Chapter 14: The Storm
So it happened again - how could it not? How could she even think it would be different this time? How could she believe someone could love her? That she deserved to be loved? How could she be so stupid and not trust her instincts? Only the darkest thoughts were flooding Katarina's mind as she dragged Ashe through the Institute's halls. The archer tried to resist her, but the assassin was much stronger. She held the Freljordian's wrist tightly, crushing it in her tight grip and completely ignoring Ashe's pain - her pleas for help.
"Katarina, stop, please!" Ashe almost cried, tiny teardrops forming in the corners of her eyes, "Please, you're hurting me!"
"Shut up!" the assassin snarled, "I'm done with you!"
"Kat, please, I didn't do it, I swear!"
Ashe felt hopeless; she tried to stop Katarina, but the assassin seemed to ignore her. The archer had no idea where were they going, and as they were passing by various residents of the Institute, she could feel that all the eyes were set on her. Yes, Katarina was angry at her and she wasn't exactly subtle about it. Well, the Noxian was only rarely subtle, so all the attention was drawn to them. Everyone who saw how furious the assassin was quickly got out of their way. No one even tried to stop them and ask for an explanation. Ashe was almost running, it was the only way how to keep up with extremely angry Katarina, and she knew that slowing down would only make the pain in her wrist worse. As she heard her hasty footsteps and heavy breathing, she felt a tight knot forming in her stomach, and she knew that with every step she took she was slipping further and further away from the warmth and happiness she felt just minutes before. Everything that happened during the past month - everything she went through with Katarina to gain the assassin's trust and help her make her life better - it all looked like a distant memory now, and probably was lost forever. She still had no idea where Katarina was taking her, and she wasn't excited about finding out in the slightest.
"Please, Kat, let me go!"
"Don't call me that! And shut up!" the Noxian growled without looking at the archer.
Ashe was hurt. She tried to remember that she and Katarina used to walk these halls and hold hands. Now, the assassin was roughly dragging her forward by her wrist and though it hurt so much, it didn't hurt nearly as much as her heart. She could feel Katarina's hand slipping. She was sweating there, but she wasn't sure if the sweat was from her arm or from the other woman's palm. Katarina definitely felt it too, because she tightened her grip, uncaring of how much pain it would cause Ashe to feel.
After what felt like an eternity, they reached the offices of the Summoner Council. Katarina stopped to knock on the door and Ashe tried to reason with her for the last time before it would be too late.
"Please, let me explain it!" she burst into tears as she looked right at the Sinister Blade.
"You betrayed me!" Katarina snarled, her words, her eyes, everything on her was seething with rage. "I trusted you and you betrayed me!"
Katarina didn't wait for an invitation and just barged inside instead. This particular office belonged to summoner Arlos, first deputy of High Councilor Kolminye, who was also in charge of the murder investigation. He was in there, just as the entire investigation team. When the door suddenly blasted open, all of them turned their heads towards it and what they saw shocked them. Katarina was standing there, glaring death and destruction at everyone around, and next to her was Ashe, trying as hard as possible to suppress her tears but failing miserably. Caitlyn was the first one to react when she noticed what state was the Frost Archer in.
"Oh gods, Ashe, what happened?" she asked with serious concern in her voice.
The Freljordian clearly wasn't able to respond, so Katarina did it instead: "I've got your killer!"
Everyone was looking at the archer; she felt like their eyes were burning right through her. She fought so hard to hold her tears back, but she couldn't hold them anymore. Both Caitlyn and Vi ran to her immediately, to calm her down, check if she was alright and wipe away her tears.
"What happened?" the Piltover Enforcer turned at Katarina, anger in her eyes. "What did you do to her?!"
"Nothing at all!" the assassin replied defensively. "I just exposed her lies. You should be thanking me for doing your fucking job!"
Vi turned back to Ashe, who was already much calmer and breathing more steadily.
"Is it true, Ashe?" she asked with a worried tone in her voice. The archer just shook her head, another small teardrop rolled down her cheek. She quietly asked for some water, her voice sounding broken and desperate. Caitlyn instantly darted away and returned with a glass of the pristine liquid in her hand. She carefully handed it over to Ashe, right after she shot Katarina a murderous glance. Vi brought Ashe a chair and Caitlyn helped the archer to sit down.
"I didn't do it," Ashe said after she took a sip from the water and slowly swallowed, "I didn't kill Zilean and I honestly don't know who did it."
