Nixiesocean: So, I am so happy to have so many reviewers! I have only about 1000 more reads in this story than my sister-story, The Fatal Mistake, at it has forty more reviews( :gasp: )!

Thank you all!

Onto responses:

Scoutcraft Piratess: Yeah, I tried too; make Eric likeable that is, though some parts, like Katharine, will have to unlikable, especially by Katharine.

Agreed, family trees are a pain. My father's side has like twenty million cousin, second cousins, cousins-in-law et cetera.

Rush of Waves: Do you not like cliffies?

Narnialover: Thanks! There aren't enough little spaces to say what genre this story is, though I think of it as Humor/Romance/Drama/(Tiny bit of) Action/Adventure. It's not really General…

Tamzi71: Did you go to my profile and read all my stories? Not that I'm complaining… just wondering. Thanks, about Katharine's uncle. It was hard to find a way to introduce him. It's another cliché I wanted to break, or make fun of. It's always a "long-lost relative" and the main character immediately accepts and believes them, lavishes them with love, et cetera. See? Another cliché!

I'll stop chatting now. Read and Review, bitte…?

Chapter 16: The Great Warrior Goddess

I gaped openly. I was vaguely aware that the crowd was whispering about me, Eric didn't move an inch. The female specter walked toward me, her feet not touching the ground. She had warrior garb, a spear in one hand, and the other open. She had a silver aura around her, one that was gentle, but commanding. She spoke in a tone like a warrior's, one expecting to be obeyed without question. Inlayed into her voice was another, softer tone. One that a mother may say to a child.

"Katharine." She said. She hadn't bothered to even say where I was from. "Take your weapon from my servant," I was quick to move the sword. As she neared me, time slowed to a halt. "None who are present will remember your vision, they need not." I breathed deeply. How did she know me? Who was she? "I am the Great Warrior Goddess, Katharine." She responded to what my mind was thinking. She could read my mind! "You are a daughter of an Amazon. Why not take you father's word for it? Crei wasn't suitable to rule the Isle, she was too hot-tempered, like her mother and you."

"C-crei?" I stuttered. I never stuttered. "My mother?"

"Yes, Katharine Crei Rothloz, your mother was the next in line for the throne of the Isle. Unfortunately, or so the Isle thought, I bestowed a wanderlust inside her. She left the Isle, much like Lilka will in two hundred years." Two hundred years! She knew what was going to happen, even now! My mind raced. She knew if I would live or die, if I would marry Lance, how many children, if any, we'd have. She knows the heartbreak I'll have! It was all too much.

"Why? Why send this fake so you visit me, why not visit me without this," I gestured at the frozen Eric of the Isle. "Thing." His taunts still had me angry.

"He is truly your uncle, Katharine. As much as you'd like to deny needing a father figure. Everyone needs one, your children will need Lance." So, we would have children. How comforting.

"I have my father," I responded rebelliously. "I don't need…" I struggled to find the right words. "Eric. Why should I-"

"Katharine!" Her words resonated inside me. I stopped talking. "Better. Blessed, you are in need of Eric. Your father isn't the healthy young man he used to be. Cherish him while you have him." The silver figure evaporated before I could respond.

"Why! Why?" I yelled to the sky. Time was beginning to resume. The crowd cheered me on; unaware that time had halted momentarily. A whisper inside my head gave me orders. Cherish him while you still have him. I sighed deeply and stuck out my hand.

"Good duel, Eric." I called him by his name for the first time. It felt odd to call another by my fake name. "Maybe again sometime." He stood, using my hand.

He had noticed my demeanor change. Cyrun jumped the fence, running to me. "Goddess! If you had broken anything or bled or anything, I might've had to have Lance marry you early, just to keep you in bed!" My cheeks flushed.

"Cyrun!" I hissed. "I told him one year, one year it'll be."

"Fine," She looked at me deviously. Most everyone had left. "But I'm only telling you-"

"You can stop right about now!" She shoved her away. "Besides, Lance won't marry me right now."

She came up beside me, worried. "I noticed he wasn't here, why? Shouldn't he be here?"

"He hates me right now." I responded, sitting down to take off some practice armor. I set down Goldfire. Thank you, sleep, friend.

