Fervent Sorrow {Completed}

Midnight Stroll

Chapter 26

I was walking down the hall when a chirpy voice called after me, "Hey! Catherine!"

I turn around to see Ashley speed walking to me. Once she sees that she has my attention, she quickly turns to the agent walking next to her and hands her a set of folders, "Make sure to get these treaties signed and sent back to me as soon as possible."

"Of course, Mrs. Pierce," the female agent replies and walks away with the files in her hands.

Ash walks up to me with a smile on her lips. I greet her with an easy smile, "Hey, Ash. I see work is well," I tease, "Are you enjoying it?"

Ashley reaches me and scoffs, "Are you kidding?! It's relentless work. Marcius has had me creating treaties all day!"

"Treaties?" I question, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she says awkwardly, "For the territories that will be compensated to people when their homes are taken away after the war..."

My grin tightens and it turns into a grimace.

"You're starting on the treaties already?" I ask, my grimace turning into an outright frown, "But the case was just decided this morning."

"Well, we are short on time," Ashley shrugs.

The idea of having to leave my home to go somewhere I don't even know makes me feel uneasy. It's like moving towns as a child, except you're moving to a whole new realm. I clear my throat, scratching the back of my neck.

"So I'm guessing I should be expecting something in the mail real soon, right?" I ask, stiffly.

She grimaces, "Yeah..."

"How is that even going to work out? Is there even enough space for us in Asgardia?" I ask, sincerely curious.

"Not everyone will be moving there, some will move to Prima Lucé," she explains, "But it's not because Asgardia isn't big enough. King Marcius showed me a map and it's huge, Catherine! We could all live in one continent if we wanted to but each continent is assigned a species. It's not forced, it just sort of happened. There's a continent just for wolves and another just for witches," she rambles, excitedly, "Of course, there is a continent where all sorts of supernaturals live together. Doesn't it just sound marvelous, Catherine?"

By then I'm sure she can tell that my smile is strained but I still weakly say, "Sounds... Peachy. Just peachy."

She beams at me, proud of my attempt to accept terms, "Enough about work," she waves her hand, "How are things? How are you?" She asks.

I look around at the busy floor in the SSS before answering, "I've been better." She frowns too, catching onto my mood.

"Ben told me about what he stole," she says cryptically but I know immediately what she's talking about.

"Yeah," I cleared my throat and moved to the side as some agents tried to walk by. Ashley and I pushed ourselves closer to the wall. "It raised some questions and suspicions but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"So I'm taking it you didn't tell him?" She asks.

I shake my head. "No... I wanted to but..." My mind trails off back to when he had me pinned to a wall, gasping for air, "He's... Very complicated right now."

"Perhaps it's the stress," Ashley pipes in, "Imagine opening your eyes and finding out that seven years has passed you by and you remember nothing of it. Not only that but you wake up to find your kingdom at the brink of a war. One can only imagine the amount of stress he's under."