She pulled her arms tightly around herself as she gazed out over the gardens below. She bit her lip and let out a heavy sigh before looking up at the stars. After a while, she heard rustling in the bushes near the entrance. Her eyes darted in the direction of the noise and narrowed when she saw the familiar figure of the queen emerging from the shadows.The queen's face lit up when she caught sight of Catherine standing a couple metres away from the window. Without hesitation, the queen marched over to her. She didn't move nor did she give any indication that she had seen her approaching.The queen stopped a couple of metres away from Catherine and looked down at her. After staring at Catherine for a few moments in silence, the queen finally spoke. "What are you doing out here?"Catherine's lips tightened slightly. She still had no idea whether or not she should say anything, but then remembered something that she had told her. "Don't let them win". She closed her eyes, forcing her
Catherine remained quiet. She looked down at her lap again as the queen stood up from her throne and walked over to where she was standing."I believe you know that I have never hated you."Catherine said nothing."I've come to realise that you haven't betrayed me because you're afraid of losing me. No, Catherine. You have done this because I deserve to live. And I think that I have come to realise what it means to be truly alive."Catherine glanced up at the queen and saw that she was smiling kindly at her. The queen gently placed her hand on Catherine's arm. "I'm sure you have many questions," the queen went on."but you mustn't worry. I will answer all of them."A small smile crept onto Catherine's lips. "Thank you," she murmured quietly."Now, you have been through hell these past few weeks. If you feel ready for some food and rest now, we can talk later. For now, though... we should get you ready to leave. I know that you must be hungry after all that you've done today."Catheri
The queen let out a soft chuckle. "It's no problem at all. Although, perhaps, there are some things that you need to know. First of all, I do not blame you for protecting me. I know you would never hurt anyone."Catherine pursed her lips. "But I failed you."The queen raised a single eyebrow. "You only failed me because I allowed myself to become caught up in my own anger.""Your Majesty.""Please listen to me. What happened between us doesn't matter anymore. We were children, Catherine. You only did what you felt you had to do to protect me. It's understandable that you feel guilty. But please, do not beat yourself up over it. That would never make up for anything that you've done.""But I?""And secondly..." The queen began, stopping Catherine mid-sentence. "What I mean to say is that I trust you completely. I trust you enough to know that you wouldn't put yourself above the people you loved. And if you really did feel that way, you would've left me in that room alone. So no, Cathe
Catherine froze in horror. No. No way. She was dreaming. This can't be real. Surely this wasn't real. Catherine slowly crept forward again, making sure she was careful not to be seen. She was only a few feet away now."I'm sorry. It seems that we didn't keep it a secret. We didn't have any choice though, Your Highness.""You didn't have a choice," her mother snapped angrily. "There has to have been something you could've done!""But you have to understand! She was too young for this," her father pleaded."No, Julian. I don't understand anything right now!" her mother shrieked. "I am sick of this. Sick of you. I can't believe that the king trusted you so much! Well, he should have. He should have never placed faith in you at all!""But, Your Highness! You know how hard it was for me to find someone like her!""Enough!" her mother shouted as she shot her husband a cold glare. "This isn't helping. All it does is cause me pain. If I could have my way, I'd kill both of you.""Kill... me
Even though she knew that they would never meet again, Catherine could not help but feel sorry for the queen. She couldn't imagine having to face the king with the news that their child was dying it was horrible. Just then, the door opened and Catherine quickly wiped away her tears and tried to smile at whoever entered."I heard that the queen sent for you," Thomas greeted her with a warm grin.Catherine smiled back weakly and nodded. She didn't trust herself to say anything else. Her throat was closed shut and she was completely paralyzed by fear."Come, dear girl. Let's go down to the dining room, shall we?"Catherine forced a small laugh as she followed Thomas. She really hoped that she would manage to stay calm enough during dinner. She wasn't exactly looking forward to it. At least it was only a dinner, not some kind of trial or execution. It was just food. Food. Food. Food. That was all she could think about. She didn't dare to look at either Henry or the queen. She just kept
Catherine gave her a small smile. "It's alright. I'm just a bit stressed out. You know, I haven't seen my parents in weeks, and I feel like I can't breathe sometimes. And the whole time, I've been wondering what has happened to them... if they are okay... if they have any idea that the baby was theirs."The queen frowned as she rested her hand against the side of Catherine's neck and tilted her head slightly, examining her features. Catherine felt her eyes widen as she realized that the queen was actually checking if she had a fever. The queen quickly dropped her hand as if she was burned when she found that Catherine wasn't fevered."I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Please forgive me, Catherine."Catherine blinked rapidly in confusion. Why was she apologizing to her? The queen didn' t need to apologize, she thought. In fact, it was the other way around. If anything, Catherine should be apologizing to her."Don't worry about it," Catherine replied. "It's fine. Really. I don't
