Make Your Move Katherine

The First

“Here’s the marriage certificate you requested, Your Majesty,” Anthony said in his usual clear voice, inside her office. She could tell the man was a bit irritated with all her questions and investigations. She also knew that every question she sent his way was approved by Oscar first, before being answered.

Kat thanked him and opened the manila folder. Her mother’s maiden name is Sky. She ignored Anthony’s words when he stepped out, leaving her alone. Nothing was pointing her in the direction of any other relatives and she could feel her frustration growing.

When she had asked Anthony for any documents on her parents and relatives, she had assumed he would come up better than a mere marriage document. She expected a box full with the important details…a thick folder even.

Her mother had reverted to her maiden’s name after her father’s death. Why would one revert after a murder? Wasn’t she free…from whatever she had been running from? Er- her dead husband- unless the murderer…murderess thought the authorities would not find her if she used her parents' name instead? Kat did not know how people in a panic would think in situations like that but even she thought that was a weird move.

Unless she had not been in a panic.

Blowing out an exasperated breath, she placed the folder down on her oak desk, and took out her Demkas mobile phone, and went onto Meta, the internet search engine here in Demkas. As usual, even though Kat knew a bit about things, whenever she did a job, she always like to be absolutely precise about it.

“Oh mom, what did you do?” she wailed.

Part of being an investigative reporter is to be one hundred percent factual. And facts are; nothing pointed to her mother until DNA was proven. They had the murder weapon and she was going to insist that they check the prints. Re-open this shut case wide open.

Manslaughter; the unintentional killing of another person by homicide. Voluntary manslaughter occurs when a person kills another without any premeditation. One such example is committed in the heat of the passion- Kat couldn’t help but think this is what might have occurred years back. Certainly not premeditated- but wait why go back to her old surname? Wouldn’t that make you look guilty? She continued on with her electronic read.

These cases are treated as much less severe crimes than murder.

Nodding her head at nobody in particular for she was alone, Kat put down her cell, lost in her thoughts as she looked at the other registered document in her hand; an official certified copy of her birth certificate.

Her name is Katherine. Mother’s maiden name Sky. Father’s name Jake Wei. Hmm, she liked how it sounded when she said it out loud- Katherine Sky Wei. Her real name was perfect. She pronounced her name just as her mother used to say it, ‘Kat-tah-rin.’ It is the way everyone here sounded it out too instead of the way she had grown accustomed in Armedia without the ‘th’ sound in the middle.

She had to have grown up here, for how else did she understand the language so well as if she was one of the citizens? It was the only explanation that made sense to her. She figured if her mother had indeed planned a murder... then the escape, the name reverting part and then Armedia in somewhere there too- the marriage, the adoption before she was caught. But that was only under the implication that it was indeed her mother who was the mastermind.

What if her adoption was indeed planned so Katherine would be safe if she was caught?

White Room Department

Yeon

“I know when you’re guilty or not,” the king was saying to the man strapped onto the chair. 

“Are you confessing to killing your wife or not?” Yeon grated out as he bent his knees, palms on his thighs as he looked into the man’s eyes.

Normally a petty situation like this does not require the white room's aid but the man stood accused of murdering almost nineteen women- a record in their country thus far. His wife was the latest victim.

“I’m telling you it was an accidental death! She slipped-”

“Yeah, yeah, she just happened to slip over a building that’s over a twenty-storey high building…with a ledge,” Yeon’s sarcasm was on high alert today.

“Innocent. Innocent- I am innocent!” The man’s tears ran like an overflowed river and he looked to Yeon with a pleading look on his face. Yeon’s stomach was already filled with boiling anger and hatred towards this man and his mouth snared in contempt.

“Don’t play the innocent victim with us. You can tell that to the outside world that she wanted to commit suicide because she was unhappy in her marriage but I know the truth. In here, we all know the truth,” the guard warned.

