The Chosen (32 page)

“If you’re going to accuse me of something, Matt,” Natalie said stiffly, “just come out and say it.”

“Fine,” he turned to face her directly, not an easy feat to accomplish since she was sitting five meters above his head in the cliffs. “
You’re
the reason Kathryn hasn’t been able to settle in to this family. If it wasn’t for you haranguing her every chance you got, she might actually want to spend time with us and get to know us.”

“How—How dare you!” Natalie sputtered.

“He’s right,” Jenna spoke up. “Don’t bother denying it Natalie, we all know the truth. You hate Kathryn and have been making her life miserable for months.”

In any other time and place, David would have been thrilled to have this discussion take place. As usual, fate had decided to time it for the most inappropriate time. “There is a time for everything,” he spoke up forcefully before anyone else could say anything. “And this isn’t the time for family disputes. We’re on a mission. Get your heads back into it,’ he ordered.
              “He’s right,” Daniel agreed after a few tense heartbeats. “We can’t help Kathryn if we’re too busy snapping at each other to notice that she’s in trouble.”
              “
Each other
?” Natalie whispered incredulously. “You all were snapping at
me
.”

“Enough.” David put the full weight of his position as family leader into his tone.

They waited tensely for the next fifteen minutes to pass. David strained his ears against the night, willing himself to detect any signs of Kathryn’s entry, any sign that she’d been discovered. But he came up empty. No alarm calls rose from the castle walls.

“At least there’s cloud cover to help mask her movements,” Jenna whispered encouragingly as if sensing David’s anxiety.

“I still don’t like the idea of her going in alone.”

Jenna, knowing that nothing she could say would calm their anxious leader, wisely didn’t comment.

They kept their eyes glued to the wall and the small patches of light that were illuminated by torches. All tensed when the changing of the guard happened and there was no sign of Kathryn.

“I didn’t see her,” Matt whispered.

“None of us did,” Jenna whispered back.

“Now what?”

“We wait,” David said firmly. “Kathryn has two radians to gather information between now and the next changing of the guard. We get to wait.”

Kathryn slipped down from the ledge she had been perched on, moving silently towards the castle walls. When she reached the wall she stretched up and found a handhold. Slowly she began to climb. She wished Destiny was here to help guide her, but she managed to reach the top without any serious problems arising.

Moving slowly she made her way to a section of the wall that wasn’t bathed in light before climbing up and over. Cautiously she looked around then moved to the other side and began climbing back down. She was halfway down when two guards appeared below her, torches in hand. Frozen in place she listened to them discuss their sour opinion of the extra security before they moved off.

She descended the rest of the way and moved across the small open area that separated the first wall from the second. Again she scaled the wall with no trouble, but as she prepared to descend she noticed the third and fourth walls.

Pausing in the darkness she considered the obstacle before her. The third wall was different from the first two. Instead of having a patrol space with a three foot wide walking path on top, the third wall came to a point and had spikes about the height of a man protruding from the top.

The sound of shuffling feet sent her flying over the edge of the second wall and she cautiously made her way down. As she crossed the space between the two walls she was forced to move slower, unlike the first, this area was pitted with holes and small rounded bumps in the earth. However Kathryn was naturally surefooted and combined with her training, as long as she moved carefully, had no trouble negotiating the field.

She climbed the third wall more slowly than the first two, trying to come up with a way to get over without impaling herself or leaving anything behind to mark an intruder.

When she reached the top she made a pleasant discovery, the spikes were just barely wide enough for her to squeeze through. That turned out to be a blessing as the upper third of the spikes morphed into a four bladed pike no doubt to prevent infiltrators from clambering over the top. Well, the original builders, or whoever had augmented the decorations on this wall, obviously had not planned on smaller women being part of an infiltration team.  Peeking over the top she was grateful to find the three sentries below at ease and definitely not watching the wall.

Effortlessly, she slipped through two of the spikes and made her way down. It was easy getting past the sentries who, she could now tell had had way too much drink earlier in the evening. They were in no condition to stand watch, let alone fight an intruder.

She started on the last wall, taking her time finding secure supports, when she reached the top she noticed that this wall was extremely wide, wide enough for at least two carts to fit side by side. Silently she slipped over the side and moved along the pathway. She was on the ground five minutes later.

For a moment she stopped in the shadows. David had guessed that the princess would be housed in the highest tower. Looking around she spotted it a courtyard over. Moving like an apparition she made her way across the first courtyard. She had just reached the arch that led to the second when a guard suddenly appeared from inside the arch. Kathryn froze as he calmly walked past her and toward the three sentries. Once he passed her, she continued to move through the arch.

Inside the second courtyard were ten sentries. Climbing this tower might be a challenge. Kathryn was still contemplating how to get across and up when a shout echoed across the courtyard— instantly six of the ten guards ran off.

Sparing no second, Kathryn moved to the tower and began to climb. By the time the six guards returned, shaking their heads at the false alarm, she was halfway up. This tower was older than the rest of the castle and the mortar holding the stone blocks together wasn’t as strong as the material used in the building of the walls. While the chipped away mortar gave her better hand and footholds, she had to be cautious not to knock the stuff off. The last thing she needed was a guard looking up because a chunk of mortar had landed on his helmet.

Kathryn pulled herself up the rest of the way. Moving around the tower she came across a window with a faint light coming from it. Peering inside Kathryn saw a young woman with long black hair. Princess Roseanna looked exactly as David had described her. The young woman was obviously agitated, pacing from one side of the room and back again, reminding Kathryn of a caged animal.

