Severin moved slightly in front of Lucien and studied him carefully. “We should talk. In private.”
Lucien glanced from his brother to Ariane. “You promise me, healer, that she’ll be fine?”
The mage massaged the sides of his head. “I swear on the grave of my mother—she will wake up healthy!”
Lucien reluctantly followed Severin, meeting the eyes of the guards who stood at attention in the salon and nodding his thanks to them before they quit the room.
Severin led him down the empty hallway, pausing when they reached a cushion-covered bench shoved against the wall, positioned directly beneath a portrait of someone long dead.
“What did you want to discuss?” Lucien asked.
Severin pinched the bridge of his nose. “I hesitate to ask you this, for it seems….am I correct in guessing you might have feelings for Mademoiselle Ariane?”
Lucien relaxed. I had thought he had some bad news to share, but this is easily handled. “Not just feelings, but love. I am in love with her.”
“I knew it!” Elle triumphantly said. There was a meow and a bark, and she strolled into view, her black cat and fat dog romping around her skirts. She carried a bundle of tulips—one of which had a distinctly flattened petal as if it had been rubbed. She arrogantly nodded, wearing her smuggest smile. “I thought I saw it in you, Lucien! You might be able to lie with the innocence of a babe, but I saw through you!”
Severin frowned at his wife. “You had suspicions but did not share them with me?”
Elle handed Severin the tulips, though she plucked one from the bundle and playfully tapped him on the nose with it. “Consider it payback for refraining from telling me about Marc’s feelings for Emele.”
“That was two years ago.”
Elle twirled her tulip. “Yes, well, I was highly attached to their romance.”
Severin pinched the bridge of his nose. “How did it happen?” he asked Lucien.
Lucien scuffed his booted foot on a blue rug. “Gradually, I think. I started to like her more and more, but one day she was talking and…she’s seen who I really am, Severin. And she values me for it.”
Severin studied Lucien with a wrinkled brow. “But she feels—”
“The same, or my curse wouldn’t be broken.” Lucien winked.
Severin was silent for several moments. “I cannot recall you ever mentioning love pertaining to any female before.”
Lucien shrugged. “I never found anyone like Ariane.”
“She caught your fancy in a short amount of time,” Severin said. “You have interacted with her only for the duration of the Summit.”
“I know it sounds brash and impulsive…but you have to understand! She’s the first person besides you who sees me!”
Elle picked up her cat, who purred in pleasure. “What do you mean?”
Lucien ran his hands through his hair again. How do I explain it to them, when Ariane has guessed things about me they don’t know?
Severin interrupted his thoughts before he could come up with a sufficient explanation. “Do you love her for any other reason, or is it only because she sees something in you?”
Lucien lifted his chin up, more than a little stung by the comment. “You’re asking if I love her for selfish reasons?”
“No,” Elle said firmly. “Your reaction to her whenever she is in peril makes it clear that this is not a selfish love—or you wouldn’t be nearly so concerned about her. But you need more than a single emotional connection.”
Severin nodded.
Lucien turned to stare at the painting—it was an old piece that depicted a dark-haired girl in a white dress standing before a hellish-looking army. “She has this great blustery laugh that’s far too loud, and I love it. She’s obsessed with cleaning—if she sees a cobweb, she cannot stand to leave it alone—but it’s because she sees the beauty and the value in seeing that things are well cared for. She sees through people, but never puts on any airs. She accepts who she is, and she’ll love and accept others for who they really are, as well. She believes in the continent, in the point of the Summit. She’ll never be able to lie or play nice with nobles—she’s too full of iron to put up with them. And she’s fierce—like you, Severin. She’ll throw herself into danger without a second thought if it’s to fight for someone else.”
When Lucien finally turned to face his brother and sister-in-law, Elle was smiling serenely, and Severin had a pained expression.
“I’m sorry I doubted you,” Severin said.
“You believe me now?”
“I do.”
Elle held Severin’s hand. “You must give us time to adjust, Lucien. Frankly, I doubted you would ever learn to love anyone—besides Severin—more than you love yourself. What do you plan to do next?”
“Marry her, of course!” Lucien grinned, though it faded a bit when he saw Severin’s furrowed brows had not slackened. “What?”
“I do not doubt the strength of your feelings or hers.” He hesitated. “But I am not certain that goal is obtainable.”
“Why not?”
“She is a maid.”
“And Elle was a merchant’s daughter,” Lucien pointed out.
“I do not object to her, but do you really think the courts will accept her?” Severin asked.
“I don’t care what the other nobles think,” Lucien said.
“No, but until this point, most of your manipulations have been through charm and wit. Once married, you will no longer be able to use the lure of your single status,” Severin said. For a moment, the lines of his mouth hardened. “And I know you well enough to know you would not pretend to be disloyal to your wife for politics.” Though the words were affirming, Lucien heard the warning in Severin’s voice.
He’s right, though. Ariane deserves my loyalty—public and private.
“I’ll figure something out,” Lucien promised.
“What will you do if your father doesn’t approve?” Elle asked.
Lucien froze. “He wouldn’t…”
As far as Loire kings went, King Rèmy was surprisingly relaxed when it came to social class. That was partially due to Lucien’s mother, Queen Nicole. She was a gentle, country-bred lady, and King Rèmy could refuse her nothing after she welcomed Severin into the royal family. She was actually heavily interested in the kingdom’s justice system—though her health kept her from appearing in public often.
But…But! Lucien’s father still made him take lessons and treated him as he would a child. He would never consider allowing me to wed a maid—he thinks I will need a competent lady of nobility who will be able to rule in my place!
“He has to. They have to. I’ll make everyone accept it,” Lucien said. The realization was a bucket of ice water emptied over him. It’s Ariane—only Ariane. I will have no one else, so I will do whatever it takes.
Severin placed a hand on his shoulder. “We will support you. But you must make certain this is what Ariane wants.”
Lucien nodded. “Of course! Why should she object?”
Elle smiled and stroked her cat. “I am happy for you, brother-in-law. I am happy for both of you.”
“I am glad you found her,” Severin added.