No Longer Heartless

Chapter 19: If You So Desire

"What?" Cath choked out hoarsely. "Dead?"

"Alright, alright," Jest said in a loud voice, pushing the hoard of servants away. "Clear out, everyone. Give her some space."

"Hey, you look familiar," one of the servants frowned. "Didn't you used to be the court joker?"

"Enough," Cath snapped. "He said to clear out, so clear out."

Fear filled the servants' eyes and they all fled the room, practically pushing one another out of the way to get to the door and escape the Queen's wrath that they had experienced so many times before.

Jest put a hand to the small of Cath's back. "Are you alright?" He asked softly.

Cath looked down at the floor, trying to comprehend the information she was just delivered. "Dead?" She choked out again.

"Come on," Jest nodded, leading her off down the hallway that lead to her bedroom.

"No," Cath sighed, stopping in her tracks. "I should talk to the servants and see what happened. I need to figure out arrangements, and-"

"Don't worry. I can do that. You should rest," Jest nodded, kissing her cheek.

"Alright," Cath gave in, walking down to her bedroom.

—————

"Catherine?" Jest said softly, knocking on her door. "Cath, are you awake?"

"Yes," she sighed. "Come in."

Jest slowly opened the door. "Hi," he said softly. "How do you feel?"

"Conflicted," Cath nodded. "I mean, I didn't love him by any means, but I still am sad to some degree."

"That's understandable. He was your husband after all," Jest reasoned, sitting down on the side of her bed.

"Did you figure out how he passed away?" Cath sighed.

"Yeah," Jest nodded. "He had a heart attack."

"What?" Cath frowned. "Why? Was he sick or something? Did I know that?"

"I'm not sure," Jest sighed. "He returned home from his trip and became worried when you weren't here. Nobody new where you were or when you disappeared, and it scared him to death. Quite literally. He sent out all his guards and knights to search for you. When they came back with no information, he collapsed, had a heart attack. He died about an hour later. His last words were 'Come back to me, my Catherine.' It's pretty sad."

"Really? That is sad. I can't believe I just left like that. I didn't even leave a note to tell him where I went or anything," Cath sighed. "That was so incredibly selfish of me. I didn't even think about him or how he would have felt."

Jest gently put a hand to her cheek. "But...I mean, don't get me wrong, it's horrid that he died, but...at least we get to be together, right? Silver lining and all that."

"I guess," Cath nodded. "Hey...does this mean that you're going to kiss me?"

"If you so desire," Jest smiled, gently pressing his lips into hers.

Cath felt every one of her senses come alive from the second their lips touched. It was a moment she had been waiting for since the moment she first saw him again. As great of a moment as it was, she felt a bit guilty for kissing another man so soon after her husband's death.

At least, the bright side, she supposed, was that her name wasn't tarnished and she was free to marry Jest.