The Lady Justice

Chapter XXX: To Discover, And Be Discovered

Lady Katherine Harrington of Johanne

15 November, Year 1 of Sebastian VI, Emperor of the Longbournian Nations' reign

Entrance of Amöneburg Palace, Amöneburg

The Longbournian Nations

The weight of the curse that had left my lips continued to depress the very air around us, even long after the merchant had left on the Emperor's request.

The crickets chirped. The owls hooted.

Why was it that every time I neared happiness, enough to touch it, to caress it with my fingers – it always, always slipped out of my hands, like an elusive dream I could never remember when I woke up from my sleep?

Richard was the last man I had expected to see, or even wanted to see, in the Longbournian Nations, and yet here he was.

Once again, my mind brought me back to my engagement day, and I was standing in Jules' chambers with his letter in my hands, informing me that he had fled. I was brought back to those two weeks I spent crying and wallowing in guilt and self-pity in my chambers, blaming myself for something that had never been my fault in the first place.

I thought I had succeeded in moving on, but nay. Clearly, I was still trapped within that day.

And that made me angrier than I could bear.

Richard stared at me now, absent-mindedly fiddling with the ring I had thrown at him. I fucking glared at him with every ounce of energy I had.

The Emperor, who stood between us, cleared his throat awkwardly just then. "Mayhap the two of you would like to speak in private inside the Palace?" he offered, "this is hardly the right place - "

"Nay."

I did not even see Richard's lips move, but the refusal had come from him. He had glanced at the Emperor to speak, and tried hard to keep a straight face.

"I have nothing to say, Sebastian," he clarified quietly, "I left Monrique for a reason." The silence that followed his words told me exactly what he meant by that.

It angered me even more. "If you wanted to stay far and away from me, then why the fuck are you here in Amöneburg?"

Richard turned to me, surprised. "I did not follow you to Amöneburg. I arrived earlier than you did," he admitted, "and after I found out you were here, I have been trying hard to keep out of your way ever since." He ran a hand through his hair.

"I must say, you have done a fine job of that," I snarled, "I had the pleasure of not seeing your miserable countenance for two months."

His grey eyes were exhausted. "What do you want, Kat?"

I did not even hesitate to take a breath. "I want to know why you came to Amöneburg," my ire grew, "and I want to know what I ever did to you to make you feel the need to leave your own home. If you found a life with me so unbearable, then why the hell did you not say something earlier? Were we not friends?"

His expression closed off - did I detect a hint of fear? "I am not obligated to answer that," he cleared his throat, "and I have nothing more to explain."

With that, he turned to walk away, when I grabbed him by the arm, and swung him around.

"Nothing more to explain? Sacré dieu. C'est des conneries!" I was almost spitting out my words, "je m'en fous. You owe me - "

A ghost of a smile unfolded upon Richard's lips at that. "My goodness, Kat," his voice was soft, "do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"What can I say?" I bit out, "you bring out the best in me, beloved."