Chapter 2 #2
Not fast, but precise.
My blade taps his exposed side before he can finish his sentence.
I step back.
“Did you feel that?“ I say calmly.
He nods, the colour rising in his cheeks as the others all turn back to their routines.
“That was steel. That would be your death.” I continue, “You rely on speed when your accuracy is failing. But speed will always fail first in a battle.”
I gesture to his stance. “Again.”
He raises his blade, this time covering his flank.
“Better,” I say. “Good, now you’re alive.”
Kael stands beside me now, murmuring under his breath,
“And that,” he pauses, “is why I handle the training talks.”
“Better he learn it now than in the field,” I remark, keeping my gaze on the knights.
“Well, yes, true… but. I find it helps morale if someone smiles around here,” he says.
“Well, that’s your department,” I respond, earning a small chuckle from him.
While it pains me to admit it, his humour has saved me more than his blade.
He reminds me that there is still a world worth standing in, not just defending.
Not that I would ever tell him that, but he knows it deep down.
We’ve been in each other’s lives long enough to not need words to communicate anymore.
“Last drill, then we'll call it a day?” he asks.
But before I can answer, something in the air tightens.
Something is wrong.
Kael turns to look at me as we share a silent concern.
He feels it too.
The training yard seems to shift, and the sounds of clanging metal come to an abrupt halt.
I move between the knights towards the centre where they all seem to focus their attention. Hushed whispers and murmurs fill the surrounding space.
That’s when I see her.
This small, fragile being surrounded by a wall of silver armour.
Not weak, just contained, as though she has learned to fold herself inward.
Copper hair, plain at first glance, until the light catches it and it turns soft and deep, the colour of wet earth after rain.
Her eyes are blue, striking in the way jewels are, steady and clear. The kind that seem to register everything and say very little.
Freckles scatter across her nose and cheeks, faint as if the sun put them there absent-mindedly, and I find my gaze returning to them without permission.
She is pretty.
Undeniably so.
She doesn’t appear afraid, only startled.
I move through the parted crowd to approach her. My eyes meet hers, then the gate behind her. The space within it closes shut, but not before I catch a glimpse of grass and a wheelbarrow full of dead leaves.
This is impossible.
“Fuck,” I say the word aloud before I even realise I’ve thought it.
This is not good.
Kael commands the knights out of the training yard before returning to my side.
“What are we going to do with her?” he asks me, staring at this petite figure of a girl in front of us.
She stares up at us both, her expression now registering fear.
“Take her to the king,” I say simply, moving towards her to ask her to follow us.
Kael grabs my wrist firmly and leans in to whisper under his breath.
“Rowan, are you sure? Shouldn’t we talk about this first? Do you know what this means? What —.”
“Kael, it’s our duty,” I cut in, refusing to accept any other answer.
He pulls away now and glances back at the girl.
“Yes, sir,” he says.
Then, quieter, “Your funeral.”
He approaches the girl cautiously and asks her to follow us. She doesn’t respond, only nods and falls in step behind us.
We make our way to the throne room, alerting the King’s steward and asking to speak with the King himself.
Making our way down the narrow corridor, the girl walks between me and Kael, her steps careful. I watch her closely, curiosity gnawing at me. I should ignore it, focus on my duty, but there is something about her.
It unsettles me.
“You asked to see me?” King Aldric turns to speak to us as we stand at his door. His expression lifts when he spots me.
“Ah, Warden Ashford, I trust things are all under control, yes?” he says to me with a smile.
King Aldric is young for a king, thrust onto the throne by the cruel rules of this kingdom. He’s only a few years older than I am.
Twenty-eight and ruling an entire realm.
He isn’t a bad person.
Not at heart.
But this throne changes even the strongest of men, and almost always for the worse.
The door closes behind us, the steward nodding his head at us before shutting it completely.
Kael stands to my left, with the girl hidden behind my back.
“We had a situation at training, sir.” I say, assessing his mood.
“A situation? What do you mean?” he says more sternly now. He turns to face me as I move aside to reveal the small, red-haired girl.
Her eyes go wide, and I can feel her tension from where I stand.
“Who is this?” the King remarks.
“She appeared. By the gate.” I say simply.
“What do you mean by the gate? The gate doesn’t work? No one can get through the gate, you know that, Rothwyn.” The sound of my formal name makes me stiffen.
He rises to stand now, and I move in front of the girl on instinct.
