May Death Do Us Part

Marceline smiled and looked towards the gate, “well for now, we’re waiting for those two.”

“For now?” The nosferatu princess looked towards the gate and saw a carriage approaching them. Melissa’s heart leapt when she noticed that the carriage man was an elf, could that be him? Had Gareth come for her? She took two steps towards the approaching carriage but two lycan guards crossed their spears in front of her.

“What is this? Let me pass!” Melissa demanded.

“I’m sorry your highness,” one of the guards responded, “as queen of Meria we are under direct orders to protect you at all times. We cannot just allow you to make contact with an unidentified guest.

“Did Elric tell you that? Is he trying to keep me prisoner here?!”

“His majesty made no orders of that nature queen Melissa,” the other gaurd responded, “we merely know what our role is. Please allow us to see these visitors first and determine wether it is safe for you to meet them.

Two other guards emerged from the palace and walked towards the carriage armed, Melissa stood there feeling like she was running out of breath, what if Elric had issued a kill order for Gareth if he ever stepped foot on Merian soils?

The carriage man vanished from his seat at the front of the carriage and materialized by the carriage door. This made the gaurds even more tense, they pointed their blades towards the carriage door as the man opened it. Melissa’s heart was in her throat as she anxiously waited for whoever was in the coach to emerge.

.....

A woman with long dark hair stepped out first and gave the guards a warning look, she was followed by another woman, both of whom Melissa recognized instantly.

“Vivian! Maria!” Melissa pushed the guard in front of her aside and ran towards the women. “Lower your weapons and let them pass!” She commanded the gaurds.

“But your highness..”

“These are my guests,” Melissa cut the guard off, “let them pass at once, unless you want the king to hear of your defiance!”

The mention of king Elric managed to send shivered of fear down the men’s spines. They put the weapons away and stepped aside allowing the nosferatu princess to run towards the two women and embrace them in hugs.

“I’m so happy to see you, the both of you,” Melissa spoke in sheer glee. In as much as she was hoping for it to be Gareth who stepped out of that carriage, she was glad Vivian and Maria had come, at the least they would help her feel a little less homesick and even make her feel just a little bit closer to Gareth.

“I see the queen title is suiting you well,” Vivian teased while glancing at the gaurds melissa had just threatened.

“Oh stop it Vivian,” Melissa chuckled.

“Speaking of queens,” Maria spoke in awe. She and Vivian walked towards Marceline and curtsied in front of her.

“Your majesty,” they both said In unison.

“Oh don’t be so formal girls, come here!” Marceline responded as she opened her arms for a hug.

The two woman exchanged glances before walking towards queen Marceline and hugging her.

“Thank you so much,” Marceline mumbled, “thank you for taking care of Melissa when I couldn’t, I owe you both a debt of gratitude.”

“It was our pleasure your majesty,” Maria replied.

The nosferatu queen let go of the two women and gestured them to come in, “let’s catch up over tea shall we, all three of you have much to tell me.”

*

Clovis sat down besides Julia who was already having her tea. “A little late today aren’t we?” She teased.

“Oh yes forgive me,” Clovis responded sheepishly, “I had a quick meeting with my brothers.”

The green eyed woman put down her tea cup and poured Clovis a cup, “you don’t have to apologize,” she mumbled as she stirred his tea, “it’s not like you’re obliged to have tea with me everyday. I actually consider myself very lucky to be having the eldest prince as my guest during tea time.”

Clovis took the cup the small woman handed him and took a sip. He paused momentarily and looked up at Julia with a surprised gaze, “a cube of sugar and a hint of lemon grass...”

“That’s how you like your tea is it not?” Julia questioned him.

“It is..” Clovis looked down at his cup and then back at Julia, “but how did you know?”

“Oh come on Clovis we’ve had tea together a hundred times,” Julia responded. She took her own cup and took a sip, “I’ve seen you make your own cup, don’t be so surprised.”

“Oh of course,” the man responded sheepishly. A faint blush colored his cheeks as he drunk his tea. No one had ever gotten his tea right before and that’s why he always prefered to make it himself, but Julia had got it just right, and for some reason this made a kaleidoscope of butterflies erupt in his stomach. Now he wondered, did all those people really never get his tea right or did they just not care enough to try.

“Are you okay?” Julia asked the man sitting before her who seemed to be lost in thought.

Clovis nodded and smiled at her, “oh yes of course, I’m fine. Just dreading spending the next couple of days with my brothers.”

“Oh, are you going on a trip with them?”

Clovis took a crumpet and took a bite out of it, “every end of the month me and my brothers travel to the countryside to visit our father,” Clovis explained. “The overall journey takes three or fore days, so I won’t be around here for a little while. I hope you’re okay with that?”

Julia cluelessly nodded and ate her crumpet, “yes I’ll be fine.”

“Oh.. okay..” Clovis pouted and took another bite of his tea cake, he had hopped that maybe Julia would show even a little bit of sadness that they wouldn’t get to see each other for four days, but she seemed very unphased by his absence.

“But do come back home safe,” Julia added on, “it will be awfully sad to have tea all on my on..” Julia blushed and looked to the side, “besides, it would be a lie if I said I’m not going to be lonely with you gone.”

Clovis looked at the blushing woman with round eyes, she would be lonely without him around?! That was the same as saying she would miss him right? So she was going to miss him!

Clovis nodded vigorously, “I’ll come back safe, I promise.”

Julia smiled and finished up her tea, “so why are you dreading this trip so much?”

Clovis sighed and leaned back on his chair. The truth is that he always didn’t like going on their monthly trips, he and his brothers were so different so all they ever did was argue. But this particular one Clovis dreaded more because of a conversation he had had with his younger brother Jeffrey about Julia, Jeffrey had threatened that he would disclose the budding feelings Clovis had for Julia to his father. Harboring feelings for a woman who killed the queen would definitely not sit well with his father, Clovis was aware of that, but he still could help but fall harder for Julia with each passing day. It’s like he could no longer control his own feelings.

“They just annoy me,” Clovis responded casually.

“Come on they’re your brothers,” Julia encouraged him, ” you should spend as much time with family while you still have the chance, things change very quickly.”

Clovis knew that her statement stemmed from her guilt. She still hadn’t forgiven herself for killing queen Juliet Aldos even though Clovis had assured her countless times that everything was alright now. He reached for her hand and stroked it gently, he smiled when she looked up at him and in turn she smiled too, he knew he didn’t need words to assure her that everything would be okay, she understood him even without him uttering a word.

*

A little black bird purched on the window of a high tower and jumped about for a bit before flying in. It descended down the roll of stairs until it reached a large wooden door at the foot of the stairs where it landed on the door’s handle.

A cloud of mist covered the area around the door and from it rose a man with a bold head and long black cloak. He chanted some incoherent words in an unknown language before pushing the large door open and walking in.

Kazan, who had been cleaning some bed ridden man walked towards the door, “you know better than to just waltz into his lordship’s chambers Renly, what is it you want?”

“Settle down Kazan,” Renly responded with a dubious smirk, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have important news for the master.”

“What ever it is, it can wait-”

“Oh but I think he’ll love to hear this,” Renly insisted as he inched closer to Kazan, “I spotted our little nosferatu prince today, and it seems he has made an alliance that may prove to be troublesome for us.”