Katarina Ashowan awoke groggily.

She squinted as pale winter sunshine poured into her eyes, prompting her to stretch her arms above her head and let out a small groan. She shifted in the bed, feeling more relaxed than she had in months. The sheets were soft, the world was quiet, all was well.

Her mind proceeded to lazily drift through her thoughts until…

She happened to remember that she had just gotten married the night before.

To the future king of Daxaria.

To Eric Reyes.

Sitting upright, her eyes wide, Kat found herself staring at the very prince who happened to be her husband. Eric was already awake and sitting at the small round table in their room at the inn the Troivackian king had arranged for them for their wedding night. Eric had been in the middle of raising a steaming blue mug of what Kat guessed to be coffee to his mouth, when she had startled him into motionlessness. He sat with a fresh white tunic untied around his throat and chest, and untucked from his brown trousers. His golden waves appeared a little damp as though he had recently run wetted hands through his tresses, and his hazel eyes shone with more green than brown…

The two locked gazes.

Kat blushed, and squirmed, then threw her gaze up to the ceiling away from him.

“Good morning,” Eric greeted with a small chuckle. It was his turn to take stock of his wife’s appearance.

Given the drunken state she had been in the night before, he had only removed her blue uniform vest, had left on her tunic and trousers, and removed the pins from her hair.

As a result, her hair was mussed and set ablaze as were her golden eyes in the sunshine of the day from the window on his left.

The prince stood and casually stepped back over to the bed. “I… am a lucky man.”

Kat lay back into the bed and drew the covers back over her head. “Are you trying to be annoying?” she shouted through the thick blanket.

Eric grinned. “What? I can’t tell my young wife how beautiful she looks the morning after our wedding?”

“You sound like an old pervert when you put it like that!” Kat accused from her hiding place.

Eric peeled back the blanket and stared down at her scarlet face, still smiling.

“I hate to tell you this, but I’m now your perverted old husband.”

Kat scowled, then rolled over and buried her face in the pillows.

Deciding he had a lifetime to torment the redhead, Eric let her off the hook and changed the topic.

“I ordered tea for you, but I’ll have to leave for the castle soon, so we can’t share a breakfast together.” The prince reached over and mussed the hair at the back of Kat’s head, making her grumble.

He turned toward where he had discarded his boots the night before and set to pulling them on which prompted Kat to finally look at him again.

“We didn’t… last night, we didn’t… you know… Did we?” she asked with a wince.

Eric straightened and tilted his head over his shoulder with a look of incredulousness on his face.

“Do you really think I’m the type of scum to do that sort of thing to a woman who was drunk and unconscious?”

Kat sat up and rubbed her face in her hands. “No, I don’t. I just wondered if I… perhaps… persuaded you while in that state… I can’t recall how much you imbibed last night either.”

“I didn’t drink.”

Kat looked at Eric more seriously.

“Why does that make you concerned?” he asked wryly. “I didn’t because I had the feeling that Faucher and his sons were waiting for the opportunity to poison me.”

Kat considered his words then nodded in understanding. “They’re more likely to stab people, not poison. Though Conrad is oddly good at hiding crossbows in places you wouldn’t suspect.”

“Noted.” Eric blinked, then proceeded to watch Kat again. His heart started skipping several beats. “Well… I better get going.”

His gaze met with hers, and the look in them had all words die in Kat’s throat as he slowly moved back over to the bed.

Leaning down, his left hand came up and gently tilted her chin up before he brushed a kiss on her lips.

He pulled away a mere inch, but when he saw the dazed look on her face was unable to resist kissing her again.

The gesture was turning hungry, as the spark of desire ignited between them. Eric was quickly convinced that he could arrive later than planned at the castle, when a sharp knock on their door interrupted them.

Frowning, Eric straightened and made his way over to the door. Opening it a crack, he stiffened when he saw Prince Henry’s ashen face waiting.

“You both need to come back immediately,” Henry whispered, his voice warbling.

Eric glanced over his shoulder and saw that Kat had risen and had already tucked in her tunic, so he opened the door wider.

Kat gave a small bow to Henry, but looked at him with furrowed brows.

“Your Highness? What are you doing here-”

“Duke Ashowan arrived this morning and has been asking to see you. We don’t have any time to waste. We’ve bought as much time as possible.”

Eric felt the room swim around him, and dread fill his being. His grip on the edge of the door tightened.

Kat’s face drained of color. “Oh.”

“Come, Kezia is in the carriage with a dress for you, Lady Katarina. Prince Eric, I brought a horse for you so that you can ride ahead.”

Eric bobbed his head in thanks, and after swallowing, turned back to the room and seized his coat from the hook by the door.

Managing to only spare a brief moment to share a wordless nod with his wife, he was out of the door without a second look back while Kat did her best to braid her hair, then snatch up the last of her belongings.

So much for a leisurely morning… the redhead lamented anxiously.

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She exited the room expediently, and closed the door behind herself, her stomach clenching in between barrel rolls, making her feel all kinds of terrible as Prince Henry followed behind her.

