How I Accidentally Built a Kingdom

In less than an hour I had seen Cat blush more than I had ever seen her blush before.

First it was when she was in Daniel’s arms, and then when I asked her when she was going to make her move.

She might have been fighting against it, but I could see that she was clearly in love with him.

I had started to notice her change of behavior toward him for a while by that point, but I had just chalked it up to her finally accepting him.

Eventually though, I had seen the way she looked at him, and I knew that she was completely in love with him.

"I’m not going to make a move on him." Cat answered, finally gathering herself enough to get the words out.

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips at the absolute stubbornness my older sister was capable of.

"If you say so," I said, turning around and heading back to the clearing where I could hear the men enjoying their meal.

"Wait for me!" Cat called from behind me, in moments she had caught up to me.

We walked in silence all the way back to the small clearing, where we saw Daniel and Erick chatting away with their empty bowls at their feet.

The moment we entered the clearing Daniel’s gaze snapped up to us.

"You’re back," he said. "Have a seat, I’ll get your lunch."

I couldn’t help but smile at the way he made space for Cat and me to sit on the log he had just been sitting on.

"Thank you," Cat said as he handed us each a bowl.

"Sure," Daniel said sitting down cross legged on the ground in front of us. "Are you okay now, Catharina?"

The moment he asked that, I could feel Cat stiffen up next to me, the spoon froze on its way to her mouth, her eyes almost as wide as the bowl in her hand.

"I’m fine," She mumbled. "You can call me Cat from now on... if you want to." She finished the last part as a whisper.

"Really?" Daniel asked, a bright smile on his lips.

A slight nod was the only answer Cat gave him as she continued eating.

Focusing completely on the food in front of her, not meeting his eyes at all.

"Cat it is then." Daniel said, turning his gaze to me.

I could see the happiness in his eyes.

Since he had met Cat, all he had wanted was for her to accept him.

He might not have said it in so many words, but he really wanted the one person I saw as family to like him.

"Should we try and cover as much ground as we can today?" He asked.

I knew how much he wanted to get back to Lofie, he couldn’t hide his excitement to implement some of his newest ideas from me.

He had practically talked my ears off over the previous few days explaining all of them.

Honestly, I didn’t know how he was going to do it, but if he could implement some of them he would revolutionize trade in the area.

Maybe even in the world.

"That sounds like a good idea," I smiled back at him.

For the next few minutes everyone just finished their meals, quietly talking amongst themselves.

The only person who was entirely quiet was Cat.

But I didn’t mind that, she had a lot to think about after all.

Eventually everyone had finished their meals, Daniel had stored everything, and we were on the move again.

This time Cat had moved to the back of the group, creating as much distance between her and us as she could.

Daniel had frowned at this, but didn’t say anything about it.

We travelled at a slightly faster pace than we had that morning, everyone moving in silence, Daniel and I leading the way again.

"What’s wrong with Cat?" Daniel finally asked me in a low enough voice that no one else would hear.

"She’s in love with you," I answered with a smile.

"What?!" Daniel asked, stumbling for a few steps before he finally got his steps back under control.

"Don’t joke like that!" He whisper-shouted at me.

"I’m not joking," I giggled.

Daniel only looked at me with pure shock, not focusing on where he was going at all, he even stumbled some more over a few fallen branches.

"You..."

"She..."

"What..."

"How..."

He tried to find something to say, each time he would pause for a bit, and I’d see a complicated expression appear, before he tried again.

Eventually he just gave up and focused on his feet in complete silence.

The smile had never left my face since I told him about Cat’s feelings for him.

But I didn’t interrupt his thoughts, I knew I had sprung that statement on him, but if I didn’t do something about them, nothing would’ve ever happened.

I mean Cat was as stubborn as a mule, and Daniel... Well Daniel was just completely oblivious when it came to how people felt about him.

His mind always tended to jump to the worst case scenarios, and never to anything positive they might feel toward him.

"I’m sorry," he finally spoke after moving in silence for some time.

"Sorry about what?" I asked, my smile replaced by a frown.

The sudden apology had confused me completely, I had expected a lot of responses, but not that one.

"I... don’t really know," he said. "I just don’t know what to do."

"Do you like her?" I asked, the frown on my face easing again.

"Of course I do," he answered. "She’s an amazing person."

"Then the answer is pretty simple, don’t you think?" I asked, my smile reappearing again.

"It is?" Daniel asked, finally turning his eyes back to me. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Of course it is," I said. "Make her happy."

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked, panic starting to surface in his gaze. "You don’t mean that I should leave y—"

I didn’t let him finish that thought.

The mere idea that he would think I would suggest something as ridiculous as him replacing me with my sister immediately pissed me off.

So I gave him a massive slap to the back of the head.

A slap so hard that it made him stumble again.

"Of course not, you idiot," I whispered. "I mean you should make her as happy as you make me."

"I still don’t get it," Daniel said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sometimes you really are an imbecile," I mumbled.

"I mean, that you should make us both happy," I said.

I could see that this was still confusing him, so I raised my hand to silence his next question before he could even get it out.

"I’ll allow you to make her my sister-wife," I said.

"Your what?!"