"Hey, Your Majesty," Catherine greeted as she approached the bed.The Queen lowered the book and smiled softly at her. "Hello."Catherine took a seat in front of the queen and clasped her hands in her lap. She then looked down at them and studied them silently. She had yet to take off the ring that the queen had given her. She wasn't sure why but she felt comfortable wearing the ring all the time even though she wasn't sure why exactly she liked the way it felt on her finger. Maybe it was just comforting, knowing that someone cared enough to give her a gift that had belonged to a loved one."What are you doing?" the queen asked quietly, watching Catherine closely.Catherine shrugged, glancing up at the queen briefly. "Nothing much. Just thinking about the wedding."The queen pursed her lips. "Do you still want to marry me?""Of course, Your Majesty," Catherine stated, surprised by the question. Of course, she wanted to marry the queen. The woman had become like family to her. She was
"Good," the queen responded coldly before turning back around to stare at the reflection of herself in the mirror.Catherine stared down at her hands. The moment she heard the click of the queen locking the bedroom door behind her, she quickly pushed herself away from the bed.Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she rushed over to the open window and flung herself outside, falling to the ground below. She landed hard upon the grass, causing her dress to rip slightly as she struggled to catch her breath. She held her stomach in an attempt to stop the flow of blood from escaping from it.She laid there for a while, letting everything wash over her. Eventually, however, the pain in her stomach subsided and she slowly got back to her feet. Then she climbed back onto her bed and lay down on her side as she hugged the pillow she used to comfort herself every night. She closed her eyes, resting them for just a minute. When she opened her eyes, she realized that she needed to start wri
"It sounds like your husband was really great." He remarked. She nodded slowly, not saying anything in response.Julian knew that she probably needed to process what happened before she could continue talking to him about it. He waited patiently.After a few moments, she took a deep breath and lifted her head."Do you remember when I said that my mother passed away a year ago? Well, it wasn't actually a death. It was a suicide." She revealed quietly. "We had just moved here after that." Julian nodded. He remembered the day perfectly. He had taken her to visit her mother and she had shown them around the house. They had visited the cemetery and Serena had talked about her mother for the entire time.She seemed happy. It was obvious how fond of her mother she was. Julian smiled slightly at the memory."Well, she did it. I think that my father may have been responsible. After he found out, he got violent. And he didn't take it well when she killed herself." Serena explained. She shrugg
The sound of soft footsteps alerted Julian to the presence of another person entering the room. He turned around and gave his visitor a weak smile."Hi" He whispered. She returned the gesture with a soft smile of her own."How are you?" She asked concerned, moving to sit down next to him. He glanced at her briefly and shrugged."I'm alright. Tired. I think I caught a cold. I feel pretty gross, too. My throat is hurting." He answered honestly. She chuckled."That happens sometimes when you get sick. Have you eaten anything?" She asked him. He shook his head. "I can cook you something.""No, no. I can eat when I have the chance." He protested."You shouldn't. It can cause more harm than good." She told him. He sighed quietly."I know. But I'll eat anyway. If it means that I won't starve to death, I'll eat." He insisted. She laughed again."Okay" She agreed after a beat.Silence fell between them as they both stared blankly at the wall opposite of them. After a few minutes of silence, h
"I see…" She paused for a moment before she spoke again. "Can I ask you something though?" She inquired. Julian nodded absentmindedly. "What happened?" "Why did you have that conversation with her?""Because…” He started explaining vaguely. “Because…" He trailed off as he tried to find the words to explain to her. It was true that he didn't want to burden her with anything concerning his relationship with Serena. However, he knew that he couldn't hide things from his family forever. If he did, then eventually they would discover that something was wrong with him. He sighed heavily as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration."Dad, can you give me a minute? I'll be right back" He whispered. Without waiting for his father to respond, he ended the call and went back inside the room. He stood behind the couch for a few moments as he listened to the soft sound of Serena's breathing. He could barely make out any sounds from the living room.He approached the sleeping girl slowl
