Brent seemed to be extremely nervous for dinner and Lucas thought it was because he was nervous to meet Cindy and Will.
Of course, it was expected. Who wouldn't be nervous to meet Cinderella and Prince Charming? But it irked Lucas a bit.
He had lived most of his life a shadow of his brothers- especially William. Brent seemed to be the only one who paid Lucas the most attention and he didn't want him to be stolen away by his brother. It was petty, he knows, but that didn't change the fact that William was better than him in every way. Lucas just wanted to make sure Brent didn't know that though.
He and Brent stood in the bathroom, both looking in the mirror.
Brent was pale, looking like he was about to soil his pants, and Lucas was looking at himself with disgust, thinking about how much more attractive all of his brothers were.
Lucas wore the same outfit as his brothers because, as corny as it sounds, the Charming always had to match. Of course, his outfit was tailored to his wider hips and a smaller waistline.
Brent wore a black suit with a black dress shirt underneath. He looked like he had been dipped in ink from neck to toe and Lucas loved it. The dark colors made his skin looked paler, giving him a dangerous look that accented the smirk he always wore. Well, the smirk he usually wore, since he wasn't wearing it right now.
Then they heard a knock on the door and Lumiere's voice flooded the room, "Excuse me, Sirs, your dinner is ready!" yelled the French man.
Lucas nodded at himself once more, making sure his ponytail had no stray hairs about and then turned to Brent.
Brent nodded as well and they headed down to the dining hall in silence, lead by Lumiere. The walk was long and awkward, and Lucas couldn't stop himself from looking at Brent every five seconds.
The man looked so good. How was he supposed to concentrate when he was wearing an all black suit. Lucas had just decided black was his new favorite color.
Everyone was already there. William sat at the head, next to his wife. Jenine sat across from Cinderella, and Diana and Gina sat across from each other. Brent sat down across from Jack, who was sitting next to Diana. Lucas took his place at the other end of the table.
Will smiled at his younger brother, "Luke! It's been too long, I didn't see you at the anniversary party." he exclaimed across the table
"Yes, I was... uh... busy," he said with a small forced smile. Lucas wasn't actually busy. He hardly ever is at night. But he couldn't stand seeing any of his brothers with their wives sometimes, it made him feel far too lonely and inferior.
"Shame. Maybe the next one," he turned to Jenine with a forced smile similar to Lucas's, "perhaps that will be your own."
Jenine beamed, "Oh, William!" she laughed at the comment that was clearly not a joke, "Thank you for inviting me to dinner. It means a lot to be welcomed by my brother-in-law."
"Ah yes, you're welcome," he nodded curtly, "If we would accept your request to join us for dinner. You're going to be family soon."
"You could've made that a little more believable, you know," Gina said, already digging into her food.
William ignored her comment, "And on that note, let us begin feasting!"
And so they did. They dug into the food eager and hungry.
"This is better than usual," Jack said softly. But everyone was used to Jack saying things softly, so at the sound him starting to speak, they all craned their ears to hear him. "The food is really good,"
"Yes, it's actually perfect," Prince Lucas said, turning to Brent, "It tastes like your cooking actually."
"I helped out a bit," Brent shrugged, "They asked me for a few pointers, but I didn't actually cook anything. I just gave a little advice"
"You are the chef, Brent Lucas, correct?" William smiled widely at him
Brent gulped, "Yes,"
"This is excellent," William slapped the table, "Actually the best I've ever had. How much could I pay you for him, Lucas?"
"There's no way I'm letting go of Brent," Lucas shook his head
Brent smiled, "And there's no way I'm leaving Lucas."
"Ah," William gave them a genuine smile, "You guys are a pair, eh? That's nice."
"It's funny you mention something like that," Jenine cleared her throat, "Your mother had a similar friendship. With a maid, was it?"
William's smile dropped at her words, "She... did. With a very heinous woman." he said slowly, "I don't know how you knew about that or what you're insinuating."
"Oh, Your Highness, I don't want to insinuate anything," Jenine said sweetly, "I think Brent is has nothing but good intentions despite what his mother might've done in the past."
"Your mother?" Lucas's brows went down as well. He turned to his friend with confusion and suspicion on his face.
"Oh nevermind anything I said, Lukey," Jenine gushed, "Let's get back to this delicious dinner,"
"Our amazing dinner," Cinderella emphasized.
"You all are so kind," Brent beamed, feeling more proud of himself than he already did.
Prince Lucas picked up his glass and raised it for the whole table to see. "I say we toast," he smiled at his chef, "To Brent Lucas and his impeccable skill,"
Everyone joined in him raising their glasses. Brent laughed and lifted his as well, "Aw, you're gonna make me blush." He smirked, making Lucas's heart soar.
