Chapter 214
Kit lay on top of the blankets on the still-made little cot, fully dressed, with her shoes on, staring at the ceiling. She had no way of knowing what time it was, and with no clock or any other means of figuring it out on her own, she had to rely on shift changes to give her any semblance of the hour until the sun rose and meals might start again, not that those were regular. Shift changes seemed to be every six hours, though. So she knew it was sometime between midnight and six in the morning.
The sun should start to rise before the next guard came on duty. Then, perhaps someone would bring her food an hour or so after that, not that she had an appetite. The guard who’d brought her dinner came back to get her untouched plate a few hours later. The Prison Guards were more sympathetic than the members of the Queen’s Guard ever were, though there wasn’t much of a difference between the two. None of them seemed to care much that she was being held here against her will, “for her own good.” Part of her wished she’d fought her mother’s insistence, but then, she probably would’ve ended up worse for it.
A guard had brought some clothes, which were now hanging in the armoire. One article was a night dress. She hadn’t put it on, though. She doubted she’d even change her outfit in the morning. Without her ladies there to help, it would be difficult, not to mention she somehow felt as if putting on the clothing her mother had provided her might be giving in, accepting that she belonged here. It didn’t make a difference that the queen insisted she wasn’t a prisoner, only being held for her own good. They both knew that wasn’t really the case.
She’d spent the better part of her time staring out the window. This high, she couldn’t make out too many people, but there was the forest in the distance, carriages coming and going down a road several leagues away. Horses, both under saddle and those roaming the countryside free, save the fences that kept them in kept her attention. It had given her something to do while the seconds ticked by on a clock she could not hear.
And she’d thought about her men, the situation they were in, if she could truly make this work. Making her a prisoner in her own home had been too easy for her mother. If Kit couldn’t even keep herself free, how could she convince the council that she was ready to rule and that they should approve a new law that said she wasn’t required to choose?
That was just the tip of the iceberg, though, when it came to the changes she’d be asking them to make in the near future, should she gain the throne. She imagined a world where men were equal to women, where they didn’t have to submit to anyone for any reason, where they weren’t treated like second-class citizens. A world where the citizens wouldn’t have to worry about where their next meal might come from, where the strengths of one province were shared with the others so that everyone could benefit from the good of the whole. She would strengthen the army on the backs of pride in Yewforia so that the surrounding kingdoms would recognize their strengths and would no longer demand payment to keep their warriors at bay. Fear and respect would be enough to keep them on their own sides of the borders.
It was easy to see which of the council members would support her. Junno, Nill, Zora, and Ranka would be the easiest ones to convince. But there were others she’d need to persuade as well, and some of them had been loyal to her mother for so long, they might not be willing to accept changes suggested by Rona’s successor simply because she had displaced their preferred queen.
None of that would even matter until Kit managed to wrest the crown away from the evil queen. And from her current vantage point, there wasn’t much chance of that happening, not in the near future at any rate.
Frustration started to take over, and she balled her hands into fists at her side, wishing there was some way she could gain an audience with her mother, just so she could escape. If she could get out of this cage, perhaps she could mount some sort of a resistance against the queen and even manage to overthrow her. It seemed ridiculous to even think about it when she was trapped in a tower with absolutely no way out.
In the silence, she detected the approach of boots on the stairs. It was faint, as if the person was trying not to be heard, and it seemed too early for the guards to be changing just yet. She couldn’t see out the window from this position, but not a ray of sunlight seemed to shift the sky.
There were a few whispers and then the jangle of keys and the slow creak of the door as it opened. Kit closed her eyes, though it would likely be obvious to anyone that she wasn’t actually sleeping, lying like a board on top of the blankets, fully clothed.
Her eyes didn’t need to be open for her to realize who was kneeling beside her cot, even though it made absolutely no sense for him to be there. Still, when she turned her head and opened her eyes, a smile spread across her face and she flew up off of the bed, wrapping her arms around him. “Eli!” Her voice was the lightest whisper imaginable since he was dressed like a member of the Queen’s Guard and there was a Prison Guard standing on the other side of the door.
His embrace was tight, and she never wanted him to let her go, but after a few moments, he pressed her back to arm’s length. “How are you, Princess? They didn’t harm you, did they?”
“No, I’m fine. Only irritated and dejected, that’s all,” she laughed, still keeping her voice as low as possible.
“Thank the goddesses you went with them and didn’t put up a fight. You could’ve been injured.”
“I’m well.” She found it odd that he thought she had done the right thing in submitting to her mother’s requests. “But I’m of little use to anyone trapped in here.”
“Yes, but you’re also safe, and that’s the most important part of the equation for now. Until we can determine what it is Rona has hidden away in that back room, this is likely the best place for you. Not to mention, Seph is just now raising the signal to the others that the time is upon us. If you were out there, and a fray began, none of us would be able to concentrate for fear something may happen to you.”
Kit scoffed. “I’m not a fragile rose petal, Eli. I can handle myself just fine, thank you.”
“Maybe so, but I’ve seen you with a sword, and no offense, I’d rather you left that part of the plan to those of us with more practice.”
She couldn’t argue with that, as much as she would have liked to. “Perhaps someday the women of Yewforia will be more suited to taking up arms.”
“Perhaps.” He smiled at her through the darkness, amused at her insistence on equality, no doubt. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too. Ever since my mother attempted to end you, I’ve been worried constantly. I thought Cassius made you leave the castle.”
“He did--well, suggested it.”
“Of course.” No one could make him do anything, she supposed.
“But he promised he’d signal for me to come back if you were in any danger. So he has. And here I am.”
“Do you think I’m in danger?” She was puzzled since he’d just said he thought this was the safest place for her.
“No, not now. But no one knew where you were. Your mother wouldn’t tell any of them.”
Kit’s eyebrows shot up. “This entire time, no one has known where I am?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Well, then, you should go. Tell them I’m safe and that they needn’t worry.”
“I will. But for now, they all have tasks to perform, so I may as well tarry here a little longer.”
