A soft knocking on the bedroom door interrupted her thoughts, causing Catherine to jump slightly as she quickly sat up straight. It wasn't long before she heard the sound of footsteps approaching, accompanied by a soft sigh. Without turning around, she waited patiently for the owner of the footsteps to approach her bed before she spoke."Come in," she called.The door slowly opened a few seconds later, revealing Julian standing silently in the doorway. When he saw Catherine sitting upright, he walked over towards the bed, stopping beside it before speaking in a quiet tone."Curtis woke up earlier. He asked me to inform you that he needs to speak with you for a moment," Julian told her quietly.Without waiting for her reply, Julian turned on his heel and exited the room without another word. Once the door closed behind him, Catherine turned her attention back to him, noticing that he had stirred awake and was staring blankly into space. She placed her hand gently upon his shoulder, g

"No, Julian. I slept alone. I woke up earlier than usual to use the bathroom and when I got back I could hear you moving around in there and so I decided to wait for you. That was when you started talking and then… well, after that, I decided to take a shower."Curtis frowned slightly. "But that shouldn't have taken long. I haven't used the toilet or anything else in days, and I still feel gross after yesterday."Catherine gave him an amused smile, despite the worry growing within herself that she was starting to develop. She knew that the fact that he hadn't been using the toilet or brushing his teeth was cause for concern, but she was hoping he would start to grow out of his little habit. Unfortunately, she wasn't that lucky."You're just tired. It's understandable. After being held prisoner in such a small room for so long, I wouldn't blame you if you were a bit groggy," she told him, hoping he wouldn't take it wrong."But you've been awake for hours. There should have been no way

Once their plates were cleared away, Catherine helped her mother clean the dishes up. It took her awhile, due to her pregnant condition but eventually she got the dishes cleaned. When she was finally ready she turned to her mother."So, Mama, can I have a few minutes alone?""Hmm," she hummed in response, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you already had two minutes.""I can use five," she responded with an innocent smile.Queen Diana nodded her head slowly before walking to the living room where she was sitting on the couch. Catherine smiled at her mother before quickly following her into the living room. Once they were both sat down on the couch Queen Diana looked towards her daughter. Catherine could sense the questioning gaze that she was giving her. She could tell that her mother had a lot of questions on her mind. She knew why she had asked to be alone, especially after the last night that they spent together."Is something wrong Catherine?" her mother asked with a slight tone o

Catherine felt her heart begin to pound furiously in her chest."Do you think I give a damn about that?" she practically screamed, grabbing hold of her mother's arms tightly. "I've already told you that I'm not going to date any boys that aren't my brothers! Especially not some guy that doesn't even know my name! I'd rather die first!"Mrs Ellen glared angrily at Catherine for a moment before letting out a sigh and resting her forehead against hers. She then slowly shook her head as she spoke."If I'd known that this would happen, I'd have never asked you to move here, Catherine," she whispered.Catherine remained silent."And I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess. I just thought it was the only way to keep you safe, Catherine."Catherine opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She just sighed heavily, closing her eyes."I'm sorry," her mother repeated, her voice softer.She slowly moved her face away from Catherine's and gazed back at her husband, who was looking at h

Catherine bit her lip nervously before taking a deep breath and beginning to speak."Yesterday morning I went to the park with Catherine," she began hesitantly.Serena nodded encouragingly, urging her to continue."Well, we were there for about twenty minutes or so, before I started getting bored." She laughed lightly, looking towards the ground. "I mean, we spent practically all day yesterday doing nothing, and I wanted to do something new today.""So I suggested that we go back home to get ready and take a walk in the park before heading to your place to meet everyone. I figured that the sun might help wake us up since we slept so late last night and we didn't have dinner. Then, we were walking back to the road when we started hearing voices…"Serena looked puzzled by Catherine's words."Voices?" she repeated in confusion. "I don't hear anyone."Catherine paused, frowning slightly before answering slowly, "I know...that's why I called you. Because I couldn't make out where they we