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Ch. 48: A Good Family
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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
Catalyst Ch. 54: Lunch Break
“Elissa, peace and love aren’t the same thing. I’d like to meet a peaceful end so that we all might help one another. Improve our weaknesses and teach from our strengths. We all have something we can learn. Always...” he took a sip of wine thoughtfully. “And yes…” she turned back to Hayward. “It was a decently sized nine-point buck. I shot a twelve point when I was thirteen, but... it was still a very nice prize.” She wished her family had made a deal of her hunting accomplishments. He was taking home a nine point rack like it was something to be prized. She hadn’t even gotten to keep her 12 point rack despite that it was an uncommon occurrence. She was pretty sure they would’ve thrown away the tiger head and pelt if she hadn’t cleaned it herself. “We can take the deer hide to the tailor to have something made that would be warmer for your return,” she suggested. “I still need to pay him for ruining his shop and shears.” She twisted her mouth to one side and looked down at her plate.
Catalyst Ch. 55: The Hunt (Part 2)
Suddenly something zoomed across their path, and she pulled back on the reins. It had been moving so fast she wasn’t even sure what it was, but it was moving fast. “So do we think it’s being chased, and we should be concerned?” She asked Hayward, looking over her shoulder. Hayward shrugged. “Maybe they just remembered they left the stove on.” He grinned and drew his bow. “Or maybe there’s something big and angry coming our way. Let’s hope, eh?” He rode up alongside her, putting himself between her and whatever might or might not be coming, then stood up in the saddle, not that the extra height provided much help, and sniffed the air again. Another saber cat? An owlbear? He could only imagine what might come—if anything—and he was eager to see it. He just had to hope it didn’t hurt the horses—or the princess. There was an otherworldly screech that echoed out through the forest, causing her blood to run cold. It wasn’t a sound she’d heard before, but if it was what she feared, they
Catalyst Ch. 56: The Hunt (part 3)
The kick startled the beast, and a split-second later, Hayward landed on its back. He wished for a bigger weapon, but all he had was a dagger and a hunting knife. They would have to do. The monster took a half-hearted swipe at the horse and missed, then turned its attention to the stabby little creature clinging to its back. Its neck twisted around, allowing it to snap its jaws at him, but he was quick. He’d recovered from his wounds; he’d stuffed himself with food, and better yet, he was in the sun. Hayward was as dangerous as he could be without proper weapons. He ducked and dodged and stabbed and sliced and kept the beast at bay. For now, at least.When she saw them make it back into the clearing, Hayward was not on Nostro, and she was terrified for half a second. Instead, he was riding the fucking Chimera. She was flabbergasted.Oh fuck, now I have to not shoot him
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