Mary & Luke Ch. 07

This story is a spin off of my original story/series (Love Comes Second). It is not in the same genre of stories, but they are related so there may be some places/scenes where the genres overlap. This series will be from the perspectives of the two servants, Luke and Mary.

I recommend that you read my previous chapters before this one.

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Chapter VII

Luke

The queen sends for me, so I walk up to her separate chambers briskly. I knock on her door.

"Luke?" she answers.

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Come in," she says. I open the door and she smiles at me.

"You called for me, your Majesty?"

"Yes, I wanted you to ask my son to come see me, it's urgent. I called for you so you can call him because he doesn't really like to listen to anyone else," she laughs softly.

"Yes, your Majesty," I bow and shut the door behind me. I walk back to Princess Jade and Prince Douglas's room and knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Douglas asks, sounding annoyed.

"It's Luke, your highness. The queen wishes to speak with you," I reply through the door.

"Tell her I'll be there in a little while. I'm kinda busy, Luke," he replies.

"She says it's urgent, Prince Douglas," I say wearily. I don't want to tell Douglas what to do, but it seems I have to.

"Alright, tell the queen that I'm coming," he sighs.

I wait until he's through the corridor before I knock on the door again.

"Yes?" Princess Jade says.

"Your highness? I was wondering if I could come in for a minute," I say.

"Sure, come in. Only for a minute though, Douglas will be coming back shortly," I enter the room and approach the steps by the bed.

"What is it that you need Luke?" Jade asks politely.

"Well, you see, I have a problem that I don't know how to fix. You seem like someone who gives good advice, so I was hoping you could lend me some?" I ask.

"I'm sure I could do that for you. I know how hard you work for my husband," she replies with a smile.

"Thank you, princess," I pause, thinking if I really want to do this, "There's this lady that I'm courting - or was, I'm not sure at this point. Anyhow, I implied I was seeing another woman and now she won't let me touch her at all. Nor will she let me talk to her to explain that I'm not really seeing another lady. I had to lie to a friend in front of her about having... intercourse... with another woman so we wouldn't get in trouble for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just can't live without her, I love her. Tell me how to get her back, please?" I say, not taking a breath between sentences. I feel like I might cry, which is really out of character for me.

Before the princess can say anything, there's another knock at the door.

"Come in," the princess says loudly. Mary walks in tentatively. When she sees me she rolls her eyes a little.

"Never mind, princess. I'll come back later," she says, turning to walk away.

"No, Mary. Luke has an issue and I think he will need a second opinion on this matter," she smiles. She nods her head and walks in reluctantly then stands four feet away from me. Princess Jade looks back at me, "So, can you tell Mary what's happened? Catch her up on what you've told me?"

"You know, Princess Jade, I think I have a solution to my issue now. No need to discuss it further," I say, turning around to walk out the door. This is humiliating.

"Luke! Stay. I think you should talk out your problem so you have a woman's point of view. Even better, two women's points of view," she says. If she knows about what's happening, she's deliberately torturing me. I stop and then slowly walk back to where I was standing before.

"Now, tell Mary what you said so that she can help too," she says. Mary glares at me when I glance at her, so I look back at Princess Jade.

"There's a lady that I was, and hopefully still am, courting. I told a lie in front of her, saying that I was sleeping with another woman. I only did this to protect her and myself from trouble, but now she won't let me touch her, much less talk to her. I just want her back," I say quietly. I must sound pathetic.

Mary's expression had changed from one of anger to one of shock. "So what do you think, Mary? What advice can you give him?" the princess asks.

I look at Mary as she stares at me with what seems like guilt, "I think... um, try writing a letter. If she won't listen to you, maybe she'll read your explanation. You might not be the only one to apologize though, women make mistakes too," she cringes at her last sentence.

"What type of mistakes, Mary?" I ask, sounding a bit angry. She better not have slept with someone to get back at me.

"Well, maybe she thought 'an eye for an eye' and did exactly what you had said you did..." she replies carefully.

"Alright, so it sounds like Luke has a lot to think about on this matter. Why don't you go back to your chambers, Luke? Mary will stay with me. You can leave the door open," Jade says. Mary instantly walks up to the bed and sits on the edge, looking at her. I storm out of the room and decide I need to go cool off.

--~~~--

Mary

"What was it that you wanted to tell me, princess?" I ask eagerly.

"Mary, my one and only friend, why have you been keeping secrets from me?" she asks.

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean, why didn't you tell me about Luke? I tell you everything, but you left out a huge part of your life. If you're worried about our difference in status, you have nothing to be afraid of. I want to know what's happening with you. I love you like a sister," she says.

"I, um, I didn't tell you because... neither Luke nor I were sure it was going to last. We didn't want to make a huge deal out of something small."

"Small? Mary, he loves you!" she says loudly.