You've changed. Was it the Goddess? She visited you, didn't she?

Yes, now sleep. I felt Goldfire's mind go into as much sleep as a talking sword could go. Cyrun's face asked why. "He didn't want me to duel, he said that he wasn't going to fight me this time," I grew angry, remembering how wrong Lance was! I was fine. "He said I needed to learn to back down!"

Cyrun rubbed my back. "You do, Katharine. You're too prideful."

"You too!" I stood, anger flaring. "You're- you're both so wrong!" I stormed away, forgetting even Goldfire. Eric stood, confused. I barely noticed him.

I went to my room, throwing pos of beautiful flowers around. They smashed against anything. The walls, my bed, everything. I reached down to grab the next thing. It was a small red heart, blown glass. Lance had given it to me, one of those days we had been here in the castle. Engraved on it was a small note.

"To my knight,

I give to you my heart.

Lance"

I couldn't bear to smash it. I held it close to my chest, clutching it tightly. Tears ran down my cheeks. Goddess! How wrong I had been! How could I have been so selfish?

I ran down the hall, my black hair streaming behind me. I knocked on the door I knew so well. A maid opened the door.

"My lady?" She asked confused. "Are you looking for my lord prince?"

"Yes," I said quickly. "Where is he?"

"I heard from the other servants he went out to the stables to ride a horse," She looked at me pityingly. "He was crying."

"He was?" I asked nervously.

"Aye, as much as I'd like to deny a man crying, he was." She nodded. "You better hurry if you plan to catch up, he left just as you match started, about five and ten minutes ago." Could they just say fifteen like normal people? I nodded and ran off toward the stables.

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I cantered away from the stables. Just as I cleared the training fields, the rain started, lightly at first, then harder. I slowed the horse, a gelding. I had picked him at random. I had told the hostler a well-worn saddle, but he insisted on at least a well cared for one. I sighed. It'd be well-worn when I come back.

The rain mingled with the tears. Why couldn't Katharine trust me once in a while? It was the last straw. I'd leave for a day or two, and then come back. Goddess! I loved her so, but she threw it around like a play toy! It angered me that she cared so little for our relationship! I turned the horse toward the Royal Woods and cantered a bit. We made it to the shelter of the trees.

Lightening flashed. My horse, being older than most in our stables, didn't spook. He was used to the lightening. The thunder was different. It made him tense; I could feel the muscles under my hand. I tied him loosely to a tree. I leaned up against a tree, sighing deeply. Mother Nature must be mourning for us.

Lightening flashed again. I vaguely saw a rider mounting a hill, heading toward me. They couldn't have seen me, against the forest background. Thunder rolled across the hills, resounding against the clouds. The rider's horse spooked.

The rider, with its cloak flapping in the growing wind, galloped toward me. When the rider neared, I held out my arms. "JUMP!" I called. The rider obliged. It jumped, landing not so elegantly, in my arms. The hood had been pushed back. It the vague light, I could see a female face. The black hair framed her face. With another flash and roll of thunder, the face registered. "Katharine?" I whispered.

She hugged me closely. Her eyes were squeezed shut hard. "I hate lightening!" So she did have fears! She eyes opened a slit. "Lance?"

"Yes." She cried, hugging he ever tighter. "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!" I rubbed her back, hoping it was calming.

"Why did you come?" I asked. She looked up.

"I needed to tell you, please, I'm sorry!" She repeated it into my chest. My fiancée was pleasantly warm.

"I accept, love, I do." I forgot all my anger with her. The small drop that penetrated the forest's canopy dropped on our heads. "We'll need to find shelter." She nodded. "I believe that means let go." I whispered politely. As much as I wanted her to stay so close, I knew we had to find somewhere to sleep. For once, I was the commanding force. Her phobia of lightening was astounding, how much it scared a warrior. "Why don't you like lightening?" I asked.

She shivered. "It's unnatural, that much light striking at once." She shook her head. I knew there was something deeper. I'd have to penetrate that darkness another time. I took the gelding's reins and we walked further into the forest. Katharine's horse disappeared.

