Unconditional Submission

Epilogue Part 1

One Year Later

A flash of light, followed by a loud clap of thunder accompanied the downpour of rain that pattered like hail against the window. The lights in my guardian's office flickered under the pressure of the storm.

Curled up in the large desk chair that I wasn't normally allowed to sit in, I tightened my grip on the thick wool blanket, grey like the carpet. Droplets of cold water fell from the ends of my drenched hair and drummed against the brown leather cushion. My nose was wet and cold and I sniffled as I used the back of my hand, wrapped in wool, to dry my eyes.

Aside from the warm light emanating from the wall sconces on the far side of the office, the room was dark. The occasional bursts of lightning briefly filled the moonless garden outside the tall windows, and my eyes were trained to the glass, hoping for any glimpse of Dawson.

When an unexpected crash of the front door opening and slamming against the far wall due to the high winds outside sounded from the foyer, I jumped in my seat, startled by the noise and the intrusion.

I sat up, losing the blanket around my shoulder, listening as the door closed firmly against the gusts of wind that worked to get inside the house. I lowered a foot to the ground, hesitating when I recalled Dawson's orders to stay put while he went back into the storm.

Before I could make any further decisions, the sound of wet shoes squeaking against the tiles in the foyer echoed into the study just as Dawson's large frame filled the doorway. His hair, usually a vibrant yellow, tousled a dark blond as the wet strands clung to his forehead. Like me, his nose was red, and his chest lifted and fell heavily as a sign of how quickly he had been running through the storm.

And in his arms trembled a very wet and unhappy cat.

"Sebastian!" I cried, overjoyed to see my handsome Russian blue. Discarding the blanket, I abandoned the wet chair and rushed to rescue my fuzzy friend from his wet fur.

Dawson released him to me immediately, and I wrapped the mewling animal into the skirt of my dress. I rushed him to the warm fire that burned in the fireplace on the opposite end of the study. On the floor, I sat, unwrapping Sebastian from my skirt.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sebastian," I cooed as I held him to my chest, combing his thick fur with my fingers in hopes of drying him quicker. Dawson disappeared and then reappeared with a towel, likely collected from the linen closet down the hall.

After accepting the towel, I gently rubbed the little drops of water collected on Sebastian's whiskers, all while Dawson pulled a chair up, positioning himself directly behind me. With another towel, he collected my heavy hair from my back and gently wrung it out in the soft white cotton.

"Katherine..." Dawson began, his voice gentle, but low and unhappy.

Frowning, I chewed worriedly on the side of my cheek, opting to stay silent as my hands slowed in their task.

"What you did tonight was very reckless..." He continued, releasing the towel to finger-comb some of the damp tangles from my hair.

"I know..." I answered softly, lowering my head to Sebastian's wet fur.

"There's a reason why you're not allowed to take Sebastian to play in the garden. Do you know what that reason is?"

"Because he'll run away..."

"That's right. And that's exactly what he did today, isn't it?"

"But, cats don't go very far... and they always find their way home," I answered defensively.

"If they always find their way home, then why did you go out looking for him?"

Biting my lip, I brushed the towel delicately over Sebastian's nose. "I thought he might get lost in the storm... It got dark quickly, and the rain was so hard and I knew the thunder would scare him..." I trailed off as the outside thundered like a growling bear, the sky filling with lightning and echoing with another loud rumble.