Need to Get Out

It was like she was back on the way from her home to the Earl of Hymirhall. The guards were just as strict, the escape just as impossible. There were only few differences: the way was reversed, she knew the direction, she knew who waited for her, and, most importantly, she had allies. Nathaniel wouldn't give her up. He would search for her. As much as she wanted to go back to him now, it would be impossible without help.

Despite knowing this, Katherine was nervous. What if the Earl couldn't find her in time? What if something happened to him while she was away? She wanted to be by his side more than anything right now. To distract herself as well as to gather information, she kept on talking with Frey.

"Why does Ethan suddenly want me back?"

Frey rolled his eyes. "How should I know what goes on in the Duke's head? He's crazy. As far as I know, he wants you to attend his wedding. Must be nice to have someone who wants you back so badly."

"His wedding? He is getting married?", Katherine asked in surprise. She never imagined this bastard would marry someone. He was never interested in anything that had to do with feelings.

"Are you upset that it isn't you? It's all in the invitation I brought you.", Frey replied venomously.

"If he tries to marry me, I will stab his black heart at night, and he knows that", she hissed in disgust. "But what invitation are you talking about? I never got one."

"Oh." Frey frowned, and rummaged in the inside pocket of his jacket. Then he pulled out an envelope that looked just like the one she got in the temple. "Looks like I forgot. Thought I gave you both."

Intrigued, Katherine took the envelope and opened it. The card inside was beige, filled with a beautiful handwriting. Down below, two stamps, one red, one black, complimented each other. Her eyes widened. While the black stamp with a hawk's head couldn't be any more familiar to her, the red stamp with a phoenix was a surprise. It was the insignia of the Dragsean royal family.

After reading through it, she felt alarmed, and at the same time like she should have known it. "So, he marries a Princess. No wonder."

One look at it, and she knew: this marriage wasn't out of affection, but the result of Ethan's scheming mind. She pitied the Princess, for she herself also fell for Ethan's acting talent once. But her pity was not enough that she wanted to help. Who knew what kind of person the Princess was?

"It's presumptuous that he even thinks I will attend his wedding. I never want to see him again, unless it's his separated head." With cold anger, she ripped the invitation apart and let it flutter to the ground. "I won't go with you."

Frey laughed bitterly. "Like you have a choice."

She smiled lightly. This boy was still the same as back when she got to know him, only much more pessimistic. He had a right to be spiteful after she left them, even though she didn't know they were still alive. But she wanted to at least try to make him understand. And maybe she could even change his mindset.

After a moment of deliberation, she started: "Four months back, that might be true. Now, maybe it's different. I know you want to protect everyone else, Frey, but do you really want to be his dog? Being loyal and submissive won't stop a tyrant. He will still harm all of you, and only get crueler. What I want, and what I planned to do, is to stand up against him. To stop him. That's why I can't get back into his claws, you see? All my plans will be destroyed, and he will torture us all forever."

"Ha!", the boy made cynically. "What can you do? I know you, Lady Katherine, you were the most loyal of his dogs! Even if you changed, how will you ever be powerful enough to beat him? You are a girl!"

A mysterious smile still lingered around Katherine's mouth. She wasn't offended, because four months back, this statement was very true. She never expected how fast her power-level would rise. "I got married today. Do you know to whom?"

"What does it matter? He will betray you like these merchants you payed.", Frey held against her.

This statement distracted her for a moment. She remembered the voice of the 'priest' who kidnapped her. She knew that it had been familiar, but the situation was too chaotic to wonder how he came there. "So, it really was Kyle. What has the organization done to him for him to attack the King? What about the other merchants?"

"Maybe they killed them, maybe they are chained up somewhere or maybe he was on their side to begin with. There was no reason to ask, so how would I know?" Frey lifted his hands like he didn't care, but Katherine was sure this was just acting. He couldn't get so coldhearted in such a short time.

"Anyway," she came back to the topic. "You don't know my husband. In the Icelands, I believe he is more powerful than Ethan in Dragsa. He will never betray me, and if I asked, he might kill Ethan for me. But I don't want that. I want to rip out that snake's heart by myself. I changed. And I will be powerful enough to kill Ethan soon. That is what I believe in. I promised it the moment the heads of my parents got chopped off, I promised, that his life will end by my hands. So, you also don't have to stay by his side."

She never expected him to enthusiastically change his view just because of her words, but the response was still down-casting. Frey only bitterly shook his head. "Forget it. I can't depend on possibilities. You are playing with lives if you do."

The carriage came to a halt just in time for him to get out. "We are resting for the night. You just stay in the carriage, Lady Katherine."

With that, he locked the door behind him.

.

"Did we lose them?"

Aston leaned his back against a wall, panting harshly. He had a deep gash on his shoulder and a cut so precisely in the middle of his forehead that it looked somewhat funny. Both were already frozen over by his ice crystals to stop the bleeding, and now looked like spiky rubies on his pale skin.

On Nathaniel's waist was also a cut, but when Aston instinctively leaned over to freeze it, Nathaniel backed away. "Don't. I'm unstable."

He didn't look much better than Aston, his hair disheveled and wet with sweat. If one looked closely, there were a few tiny holes in his shirt, as if it was eaten by moths. However, instead of his skin, a thin black mist could be seen at times.

For a second, he closed his eyes and knitted his brows, then the mist was gone. However, this wasn't his only problem. His weakened sword arm trembled slightly from over-exhaustion. Still, he forced himself to hold on. "We need to get out of the city."