Not Princess Material

Chapter 26

The loud knock on the door caused her to jump. She unfolded her legs from beneath her skirts and rose to cross the room and pull open the door. A scowl appeared on her face. "Why are you here, you know I won't go down to dinner."

Lonan released a long-suffering sigh as he pushed past her into the room. "I am here to watch over you."

"Watch over me? Why on earth would I need anyone to watch over me?" It was then that she heard it, from below, the clash of steel against steel. He reached over her head and pushed the door shut before locking it and pulling her away.

"Because it would seem someone was foolish enough to hire men to come rescue you."

Arthur must have sent men into the keep to get her while he got Codey out. It was foolish and it would get those men killed he had to know that. She stared at the door. No one would make it up here. Not past Campbell's mercenaries.

"You can stand there and stare at that door all you want, Princess, no one will come for you."

She heaved out a sigh. "I know," she replied with a note of sadness.

"You know yet you still remain there, staring as if you expect someone to burst into this room and set you free."

A glance back at him and she found him, back propped against the wall across the room from her, arms folded over his chest, relaxed. "I expect them all to die and it hurts down to my soul that he will show them no mercy. That I am stuck here and can do nothing to protect them."

Something in his eyes crumbled, there was some emotion there but he hid it quickly. "You are not expected to save them. You are a princess they are supposed to protect you. It is their job to do so."

She made a sound of disgust. "Why because I'm female? Where is it written that I am not allowed to pick up a weapon and defend myself, defend others? That I must wear frills and lace instead of pants and armor. I hate who I am forced to be! I hate all of it and hate that I can't help anyone, ever!"

"You're crying," he remarked.

"Oh shut up!" She stomped over and took her seat by the window, ignoring him and the small smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.

***

Arthur slipped through the deserted throne room. Campbell's men ran the moment the knights swarmed in and attacked. "Where is that damn door?" He circled the room, searching for the way down to the dungeon. Nothing no door, yet he had the keys. There had to be a door somewhere, right? He stood beside the throne turning in a slow circle. "Door. Door. Door."

Directly behind the throne tacked to the wall was a large banner with Campbell's crest on it, two snakes coiled together. He stalked to the tapestry and shoved it aside, stone. Blank unyielding stone. He cursed and began to turn away but something caught his eye as he turned. Carved in the stone part way up was a small symbol that matched the one carved into the keys on the ring. He leaned in closer to the stone and found a small gap between the mortor. "Clever, Campbell, very clever." He looked through the keys on the ring and chose a key that matched they symbol beside the hole. He discovered they were all slightly different in a small way.

There was a small click and he released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Holding in because he'd been worried that the keys might be a trap that Campbell planned for them. The door swung inward. A set of stairs led down into dark gloom light danced across them from the torches set into the walls at intervals. "All right, here I go." He stepped into the small space hardly wide enough for one man to pass and the door shut behind him as if given a command by an invisible force. He shuddered in the flickering gloom.