The Steel Queen - Prologue

Chapter 4 Katherine

Katherine

Kath watched from the tower top as the king embraced Blaine. He’d done it!  Blaine’s trial had been difficult, nigh on deadly, but he’d done it, he’d gained his maroon cloak. Elation thrummed through Kath, knowing her dream was one step closer to reality.

Ducking low, she hid behind the battlement, lest she be seen. Sitting beneath the stars, her back pressed to the cold mage-stone of the forbidden tower, her dreams ran rampant. She longed to hold a sword in her hands, but more than that, she felt the call to lead. Her older brothers all had their places in the octagon. One of them would eventually earn the right to rule, but never a daughter, never a girl. The octagon trial offered her best chance to change her fate.

But everything would be for naught if she was caught. She dared not think what would happen if the knights caught her defiling their secret trials.

As the sounds of celebration faded and the knights made their way from the tower, Kath forced herself to wait, counting to one hundred, and then to two hundred. Finally satisfied it was safe, she crept to the well of stairs that honeycombed the outer wall of the tower. The staircase gaped open, dark and empty.

Kath slipped down the stairs two at a time, one hand trailing along the inner wall. At the bottom of the fifth spiral, darkness gave way to torchlight. Muffled voices brought her to an abrupt halt. Keeping to the shadows, she peered around the curved inner wall, shocked to find a pair of maroon cloaks blocking the stairwell. Her breath caught. Except for the tower guards, all the knights should be celebrating in the great hall.

The two men stood abnormally close, furtive whispers swirling between them. Kath thought she head Trask’s name mentioned among the whispers.Blaine’s fight with the battleaxe had been fearsome to behold. Kath was still shocked by the dishonor of Trask’s blow…and the king had said nothing; that shocked her almost as much. Something foul festered in the maroon, something brought to light by the trial. Kath crept towards the two knights, tempted to eavesdrop, but time was against her. With the trial over, the guards would soon resume their rounds; she had to find her way out. Crouched in the shadows, Kath studied the two knights as if they were enemies. She’d often heard the knight marshal say that the key to an enemy’s weakness lay in his motives. The two knights acted as if they did not want to be overheard. Perhaps they’d move if they thought someone was coming. Kath ransacked her pockets for an agate-colored pebble she’d found earlier that morning. Leaning into the torchlight, she flicked her wrist, aiming low. The pebble skittered into the far hallway, a clatter of stone on stone.

Startled, the two knights stilled. Kath held her breath and at last they moved off down the hallway, but she forced herself to wait. When the retreating footsteps fell silent, she bolted, her soft doeskin boots whispering down the stairs. Her heart hammering, she peered into the torch-lit hallway, relieved to find it empty. Dashing to the opposite wall, she counted three torches to the left and then pressed the raised octagon on the bottom of the metal bracket. A low rumble came from behind the stone wall. A hidden door clicked open, releasing a breath of stale air. Anxious to be gone, she plunged into the narrow opening. Ignoring the spiders and the strands of broken webs, she reached for another raised octagon and pressed it. The door closed behind her, cloaking her in darkness.

Silence surrounded her, but to Kath it seemed welcoming. The musty stillness of the lower tunnels beckoned. The underground passageways provided a sanctuary, her secret retreat. Fumbling in the dark, she found her flint waiting on the top step and struck a flame to a candle stub. Pale light illuminated the ancient walls. Here within these forgotten halls she could be herself, practicing with rusty swords and ferreting out the secrets of the past. But soon she’d have the chance to do more. Running her hand along the impossibly smooth mage-stone walls, she descended the stairs to the underground passage, dreaming of a future full of swords.