"Wasn't she with you when it happened?" the Sheriff of Piltover harshly asked Katarina.
"No, we're not dating, we never were. "The assassin snarled back.
"I knew it!" Caitlyn almost squealed in excitement, "I knew that the two of you were just playing it all along!"
"Not now, Cupcake!" Vi scolded her, "this isn't the right time."
"Right, sorry."
"So where were you when the murder occurred, Frost Archer?" summoner Arlos intervened. He was the highest authority in the room and he felt compelled to take charge.
Ashe wiped the tears from her eyes and slowly started talking: "Let me think for a moment... I remember, it was a month ago, but I remember. And I probably wouldn't if it weren't for the murder."
The Queen of Freljord drank another sip from the glass she was holding and continued: "I had a council with my most trusted summoners, I can call them here and you can question them to see that I am telling the truth. I had to convince them that I was really dating Katarina, and it wasn't that easy."
Ashe started sobbing again, but suppressed it as best as she could.
"I'm sorry," she said after she quickly composed herself, "I didn't want to... I didn't mean to... I didn't want you to see that."
Seeing the archer in such a desperate state, sitting there looking so small and helpless, Katarina started reevaluating what she did. After all, Ashe was pretty confident when talking about her alibi. The assassin looked back - she'd never done that before - but now she had to. Now it was important. Only seeing Ashe in tears had made her realize that she'd probably overreacted and that she shouldn't have done it. Her own face now mirrored the archer's, tears almost sliding down her cheeks. She wanted to step closer to Ashe, but as soon as she tried to approach the archer, Caitlyn and Vi quickly appeared in her way, threatening her with death glares, so she backed off.
Someone knocked on the door of the office, the sound strong and resolute, and Summoner Arlos had no reason to deny the person entry. All of them anxiously waited for Ashe's summoners to come confirm her alibi for the night of the murder, but instead of them someone completely different entered the room. The sharp clanking of his cane against the stone floor alerted everyone of his presence and the bird perched on his shoulder screeched loudly.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Swain said with his typical cold Noxian politeness, the same way as if someone had slapped you in the face and then told you not to take it personally, meaning that he didn't care one bit if or what he had interrupted, "but I need to talk to Katarina for a moment."
"How the fuck did you know where I am?" the red haired assassin snarled, unintentionally venting a part of her pent up rage at Swain.
"It was very simple," the general spoke calmly. "I just followed the trail of yelling and swearing. It never fails."
His comment completely shut Katarina up and the room went silent again. Ashe wasn't crying anymore. Swain's arrival provided a much needed distraction from the situation she found herself in, and she was grateful for that. At least for a moment she could pretend that it wasn't actually happening, but it didn't last long.
"General Swain," Arlos addressed the Noxian formally, "we are in the middle of an important investigation, I'm afraid you will have to wait until we resolve the current matter."
"Of course," Swain nodded. "so there was a breakthrough in the murder case?"
"Right now I can't share any details with you," the summoner responded shortly.
The Freljordians arrived soon afterwards to be questioned and as they were sitting in front of Arlos and Caitlyn, one by one they confirmed their queen's version of events.
Katarina's expressions were gradually darkening. She did her best trying to be patient as she listened to them talk about building new supply routes through the frozen mountains and the necessity to prepare for the next winter even though the summer hadn't yet begun. It was too late - she already knew that she had made a mistake and that there was no way she could take it back. The damage was done and Katarina realized that her budding relationship with the Frost Archer would never be the same as before, and that it was all her fault. To distract herself from those painful thoughts, she turned instead to Swain, who was watching the interrogations with a certain level of twisted interest.
"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked him.
Swain wasn't supposed to stay in the room and summoner Arlos tried to politely tell him to leave, but the general pretended to overhear him over all that politeness, so the summoner eventually gave up.
"I just wanted to inform you that there was a certain shift of power in Noxus within the last few days." He answered mysteriously.
"And?" Katarina stared at him with a puzzled expression, not knowing what to make out of that sentence. Swain chuckled at her confusion and then continued: "A shift from Darkwill and towards me."
"Great!" the assassin exclaimed ironically, but that didn't seem to affect the general's suspiciously good mood.
"We need to head back to Noxus," Swain said now in a more reserved tone, "and secure the Grand General's throne before someone else does that."
"Now?" Katarina sounded almost desperate. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Well, I hoped I could rely on you, and that you would want to finish your father's work and take over his legacy. For that we would need to have absolute control over Noxus. It will require some 'unfortunate accidents' happening to several problematic members of the High Command. Right now, you are the best person I have to provide those 'accidents'."
