Kyla's Fate

CHAPTER 2-1

CHAPTER 2Saxon Chief Adalwin Farkas was furious. In spite of the mass executions and transportation of the more desirable women out of Glouvia Kingdom, there was still massive resistance, especially within the castle itself.

The royal family had all been executed and even the king who, Farkas had to admit, had fought bravely but had been so wounded that there was no chance that he would have survived, not with the modern spears and swords that had been dipped in poison that would kill anyone cut within a few hours. However, the king had disappeared and even three days after the final capture of the castle his body had never been found.

And now this had to happen!

Farkas stared at the piece of yellow parchment that was one of hundreds that had appeared glued to stone walls or wooden structures around the castle and the ruined buildings beyond the castle walls. 'King Edmund V is dead!' it read. 'Long Live Crown Princess Kyla.'

"Who is she and how have they managed to place hundreds of these posters throughout the city?" he roared at his subordinate.

Gedriht Lovis Butkus stared at his war-band chief. "I can answer both questions Sire but I am afraid it does not really help us."

Farkas sat down in one of the luxurious chairs in what was once the king's chambers in the castle and nodded. He knew that unlike most of the officers, Butkus was not afraid of him and would therefore tell the truth rather than make up a fabricated lie to cover any inability to solve a problem. "Go on, Lovis?" he said in a quieter voice.

"Under the chieftain's orders, all members of the royal family were executed, including the women and children. We had not, however, counted on a secret extension to this royal family. Unlike other lands we have captured, this king formally recognised the bastard children of his senior mistresses. We learnt from our spies that he was still alive long enough to summon one of them and appoint her as his successor…"

"Why a female?"

"With no male survivors this Kyla O'Knife was the next in line of succession; we executed the ones above her so she was named Crown Princess Kyla. "

"Where is she?"

"We believe there are secret rooms within the castle where the king was taken to die. We also believe she had no idea that she was the king's daughter before being told of the fact."

Farkas frowned and tugged on his beard. "Where have I heard that name before?" he asked.

"She was a nurse who saved many of their guardsmen's lives by cutting out the poison from their bodies. Many escaped into the surrounding forests that, as you know, are dense and easy to get lost in. Without knowledge of secret paths they are difficult to navigate. She gained much respect and is considered to have magical powers to cure the men. For this reason, I believe she will be a powerful queen if she is given the opportunity."

"So it is imperative that she is captured and publicly executed by beheading in the main castle concourse. That should stop the remaining resistance." The chief nodded at the parchment. "And these accused signs," he added. "How can they make so many?"

"They have a machine called a printing press. The words are cut into metal sheets that rollers squeeze ink through onto the parchment. It is believed they can print a hundred copies in just a few hours."

"And where is this thing?"

"Again we are only guessing, Sire but believe it is somewhere outside the castle. There are ruins with cellars everywhere."

"So get every available man onto it. These signs must be delivered from where this printing press operates and pasted on castle walls. There must be dozens of locals helping to do this. With guards on all gates and street corners they shouldn't be hard to find. Again, if we have public executions in a town square it should halt the practice." Chief Adalwin Farkas glanced up. "And double the effort to find the secret chambers in the castle. Measure the room sizes and if they appear too small cut through walls. Also check the stairwells and how close they are to adjacent rooms."

"We could also hang strips of material out windows and check from the outside for any without a sheet showing."

"Good idea. I want it sorted quickly for we want to have this whole coastline in our hands before winter arrives. There are two other mini kingdoms still to capture. Fighting over another winter is something none of us need."

"It shall be done, Chief." The gedriht saluted and left the room.

Farkas rang a bell and a junior officer came in. "How many women have you got to grace my quarters this evening?"

"Thirty to pick from Sire. Most are university students so are quite literate."

Farkas shrugged. One of the first things he would do is close the university. Men who could read and write would be tolerated but to allow women this privilege was inviolable.

"Prepare them for inspection within the hour. They need to be cleaned and issued with the usual red gowns. Inform any who protest that they're the privileged ones. If they don't cooperate they will be tied, gagged and shipped out in the next wagon. Make an example of a couple if necessary and the rest will know their standing in our society."

"At once, Sire and the ones you reject?"

Farkas waved his hands out. "The usual. They will be transferred to the officers' concubine and sold. The new stock will be appreciated by the older officers who can afford them."

*

The city was dark and silent as midnight approached. No local citizens dared to walk through the streets for a curfew was enforced and everyone lucky enough to avoid the massive killings or imprisonment, stayed indoors.

Trooper Marcos Ploughman, though was nervous as carried his sword ready for action as he crept along the cobbled street followed by three plebs, the lowest ranking warriors who were mainly old men or those forced to join their glorious army from captured cities. The street was one of four that radiated out from Castle Glouvia's main gates. These had been destroyed so anybody could just amble in and out of the castle grounds.

