Kaina's Dawn (Kaina Saga Book 1)

by Brittany Comeaux

  Kaina frowned, but she didn't argue.

  “Also,” he said, “don't worry about your horse. She'll be well taken care of.”

  Tristan went over to the door and unlocked it with a key from his pocket. He held it open, at which point Kaina hesitantly inched her way towards the door. She descended a flight of stairs and turned left down a corridor into a large chamber of the mine, where she could still see ore veins and even tools that the current inhabitants never bothered to clean up. The rest of the room was full of tables and even had a corner with a cooking station. There were at least forty to fifty men and women in the room, all dressed in similar black armor and clothing and blue cloaks, and the two men Kaina had met previously were sitting at one of the tables.

  Everyone turned to look at Kaina and Tristan as they entered, and the room fell quiet.

  Tristan took a step forward and said in a loud, booming voice, “This girl is a guest here and is to be treated as such. She is allowed to eat and rest and use any other resources here for the time being. Any objections?”

  The room remained silent.

  “Good,” Tristan said. He pointed at Froki and Emir and said, “You too, come with me.”

  The two men obeyed without question and Tristan turned to Kaina and said, “I'll be along shortly so we can make plans for tomorrow.”

  Kaina was too tired and hungry to argue, so she simply said, “Very well.”

  Tristan followed Froki and Emir back into the corridor where they had just come from.

  After his encounter with Azemar, Casimir dressed himself before his servants came up to help him with it, and he went downstairs to see a full assortment of foods on the dining room table. The rest of the Haventhorn family awaited his arrival, as it would have been rude to begin eating before their royal guest had arrived, and once Casimir took his seat, Elias began to speak.

  “As you have no doubt been told, Your Majesty, our dear Kaina was abducted last night,” Elias said with feigned concern in his tone.

  Casimir nodded along, trying to hide the fact that he knew Elias was telling a bold-faced lie. “Yes, my adviser informed me this morning, although I fail to understand why it is I wasn't informed of this straight away. Had I only known of this abduction last night, I would have sent my own guards to find her.”

  “I did not wish to disturb your rest, of course,” Elias said. “I felt that Hugo and the town guard would have been more than adequate to rescue her, but I was sadly mistaken.”

  Hugo, who sat just a few seats away, hung his head in shame just out of the corner of Casimir's eye. Whether or not it was a show for his benefit, he didn't know.

  “I see,” Casimir said.

  “My Lord, I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to find Kaina,” Roland said.

  Casimir collected a piece of sausage, but before he brought it to his lips, he turned to Roland and said, “I offer my deepest sympathies to you and your family. I will send my best men to find your daughter, for what good is a man if he cannot do everything in his power to save his betrothed?”

  “A noble gesture,” Elias, who sat at the head of the table, said. “We will not rest until Kaina is safe once more.”

  “I was also informed of a ransom note?” Casimir asked. “May I see it, please?”

  “Of course,” Elias said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the nearest servant, who brought it over to Prince Casimir.

  Casimir accepted the letter, unfolded it, and read its contents:

  Two-thousand gold pieces for the safe return of Kaina Haventhorn. Deliver it to the north end of town in three days, or she dies.

  “That's all it says?” Casimir asked, flipping the page over.

  “I'm afraid so,” Elias said. “I've already secured the payment, so now we just have to wait for the right time. I'll have some of the town guards on standby to arrest the men responsible.”

  Casimir turned to Azemar and said, “I want you to send a message to my father about this. Tell him that I will be joining the search for Kaina Haventhorn. Also, request his best soldiers for the mission.”

  “At once, Your Majesty,” Azemar said, bowing.

  As soon as the adviser left the room, Casimir stood and said, “If you will excuse me, I must return to my quarters.”

  “Of course, Your Majesty,” Elias said, standing respectfully and bowing before the prince.

  Roland did the same, and then Casimir left the dining room.

  As the Prince passed in the hallway to the stairs, each servant stopped whatever they were doing to bow before him. It was something he was accustomed to so much so that it seemed an insult for someone to not do it. He went up the stairs to the guest room, where he quickly entered and shut the door.

  Casimir went over to his travel pack and removed a long, black box with a jeweled clasp. He unlatched the box with trembling fingers and opened it to reveal a quill with a feather that was a deeper shade of black than was allowed in nature. Whatever light that fell onto it was simply eaten away, and nothing reflected off of it. The tip was also an ornately trimmed silver rather than a true feather. It was a unique instrument not only in the sense that it never needed ink, but it wasn't used for simple letter writing.

  Casimir brought the quill to the desk in the corner of the room and pulled a sheet of parchment out. It didn't matter what surface it was on, but in this case, he would need something that he could hide or destroy after he used it. He pressed the metal tip of the quill to the paper and began to write.

  The words flowed more smoothly than any ink or scratchy quill would allow, and as the tip etched along the parchment, the words singed into place. Casimir only needed to write one sentence to get his recipient's attention, and he had to ensure that should it happen to be seen by someone else, no one will know what is going on.

  I have work for you.

