The Shadow Beasts: The Sunclaire Chronicles

by Eleanor M. Byrne

  Emily snapped out of her thoughts and stared blankly at the prince. He sat at the end of the table with a grim look on his face. Groaning, she rolled her eyes at him and grabbed a frosted cinnamon roll from a plate.

  “Um...sorry? I was thinking...

  “Yes, you were obviously somewhere else,” Declan broke in sharply. “Next time you should pay more attention to me.”

  “Ha! Are you always this bossy?”

  If he was going to keep her prisoner, she was going to frustrate and annoy him to death.

  “I know that princes are usually spoiled but you...you are absolutely the worst of the lot!”

  A plate shattered on the ground; the servants gasped. The prince looked stunned at her remark. Raising a hand, the servants quickly filed out of the hall, the door shut behind them. She took a big bite out of her second cinnamon roll, ignoring his gaze.

  Finishing her last dish, she slammed her hands down onto the table and stood up.

  “Thank you for the meal.”

  “Did I say that you could leave?”

  “Your Majesty, I have finished my breakfast. May I have your approval to leave the dining hall?” she asked mockingly.

  Emily finished her speech with a curtsy, keeping her head low. She needed to show him that she was not here for his amusement. He could pout and threaten her to his heart’s content, but she would never give in to him. She could see his hands on the table in front of her, but he didn’t say anything and she didn’t dare to look up yet.

  “I will show you around the castle,” he said.

  “I can find my way around the castle just fine. But thank you for the offer.”

  The Prince laughed, flashing bright white teeth. Grinning from ear to ear he looked at her. “Really? I heard from the servants that you got lost while looking for the dining hall.” Suddenly his eyes widened as he remembered something.

  “Also, you almost walked into the male changing room for the soldiers. Luckily someone told you before you could open the door.” He chuckled.

  Before Emily could even open her mouth to reply, her captor swiftly rose and headed to the door. The guard who stood in front of it saluted and pulled it wide. Turning around to face Emily, the prince gave her a grin.

  “So, are you coming or not?”

  A minute later, Emily stood in front of a massive portrait of the prince that hung on the wall. The painter had done a superb job. It was amazingly lifelike.

  But what drew her to the portrait was the eyes. It had hints of sadness and hardship that pulled at her heart. For a brief moment, she felt sorry for him. She wondered what could have caused so much suffering that even the painter managed to capture it.

  “The artist did quite a job!” Emily exclaimed.

  Prince Declan ignored her, leaning against the opposing wall speaking in a low voice to Clover. Clover always seemed to be everywhere, popping up when Emily least expected it. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions but Clover was hostile to her. Probably the girl didn’t like a random girl, an unknown entity, following the prince around. After all, she was the bodyguard of the prince and she had to protect him at all costs.

  Prince Declan seemed to finally take note of what Emily had said and shrugged. “The artist is the royal painter of the family. Of course, he has to be excellent in his work.”

  Ignoring the look on his face she queried, “So where to next? The garden? Stables? The kitchen maybe?”

  He put a finger to his lips. “It is a secret until we get there.”

  “Alright, let's get going,” Emily urged them on.

  It was certainly odd to be walking through these halls. During her imprisonment in the castle, she noticed that there was no electronic devices or lamps or electricity. It was difficult to understand why they didn’t just take it from the other dimension.

  She headed down the hallway without looking back. Something firmly took hold of her, causing her to briefly shriek. Spinning around, she came face to face with the prince. He had grabbed her shoulder. Her heart skipped. She had never been so close to his face.

  “It's the other way, silly. ”

  She turned away from him to hide her face. Keep it together, Emily. It was just a fright. On their way to the undisclosed place, she briefly saw the garden through an open window. Rushing over to the window, she looked out over the blooming color in the courtyard.

  The prince silently slid next to her. “You seem very impressed.”

  Emily nodded, her eyes still fixed on the flowers. “Did it take a long time to grow the flowers like this?”

  Prince Declan laughed. “Not really. My mother likes colorful things, so I had this garden installed for her.”

  This left Emily confused. Was his mother still alive? The story that she had been told made it seem as if he were the only surviving member left of the family. Continuing on the tour she didn’t listen to the prince’s conversation with Clover. Without noticing that they had stopped in front of a door, Emily bumped into her.

  “Sorry,” she said automatically.

  Clover didn’t answer back and just gave her a scornful look. Clover opened the door and jerked her head, indicating to Emily that she should head inside. Going through the door, she saw high textured ceilings and massive windows that let in great rays of sunlight. The light sparkled on the tilework that edged the room in waves of blue and green. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, reflecting a watery glow. And on the walls, were tall bookcases brimming with a variety of faded volumes.

