"No, no, no. Mia- come on, come back to me." Luc called to me.

I tried to get back to him but found myself drifting in and out of consciousness. One minute I was there looking up at Luc's face then the next I was gone, then I was back again but this time Nico was leaning over me with a cell phone-

"This is an emergency, divert the helicopter here now," Nico yelled into the phone then looked down at me and spoke softly, "Hold on Mia."

The helicopter...why were they calling a helicopter?

Was I injured or even worse dying?

Warm fingertips suddenly caressed my cheek and distracted me from anxious train of thought. I looked up and saw Luc's face ashen with worry. He trying to keep it together but I could see that he was falling apart. His arms tightened around me drawing me closer to his chest and felt the heat from his body radiating through his shirt onto my skin and warming me up.

"Everyone please stand and give the Princess some breathing room." I heard Nico yell.

We were on the cold wet wooden decking of the veranda surrounded by at least a dozen guards surrounded us with concerned expressions, exchanging worrying glances with each other. Nico whirled around them, barking orders at them in effort to move them away from us and give Luc and I space and privacy.

Luc held me close and looked down at me with wide worried eyes and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I want to blow chunks all over your expensive shirt." I replied trying to force a smile.

Luc didn't seem to appreciate the humour and yelled at one of the guards, "Can't you get a blanket or something- she is fucking freezing."

I winced in his arms, his voice loud and painful in my ears. Luc saw my pained expression and immediately swore at himself and said, "Sorry Mia, I didn't mean to hurt you."

I smiled weakly back up at him and replied, "I am the one who should be sorry."

"What? Why the hell would you think that?" Luc asked surprised.

"Because your pain is so much worse than mine." I replied.

Luc's eye brows knitted together in confusion and he said, "I am not in pain Mia."

Lifting my hand I reached up and touched his face, "I know about Casper and how much he meant to you."

Luc stiffened and lifted his head to shoot Nico, who was ordering guards about. He then turned back to me and gently stroked my hair, "It was a long time ago Mia." He said firmly.

I gazed back at him sadly and said, "Time doesn't matter to the heart- I know you are grieving, I could see it when you were talking to the guards back at the restaurant."

Guilt swept over Luc's face and he didn't know what to say. He was in pain but couldn't express it; he didn't know how to after so many years of being locked up in some back wing of the palace without any kind of normal loving relationship. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

My eyes began to well up and tears started to roll down my face. Luc immediately reacted by leaning down and brushing a kiss against my forehead, "Please stop this Mia- you are tearing my heart apart." He exhaled roughly.

"I can't help it." I said wiping my eyes.

"Look," Luc said shifting me in his arms, "I am going to get us out of here and after that we can put this behind us. We will never have to talk about him again."

"Luc, you don't need to protect me from Casper. He never hurt me. You were the one that was hurt by him-"

"Okay but right now that doesn't matter- right now you are the one who needs help." Luc said firmly.

"We all need help Luc, and I don't know if I can help you but I want you to know that whatever terribleness you are going through, you don't need to go through it alone." I said.

Words failed Luc as he struggled to express himself. Everything about him tonight had been a front. He had stood there and spoken to the guards while putting on this brave front which made him seem in control of the situation. But I knew about the crippling misery that existed inside him, and I knew that it was eating him from the inside out. Whatever Luc was feeling right now, I didn't want him to hide it from me.

"I don't want you to hide your pain from me." I said softly.

Luc looked at me and his eyes softened in a kind of momentary thanks, but then something unpleasant flickered across his mind and his dark eyes grew cold.

"How can you say that to me Mia, when you have chosen to hide your own mind from me?" Luc said.

In the blink of an eye the closeness that existed between us evaporated and suddenly it was back to feeling like we were two strangers forced together through circumstance. My heart dropped and a terrible sadness overcame me.

"Luc," I began, but Luc quickly shot me down.

"Don't you think it's hypocritical to want me to bear my heart and soul to you, when you are not even willing to reach out to me when you are in danger," Luc asked then continued, "When you saw Casper you chose to crawl and hide under a table rather than using your mind to reach out and call for me to help."

"Luc that's not fair." I replied.

Luc ignored me and snapped, "Did it ever occur to you once while you were hiding under that table that you could have come to me for help?"

My mind blanked and I had no idea how to respond. He couldn't understand why I had not reached out to him in my moment of need. It must have seen so stupid to him that I had hid under a table like a sitting duck waiting to be killed when I could have opened my mind to him and he could have come to rescue me. I looked up at him desperate to explain but I had nothing. I couldn't tell him anything without exposing myself... so I said nothing.

When Luc realised no explanation was forthcoming his face became an unreadable mask of stone, and inside I felt my heart breaking.

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