  Nothing happened after several seconds, but this wasn't unusual. Often it would take several minutes to get a response, or even up to an hour. Fortunately, Casimir didn't have to wait much longer before a set of other words began to appear just below what he wrote.

  The words began on the left side, and appeared gradually as though it were being written by an invisible hand. The penmanship resembled words that had been scratched onto a wooden surface with a rusted nail, but it didn't take an expert to be able to read what was being written. When the sentence was done, it read:

  Where shall I find you?

  Casimir smiled and began to write underneath the message:

  Eboncrest, Haventhorn Manor, nightfall. Don't be late.

  He waited, and within a few seconds another message appeared:

  See you then.

  There was no formal closing, but that was all that was needed. For the time being, Casimir couldn't afford to be linked to this...individual. However, there would soon there would be a day when he would have the utmost power in Ilesia, a day when no matter what he did, no one would have the courage to stop him. Until then, he would take no chances.

  Casimir set the quill down and took the parchment to the fire. He tossed it in and watched as it began to blacken and curl, then he took the quill, placed it in its box, and latched it shut again. He placed the box back in the bag and returned to the fire, where the parchment became nothing more than a pile of ash.

  Chapter 8

  Kaina took a seat at one of the tables and tried to avoid eye contact with the dozens of strangers in the room, but she still felt their gazes piercing into her. When Tristan came back into the room a short time later, she didn't feel any more relieved.

  Tristan sat at the head of the table Kaina was at, which incidentally was right next to her. Much to her discomfort, Emir sat beside her while Froki plopped down directly across from her. She tried to avoid their gaze, and she was a bit relieved when the three men began to speak and not look at her.

  “If you're going to Eldercliff,” Froki said, “you might need some assistance. I could go with y
ou if you need a few skulls bashed in.”

  “No,” Tristan said, “we can't afford to draw too much attention. Besides, we'd travel much faster with fewer people involved.”

  “Have it your way, then,” Froki said, taking a bite out of a turkey leg.

  A few seconds later, a plate dropped onto the table right in front of Kaina, giving her a start. She soon saw a pale hand withdraw from the plate and when Kaina followed it, she saw an enormous, hearty woman with pale blond hair decorated in braids and in a cook's apron standing just beside her.

  The woman peered down at Kaina and said, “I ain't never seen one as starved as you. Just look at ye, all skin and bones! Eat up and fatten those dainty little arms of yours.”

  “I-I'm sorry?” Kaina stammered.

  The woman looked at Froki and said, “Will ye explain to this lass that she needs to eat? What are you lookin' at me like that for? Don't make me knock your thick head in.”

  “Ma,” Froki said, “leave the poor girl be. She's had a long night.”

  “All the more reason she needs food and drink in her belly,” the pale woman argued.

  “Angi,” Tristan said, “perhaps it would be best to allow Kaina here to eat at her own pace.”

  Angi threw her hands up in the air and as she began to march off towards the cooking area, she said, “Useless, all of ye. The youth today don't care what their elders have to say, oh no! I don't know what I'm talking about...”

  Kaina turned away from the still rambling Angi and as she did so, Froki said, “Sorry about Ma. She's a tough old lass. We used to own an inn until my pa got killed by Ilesian soldiers.”

  “I'm sorry,” Kaina said.

  Froki put up his hand and said, “Don't worry about us. We only joined because we don't want other families to suffer the way we did. She can't fight like I can, but Tristan was kind enough to keep her on as a cook while I get to bash heads in for him.”

  “He's been known to chop them off and put them on spikes as well,” Emir said. “I prefer to take people out before they get too close.”

  “Is that so?” Kaina asked. “What's your story?”

  “Mine?” Emir asked. “Well, I got caught one day stealing from the lord of the Ashlands after he took food from our village, so he tossed into a prison camp. I was forced to work for days on end in the blistering heat until the Azure Riders rescued me and the other prisoners. Tristan offered me a spot among his ranks, and I've been here ever since.”

  Kaina turned to Tristan, his deep, somber expression masking a lost soul. She waited for him to notice that she was looking at him, then said, “What about you? What led you to form the Azure Riders?”

  Tristan met her gaze, but he made no attempt to answer her question. She waited patiently, but the only response she received was from Froki.

  “Don't bother,” the pale giant said, “Tristan doesn't tell anyone but a select few about his past. He's proven that he's loyal to us, and that's all we care about.”

  Kaina noticed Tristan smile in her peripheral vision.

  “Well now that you know a bit about us,” Emir said, “it makes up for the fact that we already know quite a bit about you, such as your engagement to Prince Casimir.”

  Kaina lowered her head in shame. “I never agreed to that.”

  “We know,” Froki said with a laugh. “We heard from the chatter in Eboncrest about the stunt you pulled at your family's ball. You've got guts, girl. Not many people would stand up to Casimir like that.”

  Kaina smiled at the notion. “I take it none of you are very fond of him, either?”

  Emir raised his tankard and said, “Let me put it to you this way: if I had a bucket of water, the only one within a hundred miles, and Prince Casimir crawled up to me dying of thirst, begging me for just one sip of cool, clean water, I'd knock the bucket into the dirt. That prince has done enough harm to enough people that I can safely say he deserved more than what you gave him. Once the word gets around in here, I have no doubt you will have earned the respect of everyone here.”