  “This place is spectacular,” Emily said quietly, to no one in particular.

  “So, you like it here?” the prince murmured in her ear. She could feel his breath on her neck, sending shivers through her. Her heart beat quickly and seemed to skip.

  Without answering, she headed to a shelf, tilting her head to the side to read some titles, pulling out other books. There were books in different languages that she had never seen before. Some books were laced in gold trimming that shone in the light while there were some that looked dusty and ancient. As she was walking down the rows of shelves, she noticed a certain book that she was immediately drawn to. Picking it up, she read the title, The History of Sunclaire Kingdom: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom. She probably should read this since this was the kingdom where she presently found herself.

  “Good choice.”

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Clover, who had snuck behind her. Emily had to stop herself from jumping in shock. Placing the book back in its spot on the shelf, she turned to face Clover.

  “Why does the title say ‘The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom’?”

  Clover tightened her shoulders and she looked over at the prince. Luckily, the prince was busy on the other side of the library looking through some books on his own. She leaned toward Emily, her eyes hard. Emily blinked, pressing her back against the books. Clover was too close for Emily’s comfort.

  “The kingdom was created three hundred years ago by a man named Lucian Sunclaire. Around a hundred and fifty years ago, the last king of that bloodline died out without leaving a legitimate heir.”

  “Okay, so why are you whispering this to me?”

  Glancing in the direction of the prince again, Clover turned back to Emily. “The last king did have a child, though.”

  She realized what Clover was trying to say. The phrase was ‘illegitimate child’. Emily's eyes widened, looking straight into the eyes of Clover. “So Prince Declan is related to the Sunclaire family? But through an illegitimate relation.”

  Clover put a hand over her mouth, telling Emily to be quieter. Now that she had stopped talking, she could see a servant scurrying past them. He left the area, carrying some boxes, and Clover let out a breath of relief. Emily covered her nose and tried not to breathe in. Clover really could have used a piece of minty gum.

  “There is a lot of resistance toward the prince because of his bloodline. He has been through a lot; he lost his parents and now people are saying that he shouldn’t have the right to r
ule the kingdom.”

  “But they don’t have a choice. He is the last of the Sunclaire, isn’t he?”

  Immediately Clover clenched her fists. Sarcastically, she intoned, “I wish.”

  She took a breath and began again. “The last king had a younger sister and back then, females couldn’t rule. But things have changed now.” Her eyes hardened as she mentioned the younger sister.

  Emily could tell that this was a sensitive topic. Maybe it was best if she didn’t hear it. She couldn’t understand why Clover was telling her all this information. Wasn’t she, Emily, the prisoner? Why was the prince being so nice to her when she told him that she had taken the side of James and Wind Blade? Emily wasn’t any good as bait as James had not bothered to protect her and certainly had made no attempt to rescue her. It did not make any sense to her. Maybe the prince was trying to get her to let her guard down. But why?

  “Her descendants are claiming that they have the right to the throne. So far, there has not been any violence but tensions have been rising lately.”

  Emily let all this sink in.

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  Clover sighed, taking a few steps away from her. Her eyes were fixed on the books on the shelf. To Emily, she looked defeated. Trying to comfort her, Emily patted her back looking at Clover with concern.

  “I don’t know why I am telling you this. Maybe to warn you about this world, the events that had been transpiring. Maybe you are the key to something changing.”

  “Well, I am sorry that this is happening,” Emily said. “Can’t the prince do anything about this? He is the ruler of this nation.”

  Clover's mouth twitched. “This is politics we are talking about. It can’t be easily changed. Also, the price isn’t the ruler. His mother still holds the authority as Queen and the people don’t want this prince to become the King. The people of Sunclaire believe that the Prince is harsh and unfair. They have been hoping that she would remarry and have another child. The other Sunclaire family want their oldest to become the heir of this kingdom. And the nobles have taken sides as well.”

  Clover idly drew a book from the nearest shelf, not bothering to look at the title.

  “ The infighting over the kingdom has divided into three factions: the one that wants the Prince to rule, the other Sunclaire family, and the group that wants the Queen to remarry to form a new bloodline.”

  A wave of sympathy swept through her as she stole a glance at Prince Declan. No one deserved this, not even someone like him. Many of those in his own kingdom did not want him to become king. Maybe he hadn’t learned the ropes quickly enough to take over the throne, but he didn’t deserve to be ostracized and stepped over.

  Emily managed to keep the book on the Sunclaire Kingdom in a satchel she carried. Later that day in her room, after she had seen much of the castle and retired to her room, Emily began to read.

  She was lost in the vast stretches of the kingdom’s history when she heard a knock. Emily opened her door. On the other side stood a large man with a great golden beard that covered most of his face. Looking him up and down, she saw his chain mail tunic was covered with thick plates of armor. The plate across his chest bore a lion symbol.

