Lucretia

ForevaXena's FanFic . . .

Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle etc belong to MCA/Universal and Ren Pics, and anyone else who has an interest in Xena Warrior Princess, not me.

Copyright © 2001: The characters in here belong to me. All rights reserved. No part or whole of this work may be copied or used in any shape, form, or manner whatsoever without the author's express written consent. If you want to use them, all you have to do is ask … nicely.

Violence disclaimer: Absolutely none at all.

Love/Sex warning: This story depicts a love/sexual relationship between two consenting adult women. If you are under 18 years of age or if this type of story is illegal in the state or country in which you live - move along, move along, nothing for you here ...

Major vote of thanks to my ever patient beta reader ForevaXena for taking valuable time out to read this. Without her, I am eternally grammatically and spelling stuffed :-) This was done in response to some homework in the Bard’s Village.

Enjoy!

As always, the house was full.

Mother and Father liked it that way; at all hours dark figures could be seen coming and going from the confines of the mansion in the middle of nowhere, as friends and Family came to visit. Once a year, they would invite all the Family over for a grand party, and all the children would be allowed to attend. The house would be awash with laughter, drunken cheering, and general good wishes. Those members of the Family that were not often seen would also attend; it was a wonderful opportunity to renew old acquaintances.

All of Luce’s older brothers and sisters would attend in all their finery, returning home to the House for one night, leaving after that to return to their ordinary existence for another year.

She seemed awkward during these celebrations, and vanished as quickly as good manners would permit. She had always felt so different to her other brothers and sisters and although she loved them all, she tried to avoid them. She felt she was an embarrassment to her siblings and parents. They never made fun of her, but she always quivered when she heard Father’s big, booming, jovial voice and Mother’s much quieter tinkle of amusement.

Luce could not stay up to all hours of the night, she could not run as fast as her brothers and sisters. Truth be told, she was a little scared of the dark and did not care to go walking by the lake as the others so liked to do.

It was with those thoughts that she sat in front of the roaring fire in Father’s study, waiting for him to come with Mother.

She wanted to talk to them. She had fallen in love and wanted to get married, and she wanted their blessing.

She sighed, anxiously fiddling with a poker, wondering how to tell them. She didn’t think they would miss her, with her golden hair and gentle green eyes, so different to the darkness of them both.

Behind her, the door creaked, and she put the poker back into its holder, sitting on her hands, trying to still their trembling and ignore her sweating.

Father saw her and smiled, Mother’s smile matching his. Arms linked, they entered the room, Mother closing the door behind her.

“Hello, my dear!” Father’s voice had all its customary heartiness. “You wanted to speak to us?”

She paled and swallowed, dreading his reaction to what she was about to tell him. “Yes, Father.”

Mother exchanged a glance with Father, concerned at their youngest daughter’s obvious discomfort. She quickly sat by her child’s side, gently extracting a small hand and taking it into her much larger one.

“Is there something bothering you?” Mother stroked her hand. “Your hand is damp.”

“MotherFatherI’vefalleninloveandIwanttogetmarried.” The words came out in a rush, and she paled even further, if that were possible. She swallowed, expecting a huge explosion from her parents.

Mother and Father looked at each other for a moment, expressionless.

“Will you tell us more, my dear?” Father’s voice was more serious now, as he came to sit on her other side.

“She’s tall, dark and very beautiful.” Though still braced for a large, horrible impact, things seemed to be going reasonably well, so she tried to relax a little.

“Is she like you, my dear?”

At Father’s words, she could not help herself. She flinched, and began to cry. “Yes, she is.” Her head sank into her hands, trying to hide her tears, not wanting to see the disappointment in her parents’ eyes.

Luce felt Mother’s arms slip around her, and knew that Mother and Father were looking at one another again. Mother’s embrace remained gentle and after a while she felt Father’s arms encircle them both. Gradually, she began to quiet, encouraged by Mother’s and Father’s quiet compassion.

“Are you feeling better now?” Mother’s voice was gentle and loving.

Luce nodded against Father’s chest.

He pulled back slightly, then gently pulled up her chin so they were eye to eye. “My dear, it’s long past time we had a talk with you, isn’t it Mother?”

Mother nodded and stroked her back.

At Father’s words, Luce swallowed convulsively, worry coming to the surface again.

“My dear, it’s hard for us to do this. You’re our youngest daughter, our own flesh and blood and we love you.”