  Kaina shrugged and answered, “It was nothing.”

  Froki waved his arm in dismissal and said, “There's no room for modesty in the Azure Riders. As a matter of fact...” Froki stood up, held out a mug, put his fingers to his mouth, and whistled. The piercing sound made Kaina flinch and caught the attention of everyone in the room.

  “It is said that no man would dare speak his mind to Prince Casimir, but last night someone told that bastard exactly what she thought of him. It is time we show Kaina Haventhorn the respect she deserves.”

  Before Kaina could react, Froki hopped up on the table top and grabbed her by the hand, hoisting her up on the table with him. He held up her hand in the air with one hand while holding out his mug with the other and shouted, “To Kaina!”

  “To Kaina!” everyone repeated.

  Kaina's cheeks flushed and she hopped down from the table as soon as Froki let go of her hand. She sat down in her seat again and Froki jumped off the table and said, “They like you.”

  “So it would seem,” Kaina said with a nervous smile.

  “Don't worry, we look out for our own here. The moment you stood up to Casimir, you became one of us,” Emir said.

  Kaina nodded, though she still wasn't sure. “Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality.”

  After a drink from his tankard, Tristan finally broke his silence and said, “Now then, I believe we need to talk about our plans for tomorrow.”

  Kaina picked at her plate and said, “Like what?”

  “For starters,” Tristan said, “You're going to have to wear something more suited for traveling, and you'll also need a weapon to defend yourself.”

  Kaina furrowed her brow and said, “I'm not much use with weapons.”

  “I can get you a dagger,” Froki said. “They're light and easy to get used to.”

  Kaina shrugged. “If I must.”

  “Next, we need to get supplies packed,” Tristan said. “We'll need camping gear, food, water, medical supplies, and a map.”

  “Camping gear?” Kaina said. “How long will it take us to get there?”

  “Two days,” Tristan said, “three if we run into bad weather.”

  “Two days?” Kaina asked. She leaned against the back of her chair and stared forward with her mouth agape.

  “Not used to traveling, eh?” Froki asked, although Kaina knew he knew the answer to that question.

  “I didn't think it would take that long,” she admitted.

  “On foot it would take even longer. Luckily, we're going on horseback. Your horse should be in better condition by morning,” Tristan said.

  “I should hope so,” Kaina said. “I had to leave with her in a hurry last night.”

  Kaina's heart ached at the thought of Aldis, and she dreaded what might have happened to him if those men caught him. She could only hope that he got away.

  “It's all right,” Froki said, “we know what it's like to deal with situations like this.”

  Kaina poked and prodded at the food Angi had dropped before her. Although she was relieved that the Azure Riders had no intent to harm her, everything she had been through up until that point was becoming too much to bear. First the sudden betrothal, the Disciples, and now the rebels...

  Kaina was beginning to wonder if finding that book was either the best thing that ever happened to her, or the worst.

  “You can sleep in the women's quarters tonight,” Tristan said, leading Kaina down a corridor that connected to the mess hall. “There are plenty of empty beds. They might not be the most comfortable, but they should do for tonight.”

  “Thank you,” Kaina said as she walked past Tristan into the room just ahead.

  Inside, dozens of cots lined up side by side in eight lines, each gathered in four sections. A walkway in the middle right in front of the door led in between two sections of sleeping space, and in between each space was another walkway that intersected with the original. Each of the four sleepi
ng sections had beds lined up side by side so close that if there were any people sleeping in them, Kaina imagined that they would brush up against the person next to them in their sleep.

  Kaina soon became aware of just how tired she was, and at that point even the stiff looking cot with no blanket or pillow seemed all too inviting to her, and she couldn't help but become entranced by the thought of a nice, peaceful nap. She turned back to Tristan and said, “I appreciate your help.”

  Tristan didn't answer, but nodded in response and turned towards the exit. As soon as he was out of view, Kaina crawled into the first cot she could find. It wobbled under her weight, but as soon as she lie still, so did the cot. It wasn't long after she closed her eyes that her weary body shut down, and the sweet feeling of sleep washed over her body.

  Froki and Emir were still at the table where Tristan had left them. While he certainly had every intention to rejoin them shortly, he had business to attend to and supplies to pack. He was just about to turn towards the supply room when he felt a presence beside him.

  “She found the book, didn't she?”

  Tristan turned to see a fair woman with long, flaming red hair that had been braided down her back. She smiled, her pale green eyes entrancing and inviting, and waited for his response.

  “So she says, Abigail,” Tristan replied, “although I have yet to see it for myself.”

  “I take it that's why you're going to Eldercliff?” Abigail asked.

  “That's right,” Tristan replied. “Hopefully Melchior can help us.”

  “He didn't before,” Abigail pointed out.

  “That was before we had the book,” Tristan argued. “He'll help us now. He has to.”

  “If you say so,” Abigail said. “What about the girl? Can you trust her? She is a Haventhorn after all, and they've always been loyal to the crown.”