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Ch. 45: Cat Nap
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Catalyst Ch. 45: Dinner
She fell asleep almost immediately: sandwiched between Sasha and Hayward, comfortable and warm. When she awoke a little while later, Sasha had gotten down in favor of searching for something to play with, and she flipped over to find Hayward’s eyes still closed. She pressed her lips to his just to see if it would get a rise out of him, or if he would even wake up at all.He wasn’t quite awake yet, but he’d been pushed closer to it when she turned over in his arms. When she kissed him, he reacted more by reflex and instinct than by conscious thought. His arms tightened a little, and he pressed back. A moment later, his eyes opened, and he smiled. “Well, hello there.” He hugged her closer and kissed her again, more deeply this time. It was a pleasant response, and she smiled against his lips before kissing him back with the same fervor. As she pulled back once more to look at him, she beamed, “you know, I could really get used to this waking up next to someone thing…” It was nice to ha
Catalyst Ch. 46: Dinner (part 2)
Hayward turned and watched Elissa leave but didn’t go anywhere; he was still hungry. Internally, his mind raced. Well, shit. Now what? The queen will probably be scandalized. Her father won’t be happy either… ah, fuck it.When he needed to be, the young prince was utterly shameless. He would deflect matters simply by acting as if they weren’t important. And with humor. That was vital. He pointed his fork at Kohl. “That… that was a dick move.” He took another bite. “And someday, you may find yourself with a young lady friend, and you may do something that you don’t want your parents or hers to know about; and you will realize just what a dick move it was.” He took another bite. “And if you’re very unlucky, I’ll still be here to repay you in kind.” He grinned playfully at the younger prince. It was dangerous, of course, to address the prince and ignore the parents, but he was going to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal. Kohl just huffed. “I wouldn’t be as careless as you two are…” h
Catalyst Ch. 48: A Good Family
In another part of the castle, Elissa was still throwing a fit. She wasn’t sure what had or hadn’t happened after she left, but she was out for blood. She had noticed Kohl slinking into the gardens out her window and seriously considered going after him. However, she waited. Well, she paced. She paced back and forth, debating whether she’d be beheaded for killing their only heir, or how badly she could injure him without actually killing him. And to think she’d saved the little bastard’s life the day before! She was absolutely seething. As soon as Elissa heard a knock, she froze and turned toward the door. She didn’t know who it was, but the knob turned and in walked Hayward. In response, she smiled a little. “Oh good. Just you…” It sounded a little harsher coming out than she’d mean it to. Just you didn’t exactly seem warm and welcoming, but she was afraid it was one of her parents, come to chastise her. “Sorry... I…” she reached up behind her head, scratching her neck awkwardly. W
Catalyst Ch. 49: Ridiculous Politics
“So I know why you hate your dad. Rightfully so. But... what about your mom? Or your siblings? Why did you not have any common ground with any of them?” Hayward smirked. “This is going to sound strange, but it’s because I was supposed to be a girl.” He licked his lips. “There’s this… this expectation, among Aasleaghan noblewomen. Their first few children will be sons, and then they’ll have daughters. Supposedly, this is actually a common pattern, something in the bloodlines that causes them to have daughters instead of sons as they get older. But I hear more often about women who ‘fail’ to fit the mold than about the ones who succeed, so… who knows?”“Anyway, my mother was a perfect exemplar until I came along. Three handsome sons, a beautiful daughter… and then me. And then another daughter. See, political marriages are a big deal for us, and daughters are important, traditionally—can’t have marriages without them, you know. So while it might be better to have a bunch of sons in the
Catalyst Ch. 50: A Little Less Conversation
“I really need to train the cat to do that for me,” she groaned. “Yes. We should lock the door. And as long as neither one of us ends up screaming, I see no reason to leave, but if you’re planning on making lots of noise, we should go upstairs.”He licked his lips again. “Well… I enjoy making you scream, but I can hold off for tonight if you’d like to stay here.” He pressed down again, grinding his hips against hers. “You’d need a fresh shirt if we left, and I might accidentally shred that one too… so why don’t we stay here?”“Accidental, my ass…” she mumbled, shoving him off long enough to get up and lock the door.He laughed and flopped onto his back, then picked his head up to watch her walk away. “Your ass indeed… your lovely ass.” He waited unti
Catalyst Ch. 51: Miss You Already
“You’ll share that I got one with an arrow, but not the scissors?” She laughed. Technically, she didn’t kill the man with the scissors, but it was still a fun story. “I might mention the shears too, but that’s not quite as intimidating,” he answered with a playful grin. “True. Aren’t you glad you got such a feisty princess? I might even make up for the fact that my father is so ill-prepared,” she laughed. “You can tell him even the princess is trained to kill…” it wasn’t entirely a falsehood. She wasn’t trained, but she had killed a man. “Oh! You should take one of my arrows back!” she offered. “He doesn’t need to know I’m the only one with diamond-tipped arrows. They’re fairly intimidating.” She smirked. “I know I won’t get it back, but it’ll be worth it if it will sell the story better.” She figured most likely once he showed the arrow to the man, he would want the diamond for himself, but one lost arrow was not the end of the world. She could have more made. “If I hadn’t cleaned
Catalyst Ch. 52: Preparing for the hunt
The next morning, Elissa woke before dawn, still snuggled in his arms. She really did not want to crawl out of the warm bed or the strong, warm arms, but she knew if they were going to actually hunt, they needed to go. Looking down at his sleeping face, made her smile. She was going to miss that, too.She laid a gentle kiss on his lips and quickly wriggled out of his grasp before he was awake enough to grab her. If he pulled her close, she’d never get out of that bed.As her feet hit the floor, she whispered to the lamp on her bedside table, and it promptly glowed brightly enough for her to see and made her way toward her wardrobe and start looking for higher cut shirts. She picked up about six before she tried one. After slipping it on—it was not high enough. “Goddamnit Hayward…” she hissed, digging through her drawer farther.Hayward had been slowly dragged
Catalyst Ch. 53: The Hunt (Part 1)
“Maybe if we find a buck, I’ll take a pair of deer antlers home with me,” he mused. Deer were understandably rare in the desert, so they’d make for a delightful novelty.“Now I’m curious…” she laughed, but she left it be and stood up. “I have bows in my room, you can come pick one that feels good, or if you don’t find one there are more in the training quarters,” which were a little piece away from the castle, but they could go that way on the horses if he didn’t find something satisfactory.She entered her room and grabbed her favorite, as well as a quiver full of her diamond-tipped arrows and a few other less precious arrows. She handed him a quiver full of plain arrows and showed him the bows she’d already laid out on the bed before going down for breakfast. “See how they feel…”He raised an eyebrow, but only slig
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