#nothing like having to refresh your memory on what being trolleyed actually feels like HELP

[perfectly-clear-from-here]

not me purposefully getting off my face drunk just to write this house party chapter realistically. downing another can solely for research purposes.

[jovialyouthmusic]

Two’s Company, Three’s Allowed A TRR Fanfic

5 Home is Where the Heart is, or the Lucy Effect

NSFW, mention of pregnancy and miscarriage, mention of sex

‘We’re here Valois, wake up my sweet.’ Drake’s voice cut into Lucy’s dream, and she opened her eyes. The car was drawing up into the drive of Valtoria Manor. Much less imposing than the Royal Palace and rather modest, but some where she had begun to call home. The drive back from the hospital seemed to take an age, and she had fallen asleep.

The doctors had been happy to let her go as they knew she had a conscientious and loving partner to go back to, to say nothing of attentive servants and luxurious surroundings. She smiled, wondering what they would think when they found out she actually had two partners, thanks to Brad invoking the Cordonian dual marriage. He was due to make a press statement from the Palace later that day, so Drake had been the one to fetch her and take her home. She knew that Brad would also be announcing Drake’s elevation to the nobility – he would be Duke Walker of Lucytania. He was a little grumpy about that, but it was the price he had to pay for being a third party to Brad and Lucy’s marriage.

The memory of laying injured and undiscovered for hours on a ledge beside the mountain track was still fresh in her mind. Her mistaken idea that she had been pregnant had shaken her to the core, as she and Brad had decided to wait a while to start a family as they had actually only met a few months ago. Cordonia would have to wait for an heir – even more so now as she had been advised to take reliable contraception for a few months, to be on the safe side in case it had been an early miscarriage rather than a late period.

Her relief at hearing Drake’s voice when he found her had been profound. On his part, if he had any doubts about accepting their offer to be a third party to their marriage, they had been swept away by the shock of almost losing her permanently.

Drake leaned across her to open the door of the limo, jumping out to avoid troubling the housekeeper who had come out to greet them.

‘It’s fine Gladys, I can open a car door’ he grumbled, and she stood back respectfully. Lucy made a mental note to ask the staff to stand off when Drake was about. He took her arm to support her as she got out ‘Careful now, you’ve not been up and about much, you’re bound to be a little weak, and you’ve a fair few bumps and bruises’

‘Don’t fuss, Walker.’ she scolded, but was secretly glad as her legs were a little wobbly. As they set off to the front door she felt her knees buckle and Drake took her full weight.

‘Right that’s it, I’m carrying you.’ he said, and scooped her up in his arms.

‘Why Drake, you’re carrying me across the threshold.’ she whispered, and he grinned back at her. 

‘Well so I am, your Majesty – or should it be Mrs Walker? We’ll have to give your name some thought; maybe a double barrelled ‘Mrs Rys-Walker?’ Gladys was supervising the removal of their bags and was out of earshot, but he still spoke in a low tone.

‘It’s not official yet. I’ll be developing a complex with all these titles. Just Lucy is fine – or Valois to you.’ she smiled, and Drake grimaced.

‘I can’t believe that name stuck.’ he said ‘I was trying to keep my distance when I called you by your surname – and look where it got me!’

‘I rather like it. Don’t forget you’ll soon be Duke Walker – or will it be Duke Rys-Walker?’ Lucy teased. ‘By the way, where are you taking me?’

‘I hadn’t thought that through, but you could direct me to your bedroom.’ he grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

‘Sure, but no hanky panky - remember what the doctor said, no sex for a few days. Besides, I still have bumps and bruises’ scolded Lucy, and Drake’s face fell.  He put her down in the hall and she found her feet but held on to Drake’s arm for support.

‘Just my luck, cock blocked by a doc.’ he grumbled, and Lucy chuckled at the pun. Gladys had followed the couple inside and cleared her throat.

‘Your Majesty, welcome home. We were all very concerned at your injuries and are very glad to see you back in reasonable health. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to make you comfortable.’

‘Thankyou Gladys, I’ve been told to get a good balance of rest and exercise, and I’m sure Cook will know the sort of wholesome food that will help me build my strength up.’

‘Of course your Grace. Is his Majesty joining you soon?’ Gladys glanced pointedly at Drake. Lucy followed suit, then looked back at Gladys.

‘Gladys, the King will be making a press statement from the Palace in a couple of hours. I’d like you and all the staff to listen to it. I’d tell you myself what it concerns but I’m not feeling strong enough yet. I’d like to rest now, but if any of you need to talk to me before dinner, I’ll come down to the drawing room to answer any questions you might have.’  Gladys dropped a little curtsy.

