Bat interrupted her. "Late Dracula Fieren wasn't Damian's father."
"Damian is adopted?" asked Archer, confused.
"Yes. He sired half of De Caspian. Damian is the rightful heir to the Blood throne."
"What?" Lucia felt her blood run cold.
Bat shook his head. "Well, that's politics for another day but I want you to know that your father came to De Caspaia. He was looking for you, Lady Lucia."
Lucia clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I'm glad he didn't find me."
"Don't speak to father that way, Lucia." Colette said out of the blue, startling Anna.
Anna slowly rose to her feet, her entire body trembling. Bat sensed her anxiety and stole her right hand in his, stopping her from taking another step but she insisted.
"Father?" Anna breathed out in shudders. She picked up the pieces of the puzzle and set them in place. Of course.
Tears glinted in her eyes and she let them fill. "Colette is your name…how could I have not known."
Colette remained where she sat, blinking in confusion.
Anna shook her head. "I apologise, my lady. It's just that I haven't seen you in a while. My name is Annabelle Hawthorne, Lady Lucia's Lady-in-waiting."
A corner of her lips tugged up in a winsome smile. "Of course. I remember you now. Anna."
Anna nodded, sobbing quietly. "Yes, my lady."
Bat caught her wrist and pulled her back. "Come on. Enough crying for today."
Lucia's cheeks pinked when she saw Anna sit on Bat's lap with her face buried in his chest as she sobbed.
"I knew something was going on." she snickered quietly to herself.
Archer cleared his throat, his eyes fixated on Bat who palmed circles on Anna's back.
Bast shot him a look that said, "Get a grip, asshole and leave us alone."
"The story, if you will," Archer willed him to continue.
Bat stroke Anna's hair now. She had stopped crying and was probably resting because her eyes were closed.
"Count Von Burren made a wager with the new king of De Caspia, Dracula Jarlen. I don't know where Burren got the soldiers from but he managed to mobilize over a hundred soldiers." Bat said, as he stroke Anna's hair gently.
"A hundred army?" Archer sat up, his brows creased. "For what?"
"I don't know but I fear he wants war." Bat concluded. "Although, I'm not entirely sure what his true motive is. However, we should prepare for the worst."
Archer had had enough. He leapt to his feet, both his fists clenched. "I'm sorry, we? We are not preparing for anything. It is your lord Damian that should prepare for war. Canterbury has nothing to do with this."
Lucia turned to him sharply. "You're still ardent on this, aren't you?"
She took to her feet. "Very well. I guess I'll find a way myself."
Without a word, she stalked out of the room with two emotions hanging in her heart - fear and determination.
******
Lucia spent time alone in the library where she kept busy reading Nelia Nicklebone's latest poem collection – "Blood Oaths and Wooden Stakes." She had barely flipped over the page when she heard the sound of clinging metal and sharp roars.
She dropped the book gently and inched towards the window. Looking down, she found a group of knights training in the fields.
Suddenly, her mind flashed back to Archer's words.
"... We are not preparing for anything. It is your lord Damian that should prepare for war. Canterbury has nothing to do with this."
Lucia caught her bottom lip in her mouth. "If I have to save Damian, I have to get stronger."
Holding the page with a bookmark, she kept it back in the shelf and hurried out of the room.
When she arrived the training grounds, the knights looked at her as though she was an intruder. Crunched eyebrows, arched brows, and curled lips were all she could see. No one needed to tell her that she wasn't welcome.
Despite the cool summer breeze, the scent of sweat and leather wafted in the air.
Her stomach stiffened and her heart beat faster as they began to close in on her. She suddenly felt like a bunny in the midst of ravenous wolves.
"My lady?" Commander Alfred, the only one dressed in armour, spoke first. His voice was stern and he didn't not offer her a warm smile. Indeed, she wasn't welcome.
Lucia found her voice and cleared her throat. "Good day, Sir Knights. Forgive me for intruding on your training. I'd like to make a request."
"And what might that be, My Lady?" Sir Eden, who was barechested, asked, sheathing his sword.
Lucia tried not to ogle at his ribbed upper body and moistened her dry lips. "Fight."
The 29 of them exchange confused looks.
Alfred repeated slowly. "Fight?"
Lucia gave him a nod. "Yes. I want you to teach me how to fight."
It didn't take long till laughter filled the air.
"Fight? I'm afraid that's not going to happen, My Lady." Alfred approached her with a smirk.
"Oh really?" Lucia looked around the place. They were different weapons laying dormant on the wooden table and on the manicured grass.
Not offering them a backward glance, she walked to where a thin sword laid and picked it up.
"My Lady, please, drop it. You might hurt yourself!" Sir Adams said in alarm with deep worry etched on his face along with the rest of the knights.
The sword was cold to the touch and was quiet heavy, Lucia feared she might hurt her wrist but she wanted to to impress the knights. She swung it freely, praying it wouldn't slip from her grip and hit someone but she hoped the show would convince her that she was viable candidate.
