Katrina, The Beginning (8 page)

“But we have to know what
we’re up against. Don’t worry. I’m fast, and they won’t see me.
Remember, fledglings don’t have gifts. I can sense them from
further way and I can see in the dark better than they
can.”

I could see from Thomas’s
ridged demeanor, my pleading was getting nowhere.

“Kat, if they are alerted,
we won’t get a second chance. We must report back to your
father.”

“All right, Thomas, let’s
go back.”

We arrived just as Father
was finally returning from his meetings with the
Council.

“Katrina, did you see any
sign of the girls?”

“No Father, but we found
where the fledglings are holed up. Across the river, south about
three miles, there’s an old fortress wall hiding an opening to some
sort of cave. I sensed at least fifteen fledglings and five humans
- male.”

“Thomas, get Gunter. He
should hear this, too.”

After retelling our
information to Gunter, we had to devise a plan.

Father paced as he laid out
the plan. “These are new vampires; so they are still vulnerable to
the sun. Since they were made, not born, their senses aren’t as
good as ours, but they will be very strong. Since Watchers aren’t
meant to fight vampires, we should use the elite vampire
guard.”

Gunter sputtered, “Our
family has trained vampires for generations and we are used to
their speed. I refuse to let any of you go without us.”

“Then we should strike at
first light,” Father said accepting Gunter’s reasoning.

“I’ll give orders for
another tracking party to go out before dawn,” Gunter cautioned,
“We can’t take a chance of alerting Damien or any of his partners
in this. The Romanians have shown their allegiance to him, so we
must also beware of them and any of their party.”

“Thomas, go and alert
Philepe and Gerhardt. Simon, you go and speak with the Vikings.
Katrina, I want you to stay here.”

“But Father—”

“You’ll need to distract
Damien, he must not get suspicious. Quinn will watch
Luena.”

“I’ll send word I wish to
spend the morning with him. Sarah, take this note over to Damien’s
apartment and please wait for a reply.”

“It’s not fair,” I wanted
to scream. I was trained to fight too, and hadn’t I just proven
myself?

While Gunter and Father
continued talking strategy, I decided I needed some time to myself.
I opened the doors and stepped out onto the balcony. The moon was
almost full, which made the night almost as light as day. This was
not the adventure I had envisioned before we arrived. How did
everything get so complicated?

“Katrina.” I heard Quinn
call softly from below. I peeked over the railing to see him in his
guard’s uniform. We both looked all around to make sure no one was
watching.

“Meet me downstairs. I want
to talk to you.”

“I’ll be right down,” I
whispered back. To the others I said, “I’m going to get something
to eat. May I get either of you anything?”

“No, thank you,” I
heard.

I walked quickly down the
stairs. When I saw him, I still felt that jump in my
pulse.

“Please come in, and I’ll
fetch you something to eat.” I said for the benefit of
eavesdroppers.

“Thank you, my Lady. You’re
very kind.”

Once he was inside, I gave
him a big hug and a kiss.

“I missed you.” I whispered
softly before disengaging myself from the hug.

“And I missed you. Thomas
told me what you found in the woods. I watched Damien all evening,
he didn’t leave his quarters and he just received, what I assume
was a note from you, since Sarah brought it. She’s on her way back,
but she wanted to get supplies from our stores, so I brought the
answer back with me.” Quinn handed me the note.

“You should have seen the
look on his face. He seemed pleased with himself I must say, and he
did not hesitate to write this reply. What does it say?”

I opened the note and read
it aloud, “I’ll meet you at our spot in the garden at sunrise. I’ll
bring breakfast, and you bring your beautiful smile.”

I sighed, “Should I swoon
now or wait until tomorrow?” We both laughed.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,
Luena went out just after she talked to Damien in the garden. When
did you leave the compound?”

“Not long after
that.”

“She went to a spot at the
rear wall of the palace, far away from everything else, and entered
what appeared to be a small storage building. She didn’t come out
for over two hours, and then she went straight to her room and must
have gone to bed, as the candles were put out right after she
returned.”

“That’s strange, don’t you
think? We got back about a half an hour before that and we didn’t
see anyone else outside the palace walls.”

“I went around the entire
perimeter of the palace and didn’t see anyone, nor was there any
sign of an outside exit from that storage area or the
wall.”

“Hmmm. What is that witch
up to? So, everyone is in bed now, you’re sure?”

“Yes, Damien, Luena, and
the Romanians. Their Watchers are at their doors, except Luena’s;
no one seems to know where he’s been for a while now. We have our
people in place too.”

“Shall we go and see what
we can find in that shed?”

“Shouldn’t we tell the
others?”

“You know they won’t let us
go if we do. Besides it might be nothing, right? Did Luena have to
unlock it?”

“Yes.”

“Very well, I’ll get the
master keys Father was given this afternoon, after his
installation. There are only three different sizes, one for main
living areas, one for weapons storage, and one for supplies. One of
these will work, I’m sure of it. I’ll be right back.

I was only gone a few
minutes and was back holding up the key ring.

Let’s go.”

Staying in the shadows of
the buildings we worked our way around the back wall.

“This really is out of the
way,” I said. “It must be used as weapons storage depot for the
guards up on the wall.”

Just then we heard one of
those very guards coming along the wall above us.

“Everything all right up
there?” called out Quinn, as I hid in the shadows.

“All’s well, no sign of
trouble,” answered the guard.

“Good, I’ll inform the High
Regent,” replied Quinn. He then whispered to me, “He’s gone. Let’s
try the middle key.”

