Devotion
Part One
Chapter Four: Lucia
A/N: Well, I really don't have anything to say in this author's note, so I guess I should tell everyone my weird inspirations for this chapter. Okay, the Mole (the show that I can't believe no one has heard of!) and music (mainly the song 'Alyssa Lies' by Jason Michael Carroll...seriously, that has to be one of the best songs ever) kept me from going completely insane while writing this. Weird, huh?
--
Lucia was awoken in the middle of the night by someone frantically shaking her.
"Lucia! Get up! We have to hurry!"
"Lord Renning? ...Oh, Geoffrey...?"
"Come on, Sister, there's trouble!
--
As Renning was walking down the hall from his bedchambers, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he was met by Bastian.
"Good morning, Count Bastian."
"'Tis a good day indeed, Milord!"
"Hmm...you seem to be in high spirits today. Now tell me, what exactly is the occasion?"
"Ahh...Duke Renning, 'tis the grandest of occasions. Now, like every morning, I am off to wish the Lady Lucia good morning!"
"Oh, of course..."
"Milord, if you don't mind me asking, where exactly happens to be your cape? You aren't often without it..."
"Oh, yes. It was rather chilly out yesterday, and Lucia borrowed it."
"My my! If I happened to be in your place, kind sir, that item would become a much treasured possession! Never would I part with that cape!"
Renning smiled.
"That it will be, Bastian. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to."
"Oh! Most definitely, Milord! Fare thee well!"
--
Lucia awoke from her blissful slumber to hear birds chirping and have sun shining through her windows.
Hm...I must have overslept. How odd. Nevertheless, that's probably the best sleep I've had in awhile. Years even...
The young woman sat up, still contently draped in her lord Renning's cape. However, when she turned around, she realized someone was sitting in the chair beside her table.
"Good morning, Lucia. I'm glad you're finally awake."
"Q-queen Elincia?"
"Oh, I'm sorry... I never thought how this would startle you. I suppose it is quite odd to wake up to find an uninvited guest in your room..."
"Right... Do you need something, Your Highness?" Lucia inquired as she got out of bed to sit at the table with the queen.
"I just wanted to talk with you..."
"Oh? About what?" Lucia eyed her nervously, recalling yesterday's events.
"About yesterday... I know I seemed harsh; and I know I was wrong."
"You do?"
"Yes. To tell you the truth, I actually followed you and Renning yesterday, and I saw...and heard...everything.
"You know, my uncle had never told me he'd had a child, let alone what happened to her. In fact, I never even knew he'd been married. It's so sad that she left him over all this, isn't it?"
"Yes, Milady, it is."
"Well, at least he has you to make him happy now."
The queen caught her foster sister blush.
"You really do love him, don't you?"
"Of course! Lord Renning's just so...so...honestly, Elincia, I don't know how to describe it."
"Hm. Well, I wish you two the best of luck," the Queen said as she rose and headed for the door.
"Thank you, Milady. Thank you so much..."
--
After talking with Bastian, Duke Renning had decided to sit out on the patio, watching the troops train. He saw the General Geoffrey doing what Renning had done so many times before when he'd been Commander of the Royal Knights: overseeing his troops and helping them improve. As he was lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice someone come up behind him.
"Good morning, Milord."
Renning turned around to see Lucia, dressed in her usual white gown, with his cloak in her arms.
"Oh, Lucia! Good morning to you too."
They both smiled as he stood up to kiss her. He wrapped his arms around her while doing so.
"So, my love, what are your plans for today?" He inquired, still embracing her.
"Nothing, actually..." She laughed as her former commander eyed her suspiciously. "...Except training of course."
"Well then, how would you like to spar with me, then perhaps we could go for a walk in the gardens?"
"I'd like that, Milord."
"Lucia, you do realize that there's no need for such formality when it's just us, don't you?"
"O-of course, Mi--Renning. I just--"
"Calm down, Honey...after all, I was just joking."
"You're right..."
"Now then, are you ready to see if it's true that swords really are better than axes?"
"Yes...most definitely."
--
Nearly half an hour later, Renning's blessed Silver Poleax and Lucia's blessed Vague Katti were still struggling to land a blow on their 'enemy'.
"Lucia, this is getting ridiculous! Will you just give up already?" panted the Duke.
The woman smirked.
"Not in your wildest dreams!"
"Fine..." Renning now looked like he was about to pass out. "I give up."
"Really?"
"Yes. I'm getting too old for this," he stated after lying down in the grass.
Lucia sat down next to him.
"You're not that old."
"Yes, actually, I am. Lucia, you do realize that my daughter would have been older than you, don't you? There's a huge age difference between us..."
"So? What's your point?"
"You know that the nobles won't approve of us..."
"Like I said, so? Are you actually going to let them and their ideals ruin your life?!"
"No...I'm sorry. I just worry about you. That you'll change your mind and later on. That you won't be happy with me."
She laughed.
"Renning, I'll always be happy with you. Now, are you up to a walk or not?"
"Anything for you, Lucia..."
--
"Oh, I nearly forgot..." Lucia mumbled as they were walking through the rows of plants.
"Hm?"
"I talked with Elincia this morning."
"Oh great...what has my crazy niece done now?"
