The Chosen (40 page)

“Why did you do that?” she asked suddenly.

Confused he turned back to her. “Why did I do what?”

Her eyes flashed. “Why did you have to make me your Lady? Surely you know by now that I don’t like to be at the center of attention?”

David was starting to feel perturbed. Something was wrong. Usually Kathryn guarded her emotions jealously, but now she actually looked ready to start a screaming match, he looked up and down the hall. “May I come in?”

“What?” she asked angrily.

He nodded towards her room. “I’ll explain why, but it’s not something we want the servants to hear,” he said his voice low.

Distrust flickered in her eyes, but she admitted him. When he was inside she simply glared at him, waiting for his explanation. She may have verbally waited for him, but the rest of her body was tense and it suggested to him that if he didn’t start talking, and have one seriously good explanation to boot, she was going to start throwing him into the walls.

Abruptly the conversation that he’d had with Lord Jasse so long ago popped into his head—specifically the warning that when agitated Kathryn would react forcefully if she felt threatened. He’d known that her security and anonymity would be threatened by becoming his sponsor, but he’d thought that she’d be able to handle it.

David waited until he was in the middle of the room, out of arm’s reach, before he spoke calmly. “Prince Derek wanted to make you his patron. He planned on winning the tournament and making you his Festival Queen and the only way I could talk him out of it was that if I made you my sponsor instead,” he explained.

Kathryn sat down hard, her face white. “
What
?”

The speed with which her anger dissipated and the look of incredulity on her face was enough to convince him that his actions were only the tipping point. Something else was going on with her. “I know you hate being at the center of attention,” he said quietly.  “And when Prince Derek told me his plans I talked him out of it. Took a few radians, but I managed.” He didn’t tell her that he had convinced Derek that Kathryn had already consented to being David’s sponsor earlier in the day. Of course his brother had taken that information as a sign that his little brother was in love and had teased David about it for radians, but at least he had agreed to leave Kathryn alone.

He looked at her for a long moment. “Do you forgive me?”

He watched as emotions rapidly flickered across her face. David had not missed the murderous look in her eye as she had grudgingly accepted his request. He had also noticed that, while she wasn’t normally a girl to relax, even at home, the level of her discomfort had seemed to have increased tenfold.

He had hoped that after she and Natalie had ended the animosity between them that Kathryn would once again begin to settle into the Dragons. His hopes had been quickly dashed.

While Kathryn and Natalie were no longer at odds with each other, Kathryn had not made any new attempts at befriending the rest of the Dragons. Her manner, while less chilling than it had been when Natalie and Lindsey had hated her, was still uninviting and cold.

She had grown even less inviting during the ride to the palace. Early on in their journey, Kathryn had preferred to ignore them and kept to herself. However, the closer they had gotten to the palace, the more Kathryn had begun to get short with all of them. Even Amy had noticed and commented on her moods.

Something big was going on that was bringing her to the point where she was going to snap. When Natalie had ceased her interrogations it hadn’t prevented Kathryn from shattering, it had merely put it off.  He thought back to the day Natalie had talked him into taking the family to the village. The day Kathryn had returned from the woods completely out of character. If Amy was right, she’d experienced a nightmare that day. Later, Amy had also confided that Kathryn used to get nightmares all the time, until they’d gradually stopped.

David was willing to bet that they’d never stopped and that Kathryn had simply become better at hiding them and recovering from them.

Kathryn was speechless, and for the first time in her life felt a twinge of regret. She had been thinking the worst of David and all he’d done was protect her. Never in her entire life could she remember someone doing that for her...No one except Claude. “There’s nothing to forgive,” she said woodenly. “The whole affair caught me off guard and I assumed the worst.”
There, an apology…well, sort of.

He actually grinned at her. “So I gathered.” He sat down across from her. “Kathryn did you have a nightmare?”

His question startled her. Frantically she sought speech. “What makes you think that?”

“You came to the door with ragged breathing, damp hair, and a rumpled dress, all evidence of a nightmare.”

She narrowed her eyes slightly. “You are incredibly observant.” Too observant.
Why can’t you be like everyone else in the kingdom and leave me alone? The only thing I’ve ever desired is to be left alone, why can’t anyone understand that?

“Occupational hazard,” he assured her. He paused and then asked, “Want to talk about it?”

For the second time in five minutes he left her speechless. “Talk about it?” she echoed finally.

He nodded seriously. “I’ve always been told that talking about something makes it easier to deal with, easier to move past.”

The very idea of reliving the nightmare chilled her to the bone. She looked to the windows. “No.”

“No?”

She looked back at him. “Talking doesn’t make it easier to move past, to deal with.”

He pierced her with a look. “How would you know? According to what I’ve been told, you’ve never discussed your past with anyone.”

How dare you! Kathryn felt her anger surge like a rapidly rising tide. “So you’ve been spying on me?” She accused, her voice rising again.