  “Who are you?”

  Clapping his hands together, the man exclaimed, “Time to get started with your training!”

  He extended a hand toward Emily. “My name is Lionel. I am a captain in the royal guard.” Emily took his hand and shook it. “I have been given orders to teach you how to defend yourself. Just basic training.”

  She looked at him quizzically. Sighing, she started to head down the hallway to do what was required. A cough interrupted her.

  “You should probably not be wearing just that. In your dresser, you should have some training clothes.”

  After closing the door, Emily looked through the dresser drawers and found plain brown pants and a loose shirt. Below the bottom of the dresser were a pair of boots. Throwing them on, she opened the door and followed Lionel down to the open training ground not too far beyond the castle.

  Once she got there, she could see other people training in the area. Some were practicing alone with straw figures while others were sparing one on one with an opponent. The training ground was right next to the horse stables so she could hear the horses stomping and knocking the walls of their stalls. There was a lot of energy in the air.

  “Have you ever fought before?” Lionel finally said when the open field lay before them.

  Emily nodded as she gazed around. “Yes, actually.” He looked surprised. “For two years I took a course in mixed martial arts.”

  “Okay,” Lionel smiled. “Come at me then.”

  She lunged at the man, attempting to knock him back. Lionel easily dodged out of the way, Emily stumbled as her foot caught the edge of his boot, causing her to fall to the ground. Coughing, she scrambled to her feet and whirled around in time to dodge a punch. Leaping back, she aimed a kick at his knee cap, hitting him, which caused him to sink to the ground. Running behind him, she grabbed his arms, yanking them behind his back. Lionel easily shook her off. Stepping back and standing to his full height, he stretched his arms out to loosen them.

  “Well, it seems you know the basics of fighting,” he grinned. “There are some holes that need to be filled. That’s okay, we can work on that. So now we are going to use weapons. Hmmm, let’s see.”

  He went over to a table on the edge of the field that was laid out with an assortment of weapons. Daggers, swords, axes, and pikes lay row after row. Lionel told Emily to pick up each weapon one by one and he watched as she held each in her hand and tested its weight and how it swung through the air as she gripped it tightly.

  “Ah, here it is.”

  Lionel picked up a pike with curved blades at both ends and handed it to her. It was a decent weight and she didn’t have much trouble moving it around. Lionel took it away from her and to her surprise, he separated it creating two curved swords.

  “This pike is used by people who may not be physically strong. It keeps the enemy at bay. And if you get into close combat, you can always separate it.” He pointed to an unused straw practice figure. “We are going to use that to help you learn how to use this weapon.”

  Closing her eyes, she laid back on her bed. Every part of her body screamed with pain. She had spent another long day on the training grounds practicing with Lionel. This had been going on for weeks and one day had run into another.

  “Torture,” she groaned to herself. “ Just another day of torture.”

  It had taken all she had to get back to her room. People stopped and stared because she had clung to the wall for support. As she entered her room, in her opened closet she could see that new clothes had been hung. She didn’t care, anyway, because for one thing she was in agony and could barely get into her room and for another, they were dresses. Dresses were never her style. She wouldn’t be wearing those. She preferred the loose cargo pants that James had given her.

  Her heart stung as she remembered her friend. It had almost been a month since she had been captured. She had heard nothing from both James and Wind Blade. She had hoped that they were safe and out of Sunclaire Kingdom.

  After a hot bath, she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. The door suddenly opened as three women came in. Propping herself up on the bed, she stared at them in confusion. She didn’t know why they were here but they looked like maids.

  “Excuse me? Hello?”

  The women ignored her and headed to her closet, looking through the dresses. They were talking with each other and Emily couldn’t understand what they were saying. Occasionally, she would hear a word about some party or the color of the dress that she was going to wear. It finally seemed that they were done talking and they pulled out a dress. It was a gorgeous dark blue dress, delicately embroidered with jewels that sparkled.

  “This dress would be lovely on you.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Before she had time to
protest, the women grabbed her and dragged her to the mirror. They hurried all around her, grabbing makeup and jewelry from their baskets.

  “Put on the dress, miss.”

  Stunned, she put on the blue dress and felt the soft fabric against her skin. The dress eased down the length of her body, past her ankles, gently touching the carpeted floor. They applied some makeup to her face and brushed out her hair.

  “So we are going to put your hair up, maybe braids. Let’s add a little eyeliner around your eyes to make them pop.”

  Looking at herself as she changed before the mirror shocked her. Her pale blue eyes were now bright and luminous. The silver earrings glistened in the candlelight. She wore very little makeup, but it was artfully applied. Maybe they were trying to enhance her natural look.