"Thank you, Sam." The relieve Nathaniel felt was neither in his tone nor bearing. They were calm and straight like usual, way calmer than in the last few hours. To know where she was and that the location wasn't connected to any evil fraction, already pacified his anger and anxiety tremendously. It irked him that the promise to his father forbid him from personally looking for Katherine outside the city gates though. All in one breath, he uttered a few commands: "Ensure her safety. Investigate how she got there. Is she injured?"
"No, Milord, but in a state of exhaustion and deep sleep."
The possibility that she fled from him and hid by her allies - he knew the Golden Cauldron from Pete's report - gnawed at Nathaniel's heart. Did he overreact? But was she really hit so deeply by his casual words?
He remembered that there were a few things that didn't match up with this theory: for example, she had no purpose to come to the palace before, and the state of exhausti
Her lids felt heavy. Warmth and drowsiness made her unwilling to open them. It was so comfortable. She wanted to sleep a bit more..."Katherine."His voice was like a warm breath on her face. She knew who it was without thinking, but the surprise that he was here while she was asleep, opened up her eyes.There he was, slim lips and high cheekbones under beautiful red eyes. Even though his brows were locked together, the gaze was softer than usual."How do you feel?", he asked. When she realized that it was worry that made him look so vexed, a fuzzy feeling raised in her chest. The cold wall he raised to keep people away was lowered right now."Tired", she murmured and closed her eyes again."Don't sleep." It wasn't uttered like a command, but more like a wish, a hope. It made her unable to refuse, however much appealing the darkness and warmth of sleep was.While slowly blinking her eyes, she noticed that her arm was out of the beddin
Katherine's answer wasn't a bright beam, but a softer smile. She pressed his hand in silent gratitude.Nathaniel looked down on their hands and sighed softly. Somehow, he was unable to let go. Only this one day was left, and it was completely different from how he imagined it. He hadn't had time alone with her, couldn't show her the city or the grand theaters, one of the prides of the outer ring. Instead he was a prisoner in the palace. How down-casting.With a deep breath, he let go of all the bad feelings. If Katherine wanted him to let go of his burdens for a day, today was the best choice. As a prisoner, he could do nothing but wait for the King's decree anyway.He put on a rare friendly smile as he asked: "Now, do you want your present?"Katherine's eyes widened, the violet sparkling with surprise. "You've got a present? For me?"Mockingly, Nathaniel raised a brow. "How can I not have a present? I would really be a bad betrothed if I didn't ev
"They are dead! You all killed them! They DIED!"Nathaniel felt the impulse to rush downstairs when he heard the scream, but as he saw the palace guards only exchange a knowing gaze, he halted."What's that about?", he asked coldly. The voice downstairs seemed to be of a young boy, nobody he recognized as a guest in the house. But how could a servant dare to raise his voice?The guards shot him a disdainful glance, but one answered nonetheless. It was a pain that Pete and every single one of his personnal in the palace had been locked up for the time being. Even the ones sending Katherine back were apprehended. Luckily, Sam was smart enough to not come back in himself when he knew the situation. At least not on legal routes. So he was still free, but gathering information in the palace was nearly impossible.The guard explained: "The Miltons left two days ago. Today, one of their entourage came back. His name wasn't scratched from the entry-list of the ga
Katherine's birthday was simple and pleasant, with a cake and presents of Lady Brandon, Shirley, Trumpet, and Lerche. There was even a pair of exquisite earrings send by her Highness the Princess personally. Then there was this particular card of which she didn't know if it was a present or a warning sign. One thing was for sure: she didn't gain a summon by the King just by having birthday, even though that was exactly what stood in the inconspicuous card she found between her presents.Rubbing her temples, Katherine looked over at the Earl who refused to leave her chambers even when the dinner she was invited to by the King was only a short hour away. "Why exactly do you refuse to let me go again?"Nathaniel's gaze at her was intense, his fingers rapping the dressing table. "It's too dangerous. You shouldn't go without me or at least a guard.""The King explicitly said to come alone though.""That is why you shouldn't attend at all."Katheri
The first thing she saw were the two thrones at the end of the long hall. They towered over the people like hawks watching them. Nobody sat on them, but the presence alone, the dark sparkle of the obsidian icicles like swords standing upright, and the brilliance of the sunny throne contrasting to it, stifled the atmosphere.The faces of the people waiting for her were just as stifling as the thrones. On both sides of the table sat Prince and Princess. Their slight smiles and nods would be reassuring if it was not for them reacting at exactly the same time with the same motion, mirroring each other so perfectly that it turned creepy.Beside the Crown Prince, next to the head of the table, sat a woman that could have been the older sister of the Princess. Katherine only knew that she was the Queen because the Princess didn't have a sister. The snake-green eyes of Queen Layla inspected her long nails, completely ignoring Katherine with an arrogance that openly showed her
