"Well, now, quite a predicament we have here, hum?" Lucifer smirked at the Cazimirs.
"My Prince, I swear we had no clue," Began the Duke, his shock and worry surrounding them, and Lucifer relished it. It wasn't often that the high and mighty Lunther Cazimir, Duke of Central City, was so put out.
"Oh, of course, an unfortunate coincidence." He interrupted, "However, it is, maybe, a bit too coincidental?"
"Please, Louie," Angelique spoke this time,
"Excuse me? I believe I misheard you." He interrupted her clicking his tongue.
"My Prince," She corrected, "I had no idea,"
"Hum, now I don't know if I believe that, Angelique." Lucifer remarked, "I stepped away for just a few minutes and returned to find you and my wife in a bit of a tiff. Oh, and there was also that little incident this afternoon."
"I would never," She pleaded.
"It's just hard to get around that your date just happened to be the one who slipped a deadly poison into her wine."
"Stop it." His Baby Girl muttered, grabbing his attention, "I don't like her, Luce, but I can't believe she would do something like this."
"You sure? Say the word, and I can have her in one of my cells. She would crumble so easily," Lucifer grinned wickedly as the words he didn't mean to say slipped through his lips.
"No! Angelique may not like me, but she would never betray you." Kathrine Ann whispered as Lucifer composed himself and pushed his demon back, "Besides, I don't think she's that stupid.
"I agree. Angelique is a smart woman. I highly doubt that she'd keep the assailant so close if she had orchestrated this whole thing. Windon, can you tell us how this boy poisoned the wine?"
Lucifer had seen Damien walk toward the bar but was then distracted. Had one of the bartenders also been involved?
"I don't exactly know, but um...he used to work here, a bartender for years, my Prince. He still helps out when he can. I suspect he went behind the bar to get his and Lady Angelique's drink. That is when he must have added it."
"Ah, so you know him well?" Lucifer questioned.
"Yes, my Prince," Windon admitted looking at the floor with a hint of sadness but mostly shock. "I would have never thought he was capable of something like this."
"You would be surprised what people will do for those they love. This sister of his, what do you know about her?" Lucifer continued, but his eyes drifted to his quiet doll. She had a stern look on her face, but her eyes were distant.
"Oh, well, she's not all there, my Lord, sweet girl, but it's like she never grew up, very child-like," Windon explained, "She's only a year and some younger than Damien, but I guess something didn't develop right. Their parents are both gone, so he is the one who cares for her."
"Go inform your Grandparents of the situation but keep it quiet. I don't want to cause panic. No need to ruin this lovely evening." He instructed, and the anxious boy ran off to do as he was told, "Now back to you two."
He returned his attention to the two people standing in front of them.
"Lucifer, I swear I will find out who put Damien up to this," Cazimir began.
"No, you won't." He replied, "I have yet to find this man, so there's little chance you will. That is unless you already know." This accusation snapped his Baby Girl back. Her eyes were on him, and worry scented the air around her.
"I swear neither my daughter nor I would ever betray you. I've been loyal to your father for thousands of years, Louie,"
The Duke was interrupted mid-sentence by Lucifer's laughter, "Oh, I know, Lunther, but I couldn't resist having a bit of fun. It was just too easy." He chuckled, "You would never dare betray my father or me because you know the consequences. Now, see to it that the boy's sister is taken care of. Sadly, she will never see her brother again."
"Yes, of course, my Lord." He bowed, "Come, Angelique."
"Not so fast," Lucifer intervened, "I would like a word with the future duchess."
Reluctantly, the Duke walked off, leaving his daughter in front of Lucifer and his still, quiet doll.
"Angelique, if I find you had anything to do with this," He began slowly as fear and panic flowed from the shaking girl.
"I didn't, my Prince! I swear," Lucifer held up a finger silencing her.
"I believe you for now, but even I make mistakes. So just be warned, if you have already or plan to betray Kathrine Ann or me, your punishment will be that of a traitor to the crown, and do you know what happens to traitors of the crown?" Lucifer felt his demon stirring excitedly and pushing forward.
"I, uh, I've heard stories," She swallowed hard, not meeting his eyes or even glancing in his Baby Girl's direction.
Lucifer reached forward and grabbed Angelique's chin forcing her eyes to his, which he knew was slightly red around the pupils, "Go on, Lady Angelique. Enjoy the rest of your evening."
