Royal Sacrifices

Forever Hold Your Peace

Chapter 10

Katherine sits bolt upright on the feather soft mattress the second she feels the tiniest hint of the sun's ray. "Shit!" she cusses under her breath, taking stock of where she is. Asleep, on a bed, in a cabin, in the forest and not her room back at the castle. She is so screwed. She bolts out of the bed, exiting the room in record time, almost at the door when a voice stops her

"Why the hurry?" Elijah smiles at her from the little kitchen where he stands poised with an iron pot and a handful of eggs

"I-it's-we stayed out all night! My sister is going to realize I was not in my bed and then she will tell my father and I will be shipped off to France or Austria as punishment and oh my god the wedding is today! I need to be there for Caroline! What am I going to-"

"Katerina!" Elijah says loudly "Katerina clam down, dawn has barely broken! No one will be up in the castle for hours. Not even the bride" he smiles

"Oh" she says, turning her head for the first time to look out the window and see that indeed, there is barely any light.

"We have plenty of time to indulge ourselves in a proper breakfast and then sneak back into the castle through the servant's entrance" he says cracking the first egg open

Katherine nods, not truly as worried about getting caught as she is about not being there to comfort Caroline should she need her. Katherine has definitely been caught with her share of men, but father also said that the next time would be her last, so who knows if he was serious or not. Katherine smirks, sliding into a chair I guess we shall see " I am certainly not going to say no to a handsome man who wants to cook for me"

"Well I did not poison you last night so I would agree that you have nothing to fear" they both laugh, recalling her upturned sneer when they had first arrived last night and he had pulled out a plump duck and some raw potatoes. Can you blame her for not trusting though? Men hunt the food, they do not cook it. And at her status even the women do not cook it!

"Why is there so much food here?" She asks, "is it not deserted since your family- relocated"

He nods, placing two eggs on one plate and three on the other "I keep it stocked. Like I said last night, I like to come here and think. And it can oft get too late to make the journey back to the castle" Lies. Every word is a lie. He does come here to think but he could be back at the castle in seconds even in the blackest night. He does not need food, but he keeps it there because here in the place he can pretend to be human. He can pretend that everything in his life is normal. A stocked pantry feels like home. Barren cupboards just seem too metaphorically empty for his taste.

"As we saw last night" she says, indicating that she is still wearing her dress

"I cannot believe you slept in that- it must have been dreadfully uncomfortable

"Not really" she shrugs "every morning when the maid tells me to suck in I simply push out- that way when I release to normal I can barely feel the corset"

Elijah laughs "you seem to have an answer for everything" he says placing the plates in front of them.

"I have a trick for everything." She corrects with a smirk "I have spent seventeen years figuring out how to live exactly the way I want without getting in trouble... well, too much trouble" she smirks at him a little more "besides" she continues "sleeping in my dress is certainly more appropriate than sleeping unclothed with a man in the next room" she mock gasps "my poor, weak sensibilities certainly could not have handled that" she lifts her hand dramatically to her forehead as though fake swooning before digging into her eggs