He came to in flashes. The first time he came to he noticed the sounds of metallic boots hitting the ground. Through his blurry eyes he noticed he seemed to be covered under layers of leaves and plants. A guard quickly passed through, seemingly following a trail. Lucien fade into unconsciousness again.
The next time he noticed that it was night. He felt his body being jostled and moved. A delicate fragrance tickled his nose, and he could feel someone groan in strain. The jostling and moving proved too much and he sank under again.
The next time he came to, he felt himself being fed something. His parched body took it in gratefully. Swallowing with relish. Immediately after he faded off to normal sleep, his body resting.
In an ornate mansion in a distant location. Reynard flung an expensive vase to the ground. His features were twisted in rage.
"How? How do they lose someone like that? Find him." He spluttered in rage. "Find him or else I'll have all your heads. Take all my guards, tell Roscoe to give you all his men; I'll give him what he wants."
He felt like marching over there himself, however it would already be suspicious that he had mobilized so many men like that. The first time he had used the excuse of going out to find his beloved nephew, this time he wouldn't be able to slip away.
He looked at the writ in his hand. If Lucien didn't die this was useless. He flung another vase to the ground in anger.
Lucien's eyes snapped open with a sudden start. He vigilantly looked around, assessing his situation. He seemed to be in a loft somewhere. There was a dim light shining through, through which he could see the roof tiles above.
A herbal scent of herbs and condiments drifted in the air, tickling his nose amid the faint dusty smell of the loft. He inspected his body carefully, noting he was lying on a bale of hair covered with pieces of cloth.
Beneath the cloth covering him he was shirtless, with a bandage going around his side to cover his sword wound. He could tell that there was a weird sensation on his skin, likely due to a herbal salve.
He started as he felt rustling sounds below. A set of footsteps sounded before he heard the sound of someone moving things below. He then heard the person exert force before he felt the entrance to the loft open.
Lucien's body tensed as he strained to get up. His eyes fixed on the entrance. Vibrant blue hair led the way before a considerably pretty face showed itself at the entrance. It led the way of a pretty blue haired voluptuous girl who came into the loft. She was startled to see Lucien awake and her body halted, the basket in her hand held uncertainly.
This was only for a while until she saw how Lucien was awake. her brows immediately raised in concern as she rushed before Lucien
"You shouldn't be awake, my lord."
Lucien raised his brows as the girl tittered here and there and pressed him back to the hay stack. After that she seemed to finally remember who he was and a faintly horrified look appeared on his face.
Lucien smiled gently at her, she was too cute.
"Thank you. You saved my life." The girl blushed and nodded.
"It was my honor, my lord.'
Lucien's face turned serious. "How long has it been?"
"A day, my lord."
The 'my lord' part bothered Lucien but he ignored it in favor of another thought. He needed to get away. Judging by how he hadn't been found, he theorized that there wasn't a large number of Reynard's men around.
That would change as soon as Reynard got the news. The place would likely be crawling with Reynard's cronies, along with whoever else was involved in this betrayal.
He sat up laboriously. The maiden went to help him up.
"Thanks a lot. What's your name?"
"Selene, my lord."
"A fitting name." He said sagely. "Do you know me Selene?"
She hesitated for a while. "I saw you with lady Giselle, in the garden. Uncle Pere said you were the young duke."
"Young Duke." The title was nothing more than a mockery at the moment. He was being hunted down in his own territory. In the very house he had gifted away.
"Well you were very brave Selene. But I need your help again. Do you know a place I can exit the estate, without the guards stopping me?"
Selene thought for a while, and then nodded hesitantly.
"Very good. We'll try it tonight."
At night, two figures slipped out of the storage yard. The night was dark and quiet, with only a dim moon to light the way.
Lucien and Selene sneaked silently through the estate. Selene led the way slowly, vigilantly keeping watch for the guards.
Their nerves were extremely high strung and they jumped at the slightest sounds. They meandered through the garden, which was thankfully empty at night.
They then approached the estate's walls where Selene showed Lucien a huge tree whose branches towered over the wall. It was wide and branched, giving them the opportunity to climb over it.
Lucien hobbled over and started climbing, only to see Selene standing still, her expression hesitant. He knew the reason, so he went back.
"Selene, you have to come with me. My uncle's me will be all over this estate by morning. They will scour every inch of it along with it's surroundings. They may find out that you helped me. Come with me Selene. I won't promise that your life will be safe, I can't even promise my own will be safe. But I can promise that your life will never be the same again. You will have adventure, riches and strength Selene. This I promise on the honor of House Aureville."
Selene looked up at Lucien, fascinated and walked towards his out held hand robotically. Lucien smiled at her, delighted.