Kat's sleep was plagued with night terrors as her mind chose to replay the beast's attack on her every time she succumbed to the exhaustion. In her dreams, she could feel the pain, and every time, the voices inside her head would hiss their disapproval.

She was weak, she was a let down. She should've done more.

It caused Kat to wake up in a cold sweat, panting, and she had to remind herself that she wasn't dead precisely because she'd been strong enough to raise the dagger and stab the beast with it. Stab the man she loved.

But even if she'd done it, even if she'd saved herself, it still brought tears to her eyes. What were they going to do now? Would Cage even be able to stand in the same room as her from now on?

Darkness didn't help, so she was glad when dawn broke through her window and she could see the sun. Their winter seemed endless.

She got out of bed and chose to wear trousers and the weapons once again. After digging through the dresser, she found a corset made out of thick leather, like a sort of armor. She chose to don that as well, for extra protection in case it would be needed.

Her head still spinning after her troubled sleep, she headed down the stairs and into the portrait hall. Most of them were empty or clumsy again. Joey was gone and William slept. She didn't feel like speaking to anyone else who could potentially be there, so she continued her way down into the dungeon. Her footsteps faltered the closer she came, fear grabbing on to her. What if he was still the beast? The thought of never seeing Cage again tore through her.

But she couldn't linger on the last step forever, either, so taking a deep breath, she walked towards the door and glanced inside.

Her heart fluttered once she realized the beast was gone. Cage lay back on the mattress, his hand pressed over his stomach, where she'd stabbed him. There were thin scars on his chest and stomach, the wounds he'd taken upon himself a mere memory. She couldn't be sure if he was sleeping or not, but merely seeing his form brought tears to her eyes.

"Cage?" she whispered.

He jerked to attention and turned to her, his eyes wide with fear. She only got to take note they were dark blue before the color in them swirled and became golden. His bones broke and he let out a cry of pain before his entire body convulsed. The dagger wound on his stomach twisted and opened up again, blood oozing over his skin as the transformation continued.

Kat stepped back, her hand over her mouth. The beast growled and rammed itself against the door once before it yelped and retreated inside the cell. She waited, holding her breath, hoping she'd hear him returning to normal. But he didn't, and her heart sank.

At least he'll have time to recover from the pain. She repeated the phrase over and over as she fixed him breakfast and searched for a healing salve and bandages. Maybe it was the iron dagger which impeded his magic, but the wound didn't seem to be healing as fast a the others. 

Making sure he didn't see her, she pushed the tray through the flap and made her way back upstairs. But alone, she had no idea what to do. She found herself merely staring, lost in space. Then she realized she was staring at the blood stains on the hall floor. It was everywhere. The stairs, the walls, and most likely inside the study.

Even if she hated having to do this with all her being, they didn't exactly have anyone else to clean after them, so she grabbed an apron, got to her knees, and started scrubbing.

It took her most of the day to clean up, especially since she had to wash the blood-soaked rug in the study. Meanwhile, Joey reappeared and watched her with a mournful air that did nothing for her nerves.

"How is he?" he asked, his voice low.

"He was himself this morning, but one look at me was all it took for the beast to come out," she said between her teeth, scrubbing the intricate wallpaper. How were they both not dead with all the blood she'd cleaned off the floors and walls?

"I'm sorry, Kat."

Yes, she was sorry, too, sorry that she'd ended up washing her own blood off the furniture. And Cage's. How were they ever going to overcome this? What if he could no longer look at her without the beast breaking him from the inside?

Trying not to think about it, she descended to the dungeons again, with a new tray of food, clean bandages and a book. She found the old tray out in the hall and she picked it up. As much as she wanted to check if he was back, she steered clear of the opening in the door. If it was still the beast, it would break her heart. If it was him, she didn't want him turning again. He deserved a respite. Maybe until the next day he would be healed and well rested enough to fight the curse again.

