Birthright

Chapter 2 - Fire

Chapter 2

Rapid, incessant pounding at the door roused the sleeping princess abruptly from her slumber. Elyena quickly crossed the room donning her violet silk robe, sending her heart into a hammering rhythm that matched the knocks assaulting the oak barrier.

"What is it, Caitlin?" Ely asked her maid and friend, barely able to open her eyes.

"Princess! Princess, you have to get dressed." The pale girl two years Elyena's junior pushed the princess back into her chambers and locked the door.

Ely grabbed the young girl by the arms to stop her running around the room. "What is wrong? Is it my Uncle?"

Her Aunt Elaine passed away in childbirth not long ago. Perhaps his grief was taking a dark turn. He hadn't been attending meals, becoming reclusive.

Caitlin shook her head, tears streamed down her face. "W-we are under attack! You must escape."

Immediately jerking into action, Elyena followed Caitlin who held up a plain gray dress she took from Ely's trunk. After quickly removing her night gown, hands shaking as Ely slipped on a chemise, Caitlin slipped the outer woolen dress over Elyena's head. Caitlin tied the laces on the back despite her trembling hands while Ely fumbled with her boots.

"Caitlin," Ely called after the girl who rushed toward the floor to ceiling tapestry hanging above her hope chest. "Who is attacking?"

Swallowing hard, Caitlin answered, "The colors are crimson and gold."

"Killian..." Ely whispered in disbelief, chest constricting. "No."

Pulling back the tapestry of the Kildarian mountains, Caitlyn said, "Princess, you must go!"

Ely stepped onto her chest then glanced back. "What about my Uncle? My sister?"

"They're also being sent through their passage accessways by their servants." Caitlin shoved Elyana toward the secret opening. "You must go. Now!"

Ely threw her arms around her friend's neck and pecked Caitlin's tear-stained cheek. Cloak in hand, Elyena clambered over the threshold and descended into the secret passageway built within the walls. When the cloth dropped to cover the opening, she was swallowed by darkness.

While she waited for her vision to adjust,the sound of wood splintering against stone followed by Caitlin's shriek shattered the silence. She had barely escaped. For a moment, Ely paused, tempted to go back and fight for her friend, family, and subjects. Then, she heard his silky baritone voice. It turned her blood to ice and sent her sprinting down the cold, pitch dark corridor toward escape.

Growing up in this castle, Elyena and Vanessa had used these passages many times in their lives to play hide and seek, avoid tutors or evade their duties. Despite the shadows clouding her vision, she knew by memory the location of every secret entry door in any room of the castle and where each corridor led in the underground labyrinth.

Slowing down at a familiar junction she felt an iron plaque stamped with Vanessa's initials bump against her fingertips. Ely turned toward the room it led. She stopped at the entrance to Vanessa's room and curled her fingers around the edges of the tapestry hiding the entrance. Vanessa's terrified sobs gave her pause. As Ely was about to go in and collect her sister, a tall young man clad in glistening onyx armor dragged Vanessa by her arm and tossed her into a heap on the floor.

Ely let the tapestry lay back in place, once again concealing her form. Stepping to the side, a small wood panel lay among the stone. Ely flipped it open, peering through two small holes that were eyes in the portrait hanging on the other side of the wall.