A Kingdom of Shadow

by Clara Johnson

She sat there silently as I watched her.

  “I won’t be here long. Might as well get it off your chest. I’m here to listen.” She nodded and took a deep breath, staring into her cup.

  “His Majesty should’ve kicked me out of the palace when I got pregnant with my children. They’re twins as I’m sure you noticed. Their father was one of the guards I was taking care of when he was in the infirmary recovering. He seemed . . . so sweet and was a perfect gentleman to me, but when he found out I was pregnant, he left.” Tears streamed down her face.

  “I loved my children, but he didn’t want them and never planned to marry me. There was someone back at home he was supposed to marry and I never saw him again. When I had Ashlee and Aden, they changed everything, but I didn’t think His Majesty would allow me to stay until the day I was packing my things to leave. He sent me a note asking me to stay at the palace because of my good work. He let me keep my position as long as I managed my children.”

  Fendrel . . . let her keep her job?

  I hoped that he also punished the guard who decided to abandon his responsibilities. No woman should be forced to raise her children alone just because it went against his plans. It would be an interesting conversation if I met this man.

  “I’m sorry, my lady, I shouldn’t be telling you all of this. I should—”

  “No, it’s alright. Thank you for telling me. Your children are very sweet and beautiful.” I paused for a moment. “I apologize, I don’t know your name.”

  “Beth, ma’am,” she said.

  “Beth, come find me if you want someone to talk to,” I offered.

  She smiled brightly. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  I wished her a good night as she scurried out of the door then I took a deep breath and walked to my vanity, undoing my braid. I brushed my hair, staring into the mirror. My reflection showed a sickly girl who was spending her last bit of time on what might’ve been false hope. All of this, seemed too good to be true. A cure to save myself and give me the power to save Jonas. If I survived, what would become of me? Would I change? Would I be stronger? Would I have the strength to save Jonas and everyone else? I made my decision to do this. Only by drinking from the vial would give me answers.

  I took the medicine Dr. Langdon had given me then got into bed. Tomorrow was going tell me my fate. And I will be ready.

  CHAPTER 28

  Despite the medicine, I didn’t sleep as well as I had hoped I would. Finally, I decided to stop trying and dressed in the fresh clothes Fendrel provided me. It was a tight fitted leather suit with a cloak. On the sides were sheaths to hold my daggers. Did Fendrel have this suit prepared long before I came here? If he did, then he must’ve known about my illness for a while. That alone was enough for concern. I would have to ask him sometime, when all this was over which felt a longer time than I was willing to admit.

  The sunset was just shining over the horizon by the time I braided my hair. There was a knock at my door shortly after, and I opened it to Beth with another tray of food.

  “Good morning, my lady. When you’re done with breakfast, I’ll take you to the stables where His majesty and his guard will be waiting for you,” she said.

  I chowed down on the food as she looked at me questioningly. “Do you like the armor His Majesty had made for you?”

  Subconsciously, I glanced down and noticed the emphasis the outfit had on my breasts. They were bigger than most of the girls I’d seen in my village and Fendrel seemed to want to take advantage of that. “I believe His Majesty will like it.”

  We shared a small chuckle and I offered for Beth to join me while I finished. She shared stories of her children with me. “Ashlee is the smart one, while Aden is the one who comes up with ridiculous ideas and gets them both in trouble,” she told me.

  After breakfast, she led me toward the stables. The path she took me on led me through the main hall, through the dining room, and eventually to the outside. This must’ve been a shortcut because it made me wonder if Fendrel’s palace was smaller than Jared’s. It would be interesting to know why he would choose to live in a smaller home. Granted, it was at the base of several mountains.

  The cold breeze blew right into my face, nipping at my nose. The leather prevented any air through it—which I was grateful for. The sky was clear with the sun fully risen.

  Fendrel was standing with two other people by four horses. The woman had short black hair, wore similar leather armor to my own—except hers was brown—and carried a bow on her back with a quiver. She seemed tiny compared to the man who stood next to her. The man was large enough to be a small army himself. He had a shaved head, but with a rough light blond beard and carried two sheathed blades behind his back with a steel plate across his chest. Fendrel wore a matching version of my armor.

