The Survivors Wife | 04 | k. petrova

chapter 12

chapter 12: a courtship for the ages

[ "Gods, you both are hopeless."

"Fill up my water!" ]

"You've never kissed anyone?" Katerina asked one day when they were walking through the forest.

After Luciana found out that her own sister had been telling Katerina lies instead of, you know, just talking to her, they had agreed to slowly court each other. (Everyone cheered—Athena actually looked terribly relieved, muttering about Lady Aphrodite.) They knew they loved one another and neither wanted anyone else.

They had all the time in the world.

"She says with surprise in her voice for some reason," Luciana said, nose scrunched.

Katerina laughed and appeared in front of the woman, walking backward. "I do say with surprise because, darling, have you seen you? You didn't have people lining up to give you their affections?"

"Well, I did," Luciana admitted, nose scrunching even more, "But I don't see men in that way. Like, at all and all of them were men trying to court me. Well, except for one, but—well, you've met my sister." She grasped Katerina's outstretched hand, giggling when the woman spun her around.

"I have," Katerina agreed, making an exaggerated grimace. Luciana rolled her eyes, nudging the woman. "You said 'well' many times in that sentence."

"Why are you being mean to me?" Luciana whined, tilting her head back, "You know, this is only the third day of our courting. I can stop this all."

The vampire scoffed and caught the witch by her waist, tugging her close. Luciana gasped, grabbing the woman's shoulder. Katerina smirked down at her, brushing her nose against her eyebrow. "You like me too much," she muttered.

The blonde blushed, "Very much."

Katerina blushed, too, grinning softly down at her.

Alexi walked into Luciana's house about a month into their courting. She finds the witch in her kitchen, arranging thirty-something flowers around her house. She was using her magic, obviously tending to them.

"Do I wanna know?" Alexi asked, walking into the kitchen and taking a cup of water that Luciana had set out for herself.

"That was mine," Luciana replied without answering the question or looking up from the pink Chrysanthemum.

Alexi grunted, finishing it off and setting it off to the side. "Where'd you get all these from?"

"Katerina," Luciana replied, brushing her hair behind her ear and turning to look at the blonde vampire who raised an eyebrow back at her. "What? It's one for every day."

Alexi stared at her blankly and then looked around once more. "And how many days is this courting going to be?" She asked, wondering if this was going to be a forever kind of thing.

Luciana crossed her arms and frowned, "I am not sure. However long we want it to be, I suppose." She shrugged and turned back to the flower.

Alexi stared once more then shook her head. "Gods, you both are hopeless." She walked out of the house.

"Fill up my water!"

Alexi came back inside.

"Did Athena make this for you?"