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A Shadow in the Archway
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2024-10-29 19:42:56On the first day of the journey, Ethan was murdered over fifty times already, at least in Katherine's mind. He seemed to find fun in teasing her, pulling out threads of her sanity with only his words. After a while, he even dared to switch back to her nickname, obviously feeling safe in the company of his guards.
"Kitty~ why do you ride so fast? Are you avoiding me? Please talk to me. I feel so lonely without you. I even went all the way to the wall just to pick you up. Come on, pleeease."Seeing Katherine shudder with helpless fury, Lady Brandon decided to intervene. "She doesn't want to talk to you. You should have gone to your betrothed if you are lonely. Now, leave us alone... What is it?"Katherine had tugged on Ella's sleeve, but the latter only reacted when she was through with her speech. When she looked at Katherine, she was shocked to find how pale and sweaty the woman's face was. "Don't talk with him. It's dangerous.""Okay, okay." Though Ella wanted tRelated chapters
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Aston pushed the wheelchair of his father until it reached the same high as Old Lady Finley. Every person in the hall was either stunned silly or whispering profusely. Of course, their hostess was the one and only exception. In Old Lady Finley's hazy grey eyes shimmered delight and triumph. It almost seemed like she was grinning, though it didn't reflect on her slim and stern lips. With one wizened hand, she reached out to pat both of William's in a patronizing manner. "I am glad that you finally decided to acknowledge the rightful heir."William's brows were knit together like an angry rain cloud as he endured her treatment. Before he could open his mouth and roar like an angry lion, Aston interveined with a bright smile."Grandma! Thank you for all the effort you put in for us. You know Dad, sometimes he's too worried about nothing. But he came around now, so we can all pull in the same direction. Isn't that great?"When the gazes of the two adults landed on him, bo
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The rest was prolonged all the way to the next day because Katherine felt unwell. In front of Ethan, she claimed that she had to get used to traveling again and couldn't stand the road for the whole day yet. Despite this, she noticed his suspicious gaze following her throughout camp until she finally entered her tent prematurely. "I'm so tired, Ella," Katherine complained, sprawled out on her thin mattress. "Traveling with him is like a nightmare, I just want it to be over... um, you know that you don't need to do this, right? I already feel indebted to you as it is." Ella, who had massaged Katherine's shoulders, now went over to her legs and smiled. "As if I could leave my pregnant friend to her pain when she can't even use her magic. No, no, just lay back and relax. You would do the same for me if I was in your condition." Katherine giggled. "Yeah, right. As if I knew how to massage someone. Did you forget I'm a spoilt princess, an only child? In the past,
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The Duchy of Sleipnir resided only a ten-day trip from the border. With each day of the journey, Katherine became more anxious. "When will Nathaniel come?", she asked Ella every morning, midday, and afternoon. "Maybe something happened to him..." Each time, Ella did her best to soothe the worry, but the anxiety slowly crept onto her as well. Even when he knew nothing of the baby, Nathaniel was not the type to leave his wife at the side of a man who was responsible for her parents' deaths. Even Ella started to wonder if there had been some complications, and this didn't go unnoticed by Katherine. The emotional upheaval soon reflected in her bodily well-being. What started as a slight case of morning sickness, now lasted until noon each day. She made sure to eat with only Ella in the vicinity, for it was always possible for the food to come back up. On the seventh day, Ella reminded her that the baby would be in danger if she fell from her horse out of weakness
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When Nathaniel's warmth seeped into Katherine, the trembling of her body stopped."You're back," she rasped, and buried her face in the fabric on his chest, deeply inhaling the aroma."Sorry I'm late." His lips brushed her temple in a butterfly kiss and her heart skiped a beat in response. For a second, the fight behind her was forgotten as she relished in the presence of her beloved."I missed you. What took you so long?", she muttered like the spoilt woman she was. When he didn't answer directly, she lifted her head while maintaining the closeness of their bodies. They were all but flushed against each other. Violett eyes met red ones, and her hand wandered up to smoothen the knit between his brows. "Something happened, did it not?"He caught her fingers and pressed another kiss onto her palm. "A minor disturbance. It was difficult to contain the... children. Their prowess is exceptional, but it will take a while before their mentality is restored. Some do not
