To Love, Once Again

Sera swung her feet outside on the driver's seat of the wagon, a few knights standing here and there around her. The night skies were clear above her, puddles on the cobblestone ground of the town square the only indication of the previous pouring rain.

Only a few empty wagons passing by her to head deeper into the capital, off to round up other nobles it seemed.

Nothing had happened.

Which was good. The knights had all gone in suited in armor, which protected them from most injuries. If any of them came to her injured, it would be something bad, bad enough to bypass the protection the armor provided.

No knights coming to her also meant things were going smoothly. Lucien's surprise attack, arresting the nobles, had worked.

Bea was fast asleep inside the wagon, body curved and head atop her own leather healer's bag. Bea had fashioned it to match Sera's old school bag. Color and design wise, it was quite close, but couldn't match up to the polished craftsmanship of Sera's old world.

Sera hoped the bag was a comfortable enough pillow for Bea. After the umpteenth yawn from Bea, she'd told Bea to take a small nap. Bea had refused, until Sera had to use her authority to make Bea sleep just a little.

Even Icaros was relaxing his stance a little as he stood right outside her tent. Things were finally starting to work out for once. Morning would dawn soon in just a few hours. Sera did her best to stay awake, watching for Lucien's return.

She was waiting for Lucien. Once he came back to her, then she could breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that for now, the people that had attacked them were being taken care of.

The sound of a horse whinnying makes Sera perk up.

Lucien was back!

And he was. Aslan trots forward out of the darkened roads, carrying his master towards the center of the square where Sera waited on a wagon.

Sera's countenance blooms into a happy expression, seeing Lucien back safe and sound. Ignoring Icaros' outstretched hand to help her off the wagon, she clambers off.

It was much easier to move around now that she was wearing a pair of pants. With a skirt, just getting off the wagon would have taken double the time.

"Lucien! Welcome back!" Sera calls, running into his open arms. In the same momentum she'd run into his arms, Lucien swung her up and on top of Aslan.

"I'm back." Lucien responds, nuzzling her neck and breathing in her scent deeply. Sera had a fresh, clean scent, like sunshine that he could never get enough of. Hahh. Lucien had missed her so.

Sera squirms backwards. Lucien had a habit of putting her first before his own injuries. It was up to her to make sure that his body was healthy and whole. Sera didn't want to find out when it was too late and he'd fainted from blood loss because he'd ignored an injury. That had happened once already in the Great War.

"Do you have any injuries? Anything you need me to patch up? How did it go?" She pats at his face, wishing she could loosen the straps that held his armor together so she could check his body thoroughly.

"I'm fine, Sera. We got all the lower ranked nobles, but Norwood got away." Lucien murmurs, lightly placing his armored hands on her shoulders and massaging them to calm her down.

"Don't worry, we'll catch him" He adds, but then pauses.

The dim lights of the street lamps fall across Sera's face. Now why did his beloved look like a young boy? With a very rough beard, to boot.

"What's this?"

He asks, tilting her chin up, blue eyes dancing with mirth.

"What's what?" Sera tilts her head back at him, blinking her wide eyes innocently.

"This." Rubbing a thumb over her cheek, he holds his fingers up in front of her, showing Sera the smeared black coal.

"Oh. I thought I'd add to the outfit you so generously provided for me" Pushing herself back on Aslan's back so that Lucien can get a better view of her, Sera turns this way and that, showing off her disguise.

"How is it? Realistic?"

"Yes, very much realistic." Lucien nods. This was another aspect that he loved about this woman. She never failed to surprise him. After all, no woman in Thornmere would even think of making themselves look more manly. Usually, they'd want to look more feminine.

"You should see Bea. I'm very proud of how her beard turned out."

Giving a small smile, Lucien rubs off the beard on Sera's face, taking out a cloth from a smaller saddlebag. Correct the thought that no woman in Thornmere would do this. There were two women now. One that came up with the strange but brilliant ideas and the accomplice that carried them out.

"I'm sure she's turned out very handsome." Lucien responds, making Sera laugh. If he had the energy to joke around like this with her, this meant that things had gone well. Her shoulders relaxed, feeling like a weight had lifted off of them. They could finally go home now.

"And you. You're still beautiful, even with a beard." He adds, giving her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. His Queen needed to rest, even if he did want to spend more time gazing into her deep brown eyes.

The other knights look away, their eyes widening their only sign of their surprise to see an expression of mirth on their Red King's face.

They weren't sure if this was something they were allowed to see.

"Thank you." Sera replies, smiling knowing that she must look terrible with the large purple bruise on one cheek, a cut lip, and a coal beard on top of all that.

"Sire?" Icaros calls out, in a questioning tone to confirm the situation.

"We're finished here." Lucien breaks his gaze from Sera's and looks to his men awaiting his instructions.

Sera turns forward and leans back against Lucien, yawning.

"Alright men. Let's return" Lucien calls, and the men turn their horses around, headed back towards the castle.

His Queen was tired after an extremely long night. Fighting against assassins, making love, and then going back out to help him arrest the blood-sucking nobles would do that to a person.

Lucien presses a kiss to her soft hair and clicks his tongue. At his signal, Aslan begins to move, and the rest of the knights and the wagons follow him back.