Blue Blooded - [Mick Schumacher]

Twenty

The letter from Bern had shaken up the royal castle of Geneva. A declaration of war wasn't something Lucia nor Mick had ever lived in their lives so far, and it was hard for them to handle with it professionally at the moment. Mick had left the castle immediately after General Bühler had shown them the letter, to discuss with the heads of the Royal Army to get with an immediate plan to protect their borders. Lucia stayed at the castle, but she couldn't feel relaxed in any kind of way. Mick had left the letter of Duke Joaquim on their dining table, his dinner plate left untouched, for which she apologized to the maids, but they only told her not to worry while they rushed around the dining room to clear the table again, and to provide her with anything she asked for meanwhile. Which wasn't much, only a glass of water anyway. Lucia had been reading through the letter, as if some magic letters would appear and tell them that everything was alright between Bern and Geneva, and that Joaquim's army wasn't going anywhere further but the borders of Bern.

Lucia had no clue how quickly such an army moved, and she had no idea about how big the army of Bern was. Would they be strong? Were they trained well? Did they have all the right weaponry? The next thing that had her pacing back and forth was how they would protect all of their people from the purging soldiers of Bern. Somewhere deep in her heart, she felt for the those poor soldiers. If they were treated the same way the inhabitants of Bern were treated by their Duke, she doubted if they were paid well, and if they were fed well, which would cause more dangers for the people of Geneva, her people. Mick was going to war with his army, she was sure that he would announce that to her very soon. This sudden happening made her feel all sorts of fear she had never felt before, because Mick and Lucia were just settling down, she started to feel truly happy and in her place here in the castle, and now this happened. And it wasn't just something, no, a war was literally coming between them, destroying whatever would be in its path.

After leaving dinner so abruptly, Mick hadn't returned home yet, and the sun had already set. The night had fallen, and Lucia was watching over the darkness of the Swiss landscapes that glared back at her, the treetops of the forest in the distance visible in the moonlight. And even though the stars were sparkling so many miles up in the sky, the night did not feel bright at all. Lucia didn't want to go to sleep before Mick would come back. She was dressed in her nightgown already, and the maids had helped her to undo her hair from the braid, brush it through and detangle her long, onyx hair. It felt soft after they had applied the coconut oil to it, and it was waving down her shoulders. Her shadow in the light of the lantern she carried through the hallways caused her to chuckle softly. Lucia went all the way downstairs, and from the rumbling skies she could sense that the clarity of the moon had been replaced with dark, black clouds, filled with rain in a sky with thunder and lightning.

It didn't take long before the rain was pouring down, and she remained in the opened doorway of the castle's gate. If Mick was arriving, he would ride through this gate with Elias. Lucia was impatient, and she was shivering in the cold, midnight air, but she rather waited here than inside the castle. Lucia didn't know for how many minutes more she was standing there, her candle flickering with the breeze of the wind around her, but Mick finally appeared. Elias' dark fur was barely visible at first, but the lantern Mick was carrying came in sight, and the glistening harness he was wearing showcased the weapon of Geneva. Elias' manes were stuck to his body, like Mick's hair was flat on his forehead, soaked to the bone. "You shouldn't be outside in this weather, love." It was the first thing Mick said as he swung his leg over Elias' back, and he was steadily back on the ground. "It's alright," Lucia said, watching as one of the stable workers took Elias' reins and guided him to the stable, where the horse would be dried with towels, on Mick's request, and then get fed properly.

"Let's get inside," Lucia muttered, and they made their way to the entrance of the castle. The water was dripping from Mick's harness, which he undid in the hallway. It was soon taken by the maids, who would make sure everything was dried in case he needed it again tomorrow. His clothes were soaked as well, and Lucia was sure that he was cold as the goosebumps rose upon his arms. "The army is now occupying the borders, and spotters are on their way to calculate how long we will have before Bern is attacking," Mick told her while they were walking up the stairs to their room. "Tomorrow morning the horn will sound, warning all the people that something is coming," he continued. Lucia pushed the door open to their room. The maids had made sure the fireplace was burning, the warmth spreading through the area, and the fire flickered softly in the background. "The fear they will be in," Lucia said, her heart feeling heavy in her chest already. "Why did this have to happen?" Mick asked, throwing his harness off, the heavy steel clinking on the stone floor.