With a deep frown that show-casted how the previous conversation irritated her, Katherine sat down next to the Princess. She half awaited to be called out again, maybe thrown out by the King. If so, she was angry enough to leave this kingdom altogether. There was nothing good in staying in a kingdom with such rulers.When nothing happened, her anger lessened a bit. Maybe they also had their reasons for talking like that. Whatever news the King asked her about, seemed to be a big matter involving her origin country. It wasn't unusual for them to be suspicious. Only the undeserved hate the Queen had for her couldn't be excused easily."Lady Balder, we are so happy you could make it for dinner", the Princess started the conversation formally, while it was obvious that the maximum count of happy persons on this table ended with her. "I hope you had a pleasant birthday. I see you liked my gift?""Ah, yes." Flustered from her nonchalance, Katherine touched the crystal
Into the throne hall strode a middle-aged man with a thick mustache and a woman, roughly a few years older than the Princess. Both greeted old Lady Finley with reverence, but didn't get much of an answer. When the King frowned at the sight, they then bowed even deeper to him."Your Majesty", the man said with a rather melodic voice, "pardon the intrusion.""I already pardoned one intrusion today, a second doesn't make much of a difference", the King replied in not quite a friendly tone. Katherine got the feeling that if there would be a third party knocking after this one, they would be thrown out faster than flying. Even this man was greeted with unwillingness. "Long time no see, Sebastian.""Eighteen years are indeed a long time, your Majesty. I already thought you had forgotten about me.""Nonsense. Even if I wanted to forget your ugly face, I couldn't", the King harrumphed. His gaze halted on the woman. Then he sighed. "Luckily or not, Lily grew up to
Thanks to the interruption of old Lady Finley, the King seemed to have momentarily forgotten about the 'choice' he wanted to give Katherine. The dinner started, but the seat between Katherine and the King remained empty. The Princess didn't come back.Though she should be an enemy, Katherine felt quite insecure without her by her side. The Princess was the only one who defended her previously, and now she practically sat beside the King instead, who deliberated about killing her earlier.She told herself that she would be fine, that this was not as hard as facing off against Nathaniel the first time they met. But it was impossible to believe that. Though Nathaniel was more intimidating, at least she knew what he wanted from her. It would be so much easier when she knew what the purpose of this was!Everyone talked about things she didn't understand; only the veiled woman besides Katherine remained silent. Nobody bothered to explain to her who this 'grandson' who
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
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
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
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
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
Deep satisfaction brought some power to Katherine's exhausted body, yet she did not like the feeling at all. The guilt over hitting an innocent civilian clouded her mind, together with the question if it was the right thing to do. Trapping Ethan in the other dimension was too easy. It didn't feel right.Days and nights she'd dreamed of how to take her revenge, how she would torture him and finally look into his eyes when he died. Now, she'd acted impulsively, and the results were anything but what she imagined. Yet, should she have let the chance slip by?When she'd heard him giving orders, she'd finally stopped in her path because she felt like a coward who ran from the only real battle she'd sworn herself to fight. At first, she only wanted to observe and hid where the canyon's wall stood out a bit, just in earshot of Ethan. But the opportunity was too good. She didn't know how her smart and cunning cousin could act so dumb. It didn't match his usual approach, yet maybe
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
Meanwhile, the Duke of Sleipnir got comfortable on the edge of the cave. Shortly after he'd disposed of the corpses by sending them into the rolling dark river below, some of Loki's staff came over. They were shocked to see only one person left in the cave. "Um, your Excellency, where... where is the leader?""Hm?" Ethan turned and blinked. "Oh... he... how should I put this? He was too enthusiasistic when he saw his experiment finally succeed. Look, the brilliant result of all his hard work is below this cliff. He didn't want to wait anymore and took everyone to follow him down. Which might have been the wrong decision, so to say."The staff carefully crept closer to the cliff, and when he saw the darkness below, though it was more a creek than a mighty river now, his eyes widened. "Do you mean to say the leader is...?""Dead." Ethan nodded unemphathetically. "Most likely."Unexpectedly swiftly, the staff got over his shock. For a moment, he pondered, then asked: "But the experiment
"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