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Chapter 51: Betrayal
Luke emerged from his position. "Lilith," he choked out.
She must have finally gone mad, it would explain her delusions. She looked to Sarah who looked just as dumbfounded as she felt. She looked to her father who was clearly struggling to mask his surprise.
"In all matters, the name of Canterbury must be preserved," Lucius chided Luke and Lilith. "Canterbury has been in the Nolan Family for generations and I will not allow my children to tarnish its impeccable prestige." He sighed. "Sarah is the most well behaved of the three of you."
"Yes, father," the siblings said contritely.
"How you behave at home is one matter," Lucius continued, leaving no doubt that their manner at home would be another topic of conversation later, "I will not tolerate less than perfect manners while in the Castle and in Court, am I understood? Above all things, you will observe proper decorum in Court."
The countless lectures and lessons pounded into her head, she knew Luke saw the struggle as well. But she had never failed her father in her public appearance; she certainly would not fail him now when he himself managed to successfully bury his emotions.
Princess Joan was the first to break the silence. "I have suites prepared for all of you when you wish to retire… in case you decide to forgo the evening meal," she offered, wanting to give the Canterburys the privacy they needed.
So instead of rushing up to Luke she curtsied to Richard. "Is there anything else you require my lord?"
She was looking at the floor and saw his feet approach her. He lifted her hand so that she would stand. "I did not understand the situation before now," he apologized. "No, I only require my jewel to shine again," he said kissing her hand.
She nodded and Sarah curtsied as Luke and Lucius bowed. "Lilith," one of the gang called out, she didn't pay enough attention to care whose voice it belonged to.
Her fury was channeled towards them viciously. "You knew," she accused, pointing to each of them in turn. "You knew Luke was alive and you decided to cruelly keep this from me," she said deathly calm, her voice laced with daggers of anger and pain.
They looked to Robin in surprise; they hadn't expected her reaction. "Lilith," Allan tried to explain.
"How could you?" she demanded. "I thought after all this we were friends, and more," she said completely perplexed. It was the most hurtful thing that anyone had done to her, a betrayal worse than anything—even being poisoned.
Luke wrapped an arm around her waist to gently pull her from the room as she yelled at everyone. "And you!" she turned on Luke when they made it down the passage away from the Great Hall. She stormed into the receiving room of her suite. "How is this possible? Why didn't you say anything? You of all people, Luke!" she demanded.
"You think I wanted to hide from everyone?" he asked angrily. "I have waited years to see you again, the last two days have been murder."
Lilith threw her arms around him. Yes, it would have been hard on him, too. "How is this possible?" Sarah asked perplexed. "We were assured you had died…" Luke shifted Lilith and held his other arm out for her and she ran to him, too.
"I didn't know," he said, kissing the top of each of their heads. "I swear I didn't know. I would have done something different to fix this," he promised.
"What happened?" Lucius asked, speaking for the first time.
"I was wounded," he said. "It took them a few days to find me," he said not going into the details of it all. "They must have sent a messenger home during that period. I thought I was going to die, but I knew I had to come back to all of you," Luke said. Lilith showed no signs of letting go and he didn't want her to.
They were so busy catching up that none of them realized they were hungry until servants brought up platters of food. Lucius excused himself late in the evening to speak with Richard. The three of them had noticed something different about Lord Lucius, but attributed it to Luke's miraculous arrival. The three of them continued to talk until Sarah simply passed out from the excitement and exhaustion.
Luke sat by the fire; Lilith had asked him to stay, secretly afraid he wouldn't be there when she woke up. "Are you just going to keep looking at me?" Luke teased Lilith.
"Perhaps," Lilith smiled. "I have a lot of catching up to do. I couldn't look at you for years."
"I'm sorry about Charles," Luke said.
"Luke," she said, and curled up next to him by the fire. She didn't want to wake Sarah who had fallen asleep on the chaise. "I'm sorry, too. I know how close the two of you were."
"I'm sorry if you felt pressured to marry him," Luke said. Lilith looked shocked.
"I didn't love him, but I wasn't forced," Lilith said. "He was a good man, he was your friend. He would have taken care of me," she said. "I can't imagine what it would have been like for you to watch him die," she said, brushing away a stray curl of his hair. His blonde hair was longer than she remembered; he was thinner, and different, changed. Yet he was still Luke.
She saw the pain in his eyes of watching his best friends die, and that broke her heart. "You can tell me," she said gently as she held him close as he confided in her. He knew she would understand that it was a pain he had carried for so long. He confided all of it to her, all of his wearies and fears and sadness that he had carried for so long, and listened as she confessed to him all of her pain and fear. So much had happened the last several years, yet it felt as if they had only been apart for a few days. So much had changed, yet so much remained the same between them.
"Don't be too hard on them," Luke said as they curled up in front of the fire. She gave him a bland look. "They were just doing what they thought was best."
