The Captain's Apprentice

CHAPTER ONE

The Queen of Ringland slept alone in her king sized bed. It had been sometime since another warmed it. She was a queen without a king, born into the thrown, and had yet to take a husband, although, she did have a lover. He is not an affectionate man, and she would not have let him in for so long had he been. The Queen was a distant woman, speaking to her people only when necessary. More often she would let her advisors take on the task. She felt it was never the right time to address her kingdom. There was always something more pressing at hand.

The Queen woke at the sound of a creak. She sat up and drew in a long breath, pulling the covers over her shoulders as she looked for the source of the sound. The window in the far corner of the room had been forced open. It was a window that had long been closed, only to be opened by her secret lover whenever he spared a moment to see her.

"Is that you?" The sound of hope was in her voice.

Another creek came, and then she spotted it: a shadow standing in the corner of her castle chambers. The breeze from the open window tickled the back of her neck and sent chills from her shoulders to her toes.

"I am not your lover." The voice was higher than she expected.

The Queen moved slowly, sliding her hand beneath her feather pillow and grabbing the small knife hidden beneath. It comforted her. The blade was small and sleek, only the size of her index finger, and made of glass. It was a gift.

"Don't hurt me." Tears welled in her eyes and fell down her cheeks. She shuffled from beneath the covers and rose to her feet, keeping the knife hidden beneath the folds of her pure white garments. "My name is Alice. I am the Queen of Ringland. I can give you whatever you like. Gold. Food. An army." Alice moved closer to the shadow. "Whatever you like." She could almost reach out and touch its dark hooded tunic.

"I don't want anything you own." The shadow said.

At that, Alice stood up straight and wiped the tears from her eyes, "If I scream a hundred guards will be here in less than a moment."

"You wont be able to scream." The shadow leaped at her. Alice opened her mouth, but a dirty hand covered it. She fell to the ground under the attacker's force. The blade she had kept hidden slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor. The shadow mounted her. An elbow found Alice's jaw and blood filled her mouth. For the moment she was stunned the shadow had time to retrieve a dagger from a sheath inside its tunic.

The dagger shimmered in the moonlight. Alice saw the jagged point coming down at her. She closed her eyes and threw up a blind hand. When the pain of the blade did not come, she opened her eyes and saw she had grabbed the wrist of the attacker. She dug her fingers into the spongy flesh until the blade dropped.

Alice rolled the shadow on its back and then she was on top. She threw an open palm at what she thought would have been its face. The shadow let out a high-pitched shriek. Alice had no doubts it was a woman. She pulled out locks of hair and continued to slap and claw and bite down on whatever flesh that was in front of her. The woman cloaked in shadow did the same.

"Help." She screamed out when she found a moment to breath. The guards would be here soon, she thought. The attacker managed to land a hard fist on the side of Alice's face, and she fell off of her. The shadow ran to the window and just before she left, glanced back at the Queen of Ringland. The moonlight caught her face, and Alice saw her for the first time. She was no older than herself. Her hair was blond, lighter than her own. Her face was bloodied with scratch marks and her cheeks were red from where Alice smacked her.

Just as the guards entered the room, the woman shook her head and jumped out of the window.

"What's happened?" One guard said. "Are you alright, my Queen?" Another said. Two other guards were on their knees helping Alice to her feet.

"Yes, I'm fine." Alice stood and shoved the men off of her. She looked out the window and saw the shadow leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

"What happened," A voice she knew called out.

"Rydell," She collapsed in his open arms, "the window." She cried, "Someone tried to take my life."

"Are you injured?"

Alice did not answer. She sobbed into Rydell Phaun's arms. "Find her." She ordered at last.

"A woman tried to do this?"

"Yes," Alice looked down at the lock of blond hair that she still held tight her grasp. "A woman."

~~~Author's Note~~~

Dear reader,

I hope you liked the first chapter of my book. There is much more to come. Please rate and comment. Constructive criticism is always welcome as well as any questions you might have. I will post another chapter later tonight because this one was kind of short.

Sincerely,

Chase Collins.