She bowed low and tried unsuccessfully to walk calmly away. Instead, her need to put distance between them was apparent.
"You enjoyed it, didn't you?" She asked in almost a whisper, "Scaring her like that."
"Yes," He replied instantly with a growl, "part of me did, at least." He added, forcing down his other half and threatening him in every way he could think of.
"My Lady!" Came a small cry as Mirthlock reappeared with Windon in tow, "My Princess, I am so sorry." He gasped out of breath as he dropped to one knee and bowed his head, "I take full responsibility and will take any punishment the young Lord deems suitable."
"Get up, you old fool," Lucifer ordered, "You're drawing attention."
Mirthlock rose immediately, but his head stayed bowed, and Lucifer sensed his sadness and shame. No fear, though, which impressed him a bit. "You are not in trouble, Mirth, you did nothing wrong, and the situation has been handled. To be honest, I suspected something like this might happen, and at least I have another person to question." Lucifer reassured and felt relief flood from Mirthlock but annoyance from his Baby Girl,
"Thank you, my Prince. Please, the performance will be starting soon. Let me escort the two of you to your box." Mirthlock beamed, leading them away from the table and up the elegant staircase. Lucifer slipped his arm around his Baby Girl's waist and noticed that she didn't move in closer to him as she had earlier in the evening, "I already have a bottle of both your beverages of choice in the box. Your guard checked them already, along with an assortment of our best pastries made by my Dorcy." He smiled as they walked down a long green-carpeted hall adorned with photographs and paintings of the theatre through the ages, all illuminated by the gentle light from sconces. Her eyes focused in front while his were on her staring curiously and wondering what Angelique said to upset her.
"I'm sure they are delicious." His kind doll replied to Mirtlock, but he still sensed a medley of emotions, and none of them were pleasant. Annoyance, aggravation, and sadness, but the most confusing were loneliness and regret.
Nothing else was said until they reached a familiar door. It had been years since Lucifer had been to the theatre, but he knew this box well. Thron stood next to the door,
"Everything taken care of?" He asked the stoic guard as they walked past him and into the room.
"Yes, my Prince," Thron reassured.
"Thank you, Thron." His Baby Girl thanked, stopping unexpectedly and causing Lucifer to miss-step.
"Think nothing of it, my Princess." He replied with a bow, "I was only doing my job."
"No, seriously, thank you. Besides drinking poison for me, you checked on me when you didn't have to." She smiled sweetly at him, and Lucifer's lip twitched as a familiar feeling set in. It wasn't Angelique. It was him. He had done something, and yet again, he hadn't a clue of what.
The stern bodyguard broke a small smile, "It's in my best interest, my Lady. After all, you've tamed a Devil. I don't want to be on your bad side."
Lucifer growled, and his Baby Girl laughed loudly as he quickly slammed the door shut, leaving the couple in the box alone. The room was small but had plenty of space for the two of them. The walls were draped from ceiling to floor with curtains of green and gold. There was a table off to the side that held glasses and the alcohol Mirthlock mentioned, and in the center were three small couches.
"Okay, what is it, Baby Girl?" Lucifer demanded as she pulled out of his arm, "What did I do this time?"
"It's nothing," She said, forcing a smile and turning her back to him, "Everything's fine."
"Nope, I know that word in that tone means you are, in fact, not 'fine.'" He replied as her annoyance grew, "Is it the poisoning because that's precisely why I didn't want to tell,"
"It's not that." She huffed, "At least not just that." Kathrine Ann walked to the railing of their box while he went to the small table and poured them both a glass. Taking a sip of hers first, he walked over to where she stood, waiting for her to continue, but she just stared out at the empty stage while the seats beneath them filled in. Her annoyance radiated so much it almost hid the loneliness.
"Tell me, please, what did I do?" He asked, handing her the glass of wine, "You know better than anyone that I'm too thick to figure it out on my own."
"You were you," She sighed, shaking her head as if waking from a daze and grabbing her glass, "It's honestly my fault. I should have known from the moment you entered the bathroom that you hadn't changed your plans for me."
"What?" He asked, baffled, stopping his glass just short of his lips.
"You used me as a pawn." She clarified, sipping her wine, "You didn't want to spend the evening with me. You just wanted to punish,"
"I swear to Grandpapa if you say her fucking name," He warned.