"But... can't it wait?" the redhead almost begged.
Swain sighed. "I'm afraid not..."
He was still talking, but Katarina didn't hear him. She noticed that the interrogations were over and the queen of Freljord was deemed innocent. Ashe was slowly walking away with her head down. She was humiliated, weakened, exhausted, and worst of all, heartbroken. She felt the dull ache in her chest as the dreams and desires she'd created over the past month shattered to tiny pieces the moment Katarina accused her of murder right after agreeing to a real relationship with her and their first real kiss. She was already in the hallway when she heard hasty footsteps behind her. The archer didn't even need to turn her head to know who it was running after her.
"Ashe, wait!" Katarina called.
"What do you want, Katarina?" Ashe snapped, eyeing the Noxian. She didn't even bother to hide the anger she was feeling.
"I... I wanted to..." finding the right words was obviously hard for the assassin. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry. I know that what I did was stupid and that I shouldn't have done it."
"Stupid? That's the right word for it? Just stupid!?" Ashe's voice suddenly got high pitched; she was battling an immense amount of rage inside of her. "It was the single most idiotic thing I've ever seen anyone do!"
"I just want you to know that I deeply regret it."
"Not half as much as I do."
There was a painful silence growing between the two of them and surprisingly, Ashe was the one who broke it: "You know, I have to tell you something, Katarina. I felt attracted to you even before we started that fake dating. I felt drawn to you like a moth drawn to a flame, but I felt safe because I knew that you wouldn't hurt me. But you did hurt me."
Katarina looked at Ashe's left wrist, the one that still bore red marks from the assassin's grasp. She wanted to caress it, to let the other woman know that her touch could be soft and gentle just as it could be hurtful and destructive. But as soon as their hands touched, the Freljordian pulled hers back.
"This isn't about a stupid wrist, Katarina," Ashe scolded her as if she was a little child, "you hurt my feelings. You made me feel amazing things and then, in the end you destroyed everything. So don't try to mend it with a single touch, because it won't work."
The assassin kept looking at her with sad eyes, waiting for the archer to say something, convinced that this can't be the end, refusing to believe it.
"What?!" Ashe snarled at her, using rage to mask the fact that she was falling apart on the inside. "Do you want to say something?! Just spit it out!"
"I just..." Katarina wasn't good with words, especially when they were supposed to be apologies, and she knew it. "it just felt so real, and it was making perfect sense. I suddenly *thought I* knew why you were helping me in the first place."
"So this is what it's about?" Ashe's voice was suddenly less angry and more mocking towards the Noxian. "You didn't understand why would anyone help you? You know what? Now I don't understand it either! But I will tell you why, I will give you this one answer, if that's what your heart so much desires! I did it because I believed that there is more to you. More than just all that bloodthirst, anger and self-pity. Guess I was wrong."
For a moment they just stood there, observing each other, neither of them able to move or say a word, both of them on the verge of tears, but holding it back for the sake of looking stronger in front of the other.
"Ashe, please," Katarina started, choking back the tears that appeared in the corners of her eyes, "let me make it up to you. I will do anything you want, I promise-"
"Stop," the archer cut her off. "this isn't something that you can fix with a fancy bouquet. Just leave me be."
"Katarina, we need to go!" the assassin heard Swain's voice behind her, interrupting her train of thought just as she was about to ask Ashe for a second chance.
"Not now!" she yelled at him angrily.
"Just go," Ashe told her resolutely. "I don't want to talk to you anymore."
"...Fine." Katarina whirled around and started slowly walking towards the general.
"When will we come back?" she asked him with a hint of hope in her voice.
"I don't know," he admitted. "maybe we won't. We have a lot of work ahead of us."
Katarina muttered some complaint, but Ashe couldn't make out the exact words because of the distance that had grown between them. She started walking towards her room, but then both halves of Piltover's Finest caught up to her.
"Hey, are you alright?" Caitlyn asked her with a genuinely concerned tone.
"Yes, I am," the archer's face lit up a bit in the presence of her friends.
"That was just horrible." Vi added, her eyes flashing back to the departing Noxians.
"Yes," the Sheriff of Piltover agreed, "who would've known that she could snap like this."
"I feel like I should have..." Ashe admitted quietly.
