Darkness and Beauty (The Fated Series, #1)

Chapter 46 - Lance - A Good Morning

I'm not sure that I'll ever stop being amazed by Kat.
Or annoyed with my sister, but I knew that a long time ago.
But Kat, she's...unpredictable. I've barely seen her all day, though that wasn't necessarily a surprise. She said that she'd be occupied helping out with the Festival's start, but it was still weird. I mean I constantly expected to see her walk into the room - I wanted her to. I...I missed her. It's weird now too, that I'm still missing her even though she's sitting right next to me on the settee of the sitting room. Her legs lay over mine, her shoulder tucked into my side. We just sat here, watching the fire for a long while, and then she asked what my childhood was like. I knew she was searching for memories that were full of one that looked similar to the joyfulness and laughs and games my sister and Darius played with the kids in the Garden, but there wasn't much of that.
After mom died, we were both kind of forced to grow up. Games turned into drills, laughs became things we used to forget the hardships rather than sounds of genuine child happiness, and smiles felt like they wouldn't return ever again until a year or so later when our father finally took us out into the town again for some ice cream. We picked our flavors and then went to one of the abandoned factories at the far edge of town to look out at the expanse of Vandaria while we ate our sweet treat. I told her stories of when I was younger, but she knew there wasn't much time for playing when we were the prey trying to become the predators.
  So she told me what it was like to grow up in the castle as a servant. We laughed when we realized that neither of us really had one of those happy childhoods. She was busy following orders and hunching her back so no one would notice her, and I was busy learning different ways of killing a human being. Not very uplifting, so we made up stories. We wove these fantasies of how we would've liked to grow up. Parents that weren't dead, friends and heartbreaks, and silly relationships we would get into as silly kids. We talked late into the night, and it was beginning to turn into just another night of her falling asleep in my arms and me holding her close, but then I listened to her breathing and knew that Will's sudden reappearance meant that I could lose her just like I lost Rose. To him and jealousy.
  So I kissed her until my lips grew sore because I didn't want to forget how she felt and tasted. Rose and I would take our time getting to know one another slowly. We thought we had time. I should've known better. Time is never guaranteed, and I could be running out of it.
  She doesn't stop me when I gently lay her on the couch and part her legs so I can settle between them. I try to take it slow, to let her choose what to do next. Stay or leave. Her hands slip beneath my shirt and pull on it. I nearly thank the Gods aloud. My shirt hits the floor and soon everything else follows. Her shirt, her skirt, my pants - until there's nothing left between us but skin.
  I lift my lips from hers, just for a second. "You're sure?" I ask her, still wanting her to have her choice.
  That gleam in her eyes brightens as she takes her time looking between us. "Don't go gentle on me now."
  "Kat."
  She looks up at me, that playful smile fading when she sees how serious I am. I don't want her to regret this. I want this, I do - more than anything, but she has to be sure she wants it to. I'm not going to turn into one of those men we fight against in the streets. She has to tell me.
  Her hands lift to sit on my cheeks, thumbs brushing my bottom lip. I can feel how swollen they are, but I don't regret it.
  "I'm sure." Her hips shift before I can ask again, her legs locking around my own. "I'm sure."

*****

It's well past midnight, the moon already halfway through its descent and looking in through the window I didn't block out with the curtains. Kat fell asleep a while ago, but even after going from the sitting room, through the foyer, and finally making it into the bedroom, I'm still wide awake. I fell asleep for a little while but then something felt...off. I can't explain it, I just felt like something was tapping on my mind and begging me to pay attention. I saw nothing in the shadows and heard nothing in the room or passing the hall. I even got up, telling Kat that I was just getting some water when she woke and went to check on the Queen again. Her guards were still alert in the hall and a few were posted outside her bedroom doors. Nothing was off.
I wasn't able to shake the feeling until an hour ago, but even now that it's gone it still has me on edge. I don't know what it was or what could've made me wake up when my eyelids feel heavy and I couldn't be happier than I am with Kat still tangled around me. I love the feel of her soft skin and the way her curves easily fit into my side and over my chest. She's sound asleep, that's all that matters. So I watch the moon until I fall asleep again, and when I wake again, the sun tints the sky a lighter blue. I barely got any sleep, but if the lack of sleep was mostly due to the red-headed fireball beside me, then I'd gladly not get much sleep.
Though I know that I should get to the Queen and make sure Will doesn't try and sneak in, I don't move. When I saw Darius's hand flashing the code last night, I took one look at who he was talking to and walked down the dais steps. Reynald was waiting nearby in case of such an event, and he took my spot along with Dominick, one of the Queen's guards. I knew it was a risk leaving her side, but I also knew that the man who still had a white scar across his face was the real threat. It took serious self-control not to throw him against the table and finish the kill mark Fauna started that day in the bakery. Having to let him go so that I wouldn't raise further suspicion really made it hard not to slip into the killing calm. It was seeing Kat still standing at the dais, eyes concerned and scanning mine, that settled it.
Usually, Fauna's the only one that can get the calm to lower after hours of sparring and working out the emotions, but one look at Kat and it faded. Running a hand through her hair and feeling every place that my skin now touches hers, I see why it did so. I hate being that person – the killer – and for her to have to think about that is something I don't want for her. I can't just stop what I've been taught and raised to do, but that doesn't mean I'm going to put the imagery in her head.
Her head shifts against my chest, and I honestly wish she'd go back to sleep if only so I can keep her here all day. Instead, I kiss her as she still tries to break free of her slumber. "Good morning."
"Mornin. What time is it?"
"Almost nine bells."
"You should be with the Queen," she says against my neck. Though her words are telling me to get up, her lips are clearly telling me to stay. They start traveling higher, marking their paths with feather-light kisses.
"Kat."
"Hmm." She doesn't stop, and I swear to the Gods this woman is my undoing. "If you keep kissing me like that, I'm going to pin you against the wall and make sure to finish what I started last night." This time she does stop.
Dammit, I really was hoping she'd keep going.
She brings her face right above mine, her nose brushing my cheek as her lips brush up against mine when she speaks. "I. Dare. You."
"Careful what you wish for." Not giving her a chance to respond, I pull her on top of me and cup her backside as I stand. Her legs wrap around me, and as I blindly find my way to the wall, I pray that the guards outside are far enough away to not hear.