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When the fighting had ceased, Nathaniel brought Katherine to a camp in the woods, where his people and the young magicians they freed gathered. Somehow, Katherine mused, she spend quite a lot of time in camps in the last few months - far more than in proper buildings.Since the tiredness of pregnancy was seeping into her again as soon as the adrenaline left, Katherine couldn't bring herself to see the children just now. Like with Frey, she suspected that some would not be very welcoming and she needed the power to pull through their accusations.Besides, she worried that they might ask her to heal their wounds. Nathaniel would always let her do what she wanted without questioning her thus it was no wonder that he didn't ask her to heal his people - the injuries were mostly minor anyways. However, these children... they were just children.The ones she met before knew about her healing power, but nothing about her child and how it could be affected. Maybe they had told
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Nathaniel just couldn't believe it. Throughout his life, he had learned that wonders did not exist. He was first ignored, then hated, abandoned, and finally send to die in a war when he was barely twelve. Sure, there were some good memories, but wonders... they were things from myths. He didn't believe in them, much less expect them to happen to him, whose fate seemed to end with death on the battlefield.Somewhere inside him, that was what he always expected to happen, despite his efforts to defy this fate. He would fight and fight until one day someone defeated him. Maybe a traitor would shoot his back, maybe his mother would succeed in poisoning him, or he fell in a fair duel with an enemy - though most likely not the latter. It was not even pessimism speaking from the thought, just the realistic calculations of possibility. Wonders were things that happened to his enemies if anyone at all.Then, Katherine appeared. And this one person brought so many wonders to his life that he
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The light in Katherine's eyes grew dim as Nathaniel cursed. Whenever she had thought of their reunion, it was a happy occasion but the true one was not going her way. Now he even distanced himself from her, bringing a few steps between him and her hands that were falling down to the mattress."Why?", she suddenly asked. "You do control your magic most of the time, so why? Why can't I touch you the way I want to?""You are writing off the risk too easily." Nathaniel crossed his arms in front of his chest, his gaze dark as if all light had been sucked away. "It is as you said: most of the time. I, for my part, don't want to find out if you will miscarry the next time we touch. And I don't think you want it either. If you had thought this through, you would know that distance is the only option.""But..." Katherine's hopes fell at the determined stance of her husband. She bared her teeth, fighting against the pain it caused her. "Why? Why is it that every time we make a
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Katherine felt the tension through her husband's tightening grip before he slowly exhaled. "It is possible, however, let me remind you again about the risk of testing - " "But we need to test it anyway", Katherine interjected before he could start a sermon about responsibility for their child. "You may hope otherwise but I did not forget that your veins were already dark when you left me. I doubt healing you can wait much longer." "It can wait for nine months at least." "But it will be inconvenient, right?" When Nathaniel remained silent, Katherine continued: "We need you at your full strength, not like the first time we met. These are dangerous times. How will you protect us if your condition deteriorates? Not that I need protection, but our child is a different matter!" To leave her pride intact, Nathaniel barely resisted a smile. Skadi forbid that his wife ever needed protection! Somehow he found her insistence more adorable than anything else. Neverthele
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Five years later"Your Holiness - Uh, ah, Majesty, I mean!"Leaning on the newly-built rails atop the dome of the palace, with the view of the Capital in the background, Katherine scolded lightly: "Shht, Hazel, she just fell asleep."In her arms rested a baby, maybe a few months old, with a tuft of black hair and fair white skin. If she opened her lids, angelic blue eyes would blink up innocently at the viewer.Hazel's head appeared at the end of the staircase leading to the roof. Apologetically, she bit her lip and whispered. "I'm sorry, your Majesty. A letter arrived from Dragsa, and Prince Patrick hurt his knee while playing. He's on his way here.""Dragsa...," Katherine muttered and stretched out a hand to take it. "I wonder what they want. They were very quiet in the latter years."Lowering her head, she took a glance at the paper. Instantly, her brows furrowed, later followed by a deep sigh. "I almost expected it. What a shame."Her gaze wandered to the west, in the direction of
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For once, the third wall belonging to the palace let nobles and commoners alike pass. They flooded in in masses and coagulated on the streets and the grass field before the dome. Everywhere, where they could hope to catch a little glimpse of what was about to happen in the throne hall.In front of the dome, Nathaniel dismounted and reached his hand out to Katherine to help her off as well. For a second, Katherine remembered how Pete helped her when she mounted Bell for the first time, and her smile grew shaky. Pete and Jack. One retired after suffering grievous wounds, and the other fell in battle when the undead attacked the palace to free the Queen, Emilian, and Helmina.The burial was in the time of Katherine's long travel back but she and Nathaniel visited the grave two days ago. Still, she could not believe that her funny, one-eyed companion was truly gone. It was delusional but she could not shake the thought that if only she'd been at the Capital, her power might have saved him