"No. No, no, no, this isn't your fault, not in the slightest," Caitlyn reassured her. "listen, Ashe, we want you to know that we are here for you. If there is anything you need, just let us know."
"Thank you, but I just want to be alone for now," she said almost inaudibly, her voice hardly more than a whisper.
She wandered mindlessly around the Institute. She wanted to return to the safety of her room, but her legs carried her deep into the Noxian wing instead. She didn't even realize it until she found herself facing the door to Katarina's room. Being too tired to walk across the building once more, Ashe entered, finding herself surrounded by the very distinct scent of the red haired assassin. The one that she'd grown accustomed to, and thinking she might never feel the comfort of it again, she burst into tears once more. The archer looked around the room, as if it could change as fast as her relationship with its owner did. She was familiar with every single inch of this room. In the last month, she had spent here more time than in her own. There was a lot of her stuff there, from items of daily necessity to those that merely decorated the place. Though when she looked at some things, she couldn't clearly remember whether they were hers or Katarina's. Trying not to think about it too much, she dropped onto the redhead's bed and cried herself to sleep.
The Sinister Blade woke up with a sinister headache. In the first moments after she opened her eyes, she couldn't quite make out where she was, only that she was moving. She was seated in a carriage, almost too luxurious for Noxian measures. "Good morning," she heard Swain's mocking voice, "although it's closer to noon than to morning now."
She and the general had left the Institute under the cover of night. Though he was certain of his victory, Swain had opted for staying vigilant, just in case something went wrong. There was a caravan of soldiers waiting for them outside of the building, but Katarina hadn't paid too much attention to them, as she was currently drowning in her sorrow. Under threats of violence, she'd acquired a bottled of hard Noxian liquor from one of the soldiers and downed it over the course of the next few minutes. It hadn't seemed to quench her thirst, so she'd taken more from other soldiers and soon fell unconscious. Only the awakening the next day brought on the painful realization of what she had done, alongside a gut wrenching feeling of guilt and regret.
"I fucked up!" she groaned loudly, "I fucked up so badly!"
"Nothing new under the sun." Swain replied stoically.
"What the fuck, Swain?" the assassin snarled, "Must you mock me when I have a terrible hangover?"
"No, I don't" the general stated just as calmly as before, "it is my own choice, not a necessity. What were you thinking, Katarina?"
"What? My theory made perfect sense!"
"Yes, up to the point where the queen of Freljord, pure as freshly fallen snow, is a cold-blooded killer. Did you really believe that? What did you think her next move would be? Starting a war with Demacia? Destroying the Institute? Carrying out a plan for world domination?"
Not knowing what to say, Katarina propped her head against the carriage's frame. She let her troubled mind wander and her wary eyes relax. She tried to look outside the window, but the scenery she was passing felt somehow surreal. The towns and villages, hills and woods, all of it seemed like it was shrouded in some strange veil, protecting it from being entirely grasped by her. The lowest branches of the windswept trees standing by the road were so close she could grab them if she would just stretch her arm a bit further, yet they somehow eluded her. She was thinking if it meant that all of this was just a terrible dream and she would soon wake up in a world where nothing is messed up and the Frost Archer still wants to be her girlfriend, or at least her friend. Then she shrugged and blamed her current feelings on the amount of alcohol she had consumed the night before.
"Why are we going to Noxus in the first place?" Katarina asked Swain, needing to distract herself from the thing she didn't want to think about. Yet they were still flooding her mind.
"I'm glad that you asked," he remarked. "as you might know, last week I sent general Darius to Noxus in order to train a platoon of special troops. The truth is, he had an entirely different set of orders. With a map detailing the sewers under our home city - the one you delivered from the Institute - my people worked for weeks to narrow the area where our enemies might have been hiding. Once we had the exact location, Darius was supposed to finish the job."
"So we won?" Katarina asked with a slightly confused tone in her voice.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, there is still plenty of work that needs to be done."
"So what's the plan?" the assassin asked as she massaged her throbbing head.
Swain looked at her with an expression of complete disdain.
"I believe I already explained my plan to you three times yesterday."
"I was drunk. I didn't pay attention." Katarina groaned.
"You should get sober before we reach Noxus. I need you prepared for anything."