As it turned out, she had no luck. After another night plagued with dreams of blood and a phantom pain that tore through her, Kat was more than ready to bust Cage out of his cell and share this terrible burden with him. She didn't think he was sleeping better anyway. But even if it was him inside the dungeon again, the moment she called his name, the beast decided to make an appearance.

Kat left right away, tears of fury streaming down her cheeks. He'd only groaned in pain this time, but his wound opened up again and she was just about done with hurting him and hurting herself. What if he was suffocating in there, just like her? Still, she brought him food and another book, as well as fresh bandages.

The moment she stepped into the portrait hall, gritting her teeth to stop herself from cruising Cecile and all the fairies and fae in the world, she was distracted by a cacophony of voices.

"We have no time, Joey," the soldier, Malcom, was saying while other voices approved his affirmation.

"I don't think the beast cares if you have time or not," Joey mumbled.

"Maybe we should just ask her to leave," another voice said.

"Yeah?" Joey asked with a huff. "I bet Cage would love that."

"This is about a lot more than what he loves or not," Malcom said.

"Maybe they're right," Sir William whispered, and it was that more than anything that prompted Kat to join their conversation.

"What's going on?" she asked, placing herself in front of the portraits. Malcom wore an armor and she was glad she'd chosen to wear the pants and leather corset ensemble again, as well as the weapons.

The men looked down at her, but fell silent.

"How is he?" Joey asked, his voice meek.

"Still turns into the beast as soon as he lays eyes on me, and it's starting to get annoying." Some of the men huffed so she glared at them. "What is the problem?"

"We need to speak with the Duke," Malcom said.

"He's indisposed at the moment."

"Yes, because of you," someone mumbled from far to the left.

"Would you like me to let him go so he may shred you all like he did to that tapestry?" she asked, pointing with her thumb over her shoulder. "I don't think getting rid of me would get rid of the curse." Especially after Joey claimed Cage liked to stay in beast form if he was in too much pain. She liked to think he'd do it if she left him, as selfish as it sounded.

"Exactly," Joey said, his voice much stronger. "If anything, you may be the one to break it."

Kat liked to believe that, too. If only she would figure out how that counter curse worked and what the rose is supposed to be. With guilt, she realized she hadn't thought about it in a very long time, caught as she was in her forbidden romance with Cage and figuring out how to fool the curse rather than break it.

Malcom huffed. "We don't have time for them to figure out how to break the curse. We need his council now."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Tell me. Maybe I can help."

Malcom raised his eyebrows. "You?"

"Yes, me. I'm fairly well read on kingdom policy."

Every man in the hall glanced at her, and she immediately hated them for being positioned above her. She also hated the fact that there were no women there. Silly, sexist kingdom. But with a king so awful and a queen weak enough to give away her child, what could she expect? Cage would've been a much better king.

"Come on, tell her," Joey said.

"Fine," Malcom grumbled. "Our patrols found a group of Endirians near the north-eastern border. They claim they are refugees, but they couldn't tell us what they are hiding from. We assume they could be searching for their heir."

Kat stopped her mouth from dropping open in the nick of time. "Are you serious?"

"Of course. We have no time for games."

She pondered on this, trying to figure out what it could mean. What Cage would say. "Did they look like refugees?"

Malcom raised his bushy eyebrows again. "What do you mean?"

"Were they traveling with women and children, pots and pans, or looked like rogues?"

Some of the men looked to each other. Malcom's demeanor softened a little and he turned to someone out of the frame.

"They were indeed traveling as families," he finally said, looking down on Kat.

"Then they're refugees. But that doesn't mean you can't ask them for information. The gossip mill tends to be powerful."

"The thing is," Malcom continued, "our forced found them. Now we're not sure if we should keep them or take them to the palace."

"What do you mean your--" She stopped dead as she suddenly realized what he meant. Cage's men had found them and the king had no idea about it yet. If she were to open her mouth, she would either be joining a rebellion or potentially send men to their deaths for treason. "I can't really decide that."