‘Very well your Grace. Cook prepared a light meal that we can send up shortly.  I can show you to your suite…’

‘That’s fine Gladys, I’ll accompany Val – Duchess Lucy.’ asserted Drake, and Gladys blushed.

‘It’s fine Gladys, Drake is my close friend and the King’s adviser, and I’m sure he’ll do a good job of chaperoning me to my room. Don’t worry, you won’t get into trouble with the King for being improper.’ Gladys pursed her lips disaprovingly, then bobbed again and hurried off toward the kitchen. Drake waited until she was out of earshot before bursting into stifled laughter.

‘Oh My God, she was trying to protect your virtue. Now I wish even more that I could whisk you off and ravish you within an inch of your life.’

‘Careful, it might not take much.’ Lucy giggled. ‘Poor Gladys, I wonder if she’ll feel more or less embarrassed when she hears what Brad’s got to say.’ Drake shook his head in disbelief.

‘Okay Valois, you’ll have to direct me to your suite. Do you feel strong enough to walk?’

‘I think so. I’ll lean on you if not – or you can always pick me up again.’ The couple carried on to the Master suite, Lucy walking slowly and gingerly but managing the whole distance without Drake’s support. He threw the door open with a flourish and a mock bow. They entered the bedroom and Drake stood taking it all in, the centre piece the enormous canopied four poster bed festooned with pillows, and beyond it the door to the balcony overlooking the rear of the estate and the hills and mountains.

‘Wow, I’d forgotten what this room was like. The only time I saw it was when we all came here for the first time.’ Lucy was looking pensive, and he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

‘We were on the balcony when I told Brad how I felt about you.’ she said quietly. ‘I’ve only ever shared this room with him.’ She hugged him back and snuggled her head into his chest.

‘If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll leave you here – or you can come to my room, wherever that is.’ murmured Drake, squeezing her tighter.

‘We’ll be sharing everything soon enough, though it feels odd that Brad’s not here. They’ll be bringing the food up soon, so let’s stay for now.’

‘I’ll stay out of sight when they come, so nobody’s embarrassed.’ said Drake, ruffling her hair. ‘It will only be the once, they’ll know about our new arrangement soon enough. Had Brad considered telling the staff before the press statement?’

‘Yes, but it would only have put pressure on them to keep it secret from their families. It’s best for all of Cordonia to find out at the same time. Hopefully it only means a little inconvenience for us for a short while. I just hope everyone thinks it’s a good idea.’ There was a soft knock at the door, and Drake took himself away to the bathroom as Lucy went to answer it. One of the staff entered with a trolley.

‘Your Grace, I have refreshments for Mr Walker too, shall he be eating in his room?’

‘Thankyou Lily, Mr Walker will be my guest and keep me company while I eat, so you can leave it all with me. Did Grace tell you about the press statement?’

‘Yes your grace, we’ll all be listening.’

‘In that case, make sure you don’t miss it. I’d like all the staff to watch it. I’ll be taking a rest after we eat, so please make sure I’m not disturbed.  I can cope with serving the food, thank you.’ The door closed, and Drake came out of the bathroom.

‘They really are good at keeping tabs on you, aren’t they? All this nonsense with servants and scraping and bowing never felt right to me, even though I grew up with it.’

‘Me too, but it’s their job.’ said Lucy simply ‘I try to keep it to a minimum, but they all have families to support. I make sure I know all their names and their family circumstances. I do treat them like human beings, you know.  Besides, I expect you’d be firing up the barbeque if it was just the two of us. I’m sure Cook will have prepared something suitable for an invalid.’ Drake wrapped his arms around her again and held her gently.

‘I’d expect nothing less from you, Valois.’ He sighed and rocked her softly from side to side. ‘I never dreamed I’d be able to hold you like this again. I’m not sure I ever did. It was all stolen moments, feeling guilty about cheating Brad.’

‘I know what you mean. I felt guilty too, but I never could resist you.’

‘Resist me?’ he laughed. ‘As I remember it, you were the one to make the first move. When did you first feel you had to hold back?’

‘That night at Olivia’s place when we watched the meteors together.’

‘You held my hand on the way back.’ he smiled fondly.

‘You remembered!  Was that the first time for you?’

‘Way earlier. I knew you were trouble when Brad set eyes on you, but it wasn’t until you nearly got trampled by the horse in the stables at the Royal Races that I felt the full force of the Lucy Effect.  I got a sudden vision of you looking all helpless and me being shirtless.  Then you got up and asked if I was stalking you.’ Lucy giggled.

‘The Lucy Effect?’ she looked up at him.

