No Net Ensures Me

Until The End Of Time

There was a whole array of colours in the throne room, the flowers that lined the pillars were sprouting and in full bloom, the large castle windows were open to allow a breeze to blow in. Guards stood post at each window, their uniforms spotless and fitted tightly to their bodies, their swords fitted in their hilts where each of their hands lay. A few servants milled about the throne room, picking up glasses or straightening things, sweeping and polishing for when the party was sure to ensue later that night. Upstairs, behind a closed chamber door, Lucie Queen of England and Princess of Wales was sitting at her nightstand table, brushing her hair while eyeing herself in the mirror. Though her person was sitting in her chambers, her mind was stretching to the countryside, to the countryside where she had lived when she was young, reaching out towards Wales before she had been moved into England. She could remember the wind in the grass, the sweet, salty taste of that wind as it blew her hair back from her face, and the sounds of the gulls crying out as they ducked and chased their food. Lucie remembered the stone walls of the castle she was born in, the floor lined with a carpet that would move if you run too fast on it like Lucie often did when young. She remembered how the clouds twisted and curled in the sky furling and unfurling like fire from the dragon’s mouth- no, like the remnants of fire from a dragon’s mouth. She could see the sheer cliffs edge as the castle had been built upon a hill, how dense the forest was around the castle down the cliffside, with only a slight, rough, road to travel in order to get up to the front door of the castle. The call of the sheep could be heard in the far off distance, carried by the wind and the sun shone down in strong, powerful rays that kissed one’s skin and with each touch formed a warmth within as the colours glowed brighter here than any place else, rest assured. Then there were the sounds of the voices that accompanied Lucie wherever she may have wandered off to, be it her servants, her guards, or even, but most often, her mother and father. Her brother James never seemed to call for her, rather he’d track her down himself. All those sounds and sights and feelings, joined with the smells of the Welsh air had Lucie’s mind whirling far away from anything that was on English soil. In the back of her mind, waking her from her daydream like a surprise visitor to a new land that knocked too loudly on the door, a sound had been picked up. She thought it was the sound of the branches knocking against the castle windows, the branches from the tree that’s a little too tall and no one ever got around to cutting, it use to cast shadows in the young Queen’s bedroom, shadows that scared her, yet taught her to learn that there was nothing to fear except fear itself. The knocking sound persisted and when she was little she’d hide under her sheets at the sound, now it was accompanied by a voice saying her name, a voice she couldn’t place from her childhood in Wales. Well… she could place it in her childhood, she found the perfect spot in her heart for it to fit, but it was high pitched, more childlike with the sing-song quality of a young boy. Now, it sounded like the voice of a man, a man who’s voice drew out of her reminiscing as it always seemed to draw her out of her head and back down to earth, it just was what it was. “Lucie, can I come in?”

“Come in,” Lucie responded, shaking her head to clear it as she turned to face the opening door, Jesse stepped into the room, crossing the floor in a few long strides to kiss her head, the door closing behind him. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, angling himself so that though the chair separated any real touch, his hands lay on her stomach and he was leaning down so his shoulders were just above her own. He pressed a kiss to her temple and smiled softly.

“I missed you, Lucie,” Jesse gently whispered. “Are you readying yourself for the party?”

“Yes, that is what I’m doing. And then I got caught up in my own mind and, well you know how I get when that happens. But I’m getting ready again now. It is, after all, the great King Jesse’s birthday we, and the whole nation, are celebrating!” Lucie glanced at him, smiling and stealing a kiss. “Happy Birthday, my love.”