Katarina nodded quickly and drifted back to sleep. Though the wheels of their carriage were turning quickly, the road ahead of them was long. And at its end, something they had planned for so long - a better future for their city, one that would not be ruled by the manners of a madman. Yet everything Katarina was able to think about before her eyes sealed shut, was the Frost Archer. She knew that she had ruined everything, that what she had done could never be taken back or reversed, but she decided not to dwell on that. Instead she tried to think about the good things, about how at the very beginning she didn't trust the Freljordian one bit, but gradually learned to. She knew she put Ashe through a lot and she didn't understand how the archer could put up with it for so long. If she were in Ashe's place, she would have cast herself aside weeks ago. But the archer hadn't done that and Katarina could only wonder why. She thought of the way she treated Ashe when they first started fake dating. How she'd kept pushing her away. And yet, Ashe had stayed. Not only that, she'd helped Katarina through the worst, without asking, without wanting anything in return. Only, looking at it in retrospect, the Noxian realized that Ashe may have wanted something in return – her. Maybe all she wanted was for Katarina to be there for her just like she was always there for the redhead. It wasn't too much to give - in fact, it was only a very little - but Katarina obviously wasn't capable of doing so.
She woke up from her nap and found that Swain had prepared a complete tactical briefing for her. When she scoffed and shook her head he looked at her in disbelief.
"What? Did you think that we would just waltz into the High Command and ask them nicely to give me the throne?" he asked in an irritated tone.
"Yep."
"Throne's aren't something you simply ask for," the general continued in his ranting. "you have to take it by force, and crush everyone who would try to stop you."
Katarina noticed that he was looking at her with a threatening glare.
"Fuck, Swain, I don't want your fucking throne," she snarled, "you can sit on it until your ass falls off."
"No need to be so harsh, Katarina," the general commented, "and besides, the ass isn't one of those body parts that can just fall off like that."
"Whatever!" Katarina growled, "Just tell me the fucking plan."
Swain sighed at her impatience. "Even though Darkwill is defeated, we can still expect heavy resistance from his sympathizers. We need to engage them on all fronts. I will remain at the High Command and reason with those willing to, Darius will rally our forces and crush the rebelling ones in direct combat, and maybe intimidate the rest into obedience. And there will be some who will conspire behind our backs and try to overthrow me; it will be your task to take care of them. And that's why I need you sober and ready."
The assassin shot him a deadly glare.
"Then, after all of that is finished," Swain continued, "comes the most important part."
"Paperwork." Katarina sighed.
"Exactly," the general agreed, "empires mightier than Noxus have fallen because they didn't fill their papers out with great precision."
"Fuck!" the assassin groaned, "Could my life get any worse?"
Swain looked at her with disdain and disapprovingly shook his head.
"Listen to me, Katarina," he said slowly, carefully stressing every word, "you can't go on like this. You have to steel yourself. Trust me, I have seen you at your worst. I have seen you after the High Command forced you to abandon your father on his mission to Freljord, I have seen you after your mother died, and though I know that you didn't have exactly the best relationship with her, the loss hurt you deeply. I have also seen you after we told you that your that time lover Riven was considered dead after her unit was destroyed in Ionia. No matter how much you were affected by those events, you were always able to keep your wits about you, and you never resorted to doing this... whatever this is. So could you just stop brooding over your lost lover and focus on the task ahead?"
Katarina carefully observed the general. She was only half focused on listening to his speech, yet she still knew there was supposed to be a secret message hidden in his words.
"What are you trying to say?" she asked. Sometimes she was just too tired to play his games.
"What I am trying to say is that you have gotten soft by the Frost Archer's side-"
Katarina was indignant. "- oh, shut up, Swain!" She interrupted him.
"- I have also noticed that you were happier than I have seen you in years," he continued without pause.
The assassin stared at him with her eyes wide open in disbelief. She was so used to suppressing her own feelings that she sometimes didn't even notice that they would change.
"No need to be so surprised, Katarina," Swain chuckled. "I have known you for a very long time, and have learned to notice even the smallest shifts in your mood and behaviour, because that is all you would ever give away."
The redhead just sighed and returned to her rest. She just barely closed her eyes when the general spoke to her again: "Katarina, would you accept relationship advice from a bitter old man?"
"At this point I would probably accept advice from a giant talking mushroom. One of Teemo's giant mushrooms. I'm that desperate."
"You need to give it time," Swain said with a tone of sincerity uncommon for his voice.
"Time? What for?" Katarina didn't understand. "Time? What for?"
"Right now she is angry, and she has every right to be," the general started explaining, "but that will fade away and eventually she will try to remember the good things about you. You need to give her time to miss you."
"So I can do your dirty work in the meantime, right?" the assassin scoffed.