  Did he honestly want us to match?

  As I approached, Fendrel came to my side, wrapping his arm around my waist as he introduced his personal guards. The woman was Lydia Crowder, a woman unmatched with a bow. She could hit a target a mile away. The man was Marcel Currington, a soldier who was kicked out of the army for his love of the drink, but could take down as many as ten men without breaking a sweat. I shook both their hands, but Marcel gave me a hug and lifted my feet off the ground. He squeezed me tightly causing me to cough. He put me down just as quick as he picked me up, apologizing.

  “Damn it, Marcel, you could’ve broken her in half!” Fendrel snapped at him.

  He hung his head, frowning.

  “Sorry, lady,”

  “No, it’s all right. You just surprised me is all. It’s nice to meet you,” I said offering a smile.

  He returned my smile, showing his few missing yellow tinted teeth. An awkward laugh escaped from my throat.

  Fendrel told him to fetch some more rope before we left. Lydia punched my arm. The sharp pain was unexpected. That would probably bruise later.

  “Don’t mind the big oaf. He’s actually just an over-sized cub,” she jested.

  “I heard that!” Marcel yelled over his shoulder.

  Lydia and I shared a chuckle. Up close, her bow was amazing. It was a brown recurve with double spikes on the ends. It looked to be made of some type of metal.

  “Family heirloom. I inherited it from my father.” She pulled it off and showed me the edges. “I had these added for close combat. Quite useful, actually. They saved my tail more than once. Do you have a bow?” she asked.

  I remembered my bow and realized I had left it back home along with my father’s. I suddenly felt naked without it in my hand. “I did have one, but I no longer do. I used it for hunting mostly,” I explained.

  “Ah, so you’re a fellow archer? What did you hunt?”

  I shrugged. “Anything that moved, but where I used to live, that was mostly rabbits. The deer were mostly killed off by the poachers. I was lucky to even see a deer once a year.”

  “Rabbits can still be a tricky target. They move fast, those little buggers!” she exclaimed.

  I agreed with her. I’d lost several arrows, especially after Father passed away and I’d had to hunt by myself for the first time. Replacing those arrows had not been easy. I had to buy a few and learn to makeshift my own so I wouldn’t have to spend our money It took a long time before I managed to hit one on the first try.

  Lydia offered to shoot with me when we got back.

  “I’d like that. Thank you.” She smacked my shoulder. Luckily, I tensed before she did it so I didn’t feel the pain as much.

  “If you ladies don’t mind, but we need to get moving soon before we lose any more daylight,” Fendrel said.

  Lydia nodded and pulled up one of the horses for me. He was brown with small white patches over his body. I petted him, complimenting his beauty. The horse nudged his head into mine, knocking me back several inches. He was much bigger than the horses I was used to riding, and it had been several years since I’d ridden, but I would manage with some time. Hopefully, we wouldn’t need
to rush to Gnotah Peak.

  Marcel returned with the extra rope and hung it on his own horse, a bay with a thick black mane. He patted the horse’s neck and climbed on with ease. Lydia mounted next, and then Fendrel approached me on his dark bay.

  “We’ll ride out for about ten miles before our next stop. If in that time, you suffer any pain due to your wound, tell me immediately. We don’t need you to pull open your stitches,” he said. If he sounded any more like it would be a great inconvenience for him, I would’ve chucked my boot at his face. I simply nodded and we rode off with me glaring daggers into the back of Fendrel’s head.

  ~ * ~

  We stopped by a forest and led our horses to the stream within it to so they could drink. We set up camp in a small open area. Lydia gave each of us a canteen of water, bread and jerky. We sat their silently as we ate our lunch, the light snow beneath us crunching as we moved our boots. After we finished our meal, Fendrel and Marcel were scanning a map, deciding our best route to the cavern we seek. Lydia sat next to me telling me stories of some of her hunting trips, hunting everything from rabbits, wolves, and bears.

