Fireflies in Moonlight [boyxboy]

Chapter XI

~Monday 26th October 1693~           -Rammone-

Rammone tried not to grumble whilst he waited, watching from aside as Katalina thumbed through his shirts, taking longer than necessary to choose one for him to wear that day. Something beyond casual, yet nothing too extravagant either. It wasn't the wait that had Rammone shifting from foot to foot though, it was the meeting to come that had his nerves strung high. A personal invitation from his mother for both himself and Katalina, just after the rise of the sun. If whatever Atonia need the two of them for couldn't wait until dusk, it was hardly a friendly request for their audience.

For the last hour, Rammone had managed to contain his own anxieties, knowing they would only worsen Katalina's mood if she was made aware of them. Out of the two, Katalina was certainly more frightful. It was unnerving to see her so silent, so despondent, in place of her usually cheerful nature. Rammone had nothing to say, no way to comfort her. Silence, perhaps, was for the best between the two. And so silent it remained, until Katalina finally picked out a shirt and handed it over to Rammone.

"Are you worried?" Her voice wavered, too quiet for the likes of Rammone. He abandoned the shirt, ignoring the time frame that the two had been provided by the messenger Atonia had sent, resting a hand on Katalina's cheek. The gesture might not have been much but it appeared to help. Katalina leant into Rammone's touch, still taking comfort in her sire so many years after the birth of their bond.

"Why worry? My mother will not harm either of us, she will never admit fault. Condemning me would be just that," as much as Rammone hoped for that to be true, he couldn't be sure. Atonia would never punish Rammone publicly, however, there was always a chance for private sanction. It had been centuries since he had disobeyed his mother, or at least disobeyed enough to have warranted more than a stern talking to. Rammone still had the scars but the nightmares were long gone. He could endure again. For Katalina, Rammone would endure anything.

"Do you have any idea why she wants to speak with us?" Katalina wasn't quite the same as she had been years prior. Since her pregnancy, something had changed. It was subtle, unnoticed by passersby, yet striking to the man she lived beside under the moon. Rammone saw it in her eyes. He saw the way her smile would fall so much faster before, the way the light didn't brighten so intensely in her eyes, the way her enthusiasm just appeared dulled. Rammone supposed he would never understand. Only a woman in her position might be able to truly see what Katalina was going through. Although, that didn't mean that Rammone didn't try his damndest to understand.

"It could be anything, Katalina. If I were to guess, she will badger us about procreation. Perhaps she feels her reign is coming toward an end," Rammone had hoped for some slight chuckle at that comment, as if Atonia would ever give up her throne willingly. Regardless, Katalina remained unresponsive. Tears glistened in her eyes, gaze darting elsewhere briefly, flushed cheeks evidence of her embarrassment. She had cried in front of Rammone before, many a time, too countless to remember. Yet, since her ordeal, there seemed to be some sort of disconnect between the two, some rift that Rammone was unsure how to cross.

He worried he was at fault. Had he been too quick to suggest that Katalina terminate her pregnancy? Did she regret her choice? Did she feel pushed into it? Rammone couldn't be sure. He thought he had been impartial, he thought he had made it clear that either side of that coin he would support Katalina through. But perhaps that wasn't the case for Katalina. Perhaps she had felt threatened by Rammone, cornered by his legacy and the relationship they had built together. Rammone should have asked months ago. And, yet, he was too afraid.

"It is about Francis, I just know it," brushing his thumb across Katalina's skin, Rammone caught the tear cresting her cheekbone. Her bottom lip quivered, wide watery garnets meeting with soothing vermillion. Whether Rammone felt his own anxieties or not, he refused to let Katalina see. So long had it been since he had seen the woman so fragile. Rammone could be forgiven for forgetting Katalina wasn't always the woman he knew now.