𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑 || 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑾𝑯𝑰𝑻𝑬 𝑸𝑼𝑬𝑬𝑵

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑋𝑉𝐼

~Waking Nightmares~

Her husband was a serious thing, that much she had always known but she had not realised the extent to which his quiet nature extended until she spent her days with him. Dickon was like a ghost when someone tried to find him, slipping through corridors and doors until he found a place where he could curl up with a book undisturbed. George teased him for it but his little brother did not care, he saw his reading as an advantage to him.

He read of knights and damsels, of fine quests performed by the knights of the round table that danced across his dreams at a height he wished to reach. Whenever Catherine found him, he would be smiling (albeit softly), running his fingers along the parchment as if to paint himself into the colourful pages.

When he saw her, he would invite her to sit with him, not in words but in a gentle glance she quickly came to know meant a warm welcome. Sometimes, he would read to her, showing her, with enthusiasm, the books he held and, in those moments, some of his stern facade would yield to childish excitement.
"One day, I shall be just as they are!" He would say, blue eyes alight with determination as he stared at the book in his hands "I shall wield a sword and fight in battles that shall bring my family glory!"

"I'm sure you shall, my Lord" She'd reply, placing a hand on his arm and smiling her encouragement. Their names for one another was another step in their marriage. Before, they called each other by their names and now they were 'my Lord' and 'my Lady', titles of marriage and a certain fondness but nothing more than that. There indeed was a certain fondness between them, a form of friendship that bound them together through matrimony.

It soon became quite often that when she was tired in an evening and Dickon was reading to her, Catherine's head would loll against his shoulder, resting there. She did not wake up as she would have done if she was frightened, sleep held her in a gentle grip and her young husband allowed it to, making sure there was always a blanket at hand that he could cover her with.

They had slept in separate chambers since their wedding night, Catherine being provided with her own now that she was a royal Duchess.

Still, it was common that as the sky became dark with the inky blackness of night, that she would wander through to Dickon's room, searching for a person to talk to or simply a passage from his books. The tales of dashing knights and beautiful ladies helped her to sleep, settling her mind until she could return to her own rooms.

During the light hours of day, she spent her time amongst the company of her Mother in law and Princess Margaret, each of whom treated her like one of their own. They fussed over her as they would a babe, praising her at each chance they received, Cecily naming her needlework as 'exquisite' which Dickon later told her was the equivalent to receiving a crown from the Duchess!