I slid the key in the lock;
it fit, so I turned it to the right.
Click
. I smiled and
looked at Quinn. We were in.

“Ouch.” I heard Quinn
mutter as he hit his head. There were no windows, but I could see
there were matches in a cup next to a small candle. I lit the
candle and filled the space with a soft yellow glow.

“Sorry, I forgot you can’t
see in the dark. What would Luena be doing in this small room for
over two hours? You’re sure no one else went in or out?”

“Well, I followed her here
and after she left, I waited to make sure no one else came out
later. No one did.”

“And no Watcher was with
her?’

“As I said before, no one
seems to know the whereabouts of her usual Watcher, and I saw no
other Watcher with her tonight. Usually Damien’s loathsome Watcher,
Ivan, is with them. What do your senses tell you, Kat?”

I closed my
eyes.

“I can pick up Luena’s
scent most heavily in that corner, not much else.”

We walked to the corner.
Bundles of arrows were stacked on a pallet.

“There’s nothing here,”
Quinn surveyed the area.

“There has to be. Help me
move this. Oh, my God!”

The pallet was on some kind
of a rail and when I pushed on it, it moved aside easily, revealing
a very narrow descending stairway. A passage only wide enough for
one person at a time was a brilliant defensive measure. A few
expert archers at the bottom could effectively pick off a whole
attack force as they were forced to descend the steep stairway
single file.

“Katrina, no! We don’t know
what’s down there, at least use your gift to ‘see’
first.”

I took a breath
in.

“The girls, I see the
girls! I can’t detect anything or anyone else except the lingering
scent of Luena. Come on!”

I went first because I
could see and hear better and because I was faster. The stairway
emptied into a small room with three archways, all dark. The
coolness of the damp underground chamber shivered through me and
the close, musty air assailed my nostrils.

“This way,” I pointed to
the closest archway. The scent was so strong now, I knew they
weren’t far.

“Eleanor? Rosalinda?
Arletta? Can you hear me?”

I heard muffled noises. As
we moved down corridor a little further, it opened into a small
room, and there on the floor bound, gagged, with their heads
covered with black hoods, were the three missing girls. In a flash
I knelt down, untied each one, and then made sure they were all
unhurt.

“We’re angry more than
anything else,” Rosa rose unsteadily, moving her wrists and flexing
her hands to get blood flowing again.

“I expect you are, but
there’s no time for speeches now,” I urged. “We need to get you out
of here and back to my father’s apartment without being
seen.”

“But why your father,
Katrina? I want
my
father.”

“Just trust me Eleanor;
this is how it must be. Let’s get you up and out of here. Quietly.
Remember your training, and be aware.”

The girls were filthy and
still in their nightgowns, but they were strong enough. We left the
small room and went quickly back along the corridor.

Then a scent I knew all too
well hit me straight in the face. Fledglings! Where had they come
from? I looked behind us but saw nothing. No one.

Where was Quinn?

My heart skipped a beat,
had they taken him? Were they holding him upstairs?

I saw feet coming down the
stairs in front of us. I backed the girls into the shadows and put
my finger to my lips, signaling for silence. We waited.

To my great relief, it was
Quinn.

“Hurry,” he whispered,
“It’s clear.” He then turned and went back up the narrow
stairs.

I pulled Eleanor
forward.

“Run,” I told her, then
lined up Rosalinda, and finally Arletta.

They flashed up the stairs,
each meeting Quinn at the top. I could now hear the fledglings
getting closer, coming through the central archway. It took all my
vampire speed to make it the final few steps up and out the narrow
opening in the floor of the shed. Quinn pulled me up and out of the
way and together we shoved the pallet back over the
opening.

“Here, use this, Quinn,” I
tossed him a spear so he could block the rail and keep the
fledglings from getting to us.

“I had better use one more.
Good, that’s it.” He turned to the girls, “Now let’s get out of
here. I know everyone is shaken, but we must not be noticed. Kat
will take you. Use your speed so you won’t be seen. I’ll lock up
and meet you at the apartment. Don’t worry; I’ll bring your fathers
with me. Now go!”

The girls and I raced along
the palace wall. No human would see us, but vampires might. I kept
looking side to side, checking for danger. So far, so
good.

“We’re almost there. Stay
close.”

We made it to the verandah
and I looked in to make sure it was clear. It was.

“Thomas?” I called up the
stairs.

“Katrina is that you?” I
heard Gunter say as he rushed down the stairs. “Your father is
frantic. Thomas and Simon are out looking for you.”

Then I stepped aside. His
jaw dropped and he gasped, “What the—”

“Let’s get the girls some
blankets. I’ll explain later.”

Then I took the girls past
Gunter and towards the stairway.

“Any word?” I heard Thomas
say.

When he and Simon came into
view, Gunter nodded in my direction. The girls huddled together
behind me.

“Where were they?” Simon
asked, shocked.

“Get some blankets from
storage,” Gunter ordered.

Thomas returned a few
moments later and handed me three woolen blankets. I wrapped them
around the girls and gave them each a hug.

“You’re safe now. Let’s go
upstairs.”

I could hear Father pacing
as Gunter opened the door.

“We found her,” Gunter
announced, and when I gave him a scolding look, he added, “Well,
she actually…she came back on her own and she brought a few friends
with her.”

As we entered the room,
Father’s anger turned to shock.

“The girls,
where…who…?”

“All in good time, Father,
for now we must get someone to guard Luena to make sure she doesn’t
escape.”