Maniac Battle Hymn

The Duchy of Sleipnir resided only a ten-day trip from the border. With each day of the journey, Katherine became more anxious.

"When will Nathaniel come?", she asked Ella every morning, midday, and afternoon. "Maybe something happened to him..."

Each time, Ella did her best to soothe the worry, but the anxiety slowly crept onto her as well. Even when he knew nothing of the baby, Nathaniel was not the type to leave his wife at the side of a man who was responsible for her parents' deaths. Even Ella started to wonder if there had been some complications, and this didn't go unnoticed by Katherine. The emotional upheaval soon reflected in her bodily well-being.

What started as a slight case of morning sickness, now lasted until noon each day. She made sure to eat with only Ella in the vicinity, for it was always possible for the food to come back up. On the seventh day, Ella reminded her that the baby would be in danger if she fell from her horse out of weakness. From then on, they took the carriage. This, of course, caught Ethan's interest.

"My dearest cousin", he said as he sat down opposite her, "You really do not look well lately."

Katherine turned her gaze to the window. She hardly had the energy to get agitated, not to speak of engaging in a senseless conflict.

A glint of anger flashed by Ethan's muddy brown eyes, then he furrowed his brows and gestured in Ella's direction. "Get out."

Ella was about to reject when she felt Katherine's hand tap on her leg. She knew what that meant. However, she was not happy to leave Katherine with this man, regardless of how dangerous that might be for herself. The tap was repeated, stronger this time. Exasperated, Ella complied and left the carriage.

Outside, she leaned on the closed door, prepared to rush in if she should hear anything wrong. Despite her low assessment of Ethan, Ella wondered if Katherine was a bit too careless with her safety.

"I'm really worried about you, Kitty. Why don't you confine with me anymore?", Ethan asked and reached out to push a strand of hair behind Katherine's ear. Katherine, however, evaded the touch, and his hand hung in the middle between them as she leaned back into the upholstery. Her gaze wandered from the window down to her interlocked hands without grazing him once. Ethan's hand fisted as he pulled it back.

"I never thought some nobody could come between us, even if he was the Prince of another country. Who was it who said the Icelands were the enemy and didn't want to be sent there? We are family. I should be the first you turn to. I was always the first. Even before your parents, you would come to me." At the mention of her parents, Katherine's brows knitted but Ethan didn't take it as a foreboding sign. Instead, he sighed deeply. "How can you place someone else before me? Before your own beloved cousin? This is impossibly hard to accept."

Katherine closed her eyes. She did not want to hear this nonsense anymore. With all her might she focused on ignoring the noise, finding a quiet place in herself. When she was young, her gypsy mother sometimes forced her to meditate to curb the wild temperament within her. Katherine always thought of this exercise as useless, and never tried it voluntarily, believing that stillness just wasn't part of her character. Only now, she hoped that she could find some quiet and patience within her.

Mother, give me strength, she prayed silently and gripped her hands tighter. Somehow, the air around her seemed to grow cold, the hairs rising on her skin.

"Look at me. Tell me what you think", she heard Ethan's voice again. It sounded strangely strangled, but she did her best not to think about it or any of his words.

"Tell me..." Something suddenly touched Katherine's throat, and her eyes snapped open. Ethan loomed over her like a dark giant, his hand encasing her throat. It was not a strong grip but the threat of pain in a gentle caress. Katherine shuddered.

"Tell me, my Kitty. Tell me what you think. Tell me how you feel. Tell me everything. I will carve your feelings deep, deep into my chest. Come on, tell me. Let me feel them~" His voice was in a sing-song tone as if to lull a little child. Just that the madness he radiated would make all children run for their mommies.

Katherine gulped, and the pressure on her larynx made her lean back further. Instinctively, her fingers clenched into the skirt of her dress, when she felt something hard through the fabric.

"Is that fear, Kitty? Is that fear I see right now? Look at me! Look me in the eye and tell me - yes, yes like this! Now, tell - "

"Tell your ass!" Freed from its restraint, Katherine pushed the dagger upwards with both hands. The adrenaline flooded her body with new strength, and easily the blade cut through fabric and flesh.

Ethan gasped. At the last second, he had managed to evade the blow to the heart but the dagger was now stuck deep in his shoulder.

Katherine gnashed her teeth with a wild look in her eyes. Without giving him time to react, she brought her legs up and kicked him in the chest, throwing him against the other carriage wall and the momentum effectively ripped the dagger out of his flesh with a wet sound.

"YOU FUCKING KILLED MY PARENTS!", she screeched and within a second, she was on top of him, the dagger raised high over her head. "LIKE HELL I WILL TALK TO YOU! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

With each death wish, the dagger plunged down, again and again. Ethan grunted, and a strange sizzling sound filled the air together with the smell of burned flesh. Then laugher. The laugher of a maniac.

"Wh-What?!" Katherine stumbled backward as the hot hilt of her dagger fell out of her hands. The blade was molten, sizzling liquid over Ethan's chest. And it was a chest that was untouched by all her deadly blows, heaving up and down with roaring laughter.

"Thank you! Th-thank you!" Ethan rolled on the floor and couldn't seem to stop laughing, despite the liquid burning his chest. Katherine stared at him, dumbstruck and horrified. His fire magic, a separate part of her mind registered somehow. But he had to have manipulated it somehow for normal fire magic would take time to liquefy metal. And now that she looked at it, it seemed to rapidly turn solid again under her eyes, like a magic trick. But why was he laughing? Why thanking her?!

"Katherine!" Lady Brandon shook Katherine out of her stupor. She grabbed Katherine's wrist and pulled her outside. "We need to leave! Now!"

All around them there was the sound of swords clashing, screams, and even explosions. Over the massacre rang the maniac laugher like an insane battle hymn.

Katherine stumbled over her own feet as she ran, her head turned back toward this lone carriage on the road. She'd wanted to kill him but he was still alive. How was he still alive?

Halfway through the battlefield, Katherine realized that she should go back and end him now. However, Ella insistently pulled her forward and she couldn't find the strength to resist.

Suddenly, Ella halted. From the momentum, Katherine continued to stumble forward and into a board, warm chest. The smell of coffee, blood, and firewood enveloped her senses, and a strong arm wrapped around her waist. Home, she realized. Without conscious thought, her arms went out to pull Nathaniel impossible close against her trembling body.