A Hidden Threat
Chapter 16
So this is an extremely short chapter, I meant to do a longer one but the football was on last night. Did you see Walcott's goal? A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Anyway focus. So what I have neglected in this chapter will certainly be made up for in chapter 17, which happens to be the penultimate chapter! I just thought I'd give you guys (and myself) a bit of a break before the big standoff in the next chapter. So here we go…
Gwaine trudged back into the physician's chambers, defeat weighting his walk. Everyone turned to look in eager anticipation as he entered.
"So," Arthur began impatiently, "Did she tell you anything?"
"No." Gwaine sighed exasperated "But she's definitely up to something."
Gwaine dumped himself onto a stool next to Elyan. An air of dejection clouded the room.
"I don't trust her." Arthur proclaimed frustrated, "We know next to nothing about her yet she seems to be in full knowledge of who we are. And whenever anyone asks her anything about herself she'll refuse to talk." Arthur finished, indignation crept into his tone and sat there like a pouting child.
Gwaine hated to admit it but the prince was right, there was something strange about Carmen, at first he had just tried to ignore her eccentricities but now it was impossible to deny them. She was planning something and he was sure, no matter her intentions, someone was going to get caught in the crossfire.
…
The first droplets of dawn dripped through the stain glass window staining the floor with coloured light. For the first time that night there was some sort of warmth. A cool breeze whipped around Lucan's ankles sending his cloak flying up above his knees. His hand stroked the hilt of his sword. He had had to use it little tonight, but he had a feeling that was about to change. His chiselled face and sharp features carried a waiflike aura, lending some childish innocence to his once cold exterior. The Brotherhood were positioned behind him, silent and demonically faceless. They seemed to bear a resemblance to marble tombstones, yet not as harmless.
Lucan let his mind wander, to a time and place more peaceful and happy than this one. Somewhere where joy embraced him like sheets of gold. Where the sun endlessly shone and people never grew old. He thought of a time when everything seemed right with the world and where he could say that, for the first and last time in his life, he felt contented. Before he became the cruel and bitter man he was today. The one time in his life when he had truly felt wanted, when he truly felt like someone needed him.
His wedding night.
He got lost in the memory, letting it consume him until that night filled every corner of his mind and every sense. He wanted it to feel real, but it never did. Too much had changed since that night, the couple he remembered were unrecognisable, before all they needed was the love of each other. But now their love could mean their destruction. Their innocence and earnest had been snatched away a long time ago and now look at them, squabbling like children, constantly trying to outdo the other. They had both become vain, self-obsessed and cruel.
He knew he was going to die. Lucan knew this was his last night on earth and he wanted to remember it. He had spent so long trying evading death, trying to be clever, thinking he had found a way out every time. But now he realised, this was death's game. It enjoyed watching him plan and run and fight. He was also learning that no matter how fast you run or however good your plans are or how many allies you have prepared to fight your cause you can't outrun your mortality.
He could feel his death approaching and this time she wouldn't miss.