  “Their hide is the most useful and valuable unless you find one of those large cats, then lords will pay a pretty fee for those to show off to their subjects,” she said.

  As I listened to her story, my mind wondered on how close we were to Gnotah Peak. I asked Fendrel, after he was done discussing routes with Marcel.

  “We’re about halfway there, and it’s already noon. This will need to be a quick break if we’re going to get there before dark.”

  I wrapped the blanket tightly around me. I had a seeking suspicion it was only going to get colder as we got closer to Gnotah Peak. The sun shone directly above us through the trees, and in the sunlight, the coolness was tolerable. I hated the cold. It reminded me too much of the cold nights at home when I barely had enough wood to burn.

  I remembered when Albert would need to sleep next to me to stay warm. He would wake up in the middle of the night when we were already in bed. He would be in his pajamas, carrying his blanket, rubbing his eyes telling me it was too cold and he couldn’t sleep. I would scooch over in my already small bed to give him space. Sometimes, he would ask me to sing him a lullaby so he could sleep. I would stay up singing him the only one I could remember until he fell asleep. Even then, it took me hours to sleep myself afterwards. I always worried that one day he would never wake up beside me. With how sick he was, there was a possibility of that. At least if he was there beside me, I would be there if he had another coughing fit.

  I stood up to tend to the horses to distract myself from the memory, but I still couldn’t help wondering what Albert would’ve thought about all of this. He probably would’ve seen it as an adventure like the ones I would read to him. He’d always loved the stories of an ordinary young man going on a crazy adventure by crazy coincidences. A simple farm boy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I smiled at the thought.

  I guess I am having my own little adventure Albert. I wish you could be here to see your big sis’ now.

  My heart ached in my chest. He would’ve wanted to come along no matter how many times I would have had to tell him no.

  “How are you feeling?” Fendrel said behind me, breaking me out of my thoughts. Was it time to leave already?

  “I feel all right. I haven’t pulled anything, if that’s what your worried about,” I said, fiddling with a strap on the saddle. I was still hurt by his earlier attitude. He cleared his throat.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to take it like that. I don’t want you hurt. The doctor told me that you should be fine, but he strongly insisted we go easy on you because it wouldn’t take much for you to tear yourself open,” he explained.

  “Well, as you can see, I’m fine.” I gestured my body with a slight bow and returned to the saddle, taking out a few carrots to give to the horses. I ignored the look he gave me. I didn’t appreciate being treated like a child. This whole thing wasn’t just for his gain. I had a mission—a plan I needed to see through to save Jonas.

  “It appears you are, Ellyn. Spite any more fire at me and it might just catch.” A smile spread across his cheeks. Of course, he would make a joke out of it. I was tempted yet again to throw something at that annoying smile.

  “You have quite the fiery heart, my dear. I hope you never lose that,” he said, sounding sad as if were a foregone conclusion. What exactly went through that man’s skull everyday?

  “We need to head out in a few minutes. Please ready yourself,” he said before leaving me alone with the horses.

  What a frustratingly annoying man.

  ~ * ~

  It was almost sunset by the time we arrived at the base of Gnotah Peak. The wind had picked up until the gusts almost knocked me off my horse. It blew snow off the rock structures and trees surrounding us so that we could barely see past the group. I pulled up my hood which kept the wind to a bare minimum. The air burned in my lungs as if it was turning them to ice. I coughed harder. My chest hurt each time as if someone were punching me. Fendrel called out behind him, telling us that he was leading us to a nearby cave within the base of the mountain surrounded by trees to provide us with some shelter.

  We got off our horses to follow. I had to hold my free hand in front of my face so I could see, but snow was still getting into my eyes, making them water. Fendrel covered his mouth with part of his shirt. Lydia and Marcel worse face masks, but even they struggled. This was almost a white-out. I doubted Fendrel had predicted the storm. The snow beneath us wasn’t deep, but it was enough that we often found ourselves stepping into a hole or slipping as we moved slowly against the wind. Lydia and Marcel looked over their shoulders to check on me. I was thankful they remembered the sickly girl behind them.

