"Your Highness, dinner is served." Lady Mickie said as the servants brought the food in and sat it down.
"Thank you Lady Mickie. You may dine with the others." Katarina did not look at her when she said it.
Lady Mickie curtsied to the Princess and left. She knew how much the Princess was hurting. She had been the one along with Lady Melina who had witness everything between the Princess and Sir Jonathan. They had covered and help Katarina see him. Both worried about the Princess and hoped she would be okay.
Once Lady Mickie was gone, Katarina moved to the table where the food was. She quietly ate the meal. She knew the baby needed food. If she had not been with child, she would not eat. But she was going to take care of her child and do nothing to harm him. He was her main concern.
As she ate, she thought about everything. She knew nothing would bring Sir Jonathan back to her. The Prince was a kind man and he had made it clear that no one would know what happen with her and Jonathan and that everyone would think the baby was his. And she knew it might be his and the odds were good that it was. But she held on to the small chance that it was Jonathan. If it was, it was a piece of him she would always have. He was the only person she had loved and the only person she would. He had her heart the moment they met and she knew he always would. He would forever be in her heart but her life was with the Prince now.
The next few months went by quickly. War continued but The Emperor and his allies were winning. Katarina would not see her father at all. Every time he came to the castle to see her, Prince Theodore told him she was resting and did not want to be bothered. Theodore told him that he did not want her to have any stress while with child. Randal had not told his father that Katarina or Theodore knew what he had done.
Katarina would still cry at times but she allowed Theodore to comfort her when she did. Slowly she started coming out of the depression she was not completely but enough to where she was not spending all her time in her chambers.
"I want to see my daughter." The Emperor said when he arrived. He was staying there for a day until he moved to the front lines.
"Your Royal Majesty, the Princess is resting and I would prefer not to bother her. I have told you this every visit." Theodore said to him. "At this stage of things, I feel she needs her rest."
"That is not acceptable. I want to see my daughter now." The Emperor was angry that every time he came Theodore would not let him see her.
"Yes, father?" Katarina said walking into the room. She did not want to see him but she knew he would not take no for an answer.
"Daughter, how are you?" The Emperor walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek.
"I am fine. I rest like I am supposed to." Katarina pulled away from her father and walked to where Theodore was.
"I talked to your brother. He told me you were not feeling well. I hope everything is fine now."
"It is fine now. Father it was nice seeing you but I would like to rest." Katarina walked past her father and back to her chambers.
"See Your Royal Majesty. I told you. She has not felt well and I would prefer she rest. I do not want to risk anything happening to the baby."
"I understand that. Tell her I hope she feels better." The Emperor left and head to his room. He knew something was going on with his daughter and he knew it was about Sir Jonathan. He wished he had known sooner about them. He would have stopped it before she got too involved.
He left the next day to head to the front. He knew Randal was already there. He planned to question him about Katarina. He wanted to know if Randal told her anything.
"Son, I have some questions for you." The Emperor said when he arrived at camp and headed into Prince Randal's tent.
"What might that be father?" Randal asked him.
"Did you tell your sister what I did?"
"No. She is just emotional right now. Sir Jonathan had been her guard for a long time and you know how she felt about him. It is just taking time for her to get over it."
"I guess I get that." The Emperor was not sure Randal did not tell her. But the Emperor knew how much his daughter had cared for Sir Jonathan. But he was not going to allow her to be with him and that is why he had him killed. He did not regret having it done. It was necessary to keep the alliance.
"Father, I have news for you. I may have a son. One of my mistresses is with child."
"That is wonderful. A son is what you need. I understand you have been visiting Princess Mary."
"Yes, I have. Mary is my daughter. I may not care for her mother but she is my daughter."
"Have you visited your wife's bed chamber to see if she can give you a son?"
"I have visited her. She is not with child."
"Katarina will be giving birth before long. The Prince must know nothing about what happen with Sir Jonathan. That is good. This child is the Prince's whether it really is or not. No one can lay claim to the child."
