Dark Lady Rising

Chapter 3

She scrambled up quickly, entering through the topmost window. It was empty and dark inside. Perfect. She hauled her rope up after her, replacing the metal grapple to her pack. Moving quietly through the room she allowed her eyes time to adjust to the darkness within. Carefully, she pulled open the door. She crept stealthily out of the room, listening intently. Getting caught now would be far more dangerous than before; now they would shoot first.

She explored the upper floor thoroughly, taking advantage of the confusion below. She noted the location of each room and chamber as she passed. King Stephen's bedchambers were somewhere nearby. A group of chambermaids crossed the hall ahead of her but Kellara easily avoided them. Eventually, she came across an opulent set of carved double doors. Certainly, this was what she sought.

She slipped into the room, scanning it quickly for occupants. Empty. She found herself in a spacious antechamber, richly furnished and obviously well kept. To her left she could see the bedchamber, to her right, a bath chamber. She nodded in satisfaction; this was it. The King would be busy downstairs for some time, but Lady Prell could be here at any moment.

Kellara scouted the suite quickly, checking the exits and noting the location of each piece of furniture. She tested the windows, finding that all but two were too small for her to use as an escape route. A massive four-poster bed dominated the main bedchamber. It was covered in colourful blankets and plush cushions. Silky drapes were tied to the posts but could be lowered in the summer months to keep out bothersome insects. Something in the opulent room felt strange to Kellara's trained eye. Before she could investigate however, a sound from the antechamber warned her of approaching company. She dove under the bed, drawing her knife and listening carefully.

Lady Prell with two of her handmaidens entered the room.

As Prell began to get ready for bed, Kellara smiled to herself. The tale of her daring theft was being retold with great embellishment to a shocked Lady Prell. The maidservants seemed to enjoy the gasped responses of the King's wife for they continued audaciously to exaggerate the tales of Kellara's escapades. They finished their yarn with the successful escape of the daring thief who could only have been Kellara the Cruel, for no other woman could be so bold.

Kellara nodded in satisfaction. None were as good as she.

Moments later, Prell dismissed her servants and got into bed leaving Kellara quietly alone beneath her. She replaced her dagger and relaxed, finding a more comfortable position on the hard wooden floor beneath the royal bed. It would likely be several hours before the King finally came to bed. So Kellara let her mind wander.

A sound in the next room brought Kellara fully back to the present. Remembering the many lessons she had learned from J'aror, she focused her thoughts and hearing. Prell's snores above her assured Kellara that her Royal Highness was no longer conscious. The heavy shuffling tread in the next room, could only be the King. Finally, she thought, King Stephen. He had a strange name - one that had been passed through his family for countless generations. Legends described a stranger from another world who had reshaped society in the Five Plains, teaching them to be civilized. In his honour, one leader would always bear his name.

Prell awoke at the sound of her husband entering the bedchamber.

"Did you catch her?" she asked sleepily from the bed.

Stephen shook his head, "No. She got away."

"Is it true she killed 100 guards and stole Rolnar's underwear while he was still wearing it?"