Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2), B.T. Narro [digital book reader txt] 📗

are, but fortunately for me you seem to be quite intuitive. You know I’m interested in much more than your looks, and I certainly don’t care about your wealth. There are many things I like about you.” I was about to go on, but she stopped me.

“Yes, I’m aware of that now.” She had another sigh. “I think it was a mistake to open up to you, but it’s too late to change that now.”

It was a relief when she came back to stand with me near my bed, away from the door, though I did fear what she was about to say.

“I hope you don’t think less of me after this,” she said, “but my family has certain expectations of me. My family whom I love, and who love me.”

She was done? She looked at me expectantly. I wasn’t going to let her get away that easily.

“Are you saying that they expect you to be involved with someone like Reuben, not someone like me?”

“That’s an unfair way of putting it, Jon.”

“I’m not angry,” I clarified. “I’m just trying to understand the truth.”

“Are you sure you’re not angry? I hope now more than ever that you can still be honest with me.”

Again she was right. I was angry, and I hadn’t even let myself realize it. This made me even angrier.

“Hell, are you ever wrong? I never knew the truth could piss me off so much!”

Her infectious laughter broke my anger, though, forcing a laugh out of my throat as well.

The moment was fleeting.

I asked, “Are you really going to marry someone you dislike just because of your family’s expectations? It doesn’t seem like you.”

“Not all the nobles are like Reuben. Many behave like I do.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. Maybe there was nothing I could do and should give up before I embarrassed myself further.

“Can I share something with you if you promise not to tell anyone?” Kataleya asked. “Not even the king? It will shed light on this situation.”

“I promise I won’t speak of it.”

“My family has had close ties with another family for years, and there has been considerable expectation that I would marry the male heir of that family. That changed, however, because of the recent rebellion. Everything was put on hold when Nykal needed help taking down Oquin and his army. When it was all done, and an opportunity to train as a sorcerer was presented to me, I convinced my family to allow me to pledge service to Nykal. They agreed because they thought I might meet a sorcerer of nobility here, like myself.”

“Someone like Reuben.”

“Yes.”

“So it wasn’t all that strange that he thought you two would end up together.”

“No, it would be stranger for two people in our position to end up apart, especially when both of our families have interest in each other.”

“All this time I had thought Reuben was delusional, arrogant beyond belief.”

“He’s still Reuben,” she reminded me. “I’m not interested in him, though I am glad to see his personality losing some of its edge. I’m not talking about Reuben, though. I’m getting to the secret part that you cannot share.”

She waited for me to nod.

“My family’s opinion recently changed back to how it was before, now that Nykal held my family in suspicion of treason. Unfortunately, things are currently moving in a direction that worries me.”

“Your family is losing loyalty to the king?”

“I wouldn’t say losing loyalty, but my father has been very hurt by the accusation, just as I was.”

“You’ve spoken with him?”

“Not for very long. It was during the arrest of Luther. My father was there. He knew the king had been spying on him. However, we are loyal,” she continued, “not just to the king but to good. We stand against dteria, as we always have. So we will always stand with Nykal. But my family is heavily opposed to creating a dynasty under his kingship now. They have returned focus to the original family I mentioned. Maybe you don’t know this, coming from a small town far north, but when someone like me marries, it is not just a marriage of two people but of two families. Finding the right man to wed isn’t solely up to me.”

“Do you even like the male heir of this family you would be married to?”

“Yes, so far I do,” she said to my disappointment. “We haven’t spent a large amount of time together, though our burgeoning relationship would come to a sudden end if I became involved with another boy.”

So it just wasn’t meant to be, no matter what I could do about it. There could be some relief in that, though I had to get past the sinking feeling in my chest first.

I would soon, I figured. My feelings were strong, but I had only come to realize them recently. I just needed to give myself time.

However, it was hard to picture losing my attraction to someone who I’d always thought was beautiful, even before finding out how much I liked her as a person and a friend…even before hearing that she thought me to be very handsome.

Yeah, this was going to be difficult, but I didn’t want to put a strain on her.

“I’m sorry, Jon.”

“It’s all right, I understand,” I said confidently. “I’ll be fine.”

“Oh?” she seemed a little confused, maybe even a little hurt at how quickly I might be able to get over her.

“You know, Kat,” I began, pausing to figure out how best to explain myself. She appeared worried as I went on. “You tend to take an upside down situation and turn it upright, for everyone to see what it really is, whether we want to or not.”

There was a pause before she spoke in a small voice. “Is that bad?”

“The opposite. I would’ve liked to build a relationship with someone like you, who has a talent for order in all this chaos, but I’ll be all right. Because I know you’ll still be in my life.”

She took my