The Story of Darkness and Light

𖤓 16 𖤓 partners even in another life

At a starry night Katherine sat on her favourite spot in the ruins of the old observation tower and watched the sky. She leaned with her back against the wall with her legs drawn closely to her chat and wrapped her arms around her legs. Orpheus knew about her favourite spot and silently joined her. After some minutes she broke the silence, "Orpheus?" "What's on your mind?", he turned to look at her. She kept looking at the sky as she asked, "Do you remember the day we left the shed and started traveling?" "Yes." "When we stopped for a rest you said that you wanted me to get trained. Your reasoning was that you wanted me to be able to defend and protect myself, especially when you're not around. What did you mean by it?"

Orpheus turned towards her and frowned, "What do you mean? I wanted and still want you to be independent and safe." "It sounded like you were planning on leaving me behind", her voice breaks. He could barely see the tears silently running down her cheeks. He silently took her hand as he explained, "No. I won't ever leave you behind, I promise. It's just that I live a very dangerous life and I might just suddenly die some day. In that case I want you to be independent, so you don't have to rely on anybody for security. So you can keep traveling and you won't be afraid to do it, but be able to pursuit every wish of yours. Also I want you to be prepared for the day I die, so your life won't be affected too much."

Katherine leaned her head against his shoulder and silently sobbed. He wrapped his arms around him and she adjust to bury her face in his chest. She quickly calmed down again and sat up straight again. She placed her hand on his cheek and caressed his face with her thumb, "Thank you for being there for me."

Hesperos tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "I got no relatives. I got nobody to bury my body. When I die, I'll leave all my belonging behind. Either there'll be fights over my possessions and it'll be utter chaos. You might receive something or maybe even nothing, but surely you won't get everything, as you have no right to it. As my wife, you'd undisputedly receive all my possessions. And I'd have somebody to assure that my body gets buried and doesn't rot away in some alley. Also you'd have my last name. It will open doors for you and it will give you some protection, because as you know names are very powerful."

Katherine smiled at him as she nodded , "I'll marry you." "Thank you" After a few minutes of silence Katherine tilted her head, "Just to be clear, I'll cook for you, aid your wounds and bury your dead body. In return I get all your possession when you're dead and your last name which will provide opportunities and protection." "Yes", he smiled at her. She clicked her tongue, "Why me? You know me for less than a year." "That's true. But I trust you. Let's call it instinct. There is some reason I chose you to be my partner. I always preferred to be on my own, but I prefer to have you by my side", Hesperos tucked the strand of hair again behind her ear.

Katherine got closer to his face, "But one rule: no physical relationship. That would only ruin our partnership on the long run. To be honest, you're too important to lose you because of something like that." "No kissing and no intercourse. I agree with you. If we started a physical relationship we'd doom our partnership. I couldn't loose you because of something so trivial", Orpheus planted a kiss on her forehead.