"But her hair was messy and she was adjusting her clothes…as if she had put them on in a hurry…" he stated.
"You think Lucy slept with Lord Odessa?" I inquired quietly.
"Yes, that's what I think, and I'd never thought I would be saying this, but I really want to be wrong," he admitted.
"Um…alright, well, I doubt that, because isn't His Grace courting Lavinia's younger sister? He's courting Lady Louisa Woodville, right? Gilda's lady in waiting. So…I really don't think he would wind up in bed with a Queen…?" I said slowly and with much uncertainty.
"I don't know what to think, frankly speaking."
"Maybe we should talk to Gilda and Edmund about it. I think they know the Duke of Odessa better than we do," I suggested.
"Yes, we should," he nodded in agreement. "Anyway, you're ready, right? Let's go for breakfast first."