Chapter Eight: Reassurances

Silence reigned in the dimly lit corridor as Desmond resumed leading the way to his father's private receiving room. It had been a silent journey from the beginning, but where before it had been an easy silence between friends, it was now an uncomfortable one. Inwardly, Desmond seethed at his elder brother for what he had done; out of the corner of his left eye, he could see Cat, but she no longer exuded confidence or joy, and now, instead of walking directly beside him, she had drifted a little behind. Her eyes were downcast, and she didn't seem to even know where she was anymore; in short, she wasn't behaving like herself. He slowed his pace down ever so slightly to match hers and gently nudged her with his shoulder. Cat looked up at the unexpected contact and met his eyes. Instantly, the corridor around them melted away, leaving only him and her.

'You ok, Cat?'

'Of course, I am. Why wouldn't I be? It isn't as if Dorian almost told the most important people in my life my biggest secret; nothing like that just happened.'

'The key word being "almost" which means that he didn't, and they still don't know.'

'You think that all of them missed his inferences? Our friends aren't complete idiots you know; there's no way a person as attentive as Rashira, Cassie, or Draco are didn't notice. Shira's not the prying type, and Cassie will drop it if I insist, but what about Dray? He's already irritated with me for not telling him that the Dark Lord is my godfather, and now, he finds out that I may have another secret? What am I supposed to do?'

Even speaking through a mind link as they were, Desmond could feel Cat's near panic as she spoke. He knew he had to calm her down before their audience with his father. Meeting with the Dark Lord with anything but a cool head was suicide, even for his favored goddaughter; it wasn't as if he was going to choose tonight of all nights to suddenly ignore his only goddaughter, so he would definitely notice if her usually composed carriage was missing.

'I'm going to give you the same advice I gave you when I first found out your secret. Tell him. You said it yourself; he's practically your brother. You two grew up together; you share everything. You knew each other almost from birth. Do you really think something like this would suddenly change all of that? Give him some credit, Cat.'

'I do give him credit, but this isn't like telling him that I hate the new robes he just bought, or that I think his new cloak looks like it was made from one of his mother's dress robes from last season. This is…'

'Something he probably already suspects; if he's even a fraction as smart as you keep telling me he is, he should have already figured out that there was something you were keeping from him, or have you always possessed the talent to hide things so well that even those that know you wouldn't notice something? Because I really can't see a two-year-old hiding anything very well; not even you.'

Cat seemed to shrink in on herself as he finished his last statement; he regretted having upset her, but this was a fear she needed to get over, or at the very least, put away for another time. Desmond waited patiently as she processed what he had told her, hoping that he hadn't just pushed his closest friend into a complete state of hysteria. He knew that Cat wasn't so conceited that she would think she could conceal herself at an age where she wouldn't have even known that there was anything about herself that needed concealing, but she likely never had thought about that. Finally, she looked back up, and Desmond breathed a sigh of relief at the returned air of calm about her.

'You're right, Des, there's no way Dray doesn't suspect that there's something very different about me. He's always been intelligent and discerning about everyone around him, me included.'

'And the fact that he hasn't said anything about it or treated you any differently means that he's willing to wait until you're ready to share it with him.'

'That means I have to tell him, and soon, before he loses his patience, or worse, I lose his trust.'

He must have had a very uncharacteristically puzzled look on his face; either that or Cat had developed the power to read his thoughts because there was no way that he had spoken his thoughts aloud.

'It never occurred to me that Dray already knew I was hiding something from him. Now that you've pointed out that there's no way he doesn't know, I can't keep hiding it from him. He and I have always been totally open with one another. If I start hiding things, then pretty soon our bond of trust will be gone, and I won't let that happen.'

'Good, now that you're calm and collected, I think we should return to the others. We must look like a couple of Inferi to the others.'

'Alright, go ahead and release it.'

The Shadow Prince nodded and went about the process of disconnecting his mind from hers. The kind of mind link he had used on her was very convenient, but it was also exceedingly dangerous. If the user didn't have the subject's permission to link with his/her mind, the user risked losing his/her own mind within the incomplete channel. Desmond was one of only a few people who could take such liberties with Cately Blanchard's mind at almost anytime, of which he was genuinely proud. Just as he felt the bond between them dispersing, Cat's voice drifted to him.

'Thanks, Des.'

As awareness of his surroundings returned to him, Desmond felt Cat's presence return to his side. Looking forward, he could just make out the outlines of the two serpent statues that guarded the entrance of his father's anteroom; the two of them had finished their impromptu conversation at the perfect time it seemed. Much later and they would have led their friends straight into those guardians, which would not have been easy to explain to either his father or his friends. On impulse, he turned and met Cat's eyes, which were now filled with mirth; doubtless, she had had the same thoughts. As they came upon the entrance, they both automatically stopped and turned to look at their friends. Desmond let Cat address them as he did have the higher rank here.

"Ok guys, I know that this is a pretty nerve-racking time for you, but you have got to stay calm, ok? Just don't speak unless he speaks to you, answer truthfully, and above all, don't try to hide anything and I mean anything. That's about it; everyone take a deep breath, and let's go."

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