LUCAS the BETRAYED [[The Red Queen Fan Fiction]]

The worst of luck at the best of times

I'm not sure what I ate for dinner I inhaled the meal so quickly. Uncle wasn't seated with the family at the dinning table, which means he asked for dinner in his study. Good, I can talk to him alone and get this over with. Evangeline, who would hate to miss the show, tries her best to keep up as I shovel food into my mouth, but she chokes on a spoonful of meatloaf. She coughs and glares at me as I rise from the table.

"Finished." I announce, and take everyone's stunned silence as permission to leave. I dash down the hall, glancing back at Evangeline. She grimaces through stuffed cheeks.

Soon the noise from the dinning room muffles down the hall. Despite shaking fingers, I stand tall outside the door to my uncle's study. My knuckles rap on the metal, sending a loud echo down the hall with every knock. Well, at least I know he heard me.

The door glides open. "Come in," my uncle coos. I obey. I have been in his study several times before, all of them to receive a punishment for one of Evangeline's clever ideas. The most recent was last summer, when Evangeline thought it would be fun to steal all the Red uniforms and replace them with Silver shirts. Of course, we hid them in my room, so when the uniforms were found I was the one who received three lashes. 

But this time when I enter, my uncle isn't scowling at me from behind his desk. Instead, he's reading a book in a chair by the window. The room is cast in a warm, artificial glow, and it almost looks like there's a twinkle in his eye.

Certain I knocked on the wrong door, I stand at attention in the center of the room anyway.

"I have good news," he begins, and sets the book gently on the desk. "Your request has been granted."

I stare, waiting for him to say something that makes sense. But he knows I'm dangling on the edge of a knife. I take the plunge. "Could you be more specific?" I reply, trying to disguise the confusion in my voice.

"Evangeline told me of your dream, and I sent a letter to the King. I'm really proud of you Lucas, stepping out and daring to be the first. A true Samos!"

My mask breaks. How did he know? I didn't even know I loved her until yesterday. No. something isn't right. He's genuinely happy. "Uhhh. Thanks." I stutter, uncomfortable with my uncles kind words. What game is Evangeline playing now?

"A transport will receive you tomorrow at dawn. You won't be on the front, but you'll join the troops to the north of the–"

"Wait, what?" My hearing fails as my uncle speaks. I hear nothing but read his lips: You're joining the war.

I interrupt whatever he was saying. "But I'm only 13, and I'm not royal," I breathe, barely able to replenish the air in my lungs. 

"I know!" My uncle cheers, "This is a real gift."

A gift for who? I wonder, and study the pattern in the wood panels on the floor. Blood drains from my face.

"Ah, there she is! I just gave your cousin the great news." He beams with joy, then notices my downcast expression. "I'm not sure he appreciates it."

Evangeline puts an arm around my shoulder, "He's just shocked. After all, a request like this has never been granted before." Her voice is kind for someone confirming my death sentence.

Uncle scoffs, "I doubt, before now, that any one has ever made such a request. What's wrong with you, boy? Aren't you glad?"

"Shocked." I repeat, "Right."

My uncle scrutinizes me for several moments.

"Evangeline, see to it that he makes it to his room...He looks pale, even for a Silver." He barks, and dismisses us with a flick of his hand.