City of the Underground

Settling In

Everything seemed to be moving so fast. Kaylana had barely settled in before talks of a ball and endless introductions were swirling around her. She sat on the bed of the room she had been bestowed. The large chambers were very beautiful, but felt lonely. Here, there was no chamber maid to wait upon her. Although she was sure one would most likely be assigned soon enough. The lack of a woman's touch was definitely felt throughout the castle. And Robert was in the stable once more. As her presumed guard, he had taken the horses round and was tending to them. The king had of course offered his pen stable hands to do it, but Robert declined. He later told Kaylana as they parted that he wanted to become familiar with their new surrounding so he was not caught off guard, in case of attack.

So here she was, alone again, in a strange place with strange allies. A gentle knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Kaylana," came the voice of the prince, "May I enter?"

She cleared her throat and closed the trunk at the foot of her bed. "Um, yes. Yes." She said more assuredly.

The prince entered slowly and looked about room.

"I just came to see if you needed anything."

He looked at the large and barren room. The vanity table and mirror looked like skeletons without any occupancy. The closets stood desolate and empty. The opulent reclining couches looked stiff and unwelcoming. The grand bed was the only thing that looked soft or comfortable in the entire quarters. This was his father's idea of a room fit for a queen.

"Do you need any help unpacking? Shall I send for a maid to assist you? Or someone to redesign all the furniture an fabrics..." Jonathan wrinkled his nose at the thought of seeing the room decor day in an day out.

Kaylana laughed. She did think the space needed some livelihood. She felt torn though, between feeling comfortable and feeling too settled.

"I think," she began, "I think I'd accept a maid to help me unpack. Everything else is bearable enough for me."

"Hmmph," Jonathan surveyed the room once more. "If you say so." He snapped his attention back to Kaylana. "Alright. I'll fetch a maid. Anything else, princess." He maid a bow as though he were a servant and she laughed.

"Just go." she laughed again.

"As you wish." And he popped back behind the retreating door.

She sat in the oppressively quiet room.

Oh, when will Robert get back, she thought to herself. And how do I explain him to a maid? Lord in heaven, help us.

Robert brought the horses round the side of the vast castle. The stables were farther off than he was used to. He began to wonder about how long he should leave Kaylana alone in the castle, with only the prince as a companion. He silently cursed himself for being so rash. But, he did need to know his surroundings if he was to be prepared enough to protect her. He brought both his horse, Lundus, and Kaylana's horse, Percy, across the endless expanse of grass to the late stable house just on the edge of the castle grounds. Robert still wondered why it was so far off. As he reached the stables he noticed half a field away were stacks of hay piled neatly in a row. Robert thought he could make out at least ten of these stacks. Standing in the distance facing the first stack in the row was a person. It was hard for Robert to make out who. He watched as the person swiftly pulled out a long arrow and hitched it quickly into a bow. They shot off the first one, burying it deep in the hay, and pulled another. Walking down the row, and faster than Robert had ever seen, they let off arrow after arrow hitting every mark without missing a step. Robert had stopped in his tracks. The archer pulled two arrows out together and loaded them both in the bow. The aim was turned toward a large tree to the right. A split second later the arrows were released and two different small round targets were swinging from the force of being hit. This was one of the best archers he had ever seen. Granted, he hadn't known many, but he recognized skill when he saw it. If they had such warriors as this in the kingdom, then why didn't they go and fight these rogues on their own?

"Amazing, isn't she?" A small red headed young man was standing next to him.

"She?" Robert asked.

"Oi, yeah. You don't know who your watching?" the young man asked.

"No. I've just arrived with the princess."

The young man whistled. "Well, you been missin out then. That there is Caitlin. One of the only women in the palace guard. She don't get called out to action much, unless they need the precision and skill to take out someone quickly." he dragged his thumb across his neck.

"Like an assassin?" Robert asked.

"Aye, I guess you could say that. We best get moving before she catches us watching. By the looks of it, she's mighty angry."

"Why do you say that?" Robert asked.

"She only pulls multiple arrows when she's mad. The anger helps her focus, she always says. And right now she's stringing three."

True enough, she had three arrows lined on the bow, which she held side ways. She lined up the shot and released, hitting three different stacks perfectly.

Robert turned to his new companion. "Why is she angry?"

The young man shrugged his skinny shoulders. "Couldn't tell ya. Here. Let me help ya with those beasts." He reached up and took Lundus' reigns. "Names Danny by the way. I work the stables."

"Robert." he replied. "I'm the personal guard of the princess."

"Well, nice to meet ya Robert." Danny chimed. "Hmm, so your guard for her and you don't know archers as good as Caitlin?" he laughed in disbelief. "Ha. She'll love to hear that. That ego is much too big for her shoulders already."

"Yeah, well, I keep to a specific duty. Don't see much outside of that."

"Ahh, sounds like you have your hands full mate."

"You have no idea."

*************

Jonathan hurriedly walked about the castle. The only people he met with were the servants. Somehow, everyone else seemed to have disappeared. He hadn't seen his father, any royal guard, or even Robert for that matter. He needed to find a chamber maid for Kaylana, but more importantly, he needed to find Caitlin. He had been home for almost two hours with no sign of her. He was about to head down to the kitchens to find a suitable maid for Kaylana when he spotted Porter, a member of his father's royal guard.

"Looking for something sire," Porter asked.

"Actually, yes. A couple things. First have you seen Caitlin?"

"Caitlin?" Porter responded in surprise.

As obvious as it was that the pair were in love, hardly any one knew about it. The king had insisted that he be inconspicuous about any love interest he had. Any time Jonathan and Caitlin met up alone, King Henry always implied it was for training purposes. Either for Caitlin to learn hand to hand combat or for Jonathan to gain archery skill. Both excuses were legitimate. Caitlin did need practice with hand to hand combat and Jonathan needed to brush up on his archery. Most of the men hardly cared either way.

"Yes. I have some new assignments for her." Jonathan coughed out.

"Well last I saw, she was practicing her shot." Porter said

Jonathan quickly thanked Porter and then rushed out of the hall. He raced out of the grand entrance and along the outside of the castle that led to the back, where the stables were. He covered the lawn with quick strides already feeling a flush in his face. When he finally reached the targeted hay stacks he came to a stop. The target course was empty. He jogged down to the tree where the higher targets normally hung from. He looked around the trunk to see if she was hiding.

"Caitlin!" he called out. "Caitlin are you there?"

He did not hear a rustle of the wind, a twig break, not even a breath. The hard blow came silently from above as she dropped from the branches without warning.

"How dare you," she growled.