"You don't understand, Luke," Lilith sighed. "I thought we were finally friends, we finally worked out all of our past problems. And then they kept this from me, it is worse in a way than anything Agnes ever did," she sighed.
"What did she do?" Luke demanded.
Lilith waved it off, cursing herself for slipping. She had purposely avoided the topic of her poisoning. "Lilith," Luke demanded.
"It's not important; but they kept you from me," she tried to explain. "They all, each and every one of them, knew how important you are to me."
"I know," he said kindly. "I am just suggesting you forgiving them. Although, I am not sure I want you to forgive that Allan a Dale," he grinned. She slapped him as fatigue set in. "What? I am not sure either of them is good enough for you and Sarah."
"Saving England does not give them good marks?" Lilith teased, but it ended in a yawn. In no time she had fallen asleep.
Sarah woke up in the middle of the night, afraid it was all a dream and she would be in the hut in the forest, Luke still dead. She looked over and saw Luke and Lilith sleeping in front of the fire. She grabbed a blanket—darn the drafty castles—and went over to drape it over both of them. Luke stirred and patted the ground on his other side. She rested against him on the other side, pulling the blanket a little.
They were finally all home, was her last thought before drifting back off to sleep.
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"Luke?" Marion asked Robin in shock. "Luke is alive and you didn't say anything!" she demanded, hitting him.
"What? Ow!" Robin said. "It was for the best."
"Best for who?" she asked.
"Luke agreed not to reveal himself until after," Ashley offered.
"That is what you were fighting over a few days ago?" Djaq asked, and saw the guilty looks on Ashley and Robin's faces. "Men!" Djaq and Eve sighed together.
"I still can't believe you didn't tell me," Marion said, hitting Robin again.
"Huntington, Aberforth," Richard said drawing everyone's attention back to the king. "It has been a most eventful night. We bid thee a good night, and upon the morrow we will hear all that has transpired."
"Yes, Majesty," Ashley and Robin said as everyone bowed as Richard, John, and Princess Joan left the room.
A maid arrived to show them to their rooms. "I don't know who is most nervous upon meeting the king," Ashley observed good naturedly as he observed everyone.
The maid curtsied as Ashley entered the suite he was shown into as others were led to their rooms. Already had a fire roaring and a place setting set out for his dinner. "Would you require anything else, my lord?" a butler asked.
Where to begin? Ashley wondered. It had been so long since he was waited upon. "Not at the moment," Ashley said excusing the servant. He saw that someone had even thought to send to his estate for fresh clothes.
He wondered if he remembered how to dress in them. Then remembered the man servants assisted with that, so he went to eat instead.
He had relaxed in front of the fire when the door opened. He looked up curious—a servant would have knocked, for that matter, so would most people.
He saw Robin and nearly laughed. "You have been in Sherwood entirely too long, Robin."
"If I knocked, half the hall would have heard me," Robin predicted. He leaned against the post. "This seems so surreal. When I returned from the crusades I craved nothing more than this luxury. Now it seems misplaced."
"That is because you haven't tried the roast lamb," Ashley said trying to make light of the situation. He motioned for Robin to join him at the table set up in his drawing room. "What is Marion doing?"
"She seems to be taking after Lilith. She is taking a nice, long soak, afraid of going before the King with half of Sherwood in her hair, as she says. I think it also gives her a chance to talk with Djaq and Eve, who are also nervous." He saw the way the mention of Djaq always managed to capture Ashley's attention.
"I have tried to assure her it will all be fine, but in truth you know Richard better than any of us," Ashley said. "What do you think?"
"Honestly? I hope he will be accepting, but I fear I know not," Robin said as he poured himself a glass of the mead. The door opening again had both of their eyes drawn to it.
"Eve has gone to spend some time with Marion…" Much said by way of excuse.
"I can always ring up for more food," Ashley said right as Allan, then Will, walked in. "Ale, I would say, too," he said. He got up and walked over to the bell rope right as John walked in.
"Well, we are all here," Robin said easily.
"Not to be funny, but what is going on?" Allan asked helping himself to the food. He had no appetite, but hadn't dined like this in, well, ever.
"You heard Richard. Tomorrow he hears our case," Robin said.
"I am hoping this treatment, and the fact we weren't thrown in the dungeons, means he already is in our favor," Allan said.
"Have either of you heard from Lilith or Sarah?" Robin asked curiously. It had been quite some time since the 'Grand Revelation.'
Both shook their heads. "I don't expect them to part company for quite some time," Will said. He had felt guilty for the way they handled the Luke situation.
"Sometime this month, perhaps," Allan said as maids entered with platters of food and pitchers of ale.
The maids suddenly dropped into curtsies as they were leaving, after already having bowed to Ashley and Robin. The men looked over to the door and jumped to their feet seeing Richard. "Majesty," several quickly said bowing.
He waved them up. "I thought I was calling upon Aberforth, but I am glad you are all in one place," he said. They waited for him to take a seat before they sat.