"Well, aside from the fact that she scared me half to death by being in my room when I woke up, we had a nice little chat. It was almost as if she was trying to apologize."
"My niece...apologize? Well, that's a first."
"Duke Renning! You know that's not true!"
He sighed.
"Lucia, you just did it again...using titles and such. I told you, it's not necessary."
"I know, Mil--...err...Renning. It's just--"
"Old habits are hard to break. Is that it?"
"...I suppose so..."
He sighed again.
"Lucia, how is this going to work if you can't even call me by my first name?"
"Renning, I...
"I'm sorry."
That was all she managed before she bounded away from him, a tear streaming down her face.
"Great, Renning...you've done it...again."
--
Geoffrey sighed as he walked through the entranceway to the throne room. He stopped in front of Elincia, whom was seated on the throne, and bowed. She motioned for him to rise.
"Good afternoon, Geoffrey."
"Good afternoon, Milady."
"How are things going today?"
"For the most part, not too bad..."
"For the most part?"
"Well, I found my sister crying in the library, and when I tried to talk to her, she told me to leave her alone. Then she, um, locked herself in her room..."
"I suspected one of them would be heartbroken before long..."
"Hm?"
"Oh, it's nothing," the queen said, rising from her seat. "I'll see what I can do about it."
"Thank you, Milady."
--
"You know, Uncle, I knew this was going to happen..."
Renning looked up to see his niece, anger clear in her expression. She sat down next to him.
"What are you talking about, Elincia?"
His words were cold and distant.
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You've crushed Lucia. This is the whole reason I never wanted you two to be together...I knew one of you'd get hurt, and I can't stand seeing either of you like this! So now, tell me...why did you do it?"
"I didn't want her to be unhappy."
"Uncle? Are you even listening to yourself? That doesn't make any sense."
"In the long run, Elincia. She would have tired of me. I don't want her to do something she'll regret."
"And how do you know she would have tired of you?"
"That's what happened with my wife. She got tired of how boring I was and said she was leaving me. As we argued, our daughter was left in the care of a servant. And that's how..."
His voice trailed off and he stared at the ground.
"So that's how... But, Uncle Renning, you don't know that Lucia--"
"I don't want her to have to take that chance. Don't you see that, Elincia?"
"What about the chance you're taking now? By you doing this, how do you know she won't be more hurt than if... You know, you act like you're all big and brave, but sometimes you can be so childish! So why don't you just sit here and sulk and never truly be happy?!"
The queen got up and left her uncle.
"Great...can I get anyone else angry with me?"
--
Lucia laid upon her bed crying into her pillow.
Does Renning always have to be...such a jerk?! Well, it could be worse...I suppose it could be Bastian, who'd never leave me alone...
Somewhere between her thoughts and sobbing, Lucia was able to fall asleep.
However, she was later awoken by strong arms shaking her.
"Lucia! Get up! We have to hurry!"
Without opening her eyes, she could tell that it was still dark out.
"Lord Renning?" She mumbled, still too asleep to make sense of anything.
"No, Lucia, it's me."
"...Oh, Geoffrey...?"
"Come on, Sister. There's trouble."
"What's going on?" She said sitting up in the bed.
"We're under attack. Duke Renning's holding off the gate."
"What?!" She smacked him. "You left him to guard it all by himself?!"
"No, of course not. Count Bastian's..."
"Oh, Bastian. That makes things so much better!" She mused, getting to her feet, grabbing her sword, and dashing out of the room.
Her brother, still rubbing his cheek from where he'd been slapped, followed behind her.
--
By the time Lucia got to the gate, Elincia and Bastian were tending to an injured Renning. The duke lay on the ground surrounded by what appeared to be laguz; the freezing rain pelting them all. Lucia guessed the attackers to be more feral ones. After Izuka had been defeated, a new foe had found his elixirs and began creating more feral ones. No one had, as of yet, been able to locate this person, nor determine who it was.
As Elincia and Bastian pulled their staves away from the man, Lucia rushed over to him. She sat on the ground next to him, tears filling her aqua eyes as she took in his injuries. One of the animals had been able to strike at his chest, leaving behind four deep gashes.
"Renning, I'm so sorry..." She sobbed.
"In your own words, it's not your fault. If anyone should be sorry, it should be me," he stated, pulling her closer to him, slightly wincing from the pain.
Geoffrey and Bastian stood in shock as they witnessed her kissing him; anger flared in the latter's eyes. Queen Elincia chuckled at the scene.
"Uncle Renning, Lucia...we should all probably get inside...unless you'd like to catch pneumonia, that is."
Lucia laughed as she helped Renning to his feet. The pair, along with the queen, and soon-to-be king, went inside, leaving Count Bastian standing in the rain.
"How...how could she? And Renning...he won't get away with this. Not by my watch anyway!"
--
A/N: Ha, it seems Renning can get even more people angry with him. Poor, poor Bastian. Or not.
And yes, more of the sappy love story. As you can probably tell, I'm not that great at writing romance. Ah well... I'm off to update... *looks at list* Ooh, my new story. *readers roll their eyes*
Random reader: Like you need to be working on another new story...
Okay, so that may be true, but still...
Well, leave a review if you feel like it...