COLOURS || Seth Clearwater

SEVEN

July, 1304

"Leon he'll kill us!" Lucinda laughed, a hand clutching her stomach that ached from laughing.

The older Adams brother had been in Harpoon for nearly a month now, and Lucinda had never seen Kane happier. They had all grown close — Leon and Lucinda were an extremely troublesome pair who were always up to no good — and spent quite a lot of time together. The only downside was, Kane was growing sicker.

The two played little jokes on him to keep his spirits up, though as the days went by, the task became more difficult.

"What Kane does not know will not kill him," Leon chuckled with a sad smile, hanging the painting back up on the wall to cover up their own artwork.

"We are terrible for each other," she chuckled, and he nodded in agreement.

"Too true, my dear," Leon chuckled. "But wait until you meet Dorian; he is so much worse than I am." Lucinda let out another laugh and stood up, patting the larger mans arm.

"Then we shall all wreak havoc together," she mused happily, and Leon grinned.

"I think you will fit in with our messy little family very will, Lucinda," Leon grinned, and her signature smirk twisted onto her lips. "That is terrifying," he told Lucinda, pointing at her lips. Her smirk widened, and she raised her brows while licking her lips. "That is just completely and utterly lethal, darling," he chuckled, and Lucinda rolled her eyes.

"I am completely and utterly lethal, darling," she mocked, strutting towards her cauldron across the small room. She carefully pulled her broom handle — the only thing she could find that resembled a stirring stick — and carefully moved it clockwise in the substance.

"If that is what I think it is, does this mean that Kane is more ill then we initially thought?" Leon asked quietly, and Lucinda froze. She hadn't wanted to admit that the love of her very long life was dying, and hearing Leon say it out loud brought tears to her eyes. She forced them away and swallowed thickly, the previously fun atmosphere now gone.

"Yes," she murmured, her voice cracking. "Each day he grows weaker, and coughs up more blood," Lucinda sighed. "My only worry is that the potion will not be done in time." Leon laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Lucinda almost smiled at how cold his hands were. She could remember Kane telling her that Leon could manipulate ice to his will, and she smiled, thinking of all the things they could use that gift for.

"I'm sure it will be done with time to spare," he comforted her, and Lucinda sighed. The two sat in a comfortable silence for an uncertain amount of time, and a wicked smirk slowly formed on her lips.

"Leon," she spoke, her voice louder than it had been. His head snapped up and their icy gazes locked, a small smile forming on his lips at the sight of her expression. "Kane told me that you could control ice; is that true?"

"I think I'm beginning to understand what that smirk means," he chuckled. "To answer your question, it is indeed true." Lucinda's smirk intensified.

"Then how would you feel about putting it to good use?"

•••

"Lucinda, you cannot just encase someone's entire house in ice," Kane sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes when the red haired witch shot him a sweet smile.

"It will melt eventually," she shrugged, sparing a glance at Charlotte — who was due to have her baby sometime in the next few months — and Alec, whom she still hadn't had a conversation with since the day she was almost burned.

"But in how long?" Charlotte worried, grimacing as she rested a hand on her lower back. Lucinda rolled her eyes and walked over to the shelf she had made herself, plucking a small bottle from the far right.

"We weren't sure," she chuckled, holding the bottle out to her pregnant friend. "It will help with the pain," She murmured, and Charlotte immediately drank the contents.

"We?" Kane questioned with a raised brow, and Lucinda shot Leon a cheeky smirk.

"Think about it, my love," she mused, and chewed her lip to keep herself from smiling when she saw the look her new friend gave her. "Who do you know that can create ice from his hands?" Kane slowly turned to face his brother, cold hands pressed into his hips with a raised brow and pursed lips.

"It was her idea," Leon defended when he finally caved under his brothers expression. "She is much too scary too say no to," he chuckled, shaking his head. Kane rolled his eyes and turned back to Lucinda, the sharp expression softening at the sight of her bright blue eyes and wide smile.

"I knew this was a bad idea," he muttered tiredly, letting out a quiet laugh that soon turned into a coughing fit. Lucinda immediately began rubbing his back, gently patting between his shoulder blades. Alec and Charlotte shared a brief look of concern for the couple, though they said nothing.

"You'll be just fine, love, how about we go lay down, alright?" She murmured softly, guiding Kane over to the kitchen table for him to sit down. Leon and Alec shared a sad look, knowing the aftermath of Kane's passing will be catastrophic.

"I think we'll be going," Charlotte murmured. Leon nodded and followed them to the door while Lucinda helped Kane into bed.

•••

"I'm worried my potion will not be finished in time," Lucinda murmured, running a hand through his sweaty hair. At some point while Leon slept on a make shift cot they'd set up in the kitchen corner, Kane had come down with a fever.

"I'll be fine, my Darling," Kane rasped, resting a gentle hand on Lucinda's cheek. Just as they had when she first me him, her cheeks flushed a bright pink and she chewed on her lip to fight off a smile.

"It does not make me feel any better if you say that when you sound like your body hosts death himself," she chuckled weakly, her fingers threading through his rich dark hair.

"Oh hush," he chuckled, letting out a few weak coughs before catching his breath. "You must know something, Lou," Kane began weakly, lowering his hand so she wouldn't see it tremble. "You are quite possibly the best thing that has happened to me in all of my years," he told her with a soft smile, his blue eyes shining.

"You are making me cry," Lucinda told him accusingly while shakily wiping tears from her cheeks.

"When do you believe the potion will be finished?" Kane asked her, hoping to change the subject.

"Tomorrow night," Lucinda answered quietly, though she hadn't forgotten what he had just told her. "I'm going to get you some water, alright?" She murmured, pressing a feather kiss to his forehead. "Try to get some rest."

She padded across the wooden floors, not even jumping when Leon spoke from his cot.

"He has gotten worse, hasn't he," the large man murmured sadly, and Lucinda nodded, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I'm not sure how, but he's come down with a fever," she murmured, chewing on her quivering bottom lip. She heard him push off the cot and stumble over to her, pulling her in for a tight hug. Lucinda had grown to love Leon as a sibling she'd never had the privilege to have, and she liked to think that he though of her the same way.

"The same thing happened to our mother before she passed," Leon told her gravely, and a whimper slipped past Lucinda's lips.

"I am getting him some water now," she told Leon while pulling away from the hug, offering him a tight lipped smile as she pulled an old tin from the cupboard. A loud fit of wheezing coughs broke them out of their solemn silence, and Lucinda hurried back towards the bed, Leon close behind her.