‘Yup. You have a way of affecting everyone around you. You even rattled Olivia, and that was no mean feat.’

‘I wonder how it would have been if Brad hadn’t been with you that night. You’d already caught my eye you know, but as soon as he walked in, I was hooked. He had that regal vibe going on, though I didn’t know what it was back then.’ Drake sighed.

‘He can be very imposing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched women swoon over him with his pretty boy looks, to say nothing of the money and power.  It’s lucky he’s such a good guy and doesn’t let it go to his head’

‘It’s lucky for you I like the rugged look too, but luck is only a small part of him being grounded – a lot of that is down to you.  Now let’s stop talking and start eating. I’m starving and ready to eat anything that wasn’t prepared in a canteen.’

The couple tucked into a meal of soup, fresh bread, cheese and fruit, Lucy eating sparingly despite her insistence of being hungry and Drake devouring the bread greedily. Lucy sat back and ginned at Drake conspiratorially.

‘I have a fun way of making the staff think we’re not together. It will only be necessary this once, before they know everything, but it will feel like we’re being a bit naughty.’ she winked.

‘I’m game. What do you have in mind?’ asked Drake. She sat forward in her seat and lowered her voice.

‘You make your way back to your room and wait. I shan’t tell you what I’m going to do, just keep your ears and eyes open – oh, and make plenty of noise going over there.’ Drake frowned a little but nodded.

‘Okay, You’re on. Shall we do it now?’

‘No time like the present. Put the trolley back outside too, and we’ll see how long before they take it away. Look out for staff in the corridors and tell me what you see.’ Drake rolled the trolley to the door and opened it. He made a show of banging it loudly against the door frame as he left it outside. A member of staff was waiting at the far end of the corridor and jumped at the noise.

‘Oops, clumsy me.’ Drake proclaimed loudly. ‘I’ll be off to my room, your Grace. I’ll see you later in the drawing room.’ He closed the door firmly and smiled at the servant as he made his way off to his room. He passed two more members of staff, one carrying linen, and one at the end of the corridor that led to his room who was nonchalantly dusting a windowsill despite not having any other cleaning supplies. He gave each one a casual greeting and entered his quarters, noting that his overnight bag had been deposited at the end of the bed.

He sat and waited, gazing out of the window but listening intently for any unusual sounds. After a while he heard a faint knocking, but it wasn’t coming from the door. He circled the room looking to see where it was coming from, but he didn’t have long to wait before a section of the wall next to the bed swung open and Lucy appeared, grinning from ear to ear.

‘Ta daaa!’ she said triumphantly. ‘This place has a ton of secret passages. Did you see anyone outside?’ Drake nodded.

‘Yup, there was someone at the end of the corridor.’

‘Just as I thought, but they’ll be off to listen to the press statement soon, then we can relax – not that I’m planning to do anything noisy, I need a nap.’ Drake waved his hand graciously at the bed.

‘I extend the hospitality of my room, your Grace.’ he said playfully. ‘Though technically it is your room anyway.’

‘Why thankyou kind sir.’ Lucy said, dipping into a curtsy ‘Didn’t I see you out at the stables before? Are you perhaps the Stable Master, or are you a lowly stable hand?’

‘I don’t think a lowly stable hand would be able to offer you such luxury,  but I can be whatever My Lady wishes.’ Lucy smiled, and stepped close to him.

‘It would be fun to play.’ she said, turning her face up to him. ‘But I think we should just be Drake and Lucy right now.’ He leant down and gave her a chaste kiss.

‘We’d better keep our clothes on then. I don’t want to be responsible for a relapse.’ he took a lock of her hair and ran it through his fingers ‘Do you think Brad would have me thrown in the dungeons for wearing you out?’ Lucy’s eyes opened wide.

‘Are there dungeons in the Palace? I would have thought that was more Olivia’s style.’ she shivered at the memory of the Nevrakis cell she and Olivia had been thrown into at Justin’s mercy. Drake realised his mistake and held her tight.

‘No, not that I know of, but security has some secure rooms with no secret passages. In the absence of a Doctor I prescribe rest, Valois. Do you want me to stay with you?’ She scooted back onto the bed, holding her hand out for him to follow.

‘Of course I do, why do you think I used the passages to get here. Just lie down with me and try to control yourself.’ she winked. He meekly followed her and lay down on his back. She lay down facing him and snuggled into his side. Her breathing slowed until she was fast asleep.

Drake just lay there drinking in her presence – the warmth of her body, the scent of her hair, the sound of her breath. He couldn’t remember ever being so quietly, blissfully happy.

@brightpinkpeppercorn @ao719 @speedyoperarascalparty