"All done," she announced. She sounded relieved.
Was she in such a hurry to get rid of him? Lucien wondered.
"What is your name?" Lucien managed to ask.
"He speaks again!" she teased while maintaining a straight face.
Lucien chuckled.
"Come in tomorrow, and we will see how it looks," she said with finality in her voice.
"Ok, pretty lady," he nodded.
She watched the tall soldier leave on wobbly legs. He had turned down her offer to help him, insisting on doing it himself. He felt familiar, his piercing blue eyes held so much kindness and…. She shook her head. She knew better than to allow herself to be moved by these soldiers. She knew of a nurse who worked here before her, Winifred.
Winifred had fallen for one of her patients. The soldiers convinced her that he wanted nothing more than to marry her. When Winifred got pregnant with his child, he disappeared. Winifred couldn't bare the shame of a child outside of wedlock and so she left.
That would never be her, Levina thought to herself. She knew better.
...
Lucien almost fell asleep when his bedroom door flew open and Cleopatra came squealing inside.
"Where's my favorite brother?"
"Almost at the doors of dream world before you came barging in," he muttered sleepily.
"You didn't even bother to drop by my room!" she nagged, ignoring his complaint.
"I would have, but my legs were struggling to hold me up. I thought I would come see you in the morning."
"Oh, yes. I completely forgot. How are you feeling?" she took a seat beside him on the bed, and with her eyes, examined his injury.
"God awful." He tried to sit up but couldn't.
"Wait, I'll help," Dragons naturally healed faster than humans, but they heal a lot slower if the wounds were inflicted by other dragons. She stood to her feet and reached for his shoulder. Lucien raised his hands in protest.
"Don't worry, I got this."
"No, you clearly do not get this," she said. She knew how stubborn her brother was and also knew the only thing stronger than his stubbornness was his pride. He would never accept help, but she was more stubborn.
She helped him sit up and placed pillows behind his back for comfort.
Lucien chuckled, after his father, the best person in his life was Cleopatra. She doted on him and acted like his mother, even though they were of the same age. She always made sure he was okay and would usually give Zarek an earful whenever he disrespected Lucien. Something their mother would never do. She never treated him like her stepbrother. Lucien was grateful for her, she made his childhood less lonely.
"Zarek told me what happened. I'm really sorry about that. I knew how much that position meant to you," she straightened her skirt and sat back down.
"Do you know the worst part of it?" he asked, pain evident in his voice.
"Mother didn't take your side? I've told you not to…."
"I don't care about Mother taking my side," he lied. "I am already used to my mother being against me."
"It doesn't mean she does not love you. She just has her way of showing it." Cleopatra hated seeing him like that. She knew how much he wanted Queen Lucretia's approval, even if he denies it.
"Father sided with the councilmen Cleo, he didn't stand by me or defend me. He was so quick to snatch the position back. If he didn't trust me to get the job done, why did he give it to me in the first place?" he queried all riled up.
Cleopatra shook her head,
"When the news of what happened to your squad reached us, we all thought you had died. Father wailed like a child and blamed himself for ever letting you join the army." She took her brother's hand in her clasped hands, "We thought you died, do you get it? Father did that to protect you;"
Cleopatra said as she dabbed at her eyes with a small handkerchief, "If I were there during the meeting, I would have voted against you too. I don't want you anywhere close to a battlefield again."
Lucien leaned back and sighed. She had a point. He remembered how much his father was against him joining the army, but his mother had insisted and Lucien insisted even more when he realized that, that was what his mother wanted. The things he would do for his mother to acknowledge him.
Cleopatra gave his good hand a light squeeze, "You should talk to Father. All these had had a toll on his health. He just got his son back from the dead, don't punish him with your anger."
She was right again.
"How are you more sensible than me?" he teased;
"It's a gift for special people only. And don't forget I'm also prettier."
They both laugh.
"I've missed this. I'm glad you're back honestly," she chipped in.
They've been close since their childhood years. They would spend hours talking to each other about everything and confide in each other things they would never tell other people.
"I would love to keep chatting and fill you in on a lot of things that happened while you were away, but you need to rest. It can wait till you're all better," she stood to her feet. "I will ask one of the servants to bring your dinner when it's time."
She helped him lay back on the bed before leaving the room.
She walked down the hallway ignoring the greetings of the servants and guards like she usually does. She halted dramatically in front of Queen Lucretia's door when she heard raised voices. The door was slightly open and so she placed her ear against the door.
"We have to kill him now!" she heard Queen Lucretia say, her voice trembling.
Cleopatra's brow creased into a frown;
Who does the queen want dead?
Eager to know the answer to the question, she pushed the door open.
"Who do you want dead mother?"