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Weeks later, the couple reached the Capital and was welcomed with much tom-tom. Aston, it seemed, was back on his feet. The new scar parting his right brow even suggested that his exaggerated description of a battle with the best undead swordsman in history might be more than just bragging. Infuriatingly, however, the scar made him even more handsome, and he confidently put it on display at any opportunity he got. Especially in front of the ladies.Shortly after their return, King William officially announced his retirement in favor of his nephew. Though the commoners were confused at Nathaniel's sudden emergence, the prepared aristocrats soon placated them, and the rumors of his activities as the illusive sixth General did the rest.Katherine was surprised to hear that word of her ability had elevated her picture in the icelandic society to somewhat of a saintess. King William obviously prepared on this end as well, and thus nobody dared suggest that a dragsean noble was unfit to be
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The ship of the king of the Glaciar Coast was a gigantic vessel with a kind of lofty wretchedness to it. In fact, Katherine thought that the silver ornaments on the dark wood looked like bones, and if the sail had been a bit more tattered, the "Charon" would've been the perfect ghost ship. When she mentioned it to Lady Brandon in jest, the sister of said king laughed out loud."Oh, he'd love to hear that! If his crew wasn't ridiculously superstitious, I bet he'd search the whole ocean floor for a sunken vessel to serve him!""Is that so?" Katherine lifted her brows, perplexed. "Isn't it already enough that it can fly?"Granted, the hovering of the gigantic vessel wasn't completely 'flight' as the ship was only lifted by the water the Glaciar Coast's mages manipulated with much afford. It could also only be implemented for short periods close to a water source. For the unsuspecting viewer, however, it looked exactly as if the ship was flying.It was this practical fea
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Katherine woke up feeling fresh and well-rested. The plush cushions under her head were like soft clouds, and the blanket bore just the right amount of heat. The air smelled of salt and herbs, an unusual but welcoming combination."Hmmm." With a blissful sigh, Katherine stretched. She didn't feel so good since they resided in the hut in the Icelands with King William, his mistress, and son. Did she only dream of that long, arduous journey to a mountain in Dragsa?"You're awake." Her eyes snapped open when she heard that voice. It was undoubtedly the deep timbre of her husband, Nathaniel. And there he was, sitting next to the bed in a cushioned chair, a gentle gaze in his eyes.Eyes that rested strangely deep in his pale face. A face that was bare of the slight smile that sometimes tugged on the corners of his mouth when he looked at her. Instead, he seemed solemn, exhausted, plagued by a deeply hidden sadness that he maybe wanted to hide. Yet to her eyes, his feelings were an open
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It was Ethan. He stood just outside the rift, his usual harmless smile on his face, and the hands hidden in the pockets of his dark trousers. "Kitty. Fancy meeting you here."If Katherine had been raised in any lower class than aristocracy, she would've spit in front of his feet. Even so, her face soured as if she'd bitten into a raw lemon. "I don't... fancy it at all."Stepping aside to give the rest of the dark stream free access to the rift, she noticed that Ethan'd brought two helpers who lingered in the back nervously. The white lab coats outed them as researchers. She glanced them up and down and decided not to ask where Ve was. After all that happened today and with her magic nearly depleted, she wanted nothing more than walk away from this whole mess.So, she did just that. Turned around and walked along the canyon that was now almost free of the dark substance.After a second of surprise, Ethan called after her: "Hey, don't you want to know what I'll do with this? Aren't
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"Ahhh! It hurts! It hurts! You're tearing me apart!" Nathaniel felt the unusual urge to roll his eyes. He never knew that his magic was such a sissy. First, it asked for his help, and now it screamed like a pig on the slaughter bench because of a little pain. And why could it even feel pain? Its body was nothing but insidious black smoke that appeared like a black liquid in its compressed form. There were no tendons, no bones, no flesh, and no nerves - in short, nothing that could hurt. "Shall I stop pulling then?", Nathaniel asked sarcastically in his mind. Well, if that magic of his wanted to go by itself, all the better for him. "No, no, no! Please don't let go! Don't let goo-oo-ouuuuuuch!" It felt like mentally pulling on an elastic band, Nathaniel decided. Somewhere where he couldn't see, something else was pulling the other end, turning the band longer and longer. It got harder for him to hold on with each passing second. Then, with a last loud howl fr
