A Shadow in the Archway

On the first day of the journey, Ethan was murdered over fifty times already, at least in Katherine's mind. He seemed to find fun in teasing her, pulling out threads of her sanity with only his words. After a while, he even dared to switch back to her nickname, obviously feeling safe in the company of his guards.

"Kitty~ why do you ride so fast? Are you avoiding me? Please talk to me. I feel so lonely without you. I even went all the way to the wall just to pick you up. Come on, pleeease."

Seeing Katherine shudder with helpless fury, Lady Brandon decided to intervene. "She doesn't want to talk to you. You should have gone to your betrothed if you are lonely. Now, leave us alone... What is it?"

Katherine had tugged on Ella's sleeve, but the latter only reacted when she was through with her speech. When she looked at Katherine, she was shocked to find how pale and sweaty the woman's face was. "Don't talk with him. It's dangerous."

"Okay, okay." Though Ella wanted to refute this Duke every single time, she understood that worry worsened Katherine's condition. "Here, drink more water. Don't listen to him, alright?"

Weakly, Katherine nodded and accepted the water bag. Originally, her body was fine, but the emotional rollercoaster just wouldn't stop.

"Are you sure you don't want to ride the carriage?", Lady Brandon asked with knitted brows.

Katherine shook her head. "He will only follow me. Here, I can at least try to ride faster."

"I can stop him. I won't let him enter the carriage."

Despite the exhaustion, something hard flickered in Katherine's eyes. "Don't you ever leave my side, Ella! Don't agitate him either! Don't you see how he looks at you? I can get away with anything, but if he ever finds you too annoying and sees you alone somewhere... he will try to 'correct' the numbers."

With knitted brows, Lady Brandon looked back. To her, the annoying man with his ever-smiling face didn't seem much of a threat. Well, maybe his fixation on Katherine was. Would he try something just because she was close to Katherine? Maybe... but even then, he didn't look like much. Lady Brandon was quite confident in her ability to protect herself. "I'm not afraid of him."

"I know." A small smile showed on Katherine's face. "But he is the master of everyone here. I doubt he has qualms to play one against ten if it means getting rid of a nuisance. And as we have seen, he's already tired of my 'wishes'. With his usual lies, I expected as much. Of course, I will fulfill what I promised later. I really will cut his tongue. But I can't risk... other lives than my own."

When her hand wandered downward again, Ella caught it and pressed it gently. It was surprisingly cold for the warm spring weather. "If you don't want to ride the carriage, I will ask for a halt. You don't look well."

Again, Katherine shook her head. "A pause won't make it better. The guards will only get fitter and more alert. We have to keep moving if - "

"Katherine." There was a plea in Lady Brandon's eyes, and she continued in an earnest whisper: "You are already risking a life if you continue on like this. You need a pause to hold out longer. Or do you think Nathaniel will break through the bushes on the first day of the journey? Think. You need rest. I will also ask for a candle so we can plug your ears with wax and you don't need to hear him anymore. Would that be okay?"

Reluctantly, Katherine agreed. However, Ethan only called for a rest when Katherine went to ask him herself. While resting, he still followed her along. To avert his attention from Lady Brandon, who was about to ask around for candles, Katherine finally gave in and talked to him. "You told me that the children are still alive. How are they doing?"

"Oh, the children," Ethan said and his smile shifted into a pout. "I missed you so much, but you don't even ask how I was doing. Well, the children... I guess they are alright. Obedient. They don't make much trouble anymore. Maybe it was a good choice to bring you away from them. You know, punishment is heavier when it leaves lasting marks..."

.

It was in the house of Lady Finley Icefall, the one with "Noble Aristocrats" written on top. Nobles, Generals, and Ministers gathered around a long oak table with dark countenances. Sitting at the head was Lady Finley herself, a woman that possessed wealth and land only second to the King.

Elegant and capricious, she had her grey hair shortened to a military cut lately, and donned big round earrings and red lipstick. Of all the women in society, she was the only one everyone acknowledged as standing on the same or an even higher step than men - in wealth as well as in wit.

The men on the table looked defeated and gloomy. Since the King was missing, they'd had no choice but to give in to the pressure and send soldiers to serve the Crown Prince in a war none of them wanted to fight right now.

If the realm was steady, they would have no qualms putting those arrogant Dragseans in place, but with each day of the reign more social systems failed and bandits ravaged the towns under their leadership. Whenever they went to the palace with their problems, they were told that the Crown Prince was occupied preparing his army for the long march. Oftentimes, Princess Helmina received them instead, but they were reluctant to speak when the one who took their soldiers didn't even have the decency to meet them.

The result was that more and more aristocrats, even those supporting Prince Emilian first, went to Old Lady Finley to solve their problems. As time showed, this was a wise choice. The Lady helped them generously, even when she had to use her own resources to do so. As a result, she gained the support of more and more nobles.

Lady Finley spoke up after she held ended the private discussions with some of the attendees. "I called all of you together to announce who the next King will be and why it must be like this. Some secrets only the royalty knows will be brought to light today. But the one who has to explain this, will not be me. Instead, please let me introduce to you an unexpected visitor to my house. Many of you thought that he is dead, yet he is not. Please hear his story to its end before making a judgment on whether you are willing to trust his insight one more time."

From the inner archway of the hall, a shadow approached. At first, it seemed strangely deformed, accompanied by an inhuman squeaking sound as if the mosaic under its feet were wooden planks that craved in under the weight. Finally, the oil lamps on the walls let the people see clearer.

The first that came into sight was two heads of hair - one gold-blond and one on the turning point to white. Gasps rang through the air when the first nobles recognized the man sitting in the wheelchair.