Nobody did, of course, but the rumour that magic was involved in having the signs glued everywhere left even the hard-bitten warriors nervous.

Now it was Ploughman's job to capture those responsible. The offending posters had been torn down but if more appeared that night. He shuddered at the thought of how he would be punished if that happened. The underofficer from yesterday's nightwatch received a whipping for failure to find anyone and was now recovering in the castle infirmary.

A tap on the shoulder made him jump in fright. He swung around and saw the terrified eyes of one of the plebs staring at him. "Do you hear it, Uno?" he whispered using the term that stood for underofficer.

"Hear what, Pleb 163?"

Plebs only had a number to go by and were really little more than slaves. However, after a year's loyal service and by swearing allegiance to the warlord they would be allowed to use their names again.

"Listen, Uno?" 163 continued to whisper.

Marcos did exactly that. At first he heard nothing except flapping curtains in a nearby window. Wait a moment, there was something; a faint slapping sound as if somebody was … it was! Someone was pasting a poster up in a nearby alley.

Marcos reached out and squeezed 163's wrist. He knew this message to follow him would be passed onto the other two plebs.

Followed by the plebs he crept forward in the semi-dark moonlight and dropped to his knees at the corner. Holding his sword ready, he moved forward and peered around the edge of a building.

What he saw made him grimace!

Three scruffy children dressed in rags were pasting posters on the wall. One looked in his direction, said something and the three ran away into the darkness.

'Redemption is Nigh. Crown Princess Kyla Knows,' read the new sign.

"Are they creatures from the devil's underworld, Uno?" 163's voice trembled.

"They could be vampires, Uno," whispered another of the plebs. "I heard they come out at night to suck blood from their victim's throats."

Marcos relaxed. "No 167, they are little brats from the forest."

"But who got them to paste posters on the walls?" 163 asked.

"That Princess Kyla," whispered 172, the third pleb.

"We don't know," Marcos said in a stern voice. He reached for the poster than came away from the stones easily for the glue had not dried, rolled it up and smiled for the first time. "I shall report this to Chief Farkas. I think this information will get us all rewarded."

The three plebs all grinned in the darkness. Perhaps their luck had changed. Punishment was harsh but rewards enlightened for those lucky enough to earn them.

"Perhaps we might be given a slave girl to grace our beds in the morning," 163 said.

"Or even two like the officers," 172 added.

"Don't get too perky," Marcos warned. "This is only one poster. Come on; let's follow the brats and see where they paste up more. If we can take a dozen or more back at the end of our patrol you might have that girl in your bed tonight."

*

"You must come now, Princess," whispered a voice in Kyla's dreams.

She jerked awake and stared through the darkness. The words sounded so real with a high-pitched voice like that of a child. She sat up and realised she was not alone in the small bunkroom that had been allocated to her.

"If someone is there, what do you want?" she also whispered but didn't really know why.

"You can light a candle if you must."

Kyla reached for the flint, clicked the little lever a couple of times and watched as one of the sparks turned into small flame. This increased in size as the candle spluttered and flickering light pushed away the darkness surrounding her. She moved it around and saw a girl standing by the dressing table.

If it wasn't for the filthy face, knotted red hair and torn frock the girl would have been quite attractive. She would be thirteen or so but her expression and the way she held a knife spoke of experience beyond her years. Of course, she would be one of the forest children.

Kyla knew she should be cautious but somehow she wasn't for this child didn't sound aggressive at all. "Hello, " she said. "And what is your name?"

"Becky," the girl replied. "But you must come with me right now for there is little time."

Kyla pouted. "I will go nowhere without my two closest friends," she said. "Only a coward would leave without helping them."

The girl frowned in the candlelight before replying. "Who are they and where can we find them?" he asked.

Kyla explained where Sastra and Esme would be. Nothing was said but she noticed that there was a second child in the room by the door. In her brief glimpse, it appeared to be a boy who slipped away.

"They can accompany you but come, already too much time has been wasted. You will need warm clothes and solid boots. Everything else will be provided for you."

After twenty minutes of walking through a twisting tunnel beneath the castle that Kyla didn't know existed they climbed a vertical ladder and arrived inside a hollow tree. Becky told her to blow out the candle. After she did so, Becky reached out and moved a door-sized piece of bark aside.

A cold wind blew into Kyla's face as she stepped out into darkness but with the smell of trees around, she guessed they had come out into the forest. She glanced up. High above were the silhouettes of trees and beyond, a circle of star studded sky. When her eyes adjusted to the lack of light she noticed a canvas backpack and other items sitting on the grass.

"Supples for your friends and yourself, Kyla. There is food for three weeks, clothes and other items that castle women use to maintain their dignity as well as a sword. Now just relax for a while and wait."