Disguised Vengeance

Chapter 17

This chapter is dedicated to livingonedge for encouraging (harrassing) me to write :)

"He has been poisoned, Princess. I don't know if the poison is fatal. But, I don't want to take any chances. We need to find an antidote as soon as possible," Nathan said urgently.

"Why would anyone want to poison Jase?"

Nathan could not help smiling at her innocence. She was as naive as he had been before he left Esyria, blissfully unaware of the things humans were capable of doing.

"Not him, Your Highness," Nathan replied.

"Then who?" Her butterscotch eyes widened in surprised as realisation dawned upon her the moment the question left her lips.

"Me."

"You."

They said in unison.

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The pie was for me. The pie was for me. The pie was for me.

The same words repeated themselves in Catherine's mind, like a resounding cymbal. Biting on her bottom lip, Catherine angled her face away from Nathan's concerned gaze. The nagging guilt spread like poison in her body, travelling through her veins toward her pounding heart. She wished fervently that she had been poisoned instead; she'd much rather battle vivid hallucinations than deal with the suffocating lump in her throat.

Catherine blamed it on herself for putting Jase's life in danger. If she had tasted the pie before him, she would have been the one convulsing on the floor, the one forced to relive her worst nightmares, the one suffering, the one at risk of dying... Her heart constricted in pain.

"It's not your fault," Nathan said with unmistakable firmness in his voice.

Instead of responding, Catherine merely shook her head. It was like deja vu. She was sick and tired of people hurting or suffering for her sake. It was nobody's duty to protect her. Why was everyone willing to take an arrow for her? To lose an arm for her? To taste her food for her?

With her eyes shut and her fists clenched, she channelled all her panic and fear and anxiety into one strong emotion - anger. She felt the familiar rush of heat in her cheeks and acknowledged the burning sensation in her veins. Anger was refreshing and helped clear the fog in her mind. The moment she reopened her eyes, her brain was already scanning the situation and coming up with possible solutions. The first thing she had to do was make sure Lord Jepson was aware that the Haters had finally crossed the line and outlived their hospitality.

"Inform Lord Jepson, Amice and my sister of the slimy, ungrateful, pathetic -" Catherine cut herself off before she exploded into flames from all the hatred she felt toward the two ungrateful women. Jase and she had risked their lives to save the toddler from the raging river currents and this was how they were repaid for their act of kindness. Catherine could feel the tip of her ears turning red with fury.

Struggling to control her anger, she rephrased her request, "Tommy, could you -"

"I've got it, princess," Nathan replied, already halfway out the door. He admired her ability to regain control of the circumstances despite having just witness Jase's breakdown. Admittedly, watching Jase's cool and controlled exterior crack and crumble to that extent more than disconcerted him.

After Nathan left, Catherine turned to face Jase. The effect of the poison was profound as ever. He was still hallucinating, mumbling nonsense about his past. Watching him, fragile and hurting, completely extinguished her burning anger for the Haters and replaced it with crushing compassion. Her fiery rage became nothing more than a warm pile of dry twigs.