Rise of a Queen

Chapter 31

We have been trying to leave for twenty minutes but our exit has been stalled by an unspeakable force, one so great that even the gods would dare not intervene. A force many have trialed and all have failed, a force to be rivaled by none other in existence.

    This mighty force – this formidable force – this herculean force of unprecedented measures ...

    ... is Lumiere.

    "Have you all lost your minds?" He exclaimed heatedly, "This is madness, pure madness I tell you!"

    Brandon rubbed at his temples, "I already told you, Lumiere. We absolutely can't."

    Lumiere stood at the back of the car shed with his arms crossed abrasively, glaring. He all but stomped his foot with the wail of a fussing toddler, "Yes we can, we have to! This is a matter of life and death!"

    Is it, though? Is it really?

    Brandon scrubbed his hands down his face and repeated what we have been telling Lumiere since we began packing the van, "It is impossible. We can not take the motorcycles with us."

    "Yes we can." Lumiere argued again, "We can just tow them behind the van."

    "They are just machines Lumiere, they will be fine here until we are able to come back." Brandon was being surprisingly reasonable and unbelievably patient.

    "How can you say that?!" Lumiere sidestepped closer to his motorcycle as though Brandon had suggested sacrificing Lumiere's most prized possession to the realms of Tartarus, "They will get rusty out here! And what about all of this dust?" He looked apologetically at Erie, "And babe, listen, don't take this the wrong way but I think some of your guests have sticky fingers, you know what I mean? As in they would swipe the keys to my baby and I would never see her again."

    Three sets of keys dangled from Erie's hooked finger, "I have the keys."

    Lumiere wasn't convinced, "Someone might hotwire them."

    Erie sashayed to his side and his arms naturally circled around her. She peaked onto her tiptoes, "We all know how much you love her, but you know I would never let anything happen to something so precious to you. Please my love, trust me to keep my word."

    Genuine pain crossed him at having to choose between the two girls he adored more than anything, "But I just got her back, the Council had her for so long."

    Two days.

    The Council had his motorcycle for two days.

    We were being held captive and tortured, Dustin sedated, Corinth assaulted, my leg skewered like a kabob on holiday weekend. But of course, Lumiere was most worried about the integrity of his motorcycle.

    "I know, and it isn't fair to make you say goodbye again." Erie was sincere but there was a notable amount of jeer in her words to mock the man in her arms. The rest of us detected her ridicule but such scorn was lost on Lumiere who took her words to heart, "Think of it this way, the sooner we finish business with the Council, the sooner you can return to collect her."

    Lumiere sighed heavily, indisputably defeated, "I suppose." Another sigh, "You're right."

    "Yes, she is." Brandon snapped, "Now get into the car before we leave your ass here. Then you can spend all the time you want with that junky piece of metal."

    One would have thought Brandon insulted baby Jesus.

    "How dare you!" Lumiere fumed. He went on a tangent of insults – some of which were new to even Dustin's ears by the way Dustin stared in shock – and proceeded to initiate a downright absurd squabble with Brandon, who seemed to be enjoying himself.