It felt like a sentencing, almost. Just walking down the hall to my father's personal conference room made my blood cry. My father was very subtle and never interfered with my personal affairs often He never really talked to me, as did most of my immediate family and kept space between us all.

 But if you let that alone convince you that he was good, you were very mistaken. He was ruthless. I thought of my very life, because with my dad, you never knew quite where you stood with him. But I had to play it cool.

 I collected myself before I knocked. His doors were a little bit darker but they actually looked okay " Come in." He said clearly in his somewhat raspy voice. I opened the door but when it was opened fully, I paused and stared around in shock. The same maple round table but Every chair was full. My father, step- mother, twin brother, younger sister. Duchess was here as well. Garnet was even looking back at me with concern. My father gestured for me to sit at the other end of the table. This time, things seemed a little more... open.

 I shut the door and took my seat. " I called a meeting of the immediate royal line... Garnet and Duchess need to be here as well, so they're also here." His medium brown hair was pushed back and his look was slightly grim. Nothing was that bad, but something was up. " I'll just briefly go through a few points I'm going to talk about. Firstly, I'd like to discuss a new addition to our family: The witches. It's great to have them on our side. We'll be holding a feast in honour of them. Garnet, is there anything you'd like to say or anything you're concerned about?"

 Garnet's honey eyes perked up. She stood, very modestly and humbly, but with confidence and purpose. " Um, no particular concerns, for now. I would be pretty... pretty wrong if I said I wasn't happy having been able to bridge an important gap between two very important peoples in our society. Thank you, Petre. I'm happy that you and Tristan decided to have us as apart of your family." My brother sighed, rolling his eyes at her. Duchess glared daggers at him and he stopped.

 Garnet sat back down and had a lasting smile, one that was very small but visible enough. " Thank you very much, the pleasure is all ours. Our next point is about um..." He paused. My step-mom held my dad's hand. " Well, it wasn't exactly expected but Natasha has something she'd like to share." We all looked around to each other, unsure of the course this would take.

 She stood and pushed back her flaming curls " I'm... pregnant, guys. It wasn't exactly expected but... yeah." She murmured, gently smiling. Everyone clapped except my brother, who was more focused on the canopy of trees outside. He nodded and congratulated her. " Now, I want to tread a bit carefully on this subject... But Tristan... You are to have the throne within this coming month. But you have yet to choose any of the elect as your ruler and I can't set the wedding or your coronation back any further." I looked down at my lap. 

Everyone was silent. They knew this could get ugly. " May I be informal?" My dad nodded. I stood and faced him. " While I definitely appreciate what opportunities have been given to me and such... I haven't picked any of the candidates presented." My sister stared at me wide eyed and shook her head.' Don't do it!'  " I don't love them at all. I'd prefer to choose a spouse, actually because that would be much easier than trying not to hurt any of the candidates... feelings." Everyone looked very uncomfortable. My step-mother looked at me in almost pity. My sister looked like she was done with this entire conversation.

" Look. I get it. But you don't HAVE many other choices." His tone was darker than before. As I said before, he wasn't the coolest. 

" Okay. I'll rephrase. I'm not marrying Katharina. I'm not marrying Nora. I'm not marrying Fuschia and as lovely as she is, I'm not marrying Duchess either." 

" So you're taking the throne by yourself?" Duchess asked, lightly. I nodded, meeting my dad's cold eyes. He stared at me, still trying to see if I was serious.

" No. You know why you can't."

 He looked at Duchess, my siblings and Garnet." When he was in the states he was with Katherine, Blake's daughter." 

His eyes locked back on mine" Someone from our estate shot down a plane the day of your arrival and expected Katherine as well, to execute her of course. We don't need an uprising. And we don't need you getting the throne, just so you can marry her and make the senseless decision of keeping the Grimme family alive!" He yelled, his hands in fists. I stared my dad down. He didn't want it, but he knew I didn't care about any of his demands, as mine weren't met. Even my brother was concerned, which was very very rare. 

" The following is formal: I'm marrying Katherine Grimme whether you like it or not. Duchess..." She looked up at me " I promise to find you and my other candidates solace after you were dragged into all of this. This meeting is dismissed." Everyone stood and left. I stared at him.

" You know where she is, don't you?" He growled. I smiled " No, I don't." I admitted, honestly and somewhat truthfully " But it's only a matter of time before I find her and make her mine, dad. I didn't judge you for fooling around less than a year after your wife's death but you judge me for marrying somewhat I actually love? Set better standards for yourself before you even TRY to correct me!" I yelled, storming out. Everyone was around the door but they parted like the red sea in my fiery rage. Being the literal spitting image of my father was a disgrace to everything I stood for and everything I believed in. I locked myself in my room and sighed deeply. I let that all go. I don't bring bad vibes where I rest.

* Third person *

Tristan took off his shirt and pulled on a light sweater that'd been washed recently. He opened the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He rose his hand to the tile where there door was created and made it appear using the quick incantation. He opened the door and bit his lip, feeling a little ruined. 

It was a slight lie that Tristan had told about not knowing the whereabouts of Katelyn. She lie in bed, resting. Her body was okay but she was very undernourished. The skin under her eye scarred and was jagged in comparison to the rest of  her sweet, supple skin. She wore Tristan's clothes and quickly sat up. She looked up Tristan and pushed her hair out of her face. " Come here. What happened? " She asked, scooting away from the center of the bed to make room for him next to her.

 He chuckled sadly " Do I look that bad? I tried to breathe a little before I got here." He walked around to the other side of the bed and lie in her lap. She began rubbing his head and face with her cool hands, comforting him. 

She looked down into his icy eyes and smiled. She could tell he'd calmed down a lot. She had a lot more control and influence over him than she could even begin to understand because despite everything, she would see to it that he was okay. " I love you. So so much, Katie. I mean it." He whispered. She bent down and kissed his forehead. He had a very warm feeling in his chest and stomach.

 She was gorgeous, inside and out in his eyes. His father was wrong and would always be wrong about her. Spies watched from afar but he knew who she really was and that was all that mattered.