168 Too Many People

I can't seriously get any redder, Katherine thought as she whispered: "No, but you are disturbing the others. Don't you notice?"

Looking over at his family, Nathaniel's gaze turned from affectionate to cold as if to warn them to not show any discomfort. "Do you guys have a problem with what I do?"

Aston instantly waved his hands. "No, no, please continue! I love watching you act all lovely-dovely. It's super sweet!"

Nathaniel's eyes darkened, and 'You dare call me sweet?!' was written all over his forehead. "You are not watching anymore. If you're through with eating, leave."

"Seriously? I said I'm not disturbed though. Can't I just watch?", Aston pleaded with a pout.

"No, because now I'm disturbed. Leave or eat but stop looking. I won't say it twice", Nathaniel said with a slightly threatening voice.

Hearing that, Aston rolled his eyes like every offended teenager would and left the table.

"Please send us something upstairs", Samantha Orchid's soft and melodic voice sounded out as she also stood up, an amused glitter sparkling in her clear eyes and around the corners of her mouth. "We are all happy that he found someone he cares so much for, Lady Balder. You do not need to feel embarrassed."

Since the King was disabled and didn't come downstairs for dinner, the chairs around the couple were empty when Lady Orchid left. Katherine looked down at her lap, finding it hard to follow Lady Orchid's advice. She fiddled with the napkin and remained quiet.

Only when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, did she look up. Nathaniel had come even closer to her and now gazed at her with the same tenderness that she felt in his every gesture the whole evening. His red pupils were focused on her, and it seemed that they didn't see anything else today, like she was the only one that existed in his world. Velvety, his voice reached her ears. "I don't want to lose you."

Katherine took a shaky breath. Somehow, this declaration tugged at her heart in an almost painful way. Her hand entangled with his, squeezing it slightly. "I don't plan to go away. But I need a little more time. It hurts to be lied to and I'm afraid... I fear that as the mysterious man you are, there will always be secrets you don't tell me - maybe because it does not seem important or maybe it is a state secret you are not allowed to speak about. I need to get accustomed to that and just hope you will not lie intentionally again. You will not do that, right?"

When she looked at him so pleadingly, Nathaniel's throat felt tight. He had to clear it before he could talk again. "I will try my best to neither lie to you nor let you assume your own wrong conclusions again like with the patient."

His free hand played with a strand of her hair. The little touches eased the emptiness she had left after their fight but couldn't fill it completely. Knowing that she would not accept an embrace right now, this was all he could do to comfort himself.

"Will you also promise me something?", he asked hesitantly. His gaze checked if there were any listeners before he continued in a quieter tone: "You know how dangerous it is to touch me. I would be much more comfortable if you promise me you won't touch my bare skin unless we are absolutely sure it is safe."

"Safe?", Katherine echoed, and her brows knitted. "How is it not safe to touch you?"

At the question, Nathaniel halted. He searched her face for any sign that she was joking, but only found innocent confusion. His features hardened as he realized that he was wrong. She had never knew the truth. A frustrated sound escaped his lips. "This is troublesome. What the hell did you think was the reason for my constant rejection? Did you think I was too shy to take the woman I want?"

"I thought you had a phobia. Why? What do you mean it's dangerous?", Katherine replied, now anxious. "Do you have a disease or something?"

"I would be glad if it was just that, then it could be cured!", Nathaniel exclaimed, but forced himself to turn his voice down, pulling away from Katherine's grasp. He couldn't stand any closeness right now, because she might turn away again soon. And now it would hurt double or triple as much as before. It would break him to see her leave.

His breath got rugged when he walked up and down the room. Suddenly, he halted before her and took her hand. "We can't discuss this here. Too many people around."

He towed her along to the entrance hall, and up the stairs. Yet in the middle of it, he decided otherwise and went for the door instead. He felt it was a bad omen to have this conversation in the same room they had their last fight.

Striding into the fresh air outside, Katherine did her best to keep up with his long legs. His grip was strong, but it was the upheaval of emotions in his actions that made her follow him without protest. At least until suddenly a bright light exploded from her palm and up her arm, covering her in a sphere of light. She gasped.

Nathaniel, who heard the sound, turned around and his eyes opened wide. Then, with sudden horror, as if he realized what that signified, he let go of her arm and stumbled backwards. Tendrils of darkness were disintegrating in the sphere of light, but even more of them drilled through his clothes until his contours seemed to blend into a black fog.

Out of the fog, his agitated voice called: "Katherine? Are you alright? Did any of it touch you?"

"N-No", Katherine answered in surprise. "But what is that? What happened? Is that your magic?"

"I need to calm down first. Wait." Hearing that she was alright, Nathaniel sounded already more at ease and Katherine used the time to study her own magic. She had never seen it go so far out of her body. With curiosity she noticed that it very much resembled the sphere she saw in her dream world, the one that protected her from Blackie.

Looking over to her husband, Katherine's lips twitched. Safe for it being much smaller and not complaining about hunger all the time, the darkness around him resembled the Blackie who wanted to eat her quite a bit. One thing was sure: If Nathaniel knew what caused this phenomenon, he had a lot of explaining to do.

Katherine's own magic settled first, but it didn't take long for the fog to disperse and reveal her husband, who was searching her face and body anxiously. Although she didn't know why he reacted so strongly to it, she reassured him: "I'm alright. It didn't touch me."

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief but didn't take her hand again. "I should not have let my emotions run wild like this. Come, we can talk over there."

He guided her to a little shelter behind the house, where nobody was around. Katherine didn't overlook that all grass had vanished in the place where he had stood before, and when he turned toward her, all puzzle parts suddenly clicked together. "Was that your magic? The one you used to eradicate a whole army? You cannot - control it?"