An Incurable

As I knew him, Lucerne would not just speak so tersely, yet calm when he joked, especially with a hidden restraint in his voice that only I could have figured out, and with the fact that he ignored the matter of a spy to say this.

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                                LUCERNE’S POV

          I had changed from my nightclothes into a pair of khakis and a brown, sleeved shirt, and then slid my feet into its leather black boots, getting ready as I usually do on some mornings to tend the castle garden.

          As I turned away from my wardrobe, a knock came on my door and Sage, my handmaid, walked in. She curtsied before me, stretching the neatly folded ash cloak out to me, “my Lord.”

         “Thank you, Sage,” I acknowledged as I took the cloak from her and wore it on myself. “Get me my toolbox and gloves,” I ordered, and Sage did as I said. She gingerly moved to my drawer and brought out the box filled with my tools for tending to the garden, and then the gloves. I took the latter from her, wore it on, and then proceeded to leave the room. However, I met the apologetic faces of Anastasia and Sofia when I opened my door.

         “My Lord,” they curtsied in unison.

          “Why are you here; are you not supposed to be with my brothers?” I asked, staring hawkeyed at them.

         The two girls exchanged glances and immediately dropped to their knees, pleading, “We have been incompetent, my Lord. Please have mercy, we came in this morning and realized that they were not in their chambers.”

         I rolled my eyes and heaved a sigh, “It is not your fault, rise.” Of course, I would not blame the poor women. Leaving the castle at early mornings and late nights was like a custom to Damien, and Wayne might have probably fallen victim in Damien’s hands. All I had to do was proceed to my own interest until they returned. Therefore, I smiled at the two girls and nodded. 

          “T… there is something else, my Lord,” Anastasia stuttered.

          My brows creased. “Which is?”

          “The master… is seriously ill; he demands the presence of you all at once.”

          The hairs of my skin stood as I blinked twice, trying to let Anastasia’s words sink in. Was she joking or what; my Father is ill? That was close to impossible, I will not believe. However, on second thought, these handmaids could not just come up with something like this to tell me at this early hour of the morning, so it was not possible that they were lying.

               

          “Since when did it begin?” I queried to be sure because I was certain father was super healthy before bedtime last night.

           They nonetheless replied, “Just this morning, my Lord.”

                                WAYNE’S POV

          Damien and I sat by the shore. I drew my legs to my chest and hugged my knees, silently watching the calm flow of the Coral Sea as it moved along with the wind that carried it in waves. Damien, who was once standing like a sentry behind, sat beside me with a handful of pebbles, which he began to toss into the sea. 

           We had been here for four hours. It was now a bright morning and the loud chirping of birds was clear to my hearing, though I knew the sound was not coming from the woods behind us, it could probably be coming a long way from Lucerne's garden.

          However, I still have not ironed out the confusion in my head, plus the uneasy feeling that I have just begun to feel. I was still trying to evaluate why we found a witch in the Coral shore and who it was in the first place because since the witches came under the domination of the werewolves, it had been rare to see them in any territory aside that of the wolves. Moreover, those bastards and the demons were mortal enemies; since we had stayed out of their way, it was only right that they did the same to us too.

          “You should stop straining your head with such thoughts,” Damien muttered with a grin, interrupting my thoughts. I rolled my eyes. He had the habit of reading one's thoughts and intruding on their privacy, now I seriously wished I knew a way to block my mind from his access. “You cannot even do that if you want to,” he spurted again as he rose to his feet. “The sun will soon be out, you can decide to stay, but I certainly am not.”

          “I know,” I muttered and stretched my hand out to him; he huffed, but still helped me up.

          I slapped the sands off my derriere and followed Damien out of the shore. We passed through the morning-misted woods and arrived at the back of the castle that seemed to be in chaos as the royal guards and handmaids ran here and there. I began to wonder what must have troubled the Coral shore castle at such early hours of the morning.

          A junior demon approached us, “My Lords,” he greeted us with a bow.

          “What is going on?” Damien blurted.

          “Lord Lucerne conducted a search party for you two,” the demon responded with an obeisance and Damien let out a dry laugh.

          “Lucerne should be aware that we always leave the castle and return whenever I choose, why would he cause such uproar this time?”

          “He said it is urgent, my Lord.”

          Damien sighed. “We will see him then.” He grabbed my hand on that note and I soon found myself in my room. It happened so fast that the world turned me around for a moment. By the time I regained myself, Damien was already out through the door. I sluggishly followed after, bumping into handmaids and guards who screamed our arrival.

          Damien was six feet before me as we walked along the hallway, and then we saw Lucerne coming before us. I realized something was wrong the moment I saw his slightly imprecise steps and worried face. He did not look as calm as he usually did and it was odd. “Where the heck were the both of you?” He yelled the moment he met with us.

