Chapitre 218: Blow
The light in Katherine's eyes grew dim as Nathaniel cursed. Whenever she had thought of their reunion, it was a happy occasion but the true one was not going her way. Now he even distanced himself from her, bringing a few steps between him and her hands that were falling down to the mattress.
"Why?", she suddenly asked. "You do control your magic most of the time, so why? Why can't I touch you the way I want to?"
"You are writing off the risk too easily." Nathaniel crossed his arms in front of his chest, his gaze dark as if all light had been sucked away. "It is as you said: most of the time. I, for my part, don't want to find out if you will miscarry the next time we touch. And I don't think you want it either. If you had thought this through, you would know that distance is the only option."
"But..." Katherine's hopes fell at the determined stance of her husband. She bared her teeth, fighting against the pain it caused her. "Why? Why is it that every time we make a step forward, we will make two back as well? Does the world hate us being together?"
"The world certainly hates me. You are just too close by." Nathaniel's reply might sound like a dry joke, but Katherine's breath hitched nonetheless and she buried her face in her palms.
"What if," she suddenly asked as if realization just dawned on her, "what if our child doesn't have my power? Will you never hold it, never let it touch even a strand of your hair?"
The rim of Nathaniel's left eye twitched, then he pressed them close and rubbed the space between his brows. "That is... if it is the only way..." He swallowed and finally forced a hoarse answer up his throat. "... yes."
There was silence in the tent. Katherine's shoulders quivered with anguish. Nathaniel looked on and knew that he couldn't touch her, couldn't gather her in a hug, and tell her that everything would be alright. With every second, the happiness over the wonder of pregnancy bled out of his chest, exchanged with fear. Would she leave him now? Would she finally see that he could never be a good husband, a good father? His marriage vow would leave her a way out but he wasn't sure if he could really let her go, even with things as they were now.
Katherine finally looked up, tears brimming in her eyes. She reached out a hand and his fingers curled in with the urge to take it. Yet, he didn't. He couldn't. As if she knew his internal struggle, she retracted the hand to press it against her bosom, over her aching heart. "How... just how did you bear it all these years? How could you live without your beloved's touch? Without anyone's touch? Just..."
Her voice faded into silence, a silence that was filled with Nathaniel's erratic heartbeats. He almost got dizzy from relief. She didn't leave him yet. It deluded him why she never left even though the world built him to be unloved. Just how could her heart be so big and bright? It was almost scary that he began to rely on that big heart of hers, trust that she might really never leave him.
"Day by day", he rasped out, eager to answer as if it would make up for his shortcomings, "Hour by hour. Even second by second, as long as there was a bigger goal to mind."
"Oh..." She pressed her lips together, her dark lashes fluttering. Waiting with bated breath, he tried to deduce what she was thinking but only noticed that she started tapping her lips after a while. He tensed as she finally squared her shoulders and looked him right in the eye. "Alright, my goal is to kiss you again after nine months. Will you give your wife some treats if she holds out until then?"
His eyes widened, then they squinted as a smile slowly curled up his lips. A hand pressed to his chest, he slightly inclined his head. "It will be my pleasure, my princess."
"Queen", she corrected with a cheeky grin. "Don't forget, I will be your future queen."
His lips hiked up even higher as the last bit of tension washed away just like that. "Right, my queen of mischief, beloved wife."
She giggled. It was like heaven's music in his ears and just as he thought it couldn't get any sweeter, she brought her hands to her face and kissed them one by one. With puckered pink lips, she blew the kisses in his direction.
Since his heart was already filled to the brim, it was now overflowing with love. Feeling the corners of his eyes moisten, he blinked rapidly. A chuckle rumbled deep in his throat. Then he brought his gloved hand to his lips and returned the gesture, all the while thinking of the first ever kiss she had pressed onto this leather. These gloves had become his favorites afterward.
"Let's not think of all the ifs right now," she said with a smile and patted the blanket beside her. "Come here. I swear to my own happiness and the kisses you promised me: I will not touch your skin unless you decide that it is safe."
"Thanks," He murmured and checked his clothes for skin showing before he followed her call. The promise made his heart rest at ease, but it never hurt to be cautious. "So... did you see a doctor already?"
"Yeah." Her fingers were itching to touch him, so she fiddled with the blanket instead. "There was a doctor at the border. Though I think he wasn't happy to see a pregnant woman under his jurisdiction..."
She stopped when Nathaniel's hand came to rest atop her fidgety fingers, pressing them lightly. Glancing up, she saw gentleness shimmer in these red orbs. The gaze was solemn and reassuring, so she took the chance to intervein their fingers. Cool leather rubbed against her skin.
Clearing her throat, she continued. "Anyway, he said that it should be only a few weeks old... now maybe a month. I noticed it because of the morning sickness. Or rather, Lady Brandon noticed, I had no clue at all..."
Grinning, Katherine told Nathaniel everything from beginning to end. "... I only asked because I felt sick when I used magic but he said that magic is bad for the child. He only spoke of fire and ice magic though, so I wonder why it is the same for me. My magic is supposed to heal people, isn't it? Why should it do any harm to the child?"
"Hmmm," Nathaniel made, and his thumb drew circles on the back of her hand. "Maybe exactly because it is healing you. Pregnancy takes a toll on women, so if your magic flows through you - automatically healing you - then it might see the child as a disturbance. As a kind of parasite."
"Hey, don't you dare call our child a parasite!", Katherine instantly flared up. "Don't. You. Dare!"
Nathaniel chuckled. "I'm only analyzing the view of your magic, even when it clashes with my own. Of course, our child is a wonder to me."
"It better be," Katherine grumbled, slightly pacified. She pondered a bit over the new input, then her eyes lit up. "Doesn't that mean that maybe - just maybe - the child will be fine as long as I don't let my magic touch my belly? I mean, if I only let it flow through my arms or other parts that aren't close to it, it won't hurt the child, right?"
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Freakzilla
Freakzilla Thank you Qwin for the funny comment! :D and I hope all of you are well ~
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone