A Familiar Face || Hugh + Lucy
Lucy knew it was no different that when she was back in Catalonia, but she felt more free in Avenia than she had in recent memory. Perhaps it was the size of the Glorianus Palace that made her feel like she could disappear and no one could find her. She wasn’t ignorant to the fact that at least one of the guards that had accompanied them from Catalonia had to know her current whereabouts, but at that moment she didn’t care.
Most of her companions had retired for the afternoon, taking a rest before the ball that evening. Dot had insisted Lucy do the same-- with her condition, she needed to rest whenever possible. She couldn’t though, not after having been cooped up on the ship, not after being introduced to scores of new faces, and not after the rumors had finally reached her ears of who else was at the palace celebrating the coronation of Queen Arabella.
The Godolphins. The rumors were real. They were alive, they were well, she and Dot could be reunited with them once again. Lucy had imagined this day since the rumor of the Godolphins reemerging had slipped from her sister’s lips. At her lowest, she’d imagined greeting them coldly, demanding to know how they could have left the Argencourt sisters behind? She knew, though, that such an idea was unfounded, that they never would have left them unless absolutely necessary. No, this reunion would be joyous-- or, at least, as joyous as it could be under the watchful eye of their current leaders.
Lucy’s mind wandered through all these thoughts as her feet lead her to wander down the halls of the palace. Like a moth to a flame, she seemed drawn to the music room. She sat down immediately, her fingers timidly, at first, pressing the keys until single notes turned into a melody. She didn’t know how long she was there playing until the sound of the door opening caused her to stop. She caught a glimpse of a male form and, without thinking properly, immediately stood.
“Christopher?” she asked brightly, but the man who turned the corner as not the familiar face of her betrothed-- thought something about the face ran familiar to her.
“I am so terribly sorry,” she apologized quickly, taking a step back towards the piano. “I thought you were someone else,” she explained, her voice trailing off as she stared at him. Who was he? Had he come to the palace in Catalonia recently? Something about it seemed unlikely. She was silent for a full minute, staring at him in, what she realized, was quite a rude fashion.
“I apologize, again... Your face is just so familiar to me, but I cannot place it,” she confessed, seating herself at the piano once again.