The enraged man screamed at them about the vile ways of his cheating w***e wife as if forgetting he was about to be beaten to a pulp. Yeon shook his head as he looked at the disgusting man. He was trying to convince them she deserved to be killed for her 'sinful ways' as he put it. The man was only convincing them both of his guilt but still, they needed to hear him admit to it. His stomach flipped with that first blow that connected with the man's oversized cheeks and blood spurted out of his mouth.

Twenty minutes later the forty-something-year-old man’s denial changed.

“I murdered her I tell you. It’s my fault- I killed them all,” his agonized cries hurt Yeon’s eardrums and the guard bent over, covering them with his hands.

Not the evil man’s pain but his own.

And what was that smell? It was sweet and delicious, closing his eyes he took a deep breath in, feeling his brain liquidating. Suddenly the good feeling was gone and a burning sensation took its place. Yeon's eyes flew open and he stared at the blank wall in front of him, ignoring the nasty man's heaving and coughing.

His ears felt like they were bleeding- they were. Horrified, he looked at his hands then at the king. Was this supposed to happen? By the frown on his king’s forehead- no. Yeon raced out of the room, straight to the wash area and opened the faucet, rubbing his palms together beneath the water. His blood ran down the drainage and he looked at his reflection then.

Gasping, by what he saw. His face was white as a sheet and his cheekbones had sunk in. A sudden lurch in his stomach had him releasing the contents of his lunch. The black coffee he had along with it, showed up too. Not bothering to wash the man’s blood out of the back of his hands he cupped them together and washed his face. The blood was on his neck and shirt too. Pulling his black shirt off, over his head, he stared at the blood-stained white tee, he wore below it. Pulling that off too, he soaked it beneath the long neck tap and wiped his skin clean.

The bleeding had not stopped but slowed.

Yeon did not know if to be relieved that it had slowed or worried about it still. But the king came in then still wearing his bloodied shirt too- the guard had joked once that they should start using coveralls of plastic aprons or something. The king had smiled widely at his joke but not replied. The very same evening, Yeon was taken to a room by the captain, where he was told to come in daily and take a shirt.

Unlike then, the king’s facial expression now was unreadable. He was looking not at Yeon but rather his ear- his left ear. Taking a dab at his blood with one finger, the king placed it on his tongue.

Yeon was not scared of his king- even when he was like this.

“Ah, you are the first,” he heard the king mutter and reached out his index finger to raise his chin. The guard’s insides came to life with the simple touch. Yeon could feel the long fingers snaking around his neck and his eyes hooded. The thumb played against his adam’s apple and Yeon swallowed, feeling his jawline reacting too when the same thumb passed over his sharp well-defined bone structure.

Yes, Yeon is in-love with the king.

‘I’m so proud of you,” the king whispered to him and his head bent slowly towards him. Yeon could feel his soft shirt front, fluttering against his wet chest and his heartbeats grew in the excitement. He held onto the soft silk, feeling the wetness of the blood splatters on the material but he did not care. Closing his eyes, he waited for the king’s red mouth to touch his.

‘You are the first,” he heard the king say.

‘Yes! I knew I would be. Those women mean nothing to you.’

Yeon respected the queen but the king was a different matter, however. Love conquers all, he thought when he smelt the sweet breath of his king. Yeon had never actually looked forward to this moment before for he knew it was just a fantasy- the king was not interested in him and would never be. If anyone could get His Majesty's love, it would be Anthony he had figured, for they moved in unison. As if they could read each other's thoughts.

In fact, Yeon had been under the belief that the captain was already a hybrid human and the pair shared each other 's thoughts. He even suspected if the relationship between them was really platonic but these thoughts he kept to himself… The royal guard had never been interested in anyone his entire life, until the king. Even he was rattled by his bold attraction that day, three years ago when they were training and the king held a sword up to his neck while they sparred.

At first, Yeon had tried to deny the pull he felt towards his king but he had accepted it and decided to serve his king until his death bed, faithfully. His requited love was enough as long as the man was unharmed and happy. He had vowed that.

Until today- just now that is. The king just told him he would be his first. Yeon’s chest fluttered.