*****

"You know we're going to have to tell Clare," Kat says, slipping back into her dress. After our little skirmish on the wall, I made her take a bath while I cleaned up what was left of the bedroom. And the foyer. And the sitting room. I found that the three blades I had hidden in the bed had all fallen onto the ground. I was trying to restore the sheets to look less wrinkled when she walked in with nothing but a small towel to cover her up. I had to take a cold bath to keep myself from ripping it off her.
"Trust me, she already knows." I finish putting the last of my knives in their slots, glad to have a distraction from the recollections of last night.
She gapes at me across the bed, her hands pausing their task of twisting her hair back into a knot. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Maybe."
"Well, that's a helpful answer."
"It wasn't meant to be helpful," I snark playfully.
"That was obvious."
She makes to walk into the foyer, but I stop her, pulling her back against me. "Not so fast."
"I need to make sure your sister is dressed for the day."
"She can dress herself." I kiss the spot where her neck meets her shoulder. She leans her head back against me.
"Maybe, but you-" There's a knock on the door and I instantly curse the Gods for horrible timing.
"Perhaps if I don't answer they'll just-" Another quick knock sounds, cutting me off. "Gods graces." She chuckles at my annoyance.
I drop my arms from around her and walk over to the door. I make sure my balaclava's up and that Kat is still in the bedroom before opening it. I find Lena on the other side, looking anxious and practically bouncing on her toes. "Lena, what's-"
"The Queen's water broke."
Shit.
"Where is she?"
"In her bedroom. I was-"
"Run ahead to the Healers Tower and tell Siscilla to have a room waiting." She runs off without another word. I'm already moving down the hall, hearing Kat come from the bedroom to follow.
When I get to her room, I find her already surrounded by Dominick and three other guards. She's sitting on the edge of her bed, one hand on her stomach, and the other braced on her knee. "Oh good, you're here."
"Forgive me, I should've-"
"Don't apologize, just help me get to the Healer's Tower."
Not in a position to argue, I walk over to her and put one arm around her back and the other under her knees. Dominick does the same on her other side, and then we're racing her through the halls. Twenty guards march in front and behind us, and still, it doesn't feel like enough. I look over at Kat who's trailing us and suddenly remember that Darius and the King are unaware of the Queen's state.
"Could you find Darius and tell him that we're taking her to the Healer's Tower?" I ask her.
"Of cour-"
"No, no," Claritia demands, waving a hand behind her. "Let him have his fun for the day. Tell him that he's not to come to see me until morning, and if he doesn't listen, then jump on his back, and pinch his nose. It's sensitive. And if he doesn't listen to you after that, pull him by the ear and threaten to chain him down so he can't come back."
Kat and I share a concerned look. "I'll be back as soon as I find him." With one last glance at me, she heads back down the hall. I enjoy thinking about Kat pulling Darius's ear because his mom told her to. Her venturing alone, however, makes my anxiety worsen, but I tell myself that Fauna will be with her and she'll be perfectly safe. It doesn't work much, but I repeat it in my mind anyway.
We get to the Healer's Tower and Siscilla is already waiting for us. "The room is on the third floor. Think you can make it?"
"We'll be fine," I tell her and start climbing the stairs.
My legs are starting to burn by the time we reach the first level, and we have to take a break halfway up the second flight for Claritia to get through a quick pain. As we reach the second floor, I put two guards at the end of the stairwell, and two more every ten steps. Those left keep walking up the fourth flight to take posts up there. I already sent one of them to go get twenty more, but still, that doesn't feel like enough.
"I really hope this doesn't hurt as much as I remember it hurting," Claritia says as we lay her down on the bed.
"I can't say that it won't be painful, but I can say that you'll be glad when it's all over," Siscilla responds calmly.
"That's not reassuring."
"It never is. Now, Arthur, I'm going to have you sitting on her left, and if she needs to squeeze your hand, let her. One of my Mimitehs should be bringing in a towel and cool water for when the pains become more frequent. She shouldn't be ready for a while, so try and get comfortable." I nod and do as she says, pulling a chair closer.
She says something to one of the Sitaras and then heads for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Well since I wasn't expecting her to be in here for another five days, I don't have all my materials nearby. I'll get them and be back here in an hour. In the meantime, keep her content, and whatever you do, don't piss her off."
She walks out without another word, and I'm not entirely sure why her words make me feel nervous. It's enough to make me sit in the chair beside the bed and grip the arms tightly.