Majesty Castle

Evening came and dinner past and now Fawn waits in the study for her husband so she could tell him her news. She had originally planned to tell him over a private dinner, but conveniently he was called away on personal business.

“Care for a drink?” Luke asked as he entered the study.

“No, thank you,” she answered kindly keeping her bitterness to herself. “My husband won’t be home until later.” He grinned to himself while giving him her back as he poured himself a drink.

“I don’t intend to stay long. I only came by to drop something off.”

“I’ll take one of those,” Nikki said as he walked into the room and took a seat beside Fawn on the couch.

“Certainly,” Luke replied. Opportunity just fell right into his lap. He turned back to the bar and poured two drinks. One glass of Brandy and one glass of water and neither Fawn nor Nikki saw him pull the vial of powder out of his pocket.

He gave Nikki the glass of brandy and handed Fawn the glass of water. “You look a little flush,” he told her as he handed it to her. He returned to pick up his own glass and waited for the powder to take effect. After tonight, all he would have to do is get Johnny out of the way and he would have Zacky to himself.

Within ten minutes of finishing their drinks, Nikki and Fawn were out cold. Luke knew he had to move fast, it was he who had Zacky called away and he would be home soon. He had managed to get them into various stages of undress on the floor and positioned their bodies to look as if Fawn had been unfaithful. Half empty glasses of brandy completed the scene he set for the man he knew he would be comforting this evening. When he was done, he left.

Twenty minutes later, Zacky stood there as if his eyes had betrayed him. His wife on the floor half dressed with his uncle. From what he could see, it looked like they had quite an evening, but when the morning comes, there would be no explanation. Fawn’s bags would be packed and waiting for her.

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When Allegra’s eyes opened, it was dark. She wept silently as she did the night before. She never noticed that she wasn’t alone in her bed. “So many tears from your eyes,” he said. Allegra turned her head in his direction and rested her head back down on her pillow.

“You’re not still scared are you?” his voice was deep, but almost as low as a whisper.

“No,” she answered.

“Then why do you cry?”

“The pain, it hurts so much.”

Allegra felt the bed shift as he got up. His footsteps were silent as he moved across the room and lit a lamp. “Close your eyes,” he told her. She had no idea why, but she did as he requested. His hands were gentle as he applied the salve to her back. “You’re healing well,” he noted. “The infection seems to be going away.”

“Then why does it hurt so much?” she cried.

“Your skin was ripped open, love. It’s not a scrape on the knee.”

She let out a sob that she was no longer able to hold inside. When he was finished, he walked back across the room and set the salve down on the dresser. He then took two pills from the bottle that the doctor left and poured a glass of water. After blowing out the lamp he walked back over to the bed and sat on the edge. “Can you sit up for me?”

Slowly, she met his request and sat up in front of him. “Open your mouth,” he told her and as she did so, he set the two pills on her tongue and placed the glass of water in her hand. He took the glass from her when she was finished and she lied back down.

“Must have been some visit you had today, if you fainted.”

“I couldn’t take the pain anymore,” she told him.

“The pain of seeing your husband again? Or the pain from your back?”

“Both.”

He got up and walked around to the other side of the bed and lay down beside her again. “What has he done to hurt you so?”

That was all he had to ask for Allegra to start to cry again. “He never even gave me a chance, he doesn’t even like me.”

“Now, that I find hard to believe.”

“It’s true,” she cried. “He doesn’t understand that I was forced into this marriage too. It was just as much an inconvenience for me as it was for him.”

He smoothed a hand over her hair as gently as he could. “Marriage is a two way street, love. Did you try and give your husband a chance?”

She lay there letting him soothe her with his touch. “At first, I did. I tried to get his attention, but he made it clear, he didn’t want any part of me, so I gave up. He’s just mean and intolerable and I wished I’d never married him.”

“I know your husband quite well, love. Mean and intolerable are two words I would not associate with his name.”

“Well you’ve never been married to the man.”

He chuckled lowly and turned onto his back. “No. I can’t say that I have.”

“How long have you known him?” she asked.

“Matthew and I have known each other since we were children.”

She sighed as and turned her head in the other direction. “Are you going to tell him what I’ve told you?”

He turned his body to the side once again so that he was facing her. “No. You have my word on that.”

She sighed and he leaned forward and kissed her head. “You should sleep now,” he told her and she didn’t say another word. She closed her eyes and let the pills do their trick and as she fell asleep she could feel his hand gently caressing her. His voice followed her into her dreams. “Don’t change the way you think of me, we’re from the same story.”