It took us very little time to find an abandoned bear's cave. It stood there, as if waiting just for us to go inside. Katharine was pretty much no help, so I prided myself on finding suitable shelter, even if I didn't set it up. I poked around, trying to find some dry wood. I gave Katharine my dry blanket I had brought to sleep with. I found some dry firewood, sitting as if some other travelers had needed it. Tinder was with it too. I'd have to replenish it tomorrow. I took some over and made a fire in the conveniently located fire pit.

I started a fire; it's warming heat drying us off. I sighed, leaning up against the natural stone wall. "How long will we have to stay here?" Katharine asked nervously. I hadn't thought her one to be scared of lightening!

"Until tomorrow morning, the storm should abate." I replied tiredly.

She crawled up to my lap, laying her head on it. I pulled her up, hugging her to my body. She was shivering, despite the thick blanket she slept with. Her breath warmed my neck. I rocked side-to-side as much I could. Her breathing slowed.

There were some thoughts of Katharine, being that she was so close, but I pushed them away. I'd wait the year, Goddess will it! She slept heavily. I smiled, thinking what a beautiful bride she'd make in slightly less than a year.

Brides! Ilona! I wondered idly if any man had managed to rescue my sister.

I gently kissed her cheek. "Goodnight, my heart." I whispered, slowly falling asleep.

"Morning!" Katharine said cheerfully. I grumbled she hadn't been the one staying half-awake on watch. Her lips brushed mine. I moved my arms; slightly aware they were still asleep. "Thank you, Lance," She said seriously.

"For what?" I yawned.

"For being there when I needed you most, despite what I said and did." She said, entwining her fingers with mine. "That deserves a reduction." Reduction? For what? She breathed deeply. "I'll marry you whenever you want." She said with such dramatic tension I began to wonder if this was a dream.

"Huh?" I asked, still half-asleep.

She touched my hand. "I'm releasing my claim on a time restraint. You can marry me whenever you want."

I breathed in sharply. If I told her today, she'd think me too prudent. If I said in a few months, she'd think I didn't want her to marry me so soon! Curse it! No! I said. I take it back! Don't curse it or us or her! I stood, grasping her in a hug. I held her close. "What about your year-long test?" I asked honestly.

"I don't care anymore," Katharine said into my chest. "I just want you to be there."

My heart melted. All the resentment that might've been left from last night was gone. "On one condition," I said into her hair. She moved.

"What is it?" She looked worried; worried that she couldn't meet the condition.

"That you tell me why lightening scares you, I know it isn't the light." I said quietly.

I felt my dried shirt get wet from her tears. She drew ragged breaths. "When I was six, I was in a stable with the horses, going from one to another petting them. Heat lightening struck the hay in the barn, starting a fire." I knew where this was going. "Had it not been for the stable boy, I might not be here now." She was shaking from the memory. I hugged her tightly.

We both heard horses approaching. I picked up a stick, hoping at least to fend them off, whoever it was. Royal symbols fluttered. My symbol. My guard had found us.

"My lord prince," My captain said. "The queen is a tizzy trying to figure out where you ran off to." He informed. Idly he took Katharine. "Or why you ran off." He coughed.

Before Katharine exploded, I looked the captain in the eye. "Do you have any reason to doubt my virtue?"

"It's not you I doubt, my lord prince." I glared.

"It very well shouldn't be hers either, captain, or you'll have to find a new job with a dishonorable discharge." The captain paled under his helmet.

"No my lord prince," He breathed. The other soldiers looked from one to another.

"Anyone else have a problem with anything? No? Good." I took Katharine by the hand and we rode together. I refused the horse they had brought with them, not willing to part with Katharine. We mounted my horse and rode in front. This greatly annoyed the captain, I could tell, but didn't care.

We made it back to the palace, my mother out front, waving cheerfully. We entered the palace gates in the back, with my mother running out to meet us. I dismounted. "Mother," I said holding out my hand to hug her. She slapped me.

"How dare you sneak off!" She yelled. "You best not ever do it again!" She saw Katharine standing next to the horse, only slightly leaning on it. "And you!" She pointed at the knight. Katharine was startled. "You in your weakened state dared to challenge a master swordsman?" Katharine nodded. "I congratulate you, Lady Katharine! Not even a castle guard would do such a thing!"

I breathed deeply. "Mother. I'd like to marry Katharine within the week."

Katharine smiled broadly, hugging me around the waist.