"I didn't know that until recently. I didn't know that until earlier today actually. I don't think I feel the same way. Not yet at least," I pause, "Well, probably not ever. Given I've messed it up," I say, feeling depressed. She reaches out to me and we sit there, hugging for a few minutes before she speaks again.

"Well, you obviously like him a lot. Maybe not love, which is fine. Hell, Douglas and I aren't there yet and we're married!" she jokes, which makes me smile slightly, "You should go talk it out with him. You guys have something there," she stands up, pulling me with her. She pushes me lightly towards the door, "Go," she says, laughing. I smile at her again and walk quickly out of the door.

I run into Prince Douglas on my way to Luke's room.

"What're you doing?" he asks me.

"I'm sorry, your highness. I didn't know you were there. I'm just going back to my room," I say quickly.

"Why were you in my room?"

"Princess Jade was just talking to me about a problem I was having. But, all is well now. Goodnight, Prince Douglas," I say, scurrying down the hall.

--~~~--

Luke

I find Sophia within two minutes and we head back to my room. If Mary is going to go fuck someone, I guess it's over between us. I shut and lock my door, then push Sophia up against it. I kiss her lips with an urgency that's coming from my anger. This girl is about to get a good fucking.

There's a knock on the door, so I cover Sophia's mouth with my hand, "Yes?" I ask out loud.

"Luke? It's Mary. Can we talk?" she asks, sounding sad. I can tell she's about to cry and it breaks my heart, but I can't just forgive her right away. Plus, I have Sophia here. It won't be good if Mary sees Sophia in my room...

"Let's talk later, Mary. I'm doing something right now," I say. I hear her pause like she's going to say something, but then walk away instead. I feel a twinge of guilt for turning her away, and suddenly I think about how this is what she must've felt when I said I loved someone else. How could I get mad at her for doing something when I'm so willing to do the same thing to her?

Sophia pulls my hand away from her face and reaches out to kiss me again. I let her drag me into the kiss, feeling more guilty as I let it go on. When she reaches for my pants, I push away and back up.

"I'm sorry, Sophia. I shouldn't have come to find you... I can't do this," I say weakly. I want to get back at Mary, but that won't cause anything but pain for both of us. And I love her, I can't do that to her.

"Are you kidding me? Why the sudden change?" she asks with her arms crossed in front of her.

"Because I'm in love with someone and I don't want to hurt them. Please, leave," I say, turning away from her. I feel bad for hanging her up to dry like that.

"Ugh!" she slams the door on her way out. I don't blame her.

I cool down for a few more minutes and decide to walk to Mary's room. I knock on her door quietly.

"Yes?" she asks.

"It's Luke," I mutter. She opens the door and I see she's been crying.

"Are you done with that other girl you had in there? Did you come to see if I was available too?" she asks.

"Fuck, that's not what happened, Mary! I didn't sleep with Sophia because I didn't want to hurt you. All we did was kiss and I feel terrible for doing just that. For God's sake, you slept with someone and don't seem to take into account my feelings! I thought we could talk this all out, but if you want to hold onto me being a terrible person, I don't think we can work anything out," I say, desperately wanting her to pull me in a hug. I miss being able to touch her.

"Alright, alright. Come in and lower your voice," she opens the door for me. I sit down on her bed and smile slightly as I think about what we've done here. Mary sits next to me in her nightgown. Her blankets are ruffled, I think she was trying to sleep.

"Mary, I want to set a few things straight. I didn't sleep with anyone else while we were together, and I don't love anyone else... I don't love anyone, I mean. I wouldn't ever cheat on anyone, especially you. I couldn't do it now, even after you already slept with someone else. You hurt me so fucking bad with that, you know."

"I believe you now, I do. I was just retaliating. I mean, you said that you love someone else. My reaction was to get back at you. It didn't even feel good for me... I don't know why I did it. I don't want anyone besides you, Luke," she brushes away a stray tear that's fallen on her cheek.

"I honestly don't know if I can forgive you, Mary. I didn't even know if we were through, and then I find out you fucked someone else," I feel a tear of my own coming from the corner of my eye.

"Luke..." Mary says. She looks into my eyes and I know exactly what she's trying to say. She wishes she had had the foresight to know I wouldn't do that to her. She should've listened to what I had to say. She should've talked before retaliating.

"I know, Mary. I need some time. I'm sorry," I feel that tear fall onto my cheek. I get up and walk toward the door, "You should lock it behind me."

She walks over to the door, too. Before I can open it, she gets in the way.

"Mary, I have to-" she cuts me off with a kiss. A kiss that tells me she's sorry and that she doesn't want me to go. Then I remember all of the events from today. She fucked me and another random guy already today. I can't imagine sleeping with her after that.

I pull away, maybe a little forcefully, "Mary. I have to go to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow."

I close the door and hear it lock, a small sob from Mary coming shortly after.

I go to my own room and throw myself on my bed, crying softly. How did this go so bad so fast?