Shattering of a World: Thorns and Roses (Book #1)

Chapter 19

Katrina and Tarion strode down one of the corridors, passing by a few hustling and bustling servants and soldiers, managing to get out of Eugene and Beatrix's earshot. The stars seemed to be aligning for those two, and although it was too soon to tell, Katrina thought there was definitely a spark between them.

Tarion glanced over his shoulder towards the infirmary and then flicked his gaze to her, seeming to put two and two together. "Let me guess: you're trying to get them together?" He stated rather than asked.

A smirk formed on Katrina's lips as she bubbly said, "Maybe."

Even though most of his face was impassive as marble, a little amusement appeared to have glinted in Tarion's icy blue eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

Katrina playfully bumped her shoulder against him. "Probably because you've known me since we were kids."

"You know, I remember when you once tried to set your father up with someone on Day of Love. You persisted in trying to find someone special for him that day."

Katrina suppressed a laugh. "Hey, you know perfectly well that I love my father. Besides, I thought it would be nice he got back out there, and I hated knowing he came back home to an empty house."

It was true. Katrina's father was mainly home alone since she and Tarion started training as tenderfoots in Uniniqua. Sure, Mrs. Augusta often came over to check on him and cooked food for his empty stomach, but he was still alone most of the time. When Day of Love came about eight years ago, Katrina tried to find the right woman for him, one that would love him for who he was and care for him, but not many of the women seemed interested in him or were already married. However, Katrina thought she might've found the perfect match when she spoke with one of her father's patients, and when she tried to have them do something together, her father caught onto her little scheme.

When they got home, Katrina's father asked her to explain herself, and she admitted that she was just trying to set him up with someone because she was worried for him and just wanted him to feel less lonely and be happy. He wasn't enraged with her and gathered her in a gentle hug.

"You are my blessings," he caringly said as he hooked his arm around Tarion's back—which made the young boy's eyes goggle a little—creating a three-way embrace. "No matter how far or near we are, you are all the love I'll ever need. No one can replace you; not even your mother can be replaced by anyone, Trina. Nothing will ever make me change my mind about that, winter or none. This weather may not depart any time soon, but even the strongest of it cannot rip away the strongest of love. Remember that."

A comfortable silence fell over the two, the type Katrina was used to when it was just her and Tarion, and when they finally crossed over the drawbridge, they leaned against a couple of trees, waiting for Beatrix. Zevian was perched on one of the tree's limbs nearest to Tarion, preening his perfect-looking feathers, and Katrina smiled at the two. Those two truly were inseparable.

Her smile slowly faded as she noticed Tarion reaching behind his shirt for his necklace, gripping it as if it would give him strength. Katrina exhaled through her nose quietly, cold air streaming out as she stared at her friend sadly. While he didn't show it, she hated seeing him like this: puzzled and full of questions about a past he still could not remember to this day. When would the day come when his memories would finally pour over into his mind's eye? It was hard to say, but Katrina wanted Tarion's silver lining of hope not to snip like thread, that all was not lost, and that they would find the answers he needed, no matter what.

"Do you ever think about them?" Katrina then asked, ceasing the silence.

Tarion lifted his gaze to meet hers, his brow puckered. "Think about who?" He replied with a questioning look.

"Your other family, I mean. Do you ever wonder what they might've been like?"

Tarion tore his gaze away, chewing the inside of his mouth in thought with his arms crossed across his chest. "Not really. It's hard to imagine what they might've been like... But I suppose I have sometimes wondered who I took my personality and features from."

Katrina nodded understandingly. "Do you still want to know what happened to them?"

A beat of silence passed before Tarion finally answered. "Yeah. Maybe it's a bad idea, but I just need to know what became of them. Are they dead? Are they still alive? And if so, were they still looking for me? Did they even care for me?" Tarion breathed in and then exhaled wisps of freezing air. "I don't ask for much, but is it too much for me to ask that I want answers?"

A sad smile took place on Katrina's lips, her answer forming without hesitation. "Even the best of us deserve answers. Good or bad, the truth is worth knowing."

Tarion dragged his gaze to hers, and the faintest appreciation surfaced in his icy-blue eyes. At that moment, Katrina never failed to take note of her heart doing a flip.

Seven gods and goddesses, Katrina's words resounded in her mind. Seeing the tiniest amount of emotion proves that he's not all stone.

"Somehow, to this day, you still know how to make me feel better, Kat," Tarion spoke with verity.

"Well, that is part of my job as your friend, Tarion," Katrina friskily said. "That and making sure the cold doesn't freeze your usual expression in place for the rest of your life."

That actually got a snort out of Tarion. "There's a lot more serious things than that, you know."

"Even so, it doesn't mean I'll be laid off from that job." Katrina crossed to him and wound her arm around the back of his neck and shoulders. "But in all seriousness, we'll find the answers you need, even if it takes us twelve more years to dig them up."

As she gazed at him, Katrina thought she saw an inkling of a smirk tugging at Tarion's mouth. "Twelve years or more, I'll take them if it means still having your presence."