The Lion's Gambit (Book One) Fully Released

Chapter III - Between the Strings

Kota moved in front of the other two before poking his head around the corner to see the two figures standing near the middle of the room, facing the other direction. Kota eyed them both, seeing the person on the left was taller and rounder, wearing armor similar to the prison guards'. He focused his attention on his lower back, as the figure had a wooden mace that seemed just as tall as he was. Kota moved his eyes to the other figure, who wore a black hood and cloak over his clothes.

"That big one on the left is probably the prison warden, but something seems familiar about the cloaked figure," Kota said, looking back at Lucinda and Sonya.

"Do you recognize him?" asked Sonya, staying close to him.

Kota thought hard for a second as he tried to remember the events of the last year, but then a piercing pain in the back of his head forced him to grab his temple.

Lucinda caught him as he leaned forward in reaction to the pain. She helped him brace himself and keep on his feet. "What happened? Is everything all right?"

"Just a slight headache, I think. I recognize neither of them though," said Kota, rubbing his temple while he focused on the two of them. "Let's move before they come back this way."

Kota was about to turn the corner when Lucinda grabbed his shoulder while moving in front of him. "Let me go first, and you stay near the edges of the room. Stay away from the torches so the shadows will conceal you. We only kill if we cannot avoid it. Got it?"

Lucinda stared at Sonya until she nodded in agreement. Kota then watched as Lucinda moved forward and pointed toward the left side of the room, where the light was not as strong and there was a landing covered by a short brick wall leading up to a higher level.

"Are you sure you know who she is? She seems different from you described," asked Sonya, looking at Kota.

Kota focused on Lucinda's position before turning to Sonya. "I thought I did. She seems to be a different person from the girl I met that night in the chapel."

The two followed Lucinda as she moved low to the ground and silently behind a short brick wall. There was a cobblestone path leading up to a higher landing almost ten feet away from them. They stopped as they crept behind the wall, and the taller figure yelled out, "I am sick and tired of that woman coming and going as she pleases! I am the authority here in this prison, not her."

Kota's eyes widened as he realized they were talking about the mysterious woman who had kidnapped him. He moved a little closer to the edge of the wall to listen, but Sonya held out her ax, blocking his path.

Over the smaller man's response, she leaned close to him. "I know you want answers, but we need to escape first. We cannot risk long battle here."

Kota felt his right hand shake as rage formed in his mind, but then he looked into Sonya's eyes and took a breath. He nodded to her while he gritted his teeth.

The two moved up the landing as the taller man yelled out again. "I will answer only to the king! You can tell that little—" He stopped mid-sentence.

Kota peeked over the top of the wall, seeing the cloaked man raise his arm, revealing a tan hand, as he said something quietly enough for only those two to hear.

The group reached the upper landing, and they were now a few feet higher than the two men below them.

Sonya whispered, "Look around the room without a sound. We need to find that stone."

Lucinda and Kota watched as she moved down the other side of the landing, with a pathway leading down similar to the one that they had taken up. Lucinda pointed for Kota to look around down the other side of the landing, where they had entered.