He shook his head. “Not spying, just trying to understand your distantness towards the rest of the family.” David looked at her for a long time. “We’ve been a family for almost a year, Kathryn. I understand your hesitancy to form relationships, but you are going to have to fully trust me and the rest of the Dragons someday and I would prefer it to be soon.”

“Oh you would, would you?” she asked sarcastically. “What makes you think I’m going to trust you?”

His gaze was steady as he replied. “Because I’m family.”

Her angry retort died before she could vocalize it. His answer wasn’t the one she had expected. Then again, David just had to be the one person she had ever encountered that she couldn’t seem to predict with any accuracy.

“Why you? Why not Amy or another Dragon?”

“You had all the years at school to tell Amy, you didn’t. Besides, I’m our family leader.”

“So that automatically makes you trustworthy?”

David sighed. He did not want to have this conversation here, but her uncharacteristic anger and talkativeness convinced him that he needed to address a growing problem. “You are shattering, Kathryn.”

“What do you mean by that?” She demanded, coming to her feet.

He remained sitting. “Look at yourself,” he said, forcing himself to remain calm. “You’re distracted and jumpy. You can’t focus on assignments the way you used to. On the ride here you practically tore Amy’s head off when she asked you if you were hungry. You didn’t even notice I was standing before you today at the end of the tourney.”

“I can focus just fine,” Kathryn replied through clenched teeth.

David shook his head. “No, you can’t,” he argued. “You keep others away by your cold manner, refusing to react when someone takes a shot at you. That tactic kept Natalie frustrated for months, and yet here you are, ready to argue with me, something you hate to do.”

“Only because it’s a waste of time, nobody believes me,
they
didn’t believe me.”

David remained silent, forcing himself not to react, hoping against all hope that Kathryn would continue in her outburst and help him understand.

It wasn’t to be. Kathryn, seeming to realize the importance of what she had just said, moved to the window and stared at the closed drapes. Mute.

“Who’s they?” he asked quietly.

“No one I care to discuss.” Her tone could have frozen the ocean.

He took a gamble. “It has something to do with Blackwood Manor, doesn’t it?”

She stiffened, asking in a tense tone, “Who told you about Blackwood Manor?” He could almost see her mind working, wondering,
how much do you really know?

“You did, weeks ago.”

“I did not,” she protested. If anything she looked practically fearful at the prospect of having said the name. Did it hold that much power over her?

“You mentioned it,” he reminded her cautiously.

Skepticism crossed her features. “When?” she challenged.

“When we were riding to Duke Sebastian’s castle I asked you where you had learned the technique of hidden movement. You told me it was one of the things you had learned, courtesy of Blackwood Manor.”

She paused, obviously trying to recall the conversation. He pinpointed the moment she remembered, her face going pale and her shoulders stiffening. “You have a very detailed memory,” she said finally.

“It was the first hint of your past, I assure you I wasn’t about to forget it.”

“You should have.” She was quiet for a long moment before asking, “What do you know?”

Her question surprised him. “I know that you were abused but nothing more,” he replied slowly.

“Abused?” Kathryn asked incredulous as she turned to face him. “Is that what they’re saying?”

David paused before answering, had Lord Jasse been wrong? “That’s what Lord Jasse believes, is he wrong?”

For a brief moment, at the mention of Lord Jasse’s name, anger flashed across her features. Then it was gone, her expression coolly composed before returning her gaze to the window. “Calling what I went through abuse would be like calling a lethal dose of poison potentially dangerous,” she said coldly.

David waited patiently, hoping that she would decide to finally trust him. She turned to look at him and he could tell that today wouldn’t be that day. Before she could speak he said quickly, “I’ll wait while you dress for the feast. Is there anyone you would like me to call to help?”

She paused, and then shook her head. “No thank you, I’ll manage.”

“You’re supposed to be a lady,” he reminded her. “It wouldn’t be acceptable for Dowager Princess Jasmine’s ward to arrive at the feast dressed like a common noble woman.”

The familiar sight of her eyes narrowing at him caught his attention. “What?” he asked in confusion. “What did I say this time?”

“A common noble woman,” she repeated slowly. “You are the second person today I’ve heard say that.”

He shrugged. “It’s a regularly used phrase around the palace. I’ll try and find Amy to help you.”

David left before she could protest. Sighing, Kathryn pulled herself away from the window and moved to her closet, she had a banquet to prepare for. Blasted nobles! Blasted chivalry, she thought bitterly. Blast the King’s summons! If only she could have been deathly ill or something, then she could have begged out of the celebration and wouldn’t have to deal with this whole ridiculous nonsense of being a lady.

She snorted softly. Her? A courtly lady? She would rather be a milk maid or pig farmer than spend her life at court. All this pomp and ceremony reminded way too much of the Blackwoods and their parties and events—only this time she was one of the airheaded ladies whom Lady Blackwood surrounded herself with instead of a servant.

