Summary: Continuation of the Battle of Rose's series. Natsu and Lucy get married, finally, but that doesn't mean there is any trust.
Pairings: Natsu/Lucy, Lucy/Aquarius friendship, Sisterly Erza/Natsu, Brotherly Natsu/Gray, Erza/Lucy friendship, some Brotherly Lyon/Gray, implied Gajeel/Natsu friendship, implied Natsu/Lyon/Erza friendship….sort of, depends on how you look at it, and, of course, Natsu/Lucy/Happy friendship.
Author's Note: Dedicated to all of you lovely people! Thank you so much for giving me over EIGHT HUNDRED reviews. This is now my second most reviewed fic! Thank you so much!
The morning of her wedding, Lucy was a woken by a new maid in waiting. She was pink-haired, solemn, and had an air of practicality to her.
"Good morning, Hime. I am Virgo," she said as she pulled Lucy's blanket off of her. "I have been sent by your groom to serve you for the entirety of your life. I look forwards to being punished."
Lucy stared at her new maid mildly horrified. "I don't want to punish you!" she shrieked. "Why would I want to punish you?!"
"I would not mind."
"You!" Aquarius growled. Lucy jumped and yanked her blankets up to cover herself. Her old governess turned lady in waiting terrified her. She had a fearsome temper and little patience. "How dare you come into my brat's room without my permission?! She is to be Duchess of Norfolk, the sister in law to the King. You have no right!"
"Forgive me," Virgo bowed. "You may punish me if you wish but I am Hime's new maid in waiting. My sister Aries, who is waiting outside, is also to be Hime's new lady in waiting, and we shall assist you in your duties in the care of Hime."
Aquarius' eye twitched at that. "Then perhaps you should fetch some hot water for a bath. I am not having the Duchess turn up at her wedding smelling like the stables."
Virgo bowed again. "Yes, My Lady."
Aquarius waited until the pink haired maid was definitely gone before she let out an infuriated growl. "You know why she is here, don't you?" she snarled.
"Erm," Lucy said nervously, "to serve me?"
"No! You stupid brat!" Aquarius berated her. "To spy on you. Your husband to be has put a spy in your household."
Lucy couldn't help but laugh at that. "If it was any other man I would agree with you," she said, "But I don't think that occurred to Natsu. He's…simple-minded."
Aquarius snorted. "All men are simple-minded," she said snarky as ever. "And this one is the brother to the King. A King that usurped his power. If he didn't think to put spies in his wife, who used to be an enemy, household then he would be a moron."
"Then he's a moron," Lucy shrugged. She was unable to keep the smile off her face. "But he's a nice one. I quite like him."
"I don't," Aquarius scowled, "this isn't want Layla would want for you."
"Well, she's not here, is she?"
Aquarius didn't get a chance to argue or scold her as Virgo and another pink haired girl came in with the hot water. Lucy was scrubbed within an inch of her life, her hair pulled up into a tight bun, and then layer after layer of rose silk and damask was placed on her. The two new maids in waiting fitted on Lucy's painfully tall headdress that would certainly give her a headache later (the price of fashion).
"You look lovely Hime," Virgo said still as flatly as before, "Lord Natsu will be pleased."
"Hime?" she asked
"An old word from my grandmother's country," Virgo smiled, "it mean princess."
"I'm not…" Lucy flushed in embarrassment and horror. "I mean you cannot….I am not a princess."
"But you are marrying a prince of the blood, are you not?" Virgo said. "You will be a princess of sorts by the end of the day, therefore I shall call you Hime."
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Meanwhile Natsu pulled a disgusted face at his reflection.
"Gihihi," Gajeel snickered from the bed, "you look ridiculous."
"Nonsense," Erza said firmly, "that is the finest clothe of gold we could get at such short notice. Natsu looks like the noble duke he will be after today."
"I look like a ponce," Natsu grumbled.
"Natsu," Erza spoke in a terrifying, deadly, tone as a dark aura seemed to surround her, "are you saying my taste in fashion is terrible?"
"No!" Natsu squeaked. "I just….I don't look good."
"Nonsense, my brother!" Natsu choked as Erza pulled him into a stranglehold. "You look noble, and princely, and handsome. Lucy is a lucky girl! I shall miss her now she will no longer be in my household. Now she is my equal in Court, she will have her own! You better treat her with honour or I shall kill you in your sleep, brother or no!"
"Erza!" Natsu gasped. "You're killing me now!"
"What has Natsu done now?" Lyon asked amused as he and Gray entered the room. "Surely he has not angered the Duchess of Somerset on his own wedding. It would be quite a damper if the groom turned up in a coffin."
"Shut up, you bastard!"
"Me?" Lyon smiled in amusement. "I'm not the bastard in the room, Natsu."
"Lyon!" Gray barked.
"Leave it," Erza ordered as Natsu shrugged unbothered. "Neither me or Natsu are ashamed of our birth. We both know that we can beat Lyon in the arena. In fact," she grabbed hold of Lyon's shoulder, "I think you are out of practice. Let's have a quick round to see what exactly you need to improve on."
"EEK!"
"Serves him, right," Gray sighed, "he knows better to anger her." He glanced at Natsu worriedly. "Will you be all right?"
"Sure," Natsu shrugged, "Lyon doesn't bother me."
"That wasn't what I meant," Gray murmured, "will you be all right today? You will be marrying a Lancastrian. You will be tying yourself to an enemy for my sake. For the sake of peace. Will you be all right?"
"Sure," Natsu grinned. "She's not an enemy now. She's Lucy. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her."
Gray stared at Natsu in disbelieve which Natsu couldn't help but find rather insulting. He wasn't a moron or anything. He knew what he was getting into and he was more than happy to do so.
"….Idiot," Gajeel grunted from behind.
"What was that?!"
"Don't start a fight," Gray ordered, "You know what Erza will do to you if you get your clothes ruined."
Natsu stiffened as Gajeel snickered at him again. "Ah right," Natsu said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. Gray laughed at him. "Don't laugh at me, you snowflake!" Natsu shouted. "It'll be yours next."
"Not if I can help it!"
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
The wedding ceremony was long, Lucy was certain her knees had gone raw red with all the kneeling as they were blessed, heard mass, and blessed again throughout their wedding ceremony. it was then followed by the official investiture ceremony, that involved more kneeling only in front of the King instead of the Archbishop as they were draped in her parents' ermine, that had been her grandparents and their parents before, and then finally a celebration feast where Natsu and Lucy were sat either side of the King, under everyone's watchful eye.
Lucy shifted uncomfortably as she saw Yorkist ladies glare at her, people whispering behind their hands, and men were laughing lewdly at the bawdy jokes the King's fool kept making.
"Gray," she heard her husband hiss, "Make them stop!"
"God Natsu, you freak," Gray laughed, "they're just jesting. This sort of thing is supposed to happen on a wedding. You should get used to it, it gets worse. Remember what happened to Erza and Jellal when the bedding ceremony took place?"
Lucy grimaced. As Erza's lady in waiting she had to help the newly made duchess undress and get ready for her husband. The doors had burst open as loud, lewd, men came in drunk and cheerful as they roared with laughter after dirty joke after dirty joke. Erza had been on the verge of murdering them all and it was her fearsome temper that caused everyone to run away. Lucy couldn't do that. She wasn't anywhere near intimidating enough.
"I swear to God," Natsu snarled quietly, "if that happens to me I will get a torch and set the nearest lord on fire. You keep them away from our bed chamber, Gray, you hear me?"
"Christ, Natsu," Gray rolled his eyes, "anyone would think you're the blushing bride not our dear sister." He turned to look at Lucy with a grin, as if to say what an idiot, huh? But when he caught sight of her face he lost his smile and turned back to Natsu. "I'll try to deter them but the archbishop has to bless your bed with both of you in it. No arguments."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
The rest of the evening flew by as one troop of entertainers replaced another, the courtiers got drunker, and everyone gorged on food, eventually Gray bawdily announced it was time to put the Duke and Duchess to bed, and Lucy found herself herded into a new bedchamber, undressed into her new shift, and tucked in between the clean linen sheets of her new bed. Natsu got tucked up next to her and they sat there in solemn silence as the archbishop made one last blessing on them and they were left alone in a dark, empty, and deadly silent room.
"I need to get something!" Natsu suddenly blurted out. "I will be back in a moment!"
Lucy barely had time to blink let alone reply when Natsu suddenly disappeared out of the bedroom. She wondered what was going to happen. What exactly he was getting she had no idea but she certainly did not expect him to come back with a cat in his arms.
