Cataindar

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

 *  *  * 

The Prisoner pulled one huge arm and then another against the chains enjoying the burn he felt across his back as he worked the muscles.  In the weeks since he received the note of hope a new focus had sprung up from within.  He had been bred for this, bred to survive and to fight.  The note had told him to be ready but their small minds had no conception of how ready he could be. He stopped and panted deeply, his huge frame rising and falling.  He leaned his perspiring body against the wall and wiped his snout with the pelt which had formerly been inhabited by Tarquin.

Footsteps. 

He froze. The prisoner strained his ears, it was the messenger returned.  In the weeks he had turned the meaning of the note over in his mind again and again,

‘Be Ready’. 

Could it be a ruse? Some trick? 

Patience.  As the steps got closer his heart thudded in his chest.  His long snout twitched as he picked up the messenger's scent.  The footsteps reached his door and the glow of the burning torch outlined the unbreakable door to his cell.  The prisoner remained silent.  He would not be the first to speak this time.  The messenger behind the door spoke.

“I would like to talk with you.”  

 The prisoner stayed silent, waiting for the messenger to speak again.

“It seems terribly impolite to talk with one another behind closed doors does it not?”

The prisoner snorted with a sound like a piston. The door had not been opened in decades.  He spoke, his voice was deep and strong,

“I fear it may be rusted shut.”

He could see the messenger’s shadow underneath moving. 

He heard his visitor grunt, straining against the handle to the outside of his cell, that, with much complaint slowly turned, wheels and gears sprung to life; the bars which kept the door secured slowly edged their way back. 

Then for the first time in thirty years the door shunted open an inch. 

Then another. 

The prisoner could not help but tremble slightly, perhaps a weak part of him had wondered if he would ever see the door open? He had to remain strong.  He fought to stand tall and proud as the door was, inch-by-inch, slowly dragged open.

It felt like he was falling.

Be strong!

He pushed his shoulders back and flexed his gargantuan frame as his cell filled with golden light. It bounced off every hair on his body, highlighting the pale scars that adorned him.  He had to squint, but outlined in the brightness he could see the silhouette of the catain that stood before him. 

The messenger spoke again,

“I think it is time we had a little chat.”

*  *  *

Luisa, Finn and Clearwater stopped at the Chamber of Journals, the abbot had organised the readers to extinguish the rest of the fire.  The body of Ranson had been taken away, leaving a dark stain behind.  Behind the opaque doors, the chamber was now a mess of cracked glass, books and water.  A reader stood guard outside, the great doors closed behind him.

Luisa approached the reader,

“I need to go in here.”

The reader looked very uncomfortable,

“I… the abbot said no catain could…”

Luisa smiled at him dryly, her teeth clenched,

“But I am not a catain… I am your princess.”

The guard nodded,

“Of course Princess, please, be careful, the abbot is rousing all the readers to repair and save what we can.”

“I will.”

Luisa’s trainers cracked on the glass as she walked across the wet floor. The opaque door swung closed. She looked at the dark stain and shivered. She wasn’t sure the abbot would want her here. 

I don’t care what the abbot wants right now.

She took a deep breath. She trod carefully over ancient journals, the pages of Cataindar’s history sludged together underfoot. She carefully made her way to the back of the library, approaching the bookcase the abbot had shown her after her first dewin class.  She held out her hand as he did to make the secret bookcase open but… nothing.  She wildly waved her hand across the bookcase, again, nothing. Slowly she made a circular motion with her hand and felt something incredibly faint that made her skin prickle, the fingers of silk teasing her fingertips. She would have never felt it if she wasn’t looking for it.  She closed her eyes.  Keeping her hand still she focussed on the feeling, it traced over her hand to her fingertips. She moved her hand to the left.  The book case obediently slid open.  She grimly smiled to herself and walked into the room.

She approached the case inside and breathed a sigh of relief.  The Dysk of Bastet was still there.

Should she take it or leave it?

*  *  *

Luisa, Finn and Clearwater were at the door of the abbot’s quarters.  It was late in Cataindar but news that the contravention had ended had spread fast and burning torches had already started to spring up in the corridors. The catains Luisa had seen looked skinny but were out of their quarters stretching their hind legs and conversing quietly with one another.  Finn banged the knocker, it was heavy and loud, in the shape of an old gnarled catain face. The door frame was etched with elaborate carvings, fitting of someone holding such a station. They waited until the abbot’s ancient manservant opened the door. He spoke with a croak, 

“Good evening Princess, Finn, young madam.”

“Hello Archer, we need to talk with the abbot, it is an emergency.” Finn said.

“The abbot is not in sir, goodnight.”

Archer made to close the door.  Luisa put her hand on the door keeping it open.

“I need to speak to the abbot now.  If he is not in, I can wait.”

“Your majesty, the abbot is not in and his residence is private, he deserves that, even from a Princess.  Finn if you must know the abbot said he was going to be with you.”

With that Archer pushed the door shut and bolted it from the inside.

Finn looked at Luisa and Clearwater. 

“Princess, I will search for the abbot.  However now it is late and I think this business had better be concluded tomorrow.  Sometimes in sleep we can find answers that evade our waking minds.”

Finn looked completely exhausted.

“Finn I really would prefer…” Luisa persisted,

“Princess you must be up early in the morrow.  You will need all your energy as training will continue now the contravention is over.  I will find the abbot and bid him to speak with you.”

Luisa sighed. “OK Finn, fine, and you rest too.”

“Is that an order Princess?” Finn asked, his eyebrow raised a little, the corner of his mouth lifting,

As sometimes happens in grim situations, Luisa found herself smiling back.

“Yes, yes it is actually. I command it, you will likely be useless to everyone if you don’t rest properly soon. Come on Clearwater, let’s go.”

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Thank you for reading! As always, please vote, comment - let me know what you think! What needs to be improved. I love to hear from you. 

 On Friday’s update we go back to Wales… and a have the return of a fan favourite – Uncle Hugh... but this time he does not come alone...

 Happy Wattpadding my friends.