"Yes, everyone wins this way." Swain agreed.
"Fine, let's say that I agree," Katarina now focused her full attention on the general. "what happens then?"
"Well, that depends," Swain said, glad that he was able to pique Katarina's interest.
"On what?" the assassin was now listening with great care.
"Does she love you?" Swain asked calmly.
"How the fuck am I supposed to know? I'm not some fucking psychic that can read her mind!"
"Did she ever do anything that could reveal if she has some feelings for you?"
"No," Katarina said immediately, and only then started thinking about it, "yes... maybe... I don't know."
"I think that you know." the general smirked at her.
The redhead seemed to drift away completely, unable to mutter a single word. Her mind was just playing the last month in retrospect, highlighting every moment she had spent with Ashe.
"You don't have to tell me," Swain said, "but it is important that you know it for yourself."
Katarina didn't respond, so he continued: "When we deal with the more pressing matters in Noxus, I might let you go back to the Institute, but only if you promise me to send your sister to aid me. She was always better with the paperwork, anyway."
"Swain, why are you doing all of this?" the assassin didn't understand, "Why are you helping me in matters that don't concern you at all?"
"I believe that's what your father would do," Swain replied quietly, "if he were here, of course."
Katarina nodded, letting herself sink into her memories again, but she could only think about Ashe. She recalled the way the archer scolded her when she did something stupid, or how she laughed at Katarina's jokes. She recalled Ashe's long, silky white hair, and her eyes, the deep blue eyes she could get lost in - those were without a doubt the most beautiful eyes in the whole world. But it wasn't just that, there was something more to the archer. She carried herself like a true queen, earning the respect of everyone she met, and though she may seem cold and detached at times, she was in fact a deeply caring and loving person. And now, only thinking about it, Katarina could finally admit that she was in love with the archer.
"Frost Archer, I hope you understand the danger you put everyone through," the voice of High Councilor Kolminye echoed in the room, as Ashe was once again seated against the complete Council of Summoners. Well, not all of them - she noticed that the Noxian and Freljordian representative were missing, probably because this hearing was about her and Katarina. Nevertheless, she felt like she was about to undergo the Judgement for a second time, only now the perspective was much worse.
"I do," Ashe admitted.
"Oh, you do now?" the High Councilor, usually calm and collected, seethed with rage. "You harbored a potential murderer, sabotaged the investigation, and lied to this very Council! Why? What could you possibly hope to accomplish?!"
"I believed that Katarina was innocent," the archer said so quietly she almost whispered, "and I was right."
"Right? That you were!" Kolminye said angrily, but then calmed herself down and continued in an indifferent tone: "Ashe, do you think being in charge of this place is easy? Do you know what I have to deal with every day? Not only do we have here Noxians and Demacians who want to kill each other, there are monsters and undead here, and your three Freljordian tribes are also causing troubles. The League is home to more than one hundred and twenty champions, more than half of them are running from their own past, and it's my job to ensure that they don't kill each other or [don't] bring this place down in a fit of rage. Sometimes it's like sitting on a barrel of hexplosives, so understand that I can't have anyone just take justice in their own hands like this."
"I simply could not let you execute an innocent person." Ashe said resolutely.
"We both know that Katarina Du Couteau is very far from innocent."
"She's innocent in this, and that's all that matters."
"So you're defending her even after what she has done to you?" the High Councilor shook her head, "What do I do to you? Don't think that I will let you walk away unpunished. Let me think... you're banned from the League matches for one week, I think that will do. I would be much harsher on you, but I think that Katarina has already hurt you enough. As for the Sinister Blade, we will deal with her once she returns from Noxus."
"Thank you for your kindness, High Councilor," Ashe said as she was leaving the Judgement Tower.
Right after she closed the door behind her, she was surprised to find Vi and Caitlyn there, waiting for her.
"Oh shit!" Vi exclaimed once she looked at the archer's face.
"What's wrong?" Ashe didn't understand, "do I look that bad?"
Her eyes were red from crying, and she had deep dark circles under them. Her hair was tangled and messy, and her clothes looked like she'd slept in them - which she had.
"No, it's nothing," Caitlyn lied, "you just look a bit tired, that's all."
"I think those are kinder words than I deserve," Ashe said sadly, "how are you guys not mad at me? You're my friends and I lied to you."
"We are..." Vi replied, but then her girlfriend nudged her and she corrected herself, "we were mad, but then we saw what Katarina did to you."