Lady Blackwood.

Court.

Kathryn dropped the dress she had pulled out of the closet. What if the Blackwoods had been invited to attend the birthday celebration? What if they were here now? What if she was forced to dance with Lord Blackwood?

Stop it!
She told herself sternly.
After what they put me through, Jasmine would never allow them to return to court and even if they did, they wouldn’t recognize me, I was a mute the last time I saw them.

As to dancing with Lord Blackwood, it was an easy problem to solve. She’d stomp on his foot and thrust a dagger in his eye.

Now stop being such a weakling and pick out a dress!
She turned to her closet and saw the purple dress hanging up front.

There was nothing in the kingdom that could convince her to wear that purple dress again, time to see what she had left now that Jasmine and Madame had gone through her wardrobe.

Madame must have worked overtime, Kathryn thought as she fingered through the six new dresses hanging in front. Even she had to admit they were beautiful. Reverently she brought out a pale blue creation and laid it on the bed.

The workmanship was beyond anything Kathryn had seen. The silver embroidery alone should have taken weeks to complete, yet here it was, lying on her bed. The sleeves were long and split, the sheer fabric flowed like water over her hands. Blue ribbon that matched the color of the dress laced the back of the bodice. The skirt was simple, with only a single underskirt to give it definition and drape. The fabrics were heavy, but she guessed that it they would move like ocean currents every time she moved. It reminded Kathryn of the fashion popular at court a century ago, back when ostentatious displays of wealth had been limited more toward furnishings and architecture.

Kathryn drew in a sharp breath and stepped away as if she’d been burnt. She now knew why the dress seemed so familiar. It was the dress from her dream all those weeks ago, before rescuing the princess, back at the meadow when she had fallen asleep near the waterfall. This was the dress from her dream.

Before she could throw it away Amy burst in, excitement bubbling from her. “Oh, Kathryn!” she called as she rushed over. “Can you believe that Prince Derek asked me to be his Lady?”

Tearing her gaze from the dress, Kathryn smiled at her friend. “Of course I can! He would have been a fool not to ask you.”

Amy actually blushed. “Actually,” she admitted. “I thought he would choose you.” Her gaze fell to the bed and she practically jumped on the bed. “Is this what you’re wearing tonight?” she asked excitedly as she snatched the dress and held it up.

“I don’t think so,” Kathryn said hurriedly, she did not want to wear that dress anywhere.

Amy looked her in disbelief. “Why not? It’s a gorgeous dress!” Running her hand over the skirt, she studied it. “I’ve never seen a style like this before.”

Kathryn jumped on the excuse. “Exactly, I don’t want to wear something that will stand out.”

Her friend took on a determined look. “No.”

“No?”

“No. You can’t wear anything else. This is the perfect dress for tonight.”

Kathryn panicked. “Amy I can’t wear that dress!”

“Why not? It’s perfect for you?”

Frantically Kathryn sought an excuse and came up empty. “Because I can’t,” she protested lamely.

“Oh, nonsense! Let me send for my dress and we can dress together.” She walked hurriedly to the door, pulled it open and peered out while motioning at someone in the hall.  She turned back to Kathryn, “how are you going to do your hair?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it.”

Amy cocked her head at her, grabbed her gently by the shoulders and turned her. “I think you should let it down,” she suggested.

Kathryn looked at her, appalled. “Let it down?” Self-consciously she reached up to brush her hair, only to find it was still pulled back. 
I thought I let it down before I fell asleep
…Oh right. She’d pulled it up when David had knocked on her door.

“Well, at least part of the way,” Amy proposed as she finished talking to her servant who hurried off to retrieve her dress. “Come on, we can do you first.”

Unable to talk her friend out of the blue dress, Kathryn unwillingly submitted to wearing it, although once it was on she had to admit to herself it felt like it belonged there, more than any of the other court dresses she’d ever worn, which only made her want to tear it off even more.

“Wow,” Amy exclaimed as she stood back.

“Wow what?” Kathryn turned to look in the mirror but Amy grabbed her hand and kept her from looking.

“Nope, you can’t look till I’m done with you.”

“Amy…”

“Don’t
Amy
me, this is going to be so much fun.”

“What is so great about the dress? Why did you say wow?” Kathryn demanded.

Her friend grinned at her. “Let’s just say that the dress changes your appearance drastically.”

“How?” Kathryn wasn’t in the mood for riddles. The servant arrived with Amy’s dress and laid it on the bed.

“It makes you look…what’s the word? Exotic.” Amy jabbed her finger at Kathryn. “That’s the only hint you get so stop asking.” She sat Kathryn down on a stool and began to do her hair. “I never realized what perfect hair you have.”

Kathryn was getting uncomfortable. “Would you stop with the compliments?”

Amy looked up surprised. “Why?”