Chapter 18: Chapter 18

The next few days went by like a blur. Kathy's mornings were spent training with Cynthia. Noticeably, she had become quicker and more precise. She could aim and shoot flames. She could even make objects out of the fire.

Her afternoons were spent touring the castle with April or joking around with her cousins and Miah. She hadn't been presented to the people yet as Aerial decided to wait for Hala to wake up. There were no more attacks from the shadow magician, seeming like he had given up but Kathy knew better. She feared that something bigger was coming and perhaps the magician was preparing for it.

She was in Hala's room. That was how she spent her evenings. She talked to a sleeping Hala about her life on earth even though she knew Hala couldn't hear her. Hala recovered greatly during those few days. Her face gained so much color and the black veins had disappeared.

"Yeah, Stacy threatened to crush sleeping pills into my food if I refused to sleep." Kathy chuckled. "During that period, my nightmares were getting worse. I tried not to fall asleep for fear of getting plagued with some nightmare. My eyes had heavy bags underneath them. I looked sickly," she ranted away.

"I am happy the people on earth treated you well," a raspy voice said.

Kathy blinked one too many times wanting to confirm if her eyes were seeing right.

"Mother!" She threw herself onto a smiling Hala on the bed.

A groan made her realize that she was squeezing Hala a little too much.

"Sorry, mother." She smiled sheepishly. "Do you need anything? Maybe water or food," she rushed out in one breath.

Hala chuckled lightly. "I missed you too, my Moon, and yes, water would be appreciated. My throat feels like gritty stones from the castle walls."

"Coming right up." She darted out of the room and raced to the kitchen.

On her way, she told Aerial and Triton through the mind-bond about Hala waking up. She grabbed a pitcher filled with water and ran back to the room. Her father and brother had already arrived and were talking to Hala.

She gave the water to Hala who downed it in two big gulps.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to see your blue eyes again," Aerial whispered to Hala and she smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with love.

"Father, you see blue eyes all around you every day," Triton teased.

"Not this particular set," Aerial replied, still staring at Hala.

She heard Triton's voice in her head. Let's give them some room to catch up, and meet mother later.

He went out the door and she turned to leave with him when she remembered something.

"Mother, did you hear everything I said to you during the time you were asleep?" Kathy asked fearing the answer. She had told Hala things she was ashamed to tell anyone else, including April. All her skeletons were brought to light.

"We have a lot to talk about later, Princess," Hala replied, confirming Kathy's suspicion. Hala had heard her. The troubled look on Hala's face told Kathy all she needed to know. Slowly, she crept out of the room.

Shame.

Self-loathe.

Kathy knew Hala would blame her for everything that happened. She hadn't been strong enough to speak up or fight back. Love was used as a weapon against her– love for April.

The weather was extremely cold that evening like winter was approaching. She wondered if Lunae had winter. The cold air bit into her skin causing her to shiver. She had on only a blue knee-length dress that was too light to be used in winter.

She wandered the halls not looking where she was going. All she could think about was how much Hala would hate her. A body crashed into her making both her and the person fall onto the ground. It was that timid maid who always looked scared. Like someone or something was constantly after her.

"I apologize, Luna Princess, I wasn't watching where I was going," the maid rushed out in one breath making Kathy wonder if she was breathing.

"My fault actually, I wasn't watching." Kathy watched the maid trying to assure herself that it wasn't truly her fault. Both women got up from the ground and dusted their dresses.

"Where can I find Gabriel? Um, General Atlas," Kathy asked. She needed to speak to him and understand why he acted that way. Days passed yet she hadn't even caught a glimpse of him. It seemed like he was avoiding her.

Fear, anxiety, and terror.

Kathy felt those emotions so strongly that she almost thought they were her own. But when she looked at the trembling girl in front of her, she realized where it was coming from.

"Hey, hey, what is wrong?"

The girl only trembled even more and ran off leaving Kathy confused and guilty. Was the girl that scared of her? Or royals in general? Whatever that was could wait until later, the most important thing was to look for Gabriel.

Mind-bond.

She could ask him to meet her through the mind-bond. How hadn't she thought of that? Recalling her lesson with Cynthia, she thought about Gabriel and only him, reaching out for that strand that connected both of them.

'Gabriel?' She tested.

He replied almost immediately.

'Princess. How may I help you?'

His straightforwardness annoyed Kathy but she replied. 'I wanna see you. Come to the castle, we have to talk.'

'I'm sorry, but I can't,' he replied.

'Why? Are you busy?'

He paused then replied.

'Yes, I have a meeting with the older warriors.'

He was lying. Being an empath had certain advantages, she could tell the feelings of anyone she had come in contact with, whether they go far or are near her.

'Liar. No excuses, come the castle now,' she ordered then closed the connection.

Kathy hated playing the royal card but sometimes had no choice. She sat on a bench at the back of the castle and waited for him. She knew he would come. A few minutes later, he came.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked as soon as she saw his appearance. He looked pale with dark circles underneath his eyes. He had also lost a lot of weight.

He plopped down beside her, a little not too gracefully. "Just been going through a lot," his gruff voice replied.

"Care to share?"

He shook his head.

"Oh...and why have you been avoiding me?" He avoided her gaze, looking everywhere but her eyes. Kathy noticed that he seemed to be hiding his emotions. To be able to do that, he must have had a lot of practice.

"It's nothing," was all he said.

She scoffed. "Nothing? You've avoided me for days and you say it's nothing. I thought we were friends."

"It was for your good," He replied and she could see his control over his emotions slowly snapping. If she could prod, even more, he would snap then she would be able to tell what he was feeling.

"My good? Don't kid yourself, Gabriel. I needed a friend and not someone who avoided me. Don't say you did it for my good when it was for your selfish reasons," she told him and felt his control snap even more.

"Don't you dare, Kathy! Everything is your fault. You are messing with my mind!" He growled.

Growl? When did people start growling?

Anger slowly seeped out of him. Anger was a good start. At least that was an emotion even though not the good kind.

"My fault? What do you mean my fault? And how am I messing with your mind?" She pushed further, watching closely for any slip-ups from him.

He stood up and started pacing while running his hand through his hair. Kathy wondered what she must have done to cause him that much frustration.

"My mission was simply to bring you back to earth and get rewarded. I didn't expect for things to turn out this way," he mumbled to himself, probably not expecting Kathy to hear him but she did.

Suddenly, everything became clearer to Kathy. How he knew where to find her on earth and how he helped her so quickly. He tracked her location and found her. It wasn't because he cared but because he wanted the reward for finding the princess.

"So, that's why…" she trailed off as reality dawned on her ignorance.

He realized what she was thinking about when she stood up to leave.

"No, no, Kathy. Although that was the reason I went to earth, things changed when I met you." He stood in her way, stopping her from leaving but Kathy was not having it. She was determined to leave as his betrayal cut her deeply.

"What changed?"

The silence was his reply. She scoffed at his inability to speak.

"I trusted you, Gabriel, even more than my family at first. You made me feel normal and for the first time in my life, someone was like me." She let her tone convey how much hurt she felt.

When he still didn't speak, Kathy tried to go around him, and he blocked her still.

"Unconsciously, you slithered into my mind, rooted yourself in, and started torturing me." His voice contained pent-up frustration and something else that Kathy couldn't place her finger on.

"Guilt tortured you alongside a little bit of sister karma, not me," she taunted, making him clench his jaw.

"You don't know what you are saying, Kathy," he spoke in a low tone, moving towards her and backing her against the wall.

"Get away from me, General Atlas," she warned, finally calling him by his real name. He didn't deserve to be called anything else after what he did to her.

"Oh, now I am General Atlas. What happened to call me, Gabriel?" His voice had taken a sarcastic turn. Was he mocking her?

"Don't mock me, Atlas," she spat, purposefully drawing the 'l' in his name so he knew how pissed she was.

He had her back against the wall with his body pressing against hers.

"Get off me!"

"You want to know everything, don't you?" He asked.

"Get the hell off me!" She exclaimed, pushing harder.

"I want to feel what you do to me," his husky voice whispered into her ear. He pressed himself harder against her then she felt it.

His erection stood proudly against her thighs. It was hard and it freaked her out. She pushed against his chest trying to get him off her but she was no match for him.

"Getaway, you dirty pig!"

Then he snapped. All the emotions he tried to conceal poured out of him in waves, lust, and anger stronger than the rest. He grabbed both of her hands and placed them beside her head.

"Yes, Kathy, I want you. More than I've ever wanted anyone in my life. You go about prancing like a doe in front of my eyes not knowing what you did to my body and mind. I tried to stay away and forget you but it didn't work, you are stuck in my head!" He growled out the last part.

"Your head is the last place I want to be," she spat angrily.

All she wanted to do was burn him for touching her like that. She started heating only her body enough to burn but not start a fire. Then he kissed her.