"We decided that you need us now more than ever," Caitlyn said, smiling at Ashe, "are you alright?"
"Yes, I am completely fine," the archer started and was immediately interrupted by a loud growl from her stomach. She hadn't eaten since the last evening with Katarina, and now that felt like a lifetime ago.
"It's almost lunch time, isn't it?" Caitlyn asked in response.
"Yeah, it is," Vi replied. The pink haired enforcer then grabbed Ashe and, along with Caitlyn, led Ashe out of the building, "you need to eat something, Ashe. Later we can go for a drink, to get your mind off that thing."
"Or we could go shopping!" Caitlyn suggested excitedly.
"Maybe we could go shopping and then for a drink?" Ashe felt like she shouldn't disappoint one of her friends, so she proposed a compromise.
"But if we go shopping first, we won't have enough money to pay for drinks later," Caitlyn expressed her deepest concern.
Vi gently took her girlfriend's hand and looked her deep in the eyes: "Cupcake, most people can control themselves while they're shopping."
"Yeah," the sheriff sighed, "most people."
The rest of the day went surprisingly well for the Frost Archer. She bought two new dresses, a pair of high boots, and some fancy underwear. To add on to that, she was also able to not think about Katarina for two hours straight, which she saw as a tremendous success once her thoughts were once again set on the red haired Noxian. Though her friends were there mostly to help her, Vi also had to make sure that Caitlyn didn't spend all of their money on new clothes. The afternoon passed relatively quickly and as the sun started to set, the three of them retreated into the Institute's loud bar, where they could discuss the events of their lives. Ashe took her full glass of wine from the table, raised it to her lips, and downed it in an instant.
"I still remember that I was barely drinking before I started fake-dating her," she said and chuckled bitterly. She just finished telling the other two the whole story, the truth about her relationship with Katarina.
"Wow," Caitlyn was in awe. "I didn't know anything about her past. She really had to trust you if she told you the things she didn't tell anyone else."
"And it also makes the way she reacted absolutely rational," Vi added.
"How?" both Ashe and Caitlyn turned at her with this question.
"Well," the enforcer took a sip from her glass before she continued talking, "if every* *time she falls in love she finds out that the other woman wanted to betray her all along, it's only logical to expect the same thing the next time. And then... her theory. You actually gave her all the evidence. You simply have to admit that the theory made sense, even if you're not a Noxian assassin with a history of mental abuse and trust issues."
"So you're saying that she loves me?" Ashe wondered.
"I would bet my last coin on it." Vi replied with a smirk. "That is, if Caitlyn doesn't spend it first."
Ashe chuckled and then let out a deep sigh. "Girls, I think I have to tell you something. I have never been in love or in relationship..."
"With another woman, yes, we know," Vi interrupted her.
"No, I mean at all."
"What?!" both halves of Piltover's Finest were staring at her in shock.
"I became the leader of my tribe when I was fifteen," the archer started explaining, "and then it was only about responsibility. People were intimidated by my position and those who weren't just wanted to get closer to the throne and the power. I didn't have time for love. I had crushes, but they never led to anything. And then I joined the League. I entered a whole new world. I saved one ungrateful asshole and she started slowly changing for me. I noticed that she treated me differently than others, she didn't see me as her queen but as who I really am. I believed I was special for her, so I fell for her too and hoped for a happy ending. Gods, I was so stupid."
"Don't worry, Ashe, it will be fine," Caitlyn tried to sooth her.
"I don't even know what to do," the archer almost burst into tears.
"You don't have to do anything," the sheriff continued, "now it's her turn."
"You think she will return even after I told her to go away?" Ashe asked with a hint of hope in her voice.
"If she loves you, she will."
"Yeah, and when she does, we'll kick her ass and make her stay with you," Vi added with a wide grin.
"Thank you, girls," Ashe said softly after she downed another glass of wine, "you're the best."
"Hey, Ashe," Caitlyn addressed the archer, "would you like to stay with us for a couple of nights? We have a free room."
"I would really like that," Ashe said with a small, genuine smile.
They ordered their next round of drinks and once they finished it, left for the night.
After several days of monotonous journey, the carriage finally stopped in front of the Noxian High Command. The building stood atop the entire city, making it both a good observation point and an indestructible fortress. There was an incredibly long staircase leading to the building's gates, carved right into the mountain the city was built on. And during the most brutal fights for power over Noxus, it sometimes turned into an endless waterfall of crimson. As general Swain stepped out of the carriage, he took a deep breath of the Noxian air, as if he craved it with his entire being. He started walking up the stairs, only as slowly as his wounded leg allowed him to, followed by a group of his loyal soldiers and an extremely depressed red haired assassin.