"Father, the baby is a royal. Whether it is by the Prince or Sir Jonathan. The baby is royal blood because of Katarina."
"I know that. I am just happy that Sir Jonathan is not around to lay claim to it."
"Father, Katarina loved him so much. Do you feel nothing for her now that she has lost him?"
"I do not. My daughter can not and will not be with a knight. She is royal and married to Prince Theodore is what was best and will remain."
Randal did not say anymore. He did not want to say something he would regret or something that Katarina would not want him to say.
Katarina was happy when her father left. She would not forgive him for what he did. She knew she probably should but what he did was cold and calculating.
"Prince Theodore." Lady Mickie announced.
"Leave us please." Theodore said to them.
"You do not have to dismiss them every time you come." Katarina said to him.
"I just would prefer that they did not hear anything we say."
"I trust them. They have been with me for a long time."
"Alright. Next time, I will not do that."
"What did you need, Theodore?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay from your father's visit."
"I am fine. I appreciate you not letting him see me that often."
"I know what he did was wrong and I know how upset you are with him. I will not risk our child's life if your father upsets you." He knew he had to play the concerned husband and not show that he had asked the Emperor to make sure Sir Jonathan died.
"Thank you." Katarina had gotten closer to him over the last few months. He had been her strength when she felt like nothing mattered.
She liked him a lot but she was not ready to give her heart to anyone else. He was her husband and he would be the father of her child. But her heart was still broken and it was not ready to love again.
Sir Adam of Copeland headed to his mother's home. He was on leave from the war and wanted to check on things. He made sure no one followed him and he soon arrived in Parks, the village where he was born.
"Adam, you are home." Judith said to her son.
"Is everything okay?" Adam asked her.
"He is still very weak but getting better." She showed her son the person she had been taking care of for months.
"Good." Adam sat down at the table.
Judith fixed her son something to eat and sat by him. "Adam, have you told anyone you have him?"
"No. Everyone thinks he is dead and it has to stay that way for a little while."
"Adam, tell me what happen. You asked me to take care of him but you have not told me what happened."
"We were on the battlefield. I saw Sir Philip of Brooks come up behind him and stabbed him before I could react."
"But Sir Philip is a solider for Mertican. Why would he stab one of his own?" Judith did not understand.
"He was paid to kill him. After Sir Philip stabbed him, I went to where he was. A general was coming and I told him that he was dead. I explained that I was a friend and wanted to bury him properly. They left me there to do so. I then brought him here. They think I buried him and he is dead."
"Why would someone want to purposely kill him?"
"The Emperor. Before Princess Katarina was married, Jonathan was her knight. They had a relationship. Both thought the Emperor did not know. But he did and he had Jonathan moved to the front so he would be killed."
"What will happen once he is well? The Princess is married."
"I have it on good authority that the Emperor is not well. He is not expected to last more than a few months more. Once he is dead, Prince Randal takes the throne. He will okay it for The Princess to be with Jonathan."
"Are you sure that is what the Princess still wants? She thinks he is dead."
"A love like theirs does not die. I know the Princess loves him still."
"Son, the Princess is with child. It is rumored all over the village."
"I know that and there is a chance that the child is Jonathan's."
"What?"
"When we were camped near Prince Theodore's castle, I help Jonathan leave camp and go to the Princess. They were together. So, there is a chance the child is his."
"Well, he needs more months before he is well enough to leave. He is still weak." She was not sure knowing so much was a good thing. She knew both could be executed.
"Mother, thank you for taking care of him."
"Son, it is fine. I know Jonathan is one of your best friends. That is why you saved him. I know you plan to reunite him with the Princess and I hope it works out but she might be in love with her husband now."
"I know that is a possibility but I believe a love like theirs does not die."
"Alright. I will keep you updated as best I can."
"Thank you. I am going to go check on him." Adam got up and headed to the room where Jonathan was. He sat down beside him in the chair that was there. "I know you are probably confused about things. Just know you are safe here. I have heard that the Emperor is not well. This means Prince Randal will be taking over. You can be with Katarina."
Please Review!