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‘I just…..this changes things, you know-?’
Aragon paused on the threshold of the living room, cup of tea in hand.
She didn’t really want to interrupt Kitty and Cathy’s girl talk and she definitely didn’t want to have the smell of nail polish ruining the taste of her special new mango tea. She took a step back into the hall- Jane would probably wouldn’t mind if she joined her in her room, as long as she promised not to talk over the good bits in the audio books she was listening to.
‘I understand totally-’
‘I’m not even sure I really know her any more- Sorry, I know she’s your cousin but-’
‘No, it’s ok- I mean, even I’m looking at her differently now-’
She sighed internally. There was no way she could leave and let whatever drama was about to unfold (or had it already unfolded, who knew?) just go ahead without some intervention.
She had surprised everyone, herself included, by being cautiously pleased by her goddaughter embarking upon a relationship with her ex-husbands New Woman (a situation that still made her feel a little unnerved at times- who would have ever guessed that such a thing would come to pass in their first lives? Certainly not Catalina Trastamara) but there was no way she was going to sit by and do nothing if Anne had done ANYTHING to hurt her Cathy-
‘What’s going on?’
Cathy and Kitty exchanged dubious glances, obviously debating on how much they should say, and Aragon’s heart started to beat a little faster.
‘Oh god. What is it? Is it drugs? I KNEW she had too much energy! Has she tried to make you do something weird? Has she cheated on you? Because I swear to god-’
‘Catalina! Calm down!’ Cathy put a hand (three of the nails freshly painted in Russian Navy) on her arm. ‘It’s nothing like that-’
‘What is it then?’
‘It’s nothing-’
‘It didn’t sound like nothing! You sounded really upset-’
‘Yeah, it definitely wasn’t nothing!’ Kitty sat up from where she’d been sprawled across the rug, bottle of Far East Fushia in one hand and brush (drip of polish hanging perilously off the end- Catalina internally winced for the fate of Jane’s prized white sheepskin). ‘I was there- I heard you.’ Just in time, she caught the drip and then put the bottle down. ‘Honestly, it was like the saddest sound in the world when you saw it- like a kitten being trodden on-’
‘Saw what?’ Catalina was sure she would have an aneurysm before either girl actually got to the point, and then she’d die, and Six would have to be renamed Five, and it would be all Anne’s fault. Well, Anne and her suddenly taciturn godchild.
Kitty turned huge, anguished eyes to the golden queen. ‘The bowl! The bowl in the sink! Full of water!’
‘……What?’
‘She’d been baking!’ Kitty added in tragic tones, as if that explained anything. Catalina wondered if the girl was doing it on purpose to annoy but squashed the idea pretty quickly. While Anne, Anna and even Cathy sometimes enjoyed winding her up for amusement, she couldn’t imagine Kitty doing it.
‘And?’
‘She washed up the bowl right away!’ Cathy said, in the same way that she might have related that Anne also had a secret predilection for tearing pages out of library books.
‘So?’
‘She didn’t save the left over cake batter for me!’ Cathy explained sadly. ‘I’d have understood if she just wanted it for herself but…..no! She just….washed it up. As if it didn’t even matter! It turns out she NEVER eats the raw cake batter! Not ever!’
‘And it’s like….do we even know her at all now?’ Kitty spread her hands. ‘It’s like finding out that she doesn’t stop at red lights or that she secretly hates the garden duck or something-’
‘Well firstly, that’s ridiculous-’ Catalina felt duty bound to defend Anne in her absence, perhaps out of guilt for jumping to conclusions about her. ‘You know Anne is an excellent driver. And she loves Garden Duck. We all love Garden Duck. Joan doesn’t even like birds and she loves Garden Duck.’ They two young queens nodded solemnly at this: they did, after all, all love Garden Duck. ‘On the matter at hand though….you eat the raw cake mix?’ Catalina wrinkled her nose. ‘That sounds unsanitary-’
Now both Kitty and Cathy were starring at her, horror struck. ‘Catalina! You’re ALWAYS meant to save the bowl for the raw cake mix left inside!’
Kitty turned to Cathy. ‘You didn’t say she was like that too!’
‘I didn’t know!’ Cathy was wide eyed. ‘Oh god…my girlfriend, now my godmother… I don’t know what to believe any more….’
‘….Ok. This is getting too weird.’ Catalina realised she’d had enough of this for one day and decided to leave them to it. She pressed a kiss to the top of both of the queens heads and took her rapidly cooling mango tea into the hallway and up the stairs to Jane’s bedroom.
Before she could knock, Anne’s door opened a crack.
‘Catalina- Pssst!’
‘Hm?’
‘How bad is it?’ Anne tilted her head. ‘Y’know, down there-’
‘Honestly, I have no idea.’ Catalina shook her head. ‘I’m sure they’ll get over it though….’
‘I hope so. I’m banking on the cake being ready and that being enough to distract them from their horror that I don’t want to eat raw egg and flour-’
Catalina wished her former lady in waiting luck and took herself away to the relative peace of Jane’s bedroom, where she and Anna were discussing their latest favourite book, happily unaware of any cake related drama.
Half an hour later, Cathy knocked and poked her head around the door, balancing a tray of cake for them all.
‘Sorry to interrupt but we thought you might want some-’
‘Oooh!’
‘Thank you Cathy!’
Aragon took a plate for herself.
‘I take it you’ve made up now?’
‘Mmm-hmmm’ Cathy nodded. ‘Kit and I decided….it’s ok. It’s not a dealbreaker-’
‘Good good-’
‘-and she’s agreed I can raise the children to my way of thinking. If we have any. So it’s all ok!’ Cathy smiled brightly and disappeared, now-empty tray in hand, leaving a slightly stunned Spanish queen behind her.