"Do you remember, Katarina," he addressed her, and, though his voice was cold and strict as always, there was a certain excitement in it he struggled hard to conceal, "how I told you that a storm was coming to Noxus? This is it, and we are its heralds; we are its first lightnings!"
"You get really poetic when you're drunk with your power, Swain," Katarina remarked with as much sarcasm as she was able to put into one sentence.
On both sides of the staircase there were larger than life statues of the past Grand Generals, looking down with contempt at Katarina and Swain as if they were unworthy of walking up those stairs. Katarina always felt touched by the sight of them, but Swain mostly ignored them. When they reached the massive gate, the guards opened it and the man who believed he would be the next Grand General was let inside alongside his companions. The gate closed behind them even faster than it opened. Swain's guards fell down impaled by the swords of enemies and the general and Katarina found themselves surrounded by a small army of soldiers in black-and-red uniforms, who had their weapons pointed directly at them.
"What is this treachery?!" Swain yelled with venom in his voice, while Katarina unsheathed her blades, "Who leads these men?!"
"I do," a voice roared through the troops, and its owner soon showed himself as well.
"Darius?" Swain was speechless, what didn't happen often. "What...? Why...?"
"I'm done being your dog, Swain!" the younger general said as an explanation.
"So you choose to be Darkwill's dog instead?" Swain countered. The younger man just growled and gave his soldiers an order to escort their prisoners. Both Katarina and Swain were aware where exactly were they being taken, and neither of them liked the idea.
After it was founded, the city of Noxus worked as a normal country, but as the years passed and the city's judicial system turned into a true mockery of justice, its Supreme Court became an effective tool in the political power game between the generals. The cases were often precisely constructed, accusations false, all evidence planted or forged, witnesses intimidated and instead of them actors and liars were hired. But not this day, not when the future of Noxus was at stake.
Katarina and Swain were roughly shoved into its main courtroom, bound in chains as criminals. At the high table, where the judge would normally be seated, they saw their main enemy, General Keiran Darkwill, a mere shadow of his father, yet he proudly pretended to be just as tall and twice as strong. He had creepy small eyes and had shaved his head in order to hide his receding hairline.
"Champion Katarina of house Du Couteau and general Jericho Swain," Darkwill started speaking, "you stand here accused of murder of a High Command member, general Zardas, and that means a high treason against Noxus. Any words for your defense?"
They had to say something, they couldn't give up without a fight.
"Talon did that!" Katarina yelled.
"You have no evidence against us!" Swain added.
"I might not have any evidence," Darkwill said with a vicious smirk, "but I certainly have a witness. Summoner Corlan, come forward."
The summoner, a Noxian on the Council, slowly walked forward as both Katarina and Swain stared at him in shock.
"Summoner Corlan," Darkwill continued, "would you tell us, what was your role in this conspiracy?"
Corlan spoke calmly, as if his conscience was entirely clean, or as if he felt no remorse at all: "I was instructed by general Swain to teleport lady Du Couteau back into the Institute of War once the deed was finished. She also gave me a verbal confirmation of what she had done. I believe this proves that both of them were involved with the death of general Zardas."
"You bastard! You fucking bastard, I'll gut you!" Katarina started screaming at Corlan until four soldiers restrained her.
"It indeed does," Darkwill smirked even more, if it was still possible, "tell me, summoner Corlan, what made you change your mind about the conspiration?"
"I realized where my true loyalty lies, my lord."
Darkwill stood up, and with him everyone in the courtroom.
"Champion Katarina of house Du Couteau and general Jericho Swain, you are hereby found guilty of your crimes. Guards, take them!"
Author's notes: So, it has been a long time :) but I'm back and I'm really sorry that it took me this long. In the beginning I was telling myself that I still had time, and it was true, but then laziness took over me and I couldn't push myself to write. And then a new semester started, and I also had to spend two weeks without any internet connection. No words can express how sorry I am for letting you wait such a long time, and I am also thankful that you still read my story and I hope you enjoy it. :) But I could say that I needed the time to put my life back together a bit. :)
Another thing - if you're confused about the final scene of this chapter, you might want to reread chapters 5,6,7, and 12.
Also thanks to my wonderful beta reader Creator0fWords.