That Invitation

Another beautiful morning, Katherine thought while glancing over the valley from her window. The sun was already high in the sky when she woke up, shining down on the flowers in the meadow, yet without warming up the cold breezes breathing down from the mountain tops.

Like Nathaniel's window, hers faced in the direction of the training field with the wooden fence surrounding it. Because it was straight under her window, she had to deliberately look down to see the guards training there. Some of them grinned and waved when they noticed her, and she returned the greeting.

Glancing to the right, she saw the shelter where Nathaniel had opened up about his magic. Her eyebrows lifted when she noticed the change there. Roughly three dozen hay bales were stacked beside the building. She could have sworn those weren't there the last time. With her finger tapping her lips, she deliberated what else they might need the bales for. Or was it the space in the shelter they needed and the bales were in the way?

Suddenly, she heard loud voices from inside the house. Two men seemed to be arguing, but she couldn't make out the content. Her brows furrowed when she noticed that one of them sounded like Nathaniel. Worried and curious, she made her way over to the door. She'd never heard him yell before; when he got angry it was usually an ice cold, controlled emotion. Just who could agitate him like this? The other voice also sounded familiar.

She opened the door for a better acoustic just in time to see Aston hurry down the hallway in the direction of the voices, his hands still fumbling with the last buttons of his shirt. She couldn't hear what he muttered over the noise, but she didn't need to. His face told it all, making her doubt if he came to calm the opponents or add his own fury to the mix.

Her head swirled around when she seemed to have heard her name in all the chaos. Did their fight have something to do with her? If so, she had the right to know what it was about, she decided, and followed Aston down the hallway. The door was closed softly behind her.

Sneaking around the corner, she barely heard Aston's footfalls on the stairs, though she saw him stomping. Then he stormed into a room downstairs, leaving the door open behind him. His voice rang out clearly. "Enough! Can you two do nothing but fight? You are waking the whole house, me included! Just shut up and discuss whatever you want to QUIETLY!"

There was a short pause, maybe due to surprise, then the familiar voice she now recognized as the king's roared: "What gives you the right to talk to me like that, you snot-nosed brat? Just because I can't stand and bash your head, you think you can order me around now? Get out!"

"Former king." She had never heard the growl Nathaniel's voice turned into now. "Your insecurities aside, you will regret talking like this to one of the two persons who'd still care about you even when you are nothing but an old, disabled man."

That one hurt, Katherine thought with delight. Without a doubt, she was on Nathaniel's side. From what she encountered so far, the king was a self-righteous bastard, and Nathaniel's words had to be well-deserved. Despite that, though, she was also worried. Nathaniel had told her that the king was stabile right now, so she had assumed he would be alright without her help. That seemed to be a misconception though.

As the three royals continued their discussion quieter, she sneaked even closer to the door, just in time to be caught by Nathaniel who reached out to close it.

A glitter of amusement lit up his gloomy eyes, lifting his mood by a notch. "Sneaking around again, little mouse? Thought you learned your lesson with the cave and the dungeon."

Before she could think of a witty reply, the king called out from behind him: "Is that your little wife? She shall enter. Let's see if she at least is willing to do her duty for her new country."

When she saw Nathaniel's expression harden, her own temper was stirred. Squaring her shoulders, she boldly passed him by, positioning herself right in front of the rude old man. "If my husband didn't do his duty, why are you still alive? I believe he has good reasons for whatever his decisions are."

From Nathaniel she'd heard everything that happened from while she was a captive until she regained her consciousness - and even though he recounted it very objectively, she'd realized that the rescue of the king had been a suicide mission. Luckily, she didn't know about it then, or else she would have been crazy with worry. Even now, she felt goose bumps on her skin whenever she thought of it.

The old man sitting on his bed squinted his eyes at her. They had the same blue as Astons, the same as Nathaniel's disguise of the patient, yet she couldn't bring herself to like the color one bit if it was in his face. Even though he sounded very agitated before, he seemed to have regained his calm when she entered the room. Or at least, he didn't lash out at her directly. "Is that so? The only reason I see is that he wants to shelter and pamper his little wife. Which, in times like these, can cost the lives of hundreds of soldiers. It could cost him a kingdom."

"Father", Aston tried to negotiate before Katherine could speak up. "She was in a coma. It's not too much to give her a few days of rest."

Just as Katherine wanted to ask what this all was about, she felt Nathaniel take her hand and step beside her. Surprised, she glanced up at him. He met her gaze with a serene tranquility that made her stiff back relax instantly. Then he shifted his attention to the king. "You are exaggerating. One or two days do not make a difference in this case. And yes, I did not tell Katherine about this yet, but that is because I do not plan on going there at all. You wanted to make me the next king, so you should lean back and trust that I will do what is necessary. And this one is not."

His words sounded final, but Katherine couldn't help thinking that he was leaving something out. "What is it he wants you to do? What has it got to do with me? And just so you know: I am fully recovered already. Why would I be fit enough to learn fighting but not for some mere information anyway?"

Expectantly, her brows knitted, she gazed up at Nathaniel. Yet the latter seemed to be hesitant, as he pressed his lips together and his eyes radiated unwillingness. Despite this, he pressed her hand even tighter. He seemed to deliberate how to answer her, so she took a fast look around.

Aston was pale faced, biting his lip and radiating the same nervousness as Nathaniel. He seemed to wait for his cousin-brother to speak up. The line the mouth of the king formed, meanwhile, tried to cover the almost sadistic glee in his eyes. Annoyed, Katherine wondered if he was happy over Nathaniel's plight after the same man had handled him quite roughly.

When Katherine thought she had given him enough time, she lifted a brow at her husband. "So?"

Nathaniel pried his lips apart with a sigh. "Do you really need to know this when I don't even plan on implementing it?"

Obviously, her expression was answer enough because he sighed again. "Fine. Just remember you don't have to do any of this. I don't even want you to."

She heard the king snort at the side. "And how else do you plan to -"

Nathaniel glared at him, an expression Katherine never wanted to have directed at her, yet that only made the situation worse. The king was not used to backing down and glared right back.

"Let me tell you what I want of you, girl", he said, while still locking eyes with Nathaniel. A wretched grin was edged on his face. "I want you to prove your loyalty to the Icelands. When we first met, I told you that you would get an invitation soon. One that would be your test. And guess what, we captured the messenger yesterday and he had already delivered it some time ago. His name is Frey. Does that ring a bell?"