"I wanted to assure you, Robin, that after all of the services you have done for the crown that your title and land will be restored to you."
"Thank you, your majesty."
"Aberforth, are you still dabbling in the sciences?"
"Yes, sire."
"I can't imagine you had a lot of time, or tools at your disposal."
"A small sacrifice to make, sire," Ashley said honestly.
"You must be eager to return to Aberforth."
"I do long to see my estate again, but I trust the hands that I had left it in. A precious commodity in these times," Ashley said.
"Indeed," Richard agreed. "Which deserves to be rewarded when demonstrated so fiercely. Although, I do not like the manner in which you handled Lilith," he reprimanded.
They looked around at each other; they already felt horrible after watching the way Lilith and Sarah reacted. On top of that, it seemed surreal, almost, sitting and talking with the king after so long. Robin almost felt sorry for his men; half of them had never seen him before let alone ever imagined speaking with him.
"I'll be frank and say I had not expected my homecoming, especially after such an absence, to have been an easy one," Richard said, helping himself to the food Ashley had ordered up. "And I am returning to France in a few months. This is hardly qualified as ale," Richard complained and rang the bell.
When the maid arrived she dropped into a low curtsey before the king. "Fetch me some of the wine I brought from Normandy," he ordered. It took hardly any time before the wine was brought in.
"This wouldn't happen to be what Lilith and you were dining on would it?" Ashley asked hopefully, making Richard chuckle.
"Lilith also seemed pleased with the selection. Her family—cousins, I believe— are the estate that overseas the wine trade. Lucky the man who gets into that estate," Richard said knowingly.
"Lucky the man, sire," Ashley said.
"Indeed. Lilith was always a jewel, and I am quite overjoyed to find that that has remained unchanged. Woe will befall the man who diminishes its beauty," He subtly threatened as he sipped his wine and looked over the rest of the men who had remained silent. "Much, I am pleased to see you have continued to serve Robin well."
"Thank you, sire," Much said.
"And your other men?" Richard asked them. "Did you do this for the reward, I wonder?"
"What reward, majesty? We would hardly dare ask anything of you," Will said.
"I dare say the only reward we hoped for was Robin saving our necks at one point or another," Allan said.
"And us saving his," John added, making Richard and the others laugh.
"Well said," Richard acknowledged. "I highly doubt Robin, Aberforth, and Lilith's judgment could all be so misplaced in all of you. And even if somehow that did happen, Sarah's judgment has always been impeccable."
A knock on the door caught their attention. Ashley yelled out 'enter' and a maid curtsied. "Majesty, my lord the Earl of Canterbury is wishing an audience with you at your convenience, before the trial tomorrow," she said looking at the floor.
"Show him into … my personal parlor, and ensure there is some more of this wine available for him," Richard ordered. She curtsied and shut the door.
Everyone wondered what Lilith's father would be up to. Richard rose and everyone rose to their feet. "An enjoyable—and productive—evening. Until the morrow."
"Your majesty," they bowed as he walked out.
"Well, that went well," Much said happily.
John beat Allan to hitting him. "You said all of 3 words, Much," Will laughed.
"What could Canterbury want with Richard?" Allan asked, slightly worried. If he got Richard on his side before anything else could happen then he and Lilith were nearly out of options. Assuming she hadn't changed her mind.
"Canterbury has always been close to the crown, it doesn't necessarily have to do with Lilith," Ashley said quickly, but he didn't believe it himself. "It could be about Canterbury loaning the crown more money after this… hell, he could be inviting Richard to a hunt or something."
"Or asking him to send Lilith… to Normandy or something," Allan said angrily.
"I think we will soon find out," Robin said.
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Elsewhere in the castle:
"I have never asked for any favors from you," Lucius said.
"I would never think of opposing you, Canterbury," Richard said. "You have long been a faithful friend and asset. You know I would not deny you anything."
"I need your help in this matter."
"It is little enough, and I confess to anticipating how this will all work out. Everyone in court knows the demands you have placed long ago."
"And I have never backed down from my word," Lucius said. "Which is why I need your assistance." Canterbury always got what he wanted, it would not change now.
"So, the only question left, really, is… what type of title are you searching for?"
Special thanks to dares to dream (I like McD, no worries ;) and I love the last chapter too. I rewrote part of it literally last minute, so I'm glad to see people liked the added conspiracies I threw in ^_^) Dramione Forever (thanks!!!!) Scarlett Princess (I am sad its ending, too, although it is about a third longer than I anticipated! We will see more of Guy and Davina in a bit, promise! And thanks for Reading Traitorous Hearts!) Sharnay (I hope it lived up to expectations. I had to rewrite the reunion part, and everything that comes after has been rewritten at least twice and I'm still not happy with it. We'll see...)
The next update may be late as school is driving me crazy with exams in the next 2 weeks. Leave reviews to keep me sane!