  Fendrel stopped and signaled the others to move in front of him. They passed him, heading towards the base, but I could barely see them anymore. It was becoming very hard for me to breathe. I coughed again and again—this cold was too much of a shock to my lungs, but I kept pushing myself forward, taking careful steps. I was behind the others by twenty feet, slowing them down. And I could no longer see Lydia or Marcel but their silhouettes fading from view. Fendrel stayed behind, watching me. I tried to pick up the pace, knowing it must’ve annoyed him having to wait for me, but had he forgotten I was ill?

  It was then when I slipped the first time and I managed to catch myself on my horse’s rein. My fingers were so cold, I barely managed to hold my grip and was beginning to lose the feeling in my hands.

  I slipped again, only this time, I lost the grip entirely. I rolled down the hill, hitting a few rocks along the way. Fendrel called out my name—more like screaming it. I tried to grab onto something to stop myself, but it was a futile attempt. My body hit midair, falling off an edge and I landed hard on my injured side. I screamed feeling the skin being torn open.

  As my panic rose, I gripped my side applying pressure and something hot poured over my armor, spreading down my body. I’d made the mistake of trying to sit up and then instantly fell onto my back with tears streaming down my face, blinding my vision. My armor was coated in blood, leaking through it. The edge I’d fallen from was about ten feet above me. The pain in my side throbbed. I prayed that Fendrel would come help me as the snow started covering me like a blanket. Every move, every attempt I’d made to move, I was tearing my wound open more. Fear ran through me like a poison. I may very well die here.

  A twig snapped. My head shot up to where it had come from. There was nothing in sight and I forced myself to sit up, leaning against the rock behind me. The pulsing from my wound increased. I looked around and was beginning to assume I’d imagined it when another twig snapped. This time, it was much closer. My heart pounded against my chest.

  I was not alone.

  A pair of red eyes was staring at me. Inferniwulves. They were here. I tried to pull out one of my daggers, straining with every movement until I successfu
lly unsheathed it, gripping it tightly in my right hand. If I was to be its dinner, I would fight until my last breath.

  The eyes drew closer until it stood on top of a fallen down tree above me on another ledge. Even from here, I could see the inferniwulf sniffing towards me. It could smell my blood and there was nothing I could do to cover the scent. I tried to stand, but sharp pain stabbed me hip and my legs gave out.

  The inferniwulf howled, raising its head to the sky. Probably calling in reinforcements. I fought to stay conscious; I was losing too much blood too fast. The inferniwulf hopped over the fallen tree effortlessly.

  I stared it down as best as I could.

  “If you want me, then come get me,” I threatened.

  The inferniwulf responded with a deafening growl and leaped, jaws open to feast on me. I held my dagger up to defend myself.

  Suddenly, it was forced to its side in midair, hitting the side of its body hard with a loud crack. It yelped in pain. My savior moved faster than my eyes could follow. With my vision blurred, I could barely see my savior pulling out his sword and cutting off the inferniwulf’s head before it could recover from the impact. It’s body burned into ash, like paper to a flame.

  It hadn’t even stood a chance.

  I managed to get partway to my feet, only to fall again. I turned my body to the opposite side before I landed. Pain rippled through my body and I screamed. I tried to apply pressure to it with my hand, but another hand pulled it away. My savior was above me, leaning down to lift my head slightly.

  Fendrel.

  “Ellyn, where are you hurt?” he said.

  I touched the wound, revealing the blood that stained my armor. A whimper escaped as I trembled, reaching out to touch his face. Was he really here with me? Even in this low light, I could still see his blue eyes.

  He took my hand, squeezing it gently. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here.”

  “Fendrel . . .” I couldn’t get the words out.

  He lifted me into his arms. I rested my head against his shoulder and moved my hand over the wound. My body shook almost violently now. The cold hit me as if my armor was nothing more than a thin piece of cloth. He held me closer to help me retain heat.