Mother smiled and nodded encouragingly at them both.

Father gave the ghost of a smile, then continued. “We know you’re old enough to make your own decisions now, and we will respect whatever you’ve decided on. Why don’t you bring her over for our party tomorrow evening, so we can welcome her to the Family?”

Luce felt some trepidation at the prospect of this. She knew her family could be a little overwhelming at times, but the kindness that shone in Father’s and Mother’s eyes convinced her. She would bring her beloved to the celebration tomorrow evening.

She bowed her head.

“Thank you, Father. Thank you Mother.” She smiled and felt their arms encircle her again, and for once, she felt their love for her.

“You’re welcome, my dear. Now why don’t you go and get some sleep? You look a little tired.”

Luce smiled and nodded, quietly slipping out of the study. She felt as though a weight had been taken from her shoulders, and her heart lightened. She did not see the glance Mother and Father exchanged when she left, and the sadness in their eyes.

***

“Are you sure this is going to be all right?”

Luce looked over and smiled encouragingly at Sharon. “Sure it is. Mother and Father said so.”

Luce steered the car down the darkened laneway towards the house, not noticing the sliver of fear in her magnificent fiance’s eyes. The tall, dusky skinned, black eyed beauty had accepted Luce’s surprise invitation to the party, with nary a quiver until they actually began to move towards Luce’s home. Nestled in a darkened, extraordinarily beautiful section of riotous nature, it was far removed from civilization, as isolated as any large, mysteriously populated residence should be.

“Whatever you say.” Sharon shot Luce a glance, wondering if she was worth it.

Seemingly at random, Luce took a right turn down a darkened lane, car’s headlights barely lighting the way through the dense foliage. The air was still and hot, as was right for the middle of the summer, carrying with it the false sounds of laughter and whispers all around them. Luce unconsciously smiled, steering the car confidently through the velvety darkness.

The trepidation was more than that now, it was becoming fear.

They came to a halt in the courtyard, filled with carriages, shadowy figures and ancient finery, as all eyes turned to them expectantly, quiet exclamations carrying to them on the night air.

Luce grinned, shut off the engine, and got out of the car.

Sharon’s legs would not move, despite the encouragement her mind was giving them.

Seeing that Sharon was not moving, Luce mentally upbraided herself. Someone as beautiful and kind as Sharon would expect some common courtesy; she was entitled to it, of course. Luce raced around to the other side of the car and opened the door, extending her hand to assist Sharon from the confines.

Sharon was glad for the long gloves she wore; Luce would not feel her damp, sweaty hands. Gluing a smile to her perfect features, she braced herself and allowed her gentle, green eyed lover to lead her out of the car and into the house.

It was full of people, and Sharon eyed the opulence with a feeling of bemusement that warred with fear. One could barely move through the thick fringe of bodies. All turned to stare at them, sizing them up, eyeing the curiously.

Luce held her lover’s hand, not noticing the increasing reluctance in the tall woman’s step, the paling of the magnificent features. Finally, the small, golden woman saw Mother and Father in the center of the room, joking and laughing with her brothers, sisters and cousins. Eagerly, she led Sharon towards them.

Father and Mother saw their youngest daughter coming towards them, leading a truly magnificent woman through the throng. They smiled; their daughter had good taste.

“Mother, Father.” Luce’s voice was breathless as she came to a stop in front of them. “I’d like you to meet Sharon. Sharon, this is Mother and Father.”

Father and Mother both gave genuine smiles, and the small group encircling them began to raise their glasses for a toast to the young couple.

Father’s voice was booming and jovial as always. “Welcome to the Family! We must have a toast to the young couple and their everlasting happiness!” He signaled the musicians, and the music slowly ceased.

Mother smiled encouragingly, and gave her youngest child a quick hug. “Yes. May your marriage be as happy as ours!”

There were whispers as glasses were raised, but a shriek of horror from Sharon swiftly silenced the room.

She backed away from them, beautiful features a mask of disgust and revulsion, skin pale with terror to the point of ill health. She zeroed in on Luce. “You told them we were getting married? Why? Why would I ever want to marry a freak like you? What the hell did I say to give you that misguided impression? I would never in my wildest dreams be caught dead in public with a freak like you! I was just having some fun and you had to spoil it! You can take you and your awful, horrible army of weirdos you call a family and go to hell! Right where you all belong!”

The sea of people parted to allow the tall, young woman to run from the House.