"It's true, though. If she hadn't been a jealous bitch and pissed you off, you would be with her tonight, not me." She retorted, staring down, her eyes glancing around as she watched the other patrons settle into their spots, "I assume it was Azazel who told you what happened,"
"For the record, I knew something was wrong, and I asked Azazel what had happened. I knew you were upset and didn't know what I had done very similar to now, but anyway," He defended, "This is what you wanted, and I gave it to you. We were having a nice night." He grumbled, exasperated, shooting half his glass and throwing himself down onto the middle couch as she still refused to look at him.
"And I'm grateful, Luce, truly I am, but I guess I just thought you actually had a change of heart. I just wanted to go out and spend time with you, and for a moment, I thought you wanted that too."
"And that's exactly what we're doing. I don't do things I don't want to do. You can ask anyone,"
"You took me out because you wanted to prove a point," She snapped, finally turning to look at him, "And as a bonus, catch whoever is trying to poison me."
"Win, win!" He huffed.
"Right." She scoffed, "Just drop it, Lucifer." She sighed, taking a large swig of her wine and again turning away.
"No! No, you tell me what the fuck you're trying to say, Kathrine Ann." He demanded, pointing his finger at her while the rest of his hand still held tight to his empty glass.
"You used me!" She snapped back, one hand clutching the railing and the other her wine glass, "You used me. You would have been just as happy, maybe even more, if you were with her tonight."
"For the last time, I don't care about her," He growled through gritted teeth getting up and storming over to the bar to refill his glass.
"And you don't care about me either!" She yelled back as her voice cracked. The hand that held the bottle froze mid-air, and it took a moment for her words to set in, which only made her emotions more intense as she felt his silence was an admission. Lucifer gathered himself and, with a sigh, poured his glass before turning to catch his Baby Girl dabbing her eyes,
"Sit down, Baby Girl." He sighed, returning to the couch but not sitting. For a moment, he thought she was going to ignore him, but slowly she turned and did as he instructed. However, she sat on a different couch than the one he stood in front of. He couldn't help but chuckle at her and take a few steps toward the couch. "Listen to me, Baby... Kathrine Ann. You are no pawn, not to me or anyone else. You are a queen and a very perceptive one at that. As I told you on our wedding night, this whole relationship thing is new to me, though I am working on it." Sitting down next to her, he sighed and sipped his drink, "You must admit I am getting a little better."
There was a short pause as she sipped her wine and huffed, "I suppose how you stood up for me at my luncheon today was nice." She admitted, "And, even though you used me, the night you've planned has been kinda amazing." She admitted, "But you're still an asshole."
"Asshole? I think I'm doing okay if that's the worse you've got." He chuckled, scoring a little closer. "Look, I know it seemed like I was using you to prove a point," Her head turned, and she shot him an accusing glare, "Okay, fine, I'm sorry I used you to prove a point to Angelique, but it needed to be done. I showed her and everyone else that I will always choose you. I wanted to show you that too, but it would seem my message got a bit lost. I'm enjoying my evening with you very much, Baby Girl," He admitted, "And I do care about you a lot more than I ever expected."
"But you've been avoiding me." She replied in a small, hurt voice as things became clear for Lucifer. This wasn't just about tonight. He was almost sure tonight's infraction was just the last straw for his sensitive doll, "You can't deny it, I thought after the camping trip,"
"Stop." He interrupted, "You're right. I have been avoiding you, but not for the reasons you think." He explained as all the lights in the theatre dimmed.
"Then why?" Came the obvious question. Her green eyes were wide and teary as she stared at him.
"It's, well, it's complicated." He sighed as the master of ceremony walked onto the stage. Kathrine Ann's shoulders sank, and she looked away as Lucifer caught the rise in sadness, "Baby Girl, I need you to trust me when I say that it's not you, and spending the evening together is much better than my previous plans. You, well, you're nearly perfect, Kathrine Ann."
"Perfect?" She scoffed,
"You seem pretty perfect to me." Lucifer shrugged, "Bit frustrating sometimes but pretty perfect overall." Then, like a light switch, her mood flipped, she was still a bit annoyed, but the pain and loneliness vanished, replaced with embarrassment that showed on her cheeks. A small smile made its way across her face, and for a quick second Lucifer caught that scent again, the one he couldn't place, but just like before, it quickly vanished, "Let's enjoy the rest of our evening, and I promise I'll explain when we get back to the castle, okay?"
She nodded and turned her eyes to the stage as Lucifer stretched his arm along the back of the couch, letting his hand rest on her shoulder.