The Duke's Masked Wife

"Kate."

"Kate."

Kate opened her eyes after hearing her mother call for her. The room given to her by the court was dark as it was late into the night or early in the morning of the next day by now. She wasn't allowed to go home yet and while Katrina believed the court was keeping Kate here for no reason, it was actually Kate who did not want to go home.

Kate knew there was no one home to make her feel safe despite the fact that there were guards there. She wanted more of them before she would return home.

The court was safe in Kate's opinion because of the guards walking around and everyone knew the men in the court were all skilled in fighting. Then the palace was right next to the court so no one would ever be foolish to try attacking the court.

Kate stared in the darkness at her mother who was fast asleep on the edge of the bed. Katrina sat in a chair and rested her head on the bed Kate was using to sleep. Katrina refused to go to another room and leave Kate all alone.

Kate was about to close her eyes and go back to sleep, but she was reminded of the reason she had woken out of her sleep and opened her eyes once more. She thought her mother was calling for her. Her mother was the only person here unless someone on the outside was calling for her. Kate did not want to speak to anyone else when her face was damaged.

When she would be ready to leave the court, Kate planned to wait until the town was dead in the night and cover her face as she left the court. She had to go into hiding for a while. It was part of her mother's plan.

Kate decided to ignore the person calling for her on the outside and closed her eyes to fall back to sleep. She wanted the morning to come quickly so it would be bright outside and it wouldn't feel like she was inside the room Simon placed her in.

"Ignoring me now, Kate?"

Her eyes opened wide when she heard Simon's voice. Kate quickly sat up, giving herself a headache as she did so, and looked into the corner where she heard Simon's voice. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her since Simon was dead. She overheard that his body was taken to the palace for the King to see that he was dead and then his body would be placed elsewhere.

"Just go to sleep," Kate whispered.

"Come on, Kate. You can't get rid of me so easily. Don't make me angry by ignoring me. You know I hate it when you do this."

Kate flinched when she felt a cold breeze on her ear like someone was whispering in her ear or about to touch her. "You are not real," she whispered.

"I might be gone, but the town still has the little monster that you are. I told you, you and I are the same, but you are worse than me. You cannot admit what you are. Is she the reason why?"

"No!" Kate exclaimed, sitting up when she thought Simon was going to touch her mother. Her mother was still fast asleep and there was no one besides the two of them in the room. "No," Kate grabbed a handful of her blanket. She did not want to be haunted by a dead man. It was bad enough she kept seeing him drag her around in her dreams.

Kate touched her ears to block out what she was hearing in the quiet room, but it was no use. She was hearing Simon in her head. It felt like when she was at the ball and heard the crowd comparing her to Alessandra when they weren't in reality.

"Do you like the little gift I left for you? My fun was ruined so it was only fair I ruined my wife. We share everything. The love, the wealth, the pain. Nothing was more fitting than ruining your face-"

"Shut up!" Kate shook her head. She did not want to hear about her face from a Simon her mind was haunting her with.

"Bella was kind enough to rescue you when you would have left her behind. Are you going to tell the truth? That you wanted to take Kyle? I am not the only fucked up person here!" Simon yelled. "My beautiful bride shared the same mind as me. It was why I was attracted to you all along."

"Are you truly going to follow your mother's plans? Presenting yourself a victim to have the town feeling sorry for you? Presenting yourself as a victim more than Bella who helped you and was truly a victim. Remember, you would have worked with me to get your sister."

"Shut up!" Kate yelled, waking up Katrina who was startled by the noise.

"Kate?" Katrina mumbled, rubbing her eyes to see clearly what was happening with Kate. "What is wrong, Kate? Did you have a nightmare?"

"Get him out of my head," Kate pleaded with her mother. She didn't want Simon of all people to haunt her. She suffered enough as his wife and then with him attacking her.

"Why don't you like what I'm saying, Kate? I am only saying what is on your mind, but you're too stubborn to acknowledge that you are not innocent.  You fear this is your karma. That after everything you've done, you will end up wearing a mask like Alessandra-"

"Stop it!" Kate ruffled her hair and yelled. She tapped her ears repeatedly to stop hearing Simon. She had gotten over the nightmare of her being in a mask like Alessandra and now it was coming back to her.

"Kate," Katrina stood to check on her daughter since Kate was scaring her. "Kate, you have to tell me what's wrong. Who is in your head?" Katrina asked whilst trying to stop Kate from hitting her head.

"Simon," Kate replied.

"Simon is dead, Kate. Listen to me. You need to take a breath and relax Kate. You will hurt your wound if you do not stay still. Just breathe," Katrina said and showed Kate how to relax.

There was a knock at the door and then someone asked, "Is everything alright in there? We heard screaming."

"We are fine," Katrina replied through gritted teeth. She wasn't going to let anyone see her daughter have a breakdown. "I have no choice," she said and then slapped Kate to snap her out of whatever she was seeing or hearing. "Simon is not here, Kate."

With teary eyes, Kate looked up at her mother who hit her for the first time. She slowly moved her hands from near her head and looked around to see if she could still see or hear Simon. She could not."There's something wrong with me," Kate whispered, still shaken up by how real it felt as if Simon was here a second ago.

"You experienced something traumatic, Kate. It's affecting you still, but I will have you fixed in no time. Once you get out of the court, you'll go back to normal. Here," Katrina sat down on Kate's bed. "I will hold your hand while you sleep and I will keep watch. Go back to sleep Kate. Everything is fine."