During this speech, Luce felt her heart break and shatter into a million pieces, and she sank to her knees weeping as a small pouch with a golden ring fell from her weakened grasp.

Slowly a ring of figures encircled the young woman and her parents, wild eyes showing varying degrees of rage, disgust, sympathy, pity, understanding and kindness.

Luce cried, almost in too much pain to feel it, as Father crouched down beside her with Mother. He pulled his youngest daughter into his arms.

“Oh, my dear.” His voice was sympathetic and compassionate as he and Mother rocked her as they had not done since she was a small child.

Feeling more alienated than ever, she pulled out of their grasp. “She’s right! I am a freak! I don’t belong with you either!”

Thin hisses and gasps of shock greeted this.

“Now then, my dear, no you’re not.” Father’s hand reached out to gently stroke her back, soothing her. “We know you can’t stay up with us all night, we know you don’t like the lake and are afraid of the dark. We don’t care at all about that, my dear. You are our youngest daughter and we love you. You are part of our Family. We want you to know that we will always look after you, even when you are old and gray. When you are gone we will see that you are given a fitting funeral and we will mourn your passing. We will always celebrate our daughter and friend, Lucretia!”

Howls of agreement greeted this, and the crowd pressed in closer, creatures with yellow eyes, hairy, muscular bodies vying with sickly pale skin, black eyes and thin, stringy haired party goers to lend support to Mother’s and Father’s anguished daughter.

Witches, werewolves, ghouls, banshees, ghosts and demons, one and all, cast blessings upon Luce, wanting to protect her from more unmentionable horrors of the human world.

Luce was reduced to tears once more at Father’s gentle, kind words, and allowed him to take her into a close embrace, whispering to him, “Thank you, Father. That means so much to me. I love you.”

He laughed, the sound one of pure joy, and raised his glass to resume the abandoned toast. “I’d like to make a toast to our youngest daughter, Lucretia! She has come back to the Family, and she is Home!”

The room erupted into tumultuous cheers, and Luce felt paws, cloven hooves, rough, thin and meaty hands touch her, showing their support and love.

Finally, a smile formed on her lips, and she felt her heart begin to lighten.

The musicians once more took up the lively waltz that had been playing when the young woman entered, and for the first time ever, Luce danced with Mother and Father. She soon forgot her misery, bathed in the sea of acceptance that gently cradled her in its arms.

The darkest hours of the night found her spinning outside to the wide balcony, trying to recover from another lively dance with her oldest, laughing brother. Her wild, yellow eyed, grinning uncle reached for her, to pull her back onto the dance floor, but her banshee aunt took in her disheveled breathlessness, smiled kindly, and pulled him away to spin around the room.

Trying to catch her breath, the smiling Luce leaned against the marble railing, glorying in the night.

She started when a slim, large hand came out of the shadows. “Here, I think you dropped this.”

Trying to penetrate the darkness, Luce watched as a tall, blue black haired woman slowly materialized, holding the small pouch out to her.

“Thanks.” Luce found herself lost in crystalline, almost incandescent blue eyes, alabaster skin and long, shining hair.

There was a comfortable pause as a gentle smiled played about ruby red lips, revealing sharp, white teeth. “I’m your cousin, Elsabeth.”

Luce began to force movement into her frozen limbs, and she felt herself reach out to take the pouch from long fingers, unable to stop the small contact as her fingers brushed against the enigmatic Elsabeth’s.

“I’m Lucretia. Luce for short.”

Six feet of long, feminine body stood unconsciously close to the transfixed Luce, sultry voice caressing her. “I’m pleased to meet you.”

“I’m pleased to meet you too.” Something inside Luce reached out and touched Elsabeth, meeting its pair and they began to tangle together, slowly becoming tightly entwined.

Mother and Father watched from the doorway as Elsabeth’s arms slowly pulled Luce in for a close embrace, yet another welcoming of the young woman to the Family. Father’s arm slipped around Mother’s waist and they both sighed contentedly.

“I’m so glad Elsabeth was able to accept our invitation this year.” Mother’s relieved voice was soft, as always, and Father smiled gently.

For once Father’s voice matched hers. “Yes, I know. Lucretia deserves the best.”

As Luce’s and Elsabeth’s lips met in a gentle kiss, Father and Mother exchanged a smile. “I think we’re going to be celebrating a wedding this year.”

“That we are, my dear, that we are.”

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