Henry and Kat exited the inn that was already rowdy with winter solstice celebrations, and made their way to the carriage that sat waiting in the snowy alley, though it felt as though it may as well have been death’s carriage to Kat, she did her best to assure herself that everything would be alright…

But she was having a hard time making herself believe it.

***

Finlay Ashowan paced the solar, while his familiar Kraken, lay flopped over in a sunny patch on the floor.

The house witch felt he had been waiting for far too long, and he noticed how panicked the king and Alina had been upon his arrival…

Something was definitely going on.

Had they banished Kat to some remote building? Was she sick? What if they had imprisoned her for one of her harmless pranks? Perhaps she was scared to leave her chamber after meeting the devil?

His mind raced with what could possibly have warranted their behavior, when the door behind him opened.

Spinning around and preparing himself to demand that he be taken to his daughter’s chamber at once, found he didn’t have to bother as Katarina, dressed in a navy blue gown with long loose sleeves, cut in a deep v over her chest, appeared. Her gold bracelets adorning her wrists as usual, she seemed to glow with health. Kat ran over to her father smiling.

“Da! You’re here!”

Throwing her arms around him, she buried her face in his chest and breathed in the comforting aroma of garlic and flour… How was it possible after weeks of travel that he smelled like he had just come from cooking dinner?

“Oh, thank the Gods! I thought something was wrong when they kept me waiting!” Fin breathed a sigh of relief as he squeezed his daughter.

Stepping back, his hands still gripping Kat’s upper arms, he surveyed her more closely.

“Sorry about that. It’s been busy the past little while, so I slept in,” Kat explained while doing her best not to appear shifty or suspicious.

“Tired? You? Gods how hard are they making you work?” Fin asked while only half jesting.

“O-Oh, well… you know I’ve also started learning swordsmanship so there’s been training as well as council work,” Kat reminded while the father and daughter duo made their way over to one of the sofas and seated themselves.

“Yes, but your training was only supposed to be conducted with the purpose of it being used as a last resort. They shouldn’t have worked you too hard.”

“Oh, but I love it! It’s everything I wanted and more! I’ve gotten really good at it, Da! I’ll have to show you later on what I can do,” Kat gushed hurriedly, already anticipating with an internal wince how quickly her father was going to find out about the sparring matches she had won against seasoned warriors…

Fin stared at his daughter with a frown. “Well… if you’re doing it because you enjoy it that’s fine… but Kat, you know this whole ordeal with the devil isn’t something you need to fight alone, right?”

Kat nodded while letting out a small sigh. “Yes, yes. But Da, tell me about home! How is mum?”

Fin eyed his daughter another moment before he leaned back into the couch. “Only you could be cavalier about the son of the gods having an interest in you. As for your mother… she should be joining us soon actually.”

Kat balked. “W-What?”

“She left a week or two after me… I thought we had agreed she’d stay behind but we’ve been so worried about you that she decided to join me.”

“Who’s taking care of the keep?! Or all your work?! By the way, why in the world did you become a duke?! I thought you absolutely refused to ever be ennobled a third time!”

Chuckling, Fin stared at his daughter lovingly. “I’ll tell you about it when your mother gets here… though I do have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise? Really? Where? I- Oh, hi Kraken! I didn’t think you’d ever come what with having to get on a boat- WAIT! You can talk to my familiar Pina! Everyone is so excited to hear what she’s saying, but-” Kraken lifted his head up sleepily when Kat called his name.

Fin reached out and gently clasped Kat’s hands, quieting her and drawing her golden gaze back to him. “Kat, is everything truly alright? Aside from the devil? After your last letter about finding your familiar you haven’t written or told us much.”

She swallowed.

Kezia and Henry had explained that telling her father everything was important, but suggested it be done as a group with the king, queen, Eric, and Faucher…

“Oh, I’m… Yeah. Yes. You know me, I’m always great!” Kat smiled, but she could tell that her father wasn’t buying it entirely.

“You’ve only been gone four months, but you seem… almost like a different person.” Fin’s studious gaze was making Kat start to sweat along her temple.

“W-Well I’d never been apart from my family before, and this is a brand new place, so it only makes sense that I-”

A knock at the door stopped Kat’s attempt to ward off her father’s uncanny insight.

She looked over her shoulder with a frown. No one was supposed to interrupt them. Kat had been supposed to catch up with and calm down her father, and then she was supposed to escort him back to his chamber to rest while she was to attend a council meeting with Alina… They had the results regarding what powder Sir Herra had been attempting to throw in her face at the end of the sparring match.

“Ah, it sounds like they brought your surprise.” Fin rose from his seat and made his way over to the door.

Kat rose as well, curious as to what her father could have brought for her.

When he opened the door, however, she felt her knees buckle, and she half wished she were in a nightmare.

There… standing and smiling at her was…

“Likon.”

The young man who had been in love with her for years stepped through the doorway, his light brown eyes aglow as he drank in the sight of the redhead.

“Hey there, Kitty Kat. Did you miss me?”