The King's Inamorata (A Queen's Tale #1)

A Gentle Kiss and A Swift Goodbye

*Chapter Eight Remastered*

Hello everyone! From now on, this novel is undergoing edits. At the top of every chapter, if you see the little stars that means that this part of the novel has been remastered. It will NOT always be faithful to the original. In addition to grammatical edits, there will also be revisions regarding plots, characters, and locations to make this a neater and more coherent story to follow. The blurb has also been remastered. All original chapters will be LOCATED AT THE VERY BOTTOM in case you want to compare changes or reread anything! Thank you so much for your love and support and I hope you enjoy A Gentle Kiss and A Swift Goodbye Remastered!

*****

The night before Luc was to leave, Vivia couldn't sleep.

She paced the length of the room, rearranged everything in the cupboard, even ironed all her dresses but nothing was enough to tire her. The lights were out downstairs so Luc must've fallen asleep hours ago. This was always going to happen so what confused Vivia was how upset she felt about the whole ordeal. Did she really expect a knight from Calais to spend the rest of his life living on a simple farm in Canta?

No. Of course he wasn't.

And the moment he stepped foot in the capital he was going to forget all about her, probably marry a beautiful lady of noble breeding, and spend the remainder of his days leading armies and crushing rebels. Whereas Vivia would stay in Canta taking care of her father and when he father was gone she'd be all alone. Perhaps that was what made Vivia so upset. She allowed herself to envision a future with Luc by her side and now that it would never come to be she felt resentful towards him. She couldn't let her discontentment show tomorrow morning.

When Tomas arrived with Luc's horse she would have a smile on her face and no one would ever know how she really felt inside.

***

Lukas was miserable.

He'd hadn't slept a wink last night only stared into the darkness and waited for it to consume him.

Sooner or later his injuries would heal and he'd have to go back to Calais to face his brothers and father and what had happened after the battle with the rebels. The Imperians get closer to the borderline every day. But Lukas would be lying if he said he wanted to go back home.

All morning Vivia was pleasant and smiling, busying herself with tasks around the house as they waited for Tomas to arrive. He wanted to get a reaction out of her. He expected tears, sadness, anger—absolutely anything but the bliss he'd encountered. Was she happy to see him go? He shook his head. Of course she was. Lukas had invaded her privacy long enough. Now that he was finally leaving for real, Vivia must've had a glimpse into her future and liked it a lot better without him in it. Still.

He wished for any excuse to stay longer.

Agna came by the night before and even she had shed a tear for him. Apparently Agna wasn't very good at goodbyes so she wouldn't be stopping by today. Lukas stared at the clock as anxiety consumed him. The minutes felt like hours and the hours felt like minutes. Time flew back and forth before him like a pendulum. Nothing about it was stead or consistent. Finally at half past twelve Tomas arrived.

Vivia descended from the stairs, a small luggage in her hand. "I packed this for your trip," she said. "I hope able to put it to good use."

Lukas approached her and she extended the luggage to him. He took it but immediately put it on the step in front of him. They were finally eye level and so he looked at her for a longtime trying to figure out what feelings she kept locked away behind her hazel gaze. Vivia shied away from him when the door opened.