The Dark Lifted

Chapter One: Reunion

Katsa woke late in the day. She had not wished to sleep so long, but the first time she had awoken, she was still tired. Such nonterminating tiredness was rare for her, and she forced herself to sleep for another few hours. The sun poured through the wonderful, cold windows and voices came from the courtyard below. King Randa was dead, killed just a few months before her return from Monsea. It happened only about a month after Princess Bitterblue was crowned and made Queen of Monsea. Raffin, of course, was king, and his neverending friendship was a comfort. Po was and had been in Lenied for three months, leaving right after the coronation. The immeasurable wish for his return is what had turned Katsa into a sad, waiting, tired person.

Katsa did not have to wait long. The door to her fire-heated room rang with a knock, and she struggled from her bed, laughing slightly when the sheets wrapped around her as if they didn't want her to leave. Her hands touched the cold, bronze doorknob, but before she turned it, the door swung open and Po rushed in, wrapping his arms around her and startling her. He was smiling and gleaming with pure joy.

"Katsa, my wildcat! I have the most wonderful news!" he said, tenderly kissing her lips. But he did not need to tell her anything. His silver and gold eyes were gleaming, just like his being. They were not withdrawn as they had been when she last watched him ride away.

She stared at him in utter amazement, her heart feeling like it would burst from the joy. "Po, oh Po! I cannot believe this! Your eyesight...it's really back!?"

His eyes filled with happy tears and he nodded, sweeping her into his arms and sitting on the bed. "I traveled to the Dells after I spoke with my mother. She told me that in King City they had unbelievable medicines, and, feeling like I owed it to her, I went. They have the most peculiar creatures there, Katsa. These...monsters. They're like an ordinary animal, but their pelts...they're these bright, dazzling colors. Most of the people avoid them, for they crave flesh and ensnare you with their beauty," he shook his head to clear it, "Katsa, those medicines...they worked. They really worked. I can see you...your beauty. I cannot explain the joy I felt when I awoke from my unconsciousness in a Dellian hospital to find that I could see the pale cieling. It was immeasurable.

"I made as fast of a journey as I could to Monsea and discovered to my dissapointment, my wildcat, that you had already left. I was worried when Bitterblue told me you had been grieving. I took the mountain pass and made it here as fast as I could. I am so glad to see you, Katsa."

Katsa sat smiling and beaming in his lap, releshing in the sight of his eyes. She had missed the beauty of them, how they themselves ensnared her, as the monsters in the Dells did to their people. "Does Raffin or anyone else know?" I asked, reaching up towards him for another kiss.

He did not answer for a while, because his lips were busy. "No, I have not. I snuck in quickly to find you. I felt your pain from outside the castle, Katsa."