Kathryn was about to tap gently on the glass when the door opened and an older man stepped into the room. Immediately Kathryn ducked her head away from the glass, listening to the conversation.

“Good evening my dear,” the voice that spoke was arrogant and sophisticated with a cold, cruel edge that reminded Kathryn of Lord Blackwood. It could only belong to one person—Duke Sebastian. “I hope these quarters are to your liking.”

There was the sound of a slap. “I demand you release me at once!” Princess Roseanna’s voice wasn’t how Kathryn had imagined it, light and un-intimidating even with her anger giving it a cold edge.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that your highness,” Duke Sebastian chuckled coldly. “You see if I did release you, your father would have my head.”

“Do you really think my father will stand for this? He will send somebody for me.”

Sebastian chuckled again. “It has been over a fortnight, princess, your faith in your father is admirable, but face the truth my dear—no one’s coming for you. They don’t even know you’re here.”

“The Guardians will come,” the princess declared defiantly.

“The Guardians,” Sebastian spat. “They’re nothing but pompous wizards who have nothing better to do with their time than to meddle in the affairs of others.”

“The guardians defend the people of the kingdom,” Princess Roseanna replied stiffly. “

It is their business to meddle in the affairs of others, especially murderers and kidnappers.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re still upset with what I had to do to your slave.” If Kathryn hadn’t heard the sorrow in the princess’s voice when she had called Sebastian a murderer, she might have suspected the duke had been commenting on the weather.

“Marina was not my slave!” Roseanna’s tone was rising. “She was more than my lady-in-waiting. She was my closest friend and you killed her!”

“Now, now my dear,” his voice was calm and cold. “It won’t do for you to raise your voice like that. We don’t want you mute on the day of your wedding do we?”

There was silence for a moment. “What wedding?” Kathryn could hear the fear in the princess’s voice.

“Our wedding, my love!” Sebastian announced it like he expected the whole kingdom to come and celebrate with them. “In just two days’ time we shall be man and wife.”

“I will not!” Roseanna’s voice was firm, but Kathryn could detect the fear underlying her tone.

“You will have no choice in the matter,” Sebastian told her harshly.

“No minister of matrimony will marry me to you without the king’s consent, for that matter none would marry us without my consent.”

“I’ve found one who will,” he informed her calmly. “You will marry me and you will have no say in the matter.”

“Why?” Roseanna’s voice was broken, and much to Kathryn’s disgust, she sounded on the verge of tears, “Why are you doing this? I am fourth in line for the throne with three brothers before me. Becoming king cannot be of interest to you. So why abduct me and force me to marry you?”

Sebastian laughed. “Because I want you,” His voice turned to ice, “and I always get what I want. Enjoy your last few days of freedom, my love.”

There was the sound of heavy footsteps followed by the sound of a heavy door closing. Kathryn heard the turn of a lock and then silence.

Princess Roseanna began to weep and Kathryn waited a few minutes before peeking into the room again. It was empty except for the princess sitting on the bed, her head in her hands, crying bitterly.

Cautiously Kathryn tapped on the glass.

At the sound of tapping Roseanna’s head jerked up and she almost cried out as she spotted a head outside the window. Moving quickly she opened the window and asked quickly, “Who are you?”

“Speak quietly your highness,” Kathryn instructed, pitching her voice an octave lower than normal. “Voices travel far in the night and the guards are alert.”

Lowering her voice Roseanna repeated her question. “Who are you, for that matter how did you get here?”

“Names are not important your highness and as to how I got here you’re better off not knowing.”

“But why are you here?”

“Your father sent me.”

Roseanna closed her eyes and let out a relieved sigh. “I knew he hadn’t forgotten me,” she whispered.

“Your faith is admirable, princess.”

Roseanna turned back to the window. “Surely I’m not to come out there with you?” she asked hesitantly.

“No princess. You will not come with me tonight.”

“What!”             

“Please Princess, you must remain quiet.” Kathryn fought the urge to scold the woman like a child. “You cannot come with me tonight because I’m trying to find a way in for others.”

“You mean you’re not alone?”

“No, there are a few others, but we need a way in that doesn’t involve climbing like this.”

“You must come for me tomorrow night.” Roseanna pleaded. “He cannot be allowed to marry me.”

“I heard. We will come for you as soon as we can, but until then you must remain patient.”

“I will try, but you must know he plans on moving me.”

“Do you know where to?”

Roseanna shuddered, “most likely to his room, that’s where the ceremony will probably take place.”

“Men,” Kathryn spat in disgust. Of course, back at Blackwood Manor, the Lady had had just as many clandestine…partners as her husband had.  “Do you know where his chambers are?”

Roseanna shook her head. “I was blindfolded and drugged when they brought me here.”

Kathryn nodded slowly. “I’ll find it.” She began to climb down but Roseanna caught her hand.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “You’ve given me hope.”

Kathryn looked at her. “You must keep that hope hidden. Sebastian cannot know what happened tonight or what will happen tomorrow.”

“I’m a good actress,” the princess assured her. Kathryn sincerely doubted it.

Kathryn slipped down the tower the same way she had come up. While she was thrilled to hear that the Duke was going to move Roseanna from the tower, which would make rescuing her that much easier, her next challenge was to locate the Duke’s private chambers. And it was going to take time she wasn’t willing to spend.

Entering the castle itself proved more difficult than climbing the towers but Kathryn made it without too much loss in time. Once inside she found herself grateful that the halls were dimly lit and virtually empty with the exception of the occasional guard. Apparently all the extra security was confined only to the castle grounds. She supposed she should be grateful for the Duke’s overconfidence in his fortifications and drunk knights.