“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” She smiled reassuringly, hoping that her boyfriend would believe her. Julian smiled back at her.“Alright then” He said in response. He leaned forward and pressed another tender kiss onto her lips. A few seconds later he released his fiancée from his embrace and turned to open the horse carriage. Before leaving the parking lot he glanced at his wife once more. “Stay inside, all right? No wandering around alone.” He added.“Sure. Don’t worry.”“I don’t care if you stay inside the whole time, I will still worry.”“Okay” She laughed and waved at him as he drove away. She waited until he disappeared from view before returning to sit down on the sofa once again. She was silent for several minutes, pondering what he had told her before. As she sat there and stared ahead at nothing particular, she suddenly felt like she was suffocating.She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, she found herself sitting there sta
He smiled gently and leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his fiancée's forehead. She chuckled quietly and moved her hands to hold the back of his head. They stayed like that for a few moments before Julian pulled away."I need to go check on something." He announced getting up from the couch.Serena watched curiously as her husband headed towards the kitchen. She tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms in front of her chest."Do you think that he might be cheating on me?" Serena whispered to herself.Suddenly the sound of footsteps caught her attention. She looked behind her and spotted Julian leaning against the door frame watching her."Hm?" She hummed. He shrugged his shoulders."Nothing. I guess you should come with me." Julian told her as he gestured towards the hallway."Where are we going? And why?" Serena asked."I'm checking if my mother and father are home and if they have any guests." Julian answered as he walked toward the closet to retrieve his jacket and t
After another minute or two he started moving his hand slowly. He caressed her side slowly, enjoying the feeling of his thumb brushing against her tender skin. He pressed a gentle kiss to her inner thigh and started teasing her.“Please….please don’t….stop” Serena begged breathlessly, her eyes still closed. The prince smirked and continued to stroke her thigh slowly. He reached the peak again, but hesitated. Just as he was about to push inside her and make her come, there was a knock on the door.Serena froze and tensed in his lap.“Are you expecting anyone?” Julian asked calmly as he continued to stroke her inner thigh slowly. The princess shook her head no and slowly slid off of his lap.“No, it can’t be my parents. They aren’t home yet." She muttered worriedly. Julian furrowed his eyebrows. Something doesn’t seem right. He looked over to his wife and noticed that she was staring intently at the door. There was fear evident in her blue orbs. What could it possibly be.“Go answer t
“I love you so much Serena.” Julian said placing a few quick pecks on the girl’s lips. He heard some gasps around him and saw that everyone else were looking at him weirdly. He frowned and pulled away from the girl. “We have to pay for these groceries so let’s hurry up okay?” He said before grabbing the shopping basket from her hands.A few minutes later they were leaving the grocery store and Julian couldn’t hold back the huge grin on his face. This is definitely the best day of his life and he wouldn’t change any minute of it. He finally proposed to his beautiful queen and got a yes from her."I am so happy." He thought happily.He looked over to Serena who was walking next to him and noticed that she was also smiling like a fool. As soon as they got in the carriage, he reached out and held her hand. "So many things happened yesterday. Our parents came, I proposed to her, she said yes, she said yes to marrying me and I kissed her." Julian laughed and squeezed the princess’s hand
“You look cute today.” His girlfriend said while looking at the prince who is smiling at himself while wearing his blue coat and holding his hand. “How can I look cute when you are wearing the prettiest thing on earth?” His boyfriend said kissing the redhead’s hand.“You are lucky I love you then.” Serena chuckled taking the boy’s hand and heading towards the exit of the park, the prince couldn’t stop smiling.They arrived at the ice rink where they usually meet each other. Their friends is there already waiting for them and they went to the ice skating rink together. This is where Serena found her boyfriend. He was wearing a red robe with scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, gloves and long coat. The boy was smiling brightly like a mad man while trying to keep his balance on the slippery ice, he looked adorable."Do you like it?" Asked Julian while looking at her. The princess was busy admiring her boyfriend, her heart was beating rapidly inside her chest and she felt herself blu
Suddenly, the dragon let out a deafening roar. It echoed throughout the entire pier and caused many people to yelp in pain and fright. Several people started crying and clutching onto their friends' arms tightly as if they would fall apart at any moment. Serena couldn't take her eyes of the terrifying beast which was now standing proudly right before them, roaring and snorting menacingly. It was impossible to tell how many people were trapped inside those gigantic jaws, as the darkness prevented them from seeing. But judging by the loud growls coming from the creature, they must've been close to death.After a few seconds the roaring sound gradually decreased until it eventually disappeared, leaving behind an eerie silence. The crowd was dead silent. Everyone remained motionless, except for the tears streaming down their cheeks and the shudders that wracked their bodies. No one made a peep or uttered a single word. Everyone was glued to the horrifying creature in front of them, a