          “Calm down, big brother,” Damien cooed. “Wayne here got another sneaky visit from his secret lover, so I took him to the Shore,” He added and I shot him a glare. Lucerne turned to me; his soothing palm found a place on my shoulder. 

          “I thought the night visits had disappeared for a while?” He enquired fondly.

          I shrugged, “For four days, yes. But it came back again today and I think Damien also saw a figure escape through the woods.” I looked deep into Lucerne’s eyes― the color of rich, fine wine. They were calm, yet I could see an imaginary cloud of emotions swirling in them. He was a few inches below me, though he was five year older than I am and Damien was three years younger. I was still the tallest among them, while Lucerne was the least.

          He also had the same silver hair, but did not keep it long as the rest of us did, all he had was a short frizzy hair shaved at the sides, with the quite long strands at the center falling, in frizzes, to his forehead.

          Lucerne heaved a deep sigh and shook his head, retracting his hand. “I just got the info that Father is seriously ill and demanded to see us.” 

           “Stop kidding, Brother!” Damien was obviously not buying Lucerne's joke. I mean, how could he just burst out of nowhere and say such? I too was in disbelief, I could not just believe him and I do not think I would unless I see Father with my own eyes.

          “I am telling the truth,” Lucerne assured calmly. In his voice was an assertion that what he said was indeed true.

          As I knew him, Lucerne would not just speak so tersely, yet calm when he joked, especially with a hidden restraint in his voice that only I could have figured out. Moreover, he ignored the matter of a spy to say this. It seemed like he was panicking within, but tried to hide it from us for the sake of staying strong as the elder. 

          “We should go to him now,” Damien blurted and immediately stormed towards Father's chamber.

          Goosebumps ran through my skin as Lucerne and I trailed behind Damien along the hallway. I suddenly felt nervous and unwilling to see Father. I visualized the scenario of how he would look now.

          Father had always been an agile, tall, and muscular man with rare good looks— we certainly took our mesmerizing features from him too. He always looked outstanding among other male demons, so it sounded weird to say he was seriously ill.

          We arrived at the huge doors of Father's chamber and the guards ushered us in. Truly speaking, I did not expect the sight I saw. Father weakly lay in his four-poster bed, shivering. We rushed to him and knelt before his bed. He shut his eyes tight, his teeth clattered behind a quivering mouth, and perspiration gathered on his forehead.

          Lucerne reached out to wipe off the sweat and Father opened his eyes. They are red like blood and weak, as I could never have imagined. He looked power-drained. The concerned eyes of us three roamed his frigid expression to find the answers to the cause of his predicament, but we found nothing. All I saw was a pair of cold eyes that seemed to have seen more than they wished to see.

          I opened my mouth and what came out was an unstructured word in the form of croaked air. Father took the opportunity to speak anyway, “My sons,” He called weakly, but never stuttered. “You are here.”

          Lucerne nodded frenziedly, “How did this happen, Father?” He asked with so much concern, but Father gave him a warming smile that did not match his glacial facial features, and then turned to look at me instead.

         “Wayne,” He called in a whisper and I moved to where he could properly see me, the smile stretched his lips the more. “Check under my pillow and give whatever you see to your elder brother,” He instructed. 

                               

          I gently placed my hand below Father's hot head and slowly, I lifted it from the pillow. I then reached under the cushion and took out what was beneath it. I did not expect what I fished out; it was Coral shore's Lordship token!

         “What is going on, Father? Why should Wayne hand me your token?” Lucerne blurted immediately when he saw the piece of carved wood in my hand.

          I slowly laid Father's head on the pillow and moved away from the bed, my fingers wrapping tightly around the token as I sat wearily on the floor. I had already sensed where this was leading; it was the reason behind the unease I had been feeling since the dawn of today. This was it, Father was dying, and he needed Lucerne to take over Lordship of the Shore.

                                                                               

          I was brought back to reality when Father coughed, and my eyes wandered to stare at Damien, the latter's eyes were fixated on my fist, he seemed lost for words and was still trying to comprehend what was going on.

          “I have a few words for you, young ones,” Father whispered with a croaky voice, he was beginning to lose it, and I could not bring myself to move nor look at him. “I only have a moment left to speak; inside me is an incurable poison which nothing can be done about.” There was a pause, and Damien huffed, cutting Father off before he could speak any further.

          “Is this some kind of joke, Sire? How could you, the powerful Demon Lord, suddenly die in a short period just by poison? Sounds like bullshit to me!”

          “Be quiet, Damien!” Lucerne ordered and Father coughed again, he seemed unable to move at this moment.

          “My son,” he called as his eyes rolled to Damien, “When you travel around, you would understand that witches are not the kind to mess with.”

          I turned to Father, he said witches?

          “I knew this day would come,” Father continued, “but I never knew it would be so soon.” He coughed so hard, one that caused a streak of blood to trail down the side of his lips. Only then did I realize that his skin has a shade of red and black.