"I know you can't," Malcom said, though his tone was kinder. "That's why I mentioned we need the Duke. But good effort."

"I really can't let him out," she whispered. "So just put it on hold for a while. Question them yourselves for now."

The men exchanged a look and Kat wasn't sure if she'd said something stupid. Apparently not because they decided to continue sharing their issues with her.

"The Talians and Annora are asking us to open the borders," a man on the far left said. "They claim cursed creatures are attacking their villages. Annora asked for armed intervention."

Kat frowned. What the hell was happening? "Cursed creatures?" 

In a land without magic, cursed creatures were rare, forgotten reminders of their breeds. She'd read about the hunts, the efforts of the kingdom to exterminate everything magic had touched. And to the regular man, it had worked. But then Cusiths popped up in the forest. Plural. Now that she stopped to think about it, just the fact that she was sure there had been at least three because Cage had killed them was odd. Three in one remote forest was a lot.

"Yes," William said with a sigh. "Goblins, orcs, there are even reports of ogres. And apparently kobolds are overrunning the mines in the east."

"Our mines?" she asked, trying to wrap her head around the news.

"Yes, princess," Joey said with a smirk. "Our mines."

She shook away his silly words and focused on the problems. "Can Cage even decide to open the borders? Shouldn't this matter be taken directly to the king?"

"We already know the king will say no," Malcom said with a shrug. "He has repeatedly refused to restart trade with Talia. And there is no way he is sending armed troops to help Annora when Prince Ferdinand is missing. There are rumors now that the Talians took him to force the King Fherras' hand."

Kat highly doubted anyone kidnapped the prince for such reasons. Their previous theory that it was Wolfbane was more likely. "So what is Cage supposed to do then?"

"Order forces into Annora to offer aid," the gruff man on the left said.

"Can he do that?" Once the question was out, she understood. He would be sending soldiers loyal to him on a rogue expedition. Try to salvage some diplomatic relations when his uncle refused to. "I can't decide that either."

"Do you see, Miss Kat?" Malcom asked. "We need him."

"Maybe if I write him a note..." She could slip it into his book and give him something to write and then he could give out the orders.

"We would need to discuss strategy," Joey pointed out.

"Damn it," she mumbled. "I'd say yes, because I'm sure he would say yes. Diplomacy is important and we need our allies. But strategy... We really need to break the curse. Or contain it somehow. If only I had like a giant iron cage or something."

Joey's eyes widened. "Wait, I have an idea."

"Is there actually a giant iron cage in the castle?" she asked, taken aback.

"What, no? Though putting Cage in a cage would be funny. I think I have something even better." And he just slipped out of his frame without further explanation.

Kat felt awkward standing there in front of all those men she couldn't help, so she did the only thing she could do. "I'm going to go back to the tower and see if I can figure out how to break the curse." Even if she didn't really need to justify herself, she couldn't just slip away like Joey.

"We'll check back tomorrow, see if there's any improvement."

And just like that, the men began to leave, the crude portraits taking their place. Kat let out a shaky breath and glanced towards the dungeon door. She desperately needed to talk to him because she'd never imagined what he did was so complicated. 

Pride, longing and confusion battled inside her. She wanted to learn, to be able to make decisions like this, to do what he did. But for that, she needed him. Because leadership couldn't be learned from a book.

But for that, she really did need to break the curse. So, trying to ignore the nausea creeping up her throat, she headed for the tower.

Apparently, things are not getting better. At least not for poor Cage stuck in a cage (ha!). But I took the opportunity to show what he does in his free time and why those men in the portraits keep coming back to him.

It seems like Cage has his own ideas about running the kingdom. I'm sure his rogue interference will have no consequences on anyone.

So yes, brand new content once again. We're back to recycling starting next chapter, but with a bit of a twist.

Stay tuned and don't forget to vote and comment.