“With all due respect, she didn’t exactly arrive here armed.” I offer politely.
“But it doesn’t work anymore? I had them all sealed shut. They all died off. You saw it happen,” he says, dragging a hand through his hair. “What does this mean?” He turns to the girl now. She clenches her fists tightly, and her breath hitches.
“Who sent you?” the King asks, a trace of paranoia in his tone. I can feel his anger rising. He doesn’t like not knowing a situation.
Control is power.
The room falls silent.
No one mutters a word as we wait for the girl to speak.
In what feels like a very long gap of silence, she finally takes a breath before quietly muttering.
“Um. No one. I’m…so sorry, I…don’t know what’s going on,” she says.
Her voice is steadying. Too gentle for a world full of decay and loss. Her eyes tear up as her breathing picks up in a panic. I turn to Kael, a silent declaration for him to help her. Kael reaches to grab her shoulder.
“What is your name?” he asks her, giving her a small smile.
“Elodie… Elodie Hawthorne,” she says to him, taking a deep breath.
“Who sent you, Elodie?” the King shouts over Kael, becoming agitated.
When she doesn’t respond, he slams his fist on his desk. I glance at Kael, who shakes his head at me.
Kael turns back to Elodie and asks gently, “Do you know how you got here? Where did you come from?”
Elodie turns to look at me, her eyes searching. I have tortured far too many men in search of a threat, beaten them until their faces slackened with defeat. This girl’s eyes tell me everything her voice does not.
She turns back to Kael now.
“Please forgive me, I... I don’t…I have no idea…
I mean… I was just.” She shakes out both her hands before continuing, “I was clearing away the overgrowth because… he asked me to. Mark asked me to, because Kate phoned in sick and then. Well, there was a stone, and it glowed and then… there was this butterfly-”
I cut her off.
“A butterfly?”
She turns to face me now, gulping before nodding her head at me.
“What colour was this butterfly?” I ask her plainly.
I glance at the King, whose jaw tightens, and then at Kael, who looks just as confused.
“Blue,” she whispers aloud.
The room goes completely silent.
“You’re telling me there was a blue butterfly and then you appeared here?” I ask her, the words leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
“Well… yes. I mean…God, I sound crazy. What the hell is even happening to me? Maybe I passed out, and this is all some really vivid dream,” she says, shaking her head at the floor.
“This is not a dream,” I say quietly, narrowing my eyes at her.
Who is this girl and where the hell has she come from?
“Enough of this,” the king interrupts. “What realm are you from, girl?” he asks, anger in his tone.
“Realm? What do you mean, realm?” she says, looking genuinely confused.
“Do not mock me, girl. Tell me what realm you are from and who sent you. I would advise you not to lie to me. My knights can kill exceptionally quickly at a single nod from me.”
He isn’t wrong.
And I have done it frequently for him, as my duty.
But something tells me I might hesitate on this one.
The girl takes a step back from us now, raising her hands in innocence. “Look, I swear to you. No one sent me. I don’t know where I am. I do not know how I got here. Please. I am telling you the truth,” she says, pleading now. Her eyes go wide, flickering chaotically between the three of us.
The King looks at me, and I know what he’s going to say before he even announces it. I have served under this man long enough to know that he is obsessively cautious.
“Very well, girl. But until I find out what is going on here, you will stay under the direct supervision of my High Warden. Rothwyn, don’t let her out of your sight. I will request an investigation to begin immediately,” he says, glancing at both me and Kael.
He turns to Kael, “Commander Rook, see that this remains a closed topic for discussion. I will not have my castle in a panic over the gates. I need you to confirm that the gate remains sealed.”
Kael glances at me before turning to the King, “Yes, sir.” Kael exits the room as I turn to the King.
“Shall I have a room prepared for her, sir?” I ask.
“No. She will be in your wing of the castle. I cannot risk her being out of anyone’s sight in case she is a danger to this castle.
We don’t know how she breached the seal.
” I nod, feeling my guard go up. “You may leave. Report back to me first thing in the morning, Rothwyn.” I nod at him once in acknowledgment before turning to leave the room.
I glance back at the girl who remains frozen.
“Hawthorne,” I mutter under my breath. She looks up at me before rushing to my side. The door shuts behind us, the corridor feeling narrower than before. Elodie stands still at my side, waiting for my next move. Kael appears from beside the door.
“Like I said,” he exhales. “Your funeral.”