The Demon's Concubine

Chapter 17

The minute Natsu entered the castle, he was bombarded by guards and servants trying to get his attention. Their loud voices caused his ears to ring, so he used his magic to burst into flames to silence them. 

Once everyone settled, he extinguished his fire and cleared his throat, motioning for one guard to speak.

"My lord! Your concubine, she's gone rogue!" Natsu let out a long, unamused sigh. 

"Ok, I'll speak with her." 

"No, my lord, she's attacked one of the servants here! And she had magic! She's dangerous, we must do something about this!"

Natsu's brows furrowed, a little annoyed that they found out about Lucy's magic, but intrigued. "You say she attacked someone?"

"Yes! Apparently, one of the servants caught her sneaking out of Sir Silver's office, and when they confronted her about it, the concubine blasted her into the wall, damaging it and destroying a vase in the process." 

Natsu took a moment to imagine Lucy beating up one of the servants, and he couldn't help but laugh. The guards and servants that were gathered all gaped at him as he carried on to his chambers.

Once he neared his room, his ears picked up the sound of crying. Natsu's heart sunk, he could smell Happy, and he was worried the little guy had gotten hurt.

"Happy? Are you okay? ...Happy?" He called as he made it to his large door, finding the little blue exceed pushing up against it and bawling. 

"Natsu! It's Lushi, she's locked herself in the room since last night! I heard her crying, and she won't let me in! I'm really scared…" Natsu picked the cat up and held him as he used a key to unlock the door, worried but keeping a strong profile as to not worry Happy any further. 

"Lucy? Where are you?" He looked around the front of the room, laying Happy down on the bed as he searched further. His breath caught in his throat when he saw her, her limp body was spread out along the bathroom floor. 

Natsu rushed into the open room and began shaking her frantically, full panic setting in. "Lucy? Wake up, Lucy...please, wake up…"

The blonde groaned as she placed her frail hands on his arms, stilling his movements. It took her a minute to come to reality, and she smiled for the first time in days once she realized who was in front of her. 

"Natsu! You're here...thank the gods…" She fell into him weakly, and Natsu held her tightly in a warm embrace. 

"Shit, Lucy. Don't scare me like that… what're you doing on the bathroom floor like this?" 

"Mmm… I got up in the middle of the night feeling sick, so I came in here to throw up… I must've been so tired that I fell back asleep."

Natsu held her for a moment before lifting her and taking her to the bed where Happy was watching, a relieved expression on the cat's face. Once he set her down, he took in her appearance. She looked miserable, her skin was pale and her movements were weak, and he could tell she'd been crying. 

"You're still sick?...alright, I'm gonna postpone our trip and call my aunt to come see you. You're gonna be okay, Lucy…"

"Lushi… why'd you lock me out? I was so worried about you! The servants kept saying you were gonna be exiled or executed… I had no idea what they were talking about and you wouldn't let me in to see you!" 

Lucy pulled Happy into her chest and hugged him as tightly as she could. "I'm so sorry, Happy... As soon as I got into the bed I fell asleep, and I didn't wake up until I had to go to the bathroom… where I ended up falling asleep again… I hadn't even heard your knocking, I'm so sorry I made you worry…"