Chapter 263 - Epilogue

Five years later
"Your Holiness - Uh, ah, Majesty, I mean!"
Leaning on the newly-built rails atop the dome of the palace, with the view of the Capital in the background, Katherine scolded lightly: "Shht, Hazel, she just fell asleep."
In her arms rested a baby, maybe a few months old, with a tuft of black hair and fair white skin. If she opened her lids, angelic blue eyes would blink up innocently at the viewer.
Hazel's head appeared at the end of the staircase leading to the roof. Apologetically, she bit her lip and whispered. "I'm sorry, your Majesty. A letter arrived from Dragsa, and Prince Patrick hurt his knee while playing. He's on his way here."
"Dragsa...," Katherine muttered and stretched out a hand to take it. "I wonder what they want. They were very quiet in the latter years."
Lowering her head, she took a glance at the paper. Instantly, her brows furrowed, later followed by a deep sigh. "I almost expected it. What a shame."
Her gaze wandered to the west, in the direction of the Dragsa Kingdom. "This will be trouble."
Stepping from one foot to the other, Hazel finally couldn't help her curiosity. "What will, your Majesty?"
A sad kind of smile appeared on Katherine's face. "It is an invitation to a coronation ceremony, solely for me to attend. You can guess three times who'll be the next King."
"Uh, I... I don't dare guess something this important... but it must be one of the King's sons, no?"
With another sigh, Katherine shook her head. "They died, even the sons-in-law. All but one, though I'd hoped he was dead before. He's just like a cockroach. Very annoying."
"It can't be - your Majesty's cousin?!" As Hazel's voice rose, the little Princess in Katherine's arms stirred, until her mother gently rocked her back to sleep.
"Exactly him. Now, would you go and tell Nathaniel about this? We already suspected it when these royals kept dying but for it to be true... it's really a shame."
"Of course, your Majesty. I'll tell him right away!" After Hazel scurried away, faster footsteps came up the iron staircase, and then a little boy appeared, his expensive ivory uniform stained by dirt and grass.
"Mom!" Patrick Zackary Icefall stormed over to his mother like a whirlwind, clutched her leg, and patted it excitedly, without a care that the dirt soiled the blue velvet dress. "Mom, I won! I won again!"
"How many times did I tell you not to run on the roof?" Katherine asked but the hand that tousled the dust out of the brown hair was exceedingly gentle. Then she crouched down to meet her son's bright violet eyes, an exact replica of her own. "Who did you fight, huh? If it's your uncle, I hope you bashed him real good, he deserves it!"
Grinning proudly, Patrick nodded. "He always brags how good he is, but I am better!"
"My little sword devil!" Pulling him close with one arm, Katherine gave a loud smack to his cheek that made him giggle. Of course, she knew that Aston lost to Patrick intentionally. However, there was no reason to expose this fact to the four-year-old. He would find out soon enough, and despite Aston losing in a streak, he at least made sure that her son always learned something from the fight.
"I'll go and tell Dad!" Patrick exclaimed and already tried to wriggle free.
However, Katherine held him back. "Not so fast, young man. I heard you got hurt?"
"Uh, it's just a scratch. It doesn't even - ouch! Ouch, Mom!"
"Sorry, dear, what did you say?", Katherine hummed and inspected the hole in her son's trousers where he seemed to have fallen on a hard surface and scratched his knee until it bled. A bit of light later, the wound was healed.
Patrick pouted. "Timmy always says I'm wasting your power if I let you heal such tiny things. He says you need it all for really bad wounds and I should not - "
"Timmy's just jealous. Don't worry, Pat, I can manage my power well, and it's never a waste to use it on those I love." The determined tone of Katherine's voice made her son shut up, though he didn't look convinced. "Now, didn't you want to find your Dad?"
The mention of Nathaniel brought excitement back into her son's face, and he grinned broadly. Once more, Katherine saw the resemblance with her husband. Though none of their two children had inherited his hair or eye color, the way they smiled was exactly like their Dad. Katherine just knew that Patrick would be the heart-throb of all girls when he grew a little older, especially since he smiled a lot more than Nathaniel.
Just now, however, he didn't think about girls and dashed back towards the stairs as if there was no tomorrow.
"No running on the roof!" Katherine called out again, yet she knew it was for naught. From his first steps on, her son only seemed to know running and standing still, no in-between.
