A Bond Greater Than Family

What the Future Holds

Seven Years Later

The afternoon was sunny and bright, and Amicia sat under a beautiful arbor full of flowers of many kinds in the gardens of their house in Guyenne. She sat in a chair next to a small table built to hold two. Lucas and the Severin had built the arbor, table, and chairs several years ago. Severin was a surprisingly good gardener even for blacksmith. He and Lucas would get into deep conversations about the best herbs and flowers to grow. Lucas had said he had wanted to plant as many flowers as possible in memory of Hugo as well as having flowers to put in her hair. He said the more practical herbs could go in another garden, but the arbor was for her. Amicia smiled to herself. He always found a way to make her heart skip a beat even unintentionally.

Strumming her lute, she played a few lines to a new piece she was learning. She had never expected to love the instrument so, but it had turned out to be quite enjoyable. Lucas had made it a habit now of sitting and enjoying it when they found the time. He seemed to treasure their time together more and more with each passing year. After having faced death so often, to be able to sit and enjoy moments like these were a true blessing for both of them. 

Their children were doing well, and they were well versed in what their mission was. Gia had finally married at the urging of Amicia and Lucas. She had been too worried to leave them after everything than had happened, but Amicia had assured her they would be fine. Gia had met a lovely man from the village named Samuel. They now had three children, two boys and one girl named Matis, Alain, and Claire. They lived in the village nearby and visited often. Felicite's art skills had become more useful than Amicia had ever anticipated in being able to illustrate what Amicia had seen. She was also very talented in alchemical mixtures. Jean-Luc was very skilled in combat and leadership skills. He was training currently to be a knight. 

They had actually tried to have more children, but Lucas had theorized the families with the macula curse may only be able to have two children. One a potential carrier and another a potential protector. They knew the macula could be passed down through their bloodline, and the limit to their children was a stark reminder of that... However, Amicia would rather pass on the message directly than try to pass it down haphazardly through the Order of the Protector that may or may not survive till the next carrier. Who knew how many noble families held the curse in their bloodlines?

Lucas had continued to gain in influence little by little, especially now that Faucher was gone. No one knew where Faucher had disappeared to, and the couple wasn't about to reveal that information unless absolutely necessary. Of course, there were many questions as to Lucas' sudden lameness, but most didn't ask to his face. Lucas was careful with the power he gained and never let it go to his head. He tried to spread that power out as much as possible, especially since he himself wanted to focus on alchemy and not politics. Sophia still came every six months or so to the house, and Amicia and the children would visit with her at different port cities they might visit when she wasn't visiting their home. Moreau came often as well, and worked on experiments with Lucas having to do with the Macula. Bianca Medici came about once a year and wrote letters during other times. Several big families had joined them as well thanks to Amicia's family name and abilities. The Peoples' Thieves also stayed in contact with them, Melie often sending her son Arthur to pass along messages. Lucas had managed to help her keep a fairly stable Order of the Protector, and Amicia was amazed not only by his tenacity, but his skill at it too.

Speaking of which, she saw Lucas making his way towards her, cane in hand. He had become quite adapt at it and moved almost as fast as he used to. The cane itself was beautifully crafted with a sculpted Phoenix on the handle, created by their talented daughter Felicite who had a knack for making beautiful things. Amicia was a little jealous. She had never been very artistic.