Why Didn't You?

It was three days later. The King's entourage had moved into a safe-house of one of the King's supporters. Unfortunately, a doctor had discovered that the spine of the King had been impaired during the knife attack, making walking alone a far-fetched dream for him.

Since then, the King was grumbling and secluding himself in his sickroom. Everyone hoped that he was ruminating on a solution for the conflict right now and how to free the land of this devilish woman that was his wife. However, it was more likely that he was falling into depression and self-pity.

Despite the dire situation, Nathaniel never moved from Katherine's side. He ate, slept and worked in the same room as his wife. Though, to be true, when working he mostly sat there staring into nothing and trying to think of a plan that would better their situation. Since most of the forces were now under the Queen's reign, they had to carefully consider every step they made. As the supposed murderers of the King, Aston, Katherine, and him were wanted everywhere.

Yes, Katherine as well. How he found out afterwards, the assassin was one of the merchants Katherine had supported. Of course it was a set-up, but the Queen used this connection to blame the assassination attempt on her. And since she was his wife, it was a natural that he was involved, too. After all, nobody would think that a woman would try to murder the King on her own when her future husband was a prince in line for the throne. Everyone would expect him to have his hands in it. As for Aston, he was just added to the list without any evidence at all.

With a sigh, Nathaniel leaned back in the chair besides Katherine's bed and closed his eyes. For the last few days, this was his usual sleeping position, though it was hardly comfortable.

The instance where Katherine's power flared up as he touched her was resurfacing from his memory. Ever since then, he hadn't seen even the slightest glow around her. He wondered if it was because the magic was exhausted or she was already fully healed. But if she was fully healed, why didn't she wake up? It was a mystery, one that made him anxious whenever he thought about it.

"Katherine", he mumbled to himself. "Maybe I shouldn't have used your power to help him, when you need it yourself so much."

He didn't know if it would have changed anything, but maybe that one strand of magic that went over to the King was what could have woken her up.

A knock was heard before Sam's voice sounded. "Your Highness, the King wants to talk to you."

Nathaniel opened his eyes, the red irises displaying annoyance. "What does he want?"

"I didn't dare ask, your Highness."

A pause followed in which Nathaniel's gaze lingered on Katherine. Staying with her was the least he could do after he pulled her into this mess, wasn't it? Besides, if it were noteworthy information, a change of situation perhaps, his own informants would have already told him. What news could the bedridden King get that he did not? It couldn't be anything important. "Tell him I'm busy."

Now it was Sam's turn to stay silent. The King's order had seemed very important. It was the first time he called for anyone besides Lady Orchid and the doctor. Since it was hard to guess the Nathaniel's mood only from his indifferent voice, Sam opened the door to peek inside.

Despite sunshine flooding in through one window, the room was filled with a depressing vibe. Nathaniel sat next to the bed, his eyes fixed on Katherine's face with a heartbreaking sadness in them. Sam's own eyes got wet when he saw his master like this. He suspected it already before, but now it was confirmed. His master was deeply in love with his new wife. He almost felt reluctant to disturb him.

"Your Highness", Sam said softly and entered the room to close the door behind him. "I may not know why he called you, but I suspect something. Those papers we found, his Majesty must know the truth about them."

As if a sword was drawn out of the sheath, the eyes of the Prince turned cold and sharp. When he raised his head, the demon king was back in his full glory. Even Sam almost felt a shiver down his spine as those blood-red eyes met his.

The old man coughed lightly and turned his head away. "Of course, I burned the papers like you commanded. I don't want to imply that the information leaked out, but just that the king might want to talk about the same topic those papers addressed."

The demon's head tilted to the side, not making him less threatening. "And why do you suspect this? Why would he even know about such an abstruse lie if nobody told him?"

"That - ", Sam began but was broken off when Nathaniel abruptly stood up.

"You were hiding something from me, weren't you? That is why you were so anxious when you found those papers. You know something about my birth that I don't." Nathaniel approached Sam like a predator that had caught the scent of blood. His brows lowered the more he thought into this. "All this time you kept it a secret, even when I searched for every information I could find. Anything that would explain why they treat me the way they do."

When Nathaniel stood right in front of Sam, he halted. For a second, he searched the eyes of his loyal companion that was like a father to him. Sam turned away his face, stoic as ever. Seeing this, hurt distorted Nathaniel's features, showing a vulnerable side that nobody ever saw. It was over in a second, followed by his usual unreadable face, but in his voice it lingered. "Why didn't you tell me, Sam?"

A muscle in the old man's forehead twitched, the motion soon hidden behind a reserved mask. He spoke slowly as if the words were drawn out of him by force and he was trying to keep them with him. "This was in another life that I left behind when I turned into your guardian, therefor please don't expect me to recall much of it. When I found the papers, I noticed a connection to my former master, but there wasn't much time to explain. If you want the full truth, his Majesty should be the one who knows."

There was a long silence, then Nathaniel backed off. His eyes were lowered. "Fine. I will go see his Majesty. However, you should try to recall that other life of yours. When I come back, I want a recount. Don't leave anything out, lest it becomes important in the future."

"Of course, your Highness", Sam responded, though his face was sour.

Nathaniel didn't notice his unwillingness, as his gaze had turned back to Katherine. He returned to her side to press her hand softly. It was the first time he touched her after the event when she glowed. Even though, he didn't hold her hand for long in fear it might happen again and delay her recovery.

"I will be back soon. Wait for me."

Without a second gaze at his butler, he left the room. Unknown to him, there was a slight change after he left. Katherine's hand that had fallen onto the covers, moved. Her fingers opened slowly like she was searching for something. They wandered over the bed, and when they couldn't find what they searched, they clutched onto the covers. After a few seconds, they got limp again. The tiny wrinkles in the white fabric were the only visible change.

Sam was too lost in thought to notice the change. Since his master left, he felt obliged to protect the Lady in her vulnerable stage, but his mind was tangled up in a far distant past. Thus, he missed this tiny indicator that Katherine was about to wake up soon.