Old Habits Die Hard

Between the borders of Dragsa and the Icelands, three people wrapped in blankets sat with their backs to a big tree trunk, shivering. The warmth slowly returned to their limbs after they had shed the soaked clothes and left them to dry on a branch, but it took some time. Beneath the tree, it was almost dry, with sprinkles of water sometimes being blown in from the sides and the wind strongly pulled on them as if trying to rip the blankets away.

Despite the storm, the three horses next to them were asleep, exhausted from the run. Lady Brandon leaned on one of them to share its warmth. She was asleep as well. For a person who was a captive in the golden cage of the Capital for years, she seemed oddly familiar to these dire conditions. Remembering how she was the only one protesting against going naked under the blankets, made Katherine wonder if she was the one being a flimsy society puppet now - a thought she disliked very much. And yet, neither her husband nor her friend showed any sign of being troubled at all. Maybe, Katherine thought disgruntled, that added to her dislike of the situation. She would feel less jealous if Nathaniel felt bad about being almost naked in front of another almost naked woman that wasn't his wife. And yes, that queasy feeling in her stomach was jealousy for sure. She knew it quite well.

As a child she'd easily become jealous whenever Ethan played with someone else or left home for a longer time. Getting older, she'd thought she'd overcome her insecurity, but now it acted up again. As if she didn't know already that Nathaniel would never touch somebody else. He could not even touch anybody if he didn't want to endanger them. But did he ever want to?

"Your lip is gonna bleed", Nathaniel whispered beside her and touched her chin. Only now noticing that she'd chewed on it in discontent, Katherine let go of her lower lip and looked up in his concerned face. Seeing the ripples on his forehead, she felt bad to even think about nakedness when there were so many more pressing topics unadressed. Besides, Nathaniel was a sincere man, he would never deceive her in this way. Yet, somehow she wondered if it would've been different if he had another choice. Would he have picked a different woman then?

"What are you thinking so deeply about?", Nathaniel asked gently, and rested his forehead against hers as if to read her thoughts. Day by day, he was getting more addicted to her touch so that whenever she was beside him, he reached out his hand unconsciously. And when she was not in reach, he missed her already. It was different from the sexual desire that sometimes ravaged his body, and guarding against it was nearly impossible. It was more like a deep tenderness spreading in his soul with every action of her, every small touch. The question what he would do if one day she wasn't there anymore, frightened him deeply.

But now, she looked down, didn't meet his eyes with her violet orbs of sunshine. "I was thinking of the others. Will they be alright?"

Slowly, Nathaniel pulled back, placing his arm over her shoulders instead. His gaze was complicated. "I can't say for sure. If Sam is still alright, he will bring them out. With his magic, he can transform himself more thoroughly than you or me, and he'd seen some of the soldier's faces. But if he is too deeply wounded... all I can say is that the remaining people aren't their targets. Their targets were the two of us, Lady Brandon, and maybe even Sam. Not anyone else."

"You are worried about him." Hearing his explanation, all of Katherine's attention got drawn to the feelings hidden behind his rather factual words. Her own troubles were forgotten.

"I'm worried about everyone as it stands... But you're right. I worry about him the most."

Noticing how his gaze turned dark again as he turned it in the direction of the Iceland's border, Katherine leaned over and placed a kiss on his cold cheek. Her lips were barely warmer, but she left them there until she felt him relax a bit.

"I worry about him as well", she murmured when she sat back. "He is not the youngest, though he moves faster than most of them. He risked his life to help us out this time."

"It's not the first time for me." Comforted by her care, he opened up a bit. "I guess I was a rather troublesome master, always getting near death's door. He called me back many times, but I insisted on going once again."

"I hope you learn your lesson this time!", Katherine said, more like a demand than a question. Her brows were locked, and eyes squinted dangerously. "I won't allow you to continue with that!"

A short, low laugh got blown away by the wind. "I wouldn't dare to."

Satisfied, Katherine snuggled against him once again, then blushed because she remembered that there were only two blankets between their naked skins. Nathaniel, who saw it, lifted a brow at her and teased: "My lewd little wife, your thoughts are so loud, I see them painted on your skin."

"You!" Embarrassed, Katherine blushed even deeper and hit his shoulder without much force. He grinned back down at her, a grin that was so handsomely wicked that all her anger vanished. If it could make him happy for even a short moment, a bit embarrassment was worth it.

For a while, they hugged in silence. Then something else crossed Katherine's mind, a question that bugged her already for a longer time.

"Why Lady Brandon?", she whisper-asked. "Why is she so important that everyone wants to catch her? Did you bring her because of that?"

Nathaniel nodded, and Katherine saw another smile travel over his perfect face. In her heart, she knew that the smile was not for the topic, but for her. Nathaniel seemed to smile more when he was around her. When his hug warmed her body, this smile warmed her heart and lessened the anxiety she felt for everyone else. "Did you never ask why she was a captive at the Capital?"

With a glance in her friend's direction, Katherine made sure that she was still asleep and that even if that wasn't the case anymore, the wind was loud enough that she would not hear their quiet conversation. "Uhm, I thought that it might be a sensitive topic to her... and then so much happened. I just know that it has something to do with her brother."

Nathaniel acknowledged it with a nod. "He is the leader of the biggest force in the Northern Sea. You know what the Northern Sea is?"

Tapping her lips with her finger, Katherine tried to recall a map she'd seen in her father's library. "Isn't it the one bordering on the Glaciar Coast at the upper end of Falumor, Renat, and the Icelands? I heard it's frozen most of the year and that there are some pirates roaming..."

"That's right. Though they are mostly under control now, there were quite many for a long time, and it is undebatable that the nation forming on the isles around there started with them. Actually, it started being a nation only a few years ago, with the help of the Icelands. Before it was the nest of a bona fide pirate king. And Lady Brandon is the sister of said pirate king, his pampered little princess. As much as one can be pampered growing up between pirates. I heard she was still quite rough when she first entered the Iceland's capital, but after some years, she now seems like any other lady."

While talking, Nathaniel scrutinized Lady Brandon from afar, then grinned. "Well, if that is not a dagger hiding in her boot that is. You two have a knack for stealing from my people, don't you? No wonder you're good friends..."