The room was large enough to house a small army. A canopied bed sat at the center, and it was at least three lengths of her long. Why anyone would need that much room in a bed was beyond her, but goodness knew it was comfortable.
The best part of the room wasn’t the massive fireplace to the east, but the floor-to-ceiling window panes at the furthest part. A sitting area was built into them so you could perfectly press yourself against the glass and feel like you were a part of the gardens beneath.
Of course, that would be where Brielle was. Hair freshly washed, hence the lavender smell. Calcifer was curled up in her lap while she stared out over the moonlit ground beneath. She was ethereal, with blond hair cascading down her shoulders. The moon sang for her pale skin, and if there was a fairytale about a moon princess, it would have been Brielle.
“Are you avoiding me?” Brielle asked.
Luci jumped, having been fully caught spying. She should have known Brielle was aware of her. She was always uniquely perceptive.
“Why would you ask that?” Luci asked, stepping into the darkened room. Not even a lantern lit. Like Brielle was communing with the moon and stars.
Turning from her reverie, Brielle’s smile had a heavy tinge of sadness to it. There was no smile that was there earlier in the day.
“Sit with me?” she asked.
She could never deny her a single thing. Maybe the reason Noah didn’t make her heart leap was that she already found the love of her life. There was no desire involved in the love they shared, but what it was transcended even that. Luci knew Brielle’s soul better than she knew herself. Crowded street, half dead, delirious, she could find her anywhere. When Brielle’s heart beat, Luci’s answered.
“When you live for someone else, you lose everything you are in the process.”
The problem with that is that Luci never wanted for anything else. Brielle was always enough, and she always would be, even when she stopped needing her. Even when she married her prince and became queen of this land, Luci would still serve her. If that meant not being here, then so be it. She would become whatever Brielle asked of her.
In every way that counted, Brielle had saved Luci. That was not a debt easily repaid.
Her friend watched her while she scooted up onto the windowsill bench across from her. Calcifer didn’t bother to lift his orange head while he rumbled with the happiest of purrs. Brielle’s hand trailed over her smoothed back fur absent-mindedly.
“I’ve barely seen you. You are always hiding away in the infirmary with Noah. Today, I know you don’t like croquet, but you seemed like you were having fun. You and Ira– well, you just left suddenly.”
Guilt trailed down Luci’s throat and into her stomach.
“I didn’t want to keep you from enjoying yourself. You are made for this world, Brielle.” Luci whispered.
Her eyes widened a fraction before her pink lips pulled up, her shoulders dropping.
“For someone so smart, you really can be obtuse sometimes,” she teased.
If Luci’s soul weren’t in a turmoil more severe than Hansel and Gretel’s in the Witches’ cottage, she might have smiled back. However, the world was too heavy, and truths were horrifying.
Brielle leaned forward, reaching her hand. Turmoil or not, Luci would answer that call from the other side of the world. She took her hand in hers and squeezed, knowing that this was whatmattered. Not potions, princes, or quests. Just Brielle’s hand in hers.
“I was happy today becauseyouwere there. After you left– well, I was worried, but I thought maybe you were upset about my agreeing with Ira to call him by his name. I didn’t mean to make you–”
“It wasn’t that.” Luci swallowed.
There was a ringing in her ears that reminded her there were no secrets between her and Brielle. Yet it was nearly a week of this secret burning into Luci like a hot iron. Once she said the words, there would be no going back. There would be a moment between when the last word left Luci’s lips and when Brielle processed them. That small moment would live forever ingrained in Luci’s mind, and she wouldn’t be able to hide from it anymore.
“I need to tell you something-”
“I need to tell you something-”
The words echoed off each other, and despite the pressure of the tension living in Luci’s neck, she laughed. Brielle joined in, and for a moment, they both forgot. There was peace. It was born only to break.
“You go first,” Brielle said, her laugh trailing off.
All of a sudden, Luci would have preferred the ground open and swallow her whole. Luci was many things, but she wasn’t a coward yet.
“Your father said something to me-”
Luci held up her hand, stilling Brielle’s protest from her open mouth.