"Impressed?" she forced a smile despite the pain. Her eyes lingering on all their faces. The creased brows were gone, replaced with awe and amazement. She had won them over.
"Reading books is not the only thing I'm good at, you know," Lucia declared proudly, still swinging the sword with one hand. "Our estate has accomodated knights for years. Of course, I'd pick up a thing or two."
A smirk played on Alfred's lips before they broke into a full grin. "I must say I am impressed by your bravado, Lady Lucia. Ladies of your age would never want themselves near a sword or any weapon at all but you are different and for that, you have my respect."
Lucia stopped swinging the sword and frowned. "Why do I feel a 'but' coming in?"
Altered heaved a frustrated sigh. "Holding a sword is no job for a lady and you know that."
"But I want to fight! I don't need you all to be by my side everyday! I want to be independent! So just give me this chance!" Lucia blared out but all of them just looked at her like she was some spoiled teenager.
"I'm afraid I can't. I'm sorry." Alfred hung his head.
Lucia felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. She turned to the other knights. "Sir Eden, please."
He looked away, not wanting to meet her gaze.
"Sir William, come on."
He, too, did the same.
"Sir James… Gawain? … Eugene… Demetrius… Roland… Sir Adam, come on," Lucia bit down on her lowerlip to keep her tears at bay. "Come on!"
"You need to go, Lady Lucia." Alfred reached for her arm but she reeled back a step.
"No! Don't touch me! You're just like everyone else! You think I'm weak, don't you?" Lucia let it all go to hell. Tears tumbled down her cheeks like torrents and she screamed at him. "Don't you? But I'm not weak! I'm not!"
"Lucy," she heard a familiar voice call for her.
Wiping her face with the heels of her hand, she whipped around to catch Bat approaching.
He had this huge smirk on his face and she wanted to wipe it off.
"Having a good laugh?" Lucia shot him a glare and he burst out laughing.
"One more peep out of you and you'll be joining the poultry." Lucia hissed at him.
Bat held up both his hands in midair. "Jeez, calm down. You're just like Damian… Anywho, I overheard your conversation with these scrap irons and I couldn't help but be intrigued."
"Who the hell are you calling a scrapiron, you creature?!" Alfred barked at him.
Bat rolled his eyes. "Ugh! I never rknew iron spoke."
"That does it!" Alfred unsheathed his sword but Lucia placed her arm to stop him.
"Enough." She turned to Bat. "What do you want, Bat? I know you. You didn't fly out of Anna comforting arms for nothing."
Bat grinned from ear to ear upon Lucia's words. Then he cleared his throat. "You're right. I left comfort to come meet you all in the heat. But I came here to grant a certain request."
"What kind of request?" Alfred quirked an eyebrow.
Bat shot him a stern look. "I believe I wasn't talking to you," Then he turned to Lucia. "Your words moved me so I'm here to help."
Lucia blinked back tears, confused. "What?"
Bat whipped out a sword from thin air and put it behind his neck. "Training with a sword will be pretty difficult in that dress."
Lucia's green eyes sparkled. "I'll go get changed right away."
She ran along and Bat couldn't help but laugh.
"You can't be serious! She's just a child, a little girl, a lady! Swords and battle fields are not place for her!" Alfred marched towards Bat.
"You're only feeding her overactive imagination. You know how Lucia is!" Another knight chipped in.
"What if His Grace finds out? We're screwed for sure." Sir Eden whispered to his colleague.
"So it is true then." Bat smiled, inching towards Alfred who leaned back.
"True that what?" Alfred asked, moving backwards with horror plastered on his face.
Bat was tall enough so he towered over the man as he inched forward. "Women, free and bond, noble and poor, are treated the same — like dolls, labour workers as Nelia would call them… Married off to husbands to warm their beds, bear their children, cook their meals and manage the household. So it is true about the human women are treated."
Everyone of them fell silent.
He went on regardless. "They don't have free will of their own. They're no different from slaves."
Alfred bit back a retort, replying as meek as a lamb. "W - What are you saying?"
Bat leaned his face down to the man's. "You're subjecting Lucia to that life and she doesn't want it. Unlike the other human girls I've met she's different and I like her. If you…or any of you try to stop her from achieving her dreams, bear this in mind that I will cut you down one by one. And that also includes your family. Are we clear?"
The chill in the air frightened the soldiers that they lost their tongue.
Bat repeated with the same spiteful tone. "Are we clear?"
"Yes, sir!" They chorused.
He turned on his heels. "She's here."
"Bat," Lucia ran up to meet him. "I'm ready."
He couldn't help but smile. The regal gown was replaced with brown trousers accentuating her hips and boots to clover her slender legs, a white shirt complementing her milky skin and her red hair held up in a ponytail. She looked exquisite.
"Shall we?" she smiled but he couldn't ignore the fire in her eyes.
The fire in her eyes must've been what attracted Damian to her. The fighter spirit, a warrior. She would make a fine one, he thought.