"I am not doing it in front of a cat!" she said primly.
Natsu blinked stupidly at her. "Do what?" he asked.
"Consummate the marriage."
"Oh…that. Yeah," Natsu scratched the back of his head, "we're not doing that tonight."
"Why not?"
"Well…do you want to?"
Lucy blushed. She knew what she had to do tonight. After all it had been drummed into her head for weeks by Aquarius and all the other ladies but she did not want to do it. The very idea of being so open and intimate and close to someone….it terrified her.
"Well…no."
"There we go then!" Natsu said cheerfully. "We'll wait till you want to. Because I don't want to do it until you do."
"That's….very sweet," she smiled weakly, "but what about everyone else? They are going to expect….blood," she whispered the last word ashamed. She knew what was expected of virgins on their wedding night and the King would definitely want prove that his brother had bedded the Norfolk heiress.
"Oh yeah, here," he shoved the cat into Lucy's startled arms. The cat squirmed but when she petted it under the chin, he settled down in her arms and purred happily. "We'll make it look like the marriage consu...consa…you know what I mean!"
Lucy laughed. "Yes," she said as she snuggled into the fur of the cat, "I do."
Natsu pulled out a dagger from the bedside table drawer, and cut his wrist before shaking his blood out onto the sheets between them. He grinned at her. "I see you've become good friends with Happy," he observed.
"Happy? Is that his name?"
Natsu nodded. "Because he makes everyone so Happy."
"So he does," Lucy whispered. "What do we do now?"
"Hmm?"
"Well if we are not going to consummate the marriage, what will we do instead?" Lucy asked shyly. "Are you to leave now? Am I expected to go?"
"No!" Natsu cried out. "Why should either of us go? It's our bed! We are man and wife now, we ought to share a bed every night."
Lucy blushed. How sweet and clueless he was. Did he not realise that most men and their wives had separate bed chambers for most of their married lives? Her mother and father were certainly in love but they never shared a bed unless they were trying to conceive.
"We should cuddle!" Natsu declared. "Every night the three of us ought to cuddle!"
Lucy didn't get a chance to ask what he meant by that. He had then suddenly grabbed hold of her and yanked her towards him. Both she and Happy the cat squeaked their protest but he ignored them both in order to smother them against his chest. They settled down after some squirming and Lucy found her head was resting on his chest, the cat curled up between his hips and her front as she draped an arm round Natsu's stomach and he wrapped one of his round her shoulder.
They cuddled all night.
Never had there been a moment in Lucy's life where she felt safer. She could quite happily do this for the rest of her life.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
They go home to her estates. Court was called off in favour of summer progress and all the nobles went home to see their lands. Lucy was eager to go to her childhood home and she found herself looking forwards to showing Natsu all her favourite places.
The sun shone, the road had been cleared, and there had been nothing to spoil their journey. Natsu rode by her side and kept her entertained with funny stories and jokes while Aquarius huffed in the background.
Happy had even joined them. The new furry addition to her life was a welcome sight especially as he curled in one of Natsu's saddle packs and peered out every so often with his big curious eyes.
"There!" Lucy cried out as she pointed to the outline of her home. Farmlingham castle. Ironically, despite it belonging to the dukes of Norfolk, it stood in the heart of Suffolk. Its tall towers could be seen for miles around. "Can you see it?"
"I can!"
"Doesn't it look beautiful?"
"It's a building, Lucy," Natsu shook his head fondly "Buildings can't be beautiful, weirdo."
"Of course they can!" Lucy laughed. "They have-"
"God bless the Red Rose!"
It was one of the peasants working on a nearby field. One of her working men in one of her fields that had been taken from her by the Yorkists, the White Rose, and given back only with the strings firmly attached to a White Rose husband. They would have known this. It would have been proclaimed throughout her churches that their heiress, Lady Lucy, has wedded Lord Natsu Dragneel, and together they would administer the lands on behalf.
Her people knew this and they still called for the Red Rose.
Something flickered across her husband's face, she couldn't identify it, was it anger? Fear for his brother? Irritation with her? She didn't know.
She swallowed, horror flooded her stomach, because she did know something.
This struggle between the Red Rose and the White Rose was far from over.