Arthus launched from his seat unexpectedly. “My lady, is that a good idea after your… address with the diplomats?”
“Right now,” Katryna responded, “I think we need allies. Camridia and House Bower are vulnerable. The king and queen are dead. We do not know where Rowan is or what he is planning. Finn is badly hurt, and our city came under attack from an unknown force. I screwed up with Ember, I did. I have potentially given us a dangerous enemy. It is my duty to fix this.”
It was a bold move, but one she felt deep within herself was the right thing to do.
“So… you will be staying with us, then? You are staying in Ravenrock?” Arthus said with a cheerful smile, recalling that she had previously intended on leaving her home.
“I will for now… but don’t get used to it,” Katryna replied half-seriously.
Both Arthus and Jerrem seemed most pleased with her response.
※
Katryna took her time descending the stone steps to the Bower Castle dungeon beneath ground-level, using her lit torch to guide her through the gloom. In her other hand was the handle to a heavy bucket of water. Her shoes splashed in the dirty puddles of collected water across the floor and a dripping sound echoed down the single long, eerie corridor.
Several matted rats with long tails ran between her feet squeaking as she walked.
Half a dozen cressets had been lit against a single wall of the corridor along her left side, giving each cell a small amount of light.
Most were empty, but a solitary guard was stationed outside the last cell along the line.
The cell Katryna knew she would find Trish in.
Katryna approached the Infinity Guard who, despite having to keep watch over such a dank, dark place, stood at the ready with his shoulders back and spear in hand.
She peered into the mostly empty square-shaped cell. All that was inside was a small cot, a wash bucket of murky water, and old straw spread out across the cold stone.
A shadowy figure was curled up in one corner, clothes soiled, ripped, and stained with dried blood.
It was Trish.
The handmaiden’s usual golden, shining hair was frizzled and dirty, and hanging over her face like a wild person.
“You may leave, soldier. Take the night off,” Katryna said to the Infinity Guardsman.
The soldier tilted his head, his helmet clinking. “M’lady, I have been ordered to keep watch over this prisoner until my replacement arrives.”
“And who do you think gave that order?” Katryna joked.
“Y-… you, m’lady?”
Katryna winked at the man. “Do you have a wife, soldier?”
“Aye, m’lady. A tavern maid in hightown, name’s Prudence.”
Katryna pulled a small purse from her belt filled with gold marks, easily more than the man’s monthly wage. “Go surprise your wife at work. Take her out somewhere expensive, somewhere special.”
The guard appeared sceptical, hopping from one leg to another. “Are you sure? We aren’t supposed to take bribes.”
“This isn’t a bribe. It’s a reward from your princess for working down here so attentively.”
The guard took of his helmet. He wasn’t as ugly as Katryna had initially suspected, given his gruff voice. He stroked his beard and took the purse after a moment of deliberation.
“This is a very generous gift, m’lady.”
“Enjoy it,” Katryna said, patting him on the shoulder.
The guard smiled back at her before bowing, putting his helmet beneath his arm, and grabbing his spear before leaving back up the stairs that Katryna had come down.
Katryna approached the metal bars, peering in at the huddled-up form in the corner. She used her torch to light the cell in a dim warmth, setting the bucket of water down before her.
The smell was terrible, like decades-worth of grime and waste. It made her cough with disgust.
“You get used to it,” Trish mumbled from out of the dark.
“Lucky for me, I don’t have to.”
“Why are you here?”
Trish did not raise her head, keeping it buried between her arms and knees with her blonde hair hanging down.
Katryna took a moment to collect her thoughts, ensuring she kept her emotions under control. She ran through how she felt, what she had been thinking on the way down to the dungeon.
Why did I come down here?
The light from the flaming torch in her hands flickered from an unfelt current of air.
“You’re going to tell me where that boy’s mother is,” Katryna said slowly yet sternly.
Despite their best efforts, no one had been able to find any valuable information on the stable boy’s kidnapped mother. Trish had been completed hysterical since being arrested, refusing to talk to anybody.
As far as Katryna knew, Trish was the only person left alive who knew where Sniff’s mother was trapped.
Trish snickered quietly to herself. “And what makes you think I’m going to tell you anything?”
“Because,” Katryna said, “I have something you want.”
Trish slowly looked up, peering through the thick strands of her greasy hair with piercing, forest-green eyes.
Katryna unlocked the cell door with a ring of keys, holding the door slightly ajar.
“You tell me everything, and you get to walk.”
Trish wiped her nose. Katryna had never seen so much dirt underneath her fingernails before.
“What’s the catch?” Trish said.
“No catch.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care if you believe me.”
Katryna focused on staying firm and cold with the woman she had once called her best friend, reminding herself who she really was, the atrocities she had committed.
But she needed to find Sniff’s mother. She was an innocent hostage in all of this, and