"To Brent Lucas," William Charming declared.
"To Brent Lucas," they all repeated.
Brent gushed at the attention, "To me,"
And then they all drank. As the golden liquid slid down Brent's throat, however, something felt off. Once he swallowing a scratchy feeling crept up his throat, causing him to cough harshly. Lucas gave him a strange look but was dragged into a conversation to Diana, who asked him to pass her his napkin since she had somehow already soiled her own.
He straightened his tie to cover the fact that his throat was now sore for some reason. It was odd, alcohol never bothered his throat like this before. Especially not something as tame as Champagne.
The horrible tickle in his throat didn't leave as dinner continued. Every time he swallowed, it felt as if there were a toothpick lodged somewhere in his windpipe that would poke into his flesh every time something passed down his throat. He tried to his best to remain normal and eat in only small portions, making sure his food was completely liquid before he attempted to swallow.
"Chef Lucas you've hardly touched your own creation," King William hollered across the table. Brent looked up and paled at being talked to directly by the king himself.
He gave the man a shy smile, "I have a bit of a sore throat today actually. Swallowing is a bit painful."
"That's terrible," The king frowned, "We'll make sure you have a nice cup of peppermint tea before you go off to bed. How does that sound?"
Truthfully, that sounded like it might also burn his throat, but he didn't say that aloud. "That's sound very generous of you. Thank you, Your Highness."
Lucas scowled at how Brent kissed up to his older brother, but the chef didn't notice.
The burning sensation, soon spread to his head, giving him a headache. Every word someone said gave him a searing pain and he couldn't understand why. He suddenly felt very, very sick.
After about ten more minutes of trying to drown everyone out, he suddenly stood up, getting everyone else's attention.
He could barely see them now, the white-hot pain taking over his sight. All conversation died, being replaced with a worried look.
"Brent, what's wrong?" Lucas asked warily.
The chef swayed a bit, "I think- I think...." he struggled to form his words, "I'm a bit too sick to be able to finish this dinner."
"Are you sure?" William frowned the same way he did before, "Maybe we should have a doctor check up on you."
"I don't think that's necessary," Brent assured them, trying his best to look more put together than he felt, "Or maybe tomorrow. I probably just need some rest... I didn't get much sleep last night."
Without any further discussion, he bowed lowly and made his way out into the hallway. He heard Jenine shout in a fake, concerned tone, "Do take better care of yourself, Brenty!".
And then he blacked out in the hallway.
***
"That's strange," Lucas said, once Brent had left the room. "He didn't seem to be ill before dinner." He bit his lip warily.
"Do you think he's okay?" William asked, seeming just as concerned as Lucas. "I should send a doctor to go check on him actually." He said, rising.
"I'm going to check on him too," Lucas stood as well, pushing in his chair, "He seemed like he could barely stand."
"Maybe he can't hold his alcohol?" Diana suggested.
Gina rolled her eyes at her girlfriend, "You think he got drunk off of two gulps of champagne? Something's off." she turned to Jenine who was sitting right next to her, "What did you do, witch?" she hissed.
Jenine batted her lashes, "What are you talking about? You don't have any proof that I have anything to do with this." She said with an irritating pout.
Lucas made his way out of the room, tripping over something right as he walked through the door. That thing that he tripped over turned out to be a foot.
A large hairy brown foot with sharp claws, that was attached to a sleeping monster. After being tripped over, said monster stirred awake and sat up.
Just sitting, the creature was already at about 7 feet tall, with hair covering every inch of its muscular body, expect the face. Its hairy arms spanned probably five feet each with massive curved, yellow claws. The face turned to Lucas, pale and grey with beady yellow eyes and two foot long fangs hanging out of its drooling mouth.
Lucas, still on the floor, paled, inhaling silently so to not anger the beast more than it probably already was. He slowly inched his way back toward the door to the dining hall, trembling with every gradual movement.
The beast seemed confused at first, following the prince with it's glowing yellow eyes. Then, without warning, it stood up on its hind legs.
The beast, now at its maximum height, hit the ceiling with its head. On impact, it roared in irritation.
Its roar shook the walls of the castle, prompting Lucas to finally scream and start bolting back into the dining hall.
As he did so, the beast followed not even an inch behind.
The guests, still sitting at the table gasped at the sight. They stood up, and quickly ran for dear life, as the beast raged.
It brought its terrible fist down and snapped the dining table to pieces. Then it swung its arm again, promptly shattering all the windows it slammed into. Everyone ducked to avoid the flying glass right as soldiers came in, trying to tame the beast.
This angered it even more, and it swung its hand at the crowd in the room just as Lucas was looking around wondering, "where did Brent go?"
The powerful arm slammed into Lucas, throwing him across the room and knocking him out on impact.