Chapter Text
30 Years Ago
Winchester Forest
John made his way through the underbrush, cursing the thorns that poked through his clothing. Of course, she would want to meet here, territory she had complete control over that was practically designed to weaken him. He’d been dreading this conversation and the misery it would surely unleash. But he saw no point in prolonging the inevitable heartbreak, not when his wedding to Mary was growing closer every day. Katherine had to know what was coming.
Soon, he came to a clearing bathed in an eerie green light. In its center stood Katherine in all her terrifying yet enticing beauty, her back to John. His heart ached as he remembered the first time he saw her from across a crowded ballroom. No one had paid the witch much mind, but he had been awestruck from the start. He still was, if he was in the mood to be honest with himself.
“You came.” She still did not face him, tone betraying nothing.
John tentatively stepped forward. “Of course I did. I… I wanted to be sure to see you again… before…”
“Before the wedding.” She turned, and John’s breath hitched at the sight of the tear tracks running down her cheeks. “Before you marry the princess.”
Not trusting his voice, he simply nodded.
Katherine made her way to John’s side, running her hand down his arm. “The pretty little princess, golden and lovely with all the right breeding. Not a trace of the nasty old magic in there, I’d wager. All shiny like a new coin.”
A shiver ran up his spine as it always did when she touched him. He was never sure if it was her power or the way she made him feel, but tonight the electricity in the air was all Katherine’s doing.
“There’s still time, you know,” she whispered, cupping her hand under his chin and gently tilting his face downward to meet her gaze. “We could leave tonight. They’d never suspect, and I have my cloaking magic. This is true love, John. We were fated to be together. This sort of love doesn’t happen every day, and to throw it away…”
John abruptly pulled back from Katherine’s touch, trying to regain his composure. He couldn’t let her change his mind, not now. “Katherine, it’s not that simple and you know it. I am the only son my father has. If I leave, there will be no one to run the kingdom when he dies. I would never be able to give him an heir and secure our line. It would devastate him.”
Katherine sighed, leaning back against a tree. “You’d still have the best claim to the throne. We could come back in a few years when this mess has blown over, rule together.”
John laughed bitterly. “Yes, I’m sure that would go over well. I leave the Campbell princess at the altar, then waltz in years later with a lowborn witch for a wife. Surely no one at court would have a problem with that.”
Katherine’s eyes narrowed. “A lowborn witch, hmm? I don’t recall you whispering that particular pet name before. It was all my love, my beauty, my everything , then.”
She pushed herself off the tree, taking slow and deliberate steps to the center of the circle. Too late, John noticed that the clearing was a perfect, unbroken faerie ring. He wouldn’t be leaving here unless she let him. He allowed himself to look at her face.
Katherine’s eyes glinted with malice born of betrayal. “This is your last chance, John. Choose true love. Choose me . Or suffer the consequences of defying fate.”
John drew himself up, trying to project a confidence he didn’t feel. “The consequences of defying fate? Or the consequences of finally realizing the truth? What we had was real, I cannot deny it. But it’s over. Mary is my future, and you are my past. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
The wind whistled through the tree branches, picking up speed unnaturally. John tried to run but found he was frozen in place. He could only watch helplessly as the clearing was surrounded by a wall of emerald mist.
Stepping forward, Katherine grabbed John’s arm. Finding one of the cuts the thorns had made earlier, she twisted the skin to let out more blood as he howled in pain. Producing a small vial from the sleeves of her gown, she collected the blood and brought it to the exact center of the clearing.
John pleaded for mercy, but she would not hear it, chanting a spell in a language so ancient he had never heard it spoken. All of a sudden, light flooded the clearing as John passed out.