"Hopefully, you'll be a little more careful," Katherine said wistfully as she gazed at the sleeping face of her little daughter. Opposite to all other noise, the rackets her brother caused never seem to faze the baby one bit. "Shayenne Irene Icefall, little Shay, you really are a mystery sometimes... Now, shall we also go see your Dad? He should be done with the ministers by now."
In her sleep, Shay smacked her lips together and turned her head deeper into Katherine's embrace, maybe in an unconscious attempt to avoid the summer sun. But before Katherine could do what she said, there were footfalls on the stairs again, steady and with weight, and she heard the babbling of her son.
"... then his sword flew out of his hand. It flew sooo high! Uncle couldn't reach it anymore, so he had to give up!"
"Hm. You did well." Hearing the deep voice that answered patiently, happiness washed over Katherine. Obviously, her husband had already been on his way here when their son found him. "However, you should not give up vigilance even if your opponent is bare-handed. Some people might exploit that to attack you unseen. Always remember: only because you have the upper hand, it doesn't mean you won."
"Okay, Dad, I'll remember," came the meek response. A second later Katherine could see her two men. Due to Patrick's growing sense of pride, only his Dad was still allowed to carry him around. Patrick even proactively jumped into his father's arms whenever the circumstances allowed it. This time, he managed to soil Nathaniel's white shirt while at it, yet the King of the nation didn't care at all. Red cufflinks glittered on Nathaniel's wrists and the familiar red cape billowing behind his back was the only concession to the official meeting he'd attended minutes ago.
Exposed to the stunning visual of two so handsome men, Katherine couldn't help but approach like the moth drawn to the flame.
"Darling!" she exclaimed. "How was the meeting?"
Turning towards her, a smile lifted Nathaniel's slim lips, and the gentleness in his eyes deepened. "Not as interesting as the letter you got, I heard."
The light of Katherine's power bloomed between them when Nathaniel leaned down for a kiss.
"Me too, me too!" Patrick called eagerly, making the couple laugh. Their son already knew that he was only allowed to touch his father's skin with the protection of his mother. Gaining a kiss on the cheek from both his parents, he seemed satisfied and nuzzled his head against Nathaniel's shoulder.
Katherine's smile waned when she remembered the words of Kate once more. She never forgot that her son was supposedly connected to the same dreadful power as his father. Even though she managed to heal his gate when he was still a baby, she dreaded the day his magic power might wake, and what it would take from him. She might even be the only mother in the whole Icelands who wished for her child to just stay the way it was. Maybe if he passed the next few years without meeting dire circumstances, he would not awaken at all...
"So, what do you want to do about that letter?" Nathaniel picked up their earlier topic.
As Katherine pondered, her eyes wandered to the west. There, in the distance, her archenemy was gathering strength, gaining the support of a nation as she had hers. Opposite to him, Katherine and Nathaniel's reign already stabilized, and they'd built strong ties to the surrounding countries.
Despite this, Katherine knew that it would be a long, drawn-out fight should she decide to confront Ethan. A fight that would cost way more lives than the person involved deserved. However, ignoring him was also no option. This enmity between them would never come to an end, and she didn't believe he would leave her be when he was powerful again. The poor people in Dragsa... getting such a king was worse than none at all.
"First we should gauge the situation and see if there is a peaceful way to settle it. Maybe we can help another Dragsean to usurp the throne. Open war should be the last of our options. If we get close enough to him, we could also..."
Katherine grew quiet and hesitantly gazed at her husband. Nathaniel smiled, not happily, yet also without derision or regret. "It might save many lives if I just shook hands with him once. You don't need to feel guilty for thinking that way. It might be difficult, though, as he knows about my power."
Katherine shook her head. "We should first search for other ways."
"Alright." Once more, Nathaniel bent down to kiss his wife, and since Patrick fell just as peacefully asleep in his arms as Shay in Katherine's, this kiss grew longer and more passionate than the last.
In the light of the setting sun, Nathaniel's eyes were deep as he leaned back. "Let's bring them to bed."
Katherine giggled quietly, her one hand still in his hair, and snuggled tightly against his side. "You only want to bring me to bed."
"Of course. Nothing speaks against a third one, don't you think?"
"You are shameless, your Majesty."
"You love me that way."
"I love you in any way."
"Then let me love you in bed again. Hm?" Nathaniel's nose brushed against her neck as he whispered the words into her ear.
She could help neither the flush spreading on her face nor the laugh in her stomach. "Whatever your Majesty wishes. Just please don't forget to lock the door this time!"