Katryna Bower made her way to her father’s chambers with the castle servant Edrick and two Infinity Guardsmen, ascending the dark, constricting stairwells of Castle Bower. The higher up they climbed, the colder the air seemed to become.

The corridor outside King Giliam’s room was a hive of activity.

Jerrem Denar and a group of doctors and physicians were reporting to High Sword Arthus Medonia and some other royal guards. Two Infinity Guardsmen stood like unbreakable sentries at the king’s door with Aunt Rashel.

Aunt Rashel saw her niece and promptly moved to greet her with a comforting smile.

“How are you feeling, love?” Aunt Rashel asked Katryna. She took her hands in a warm embrace and looked straight into her eyes with concern. Rashel’s eyes were red and puffy; she had clearly been crying.

“Feeling a little better,” Katryna said. “I had something to eat and had a rest.”

Katryna’s pulse was racing, and she could feel her lungs tightening again. She did not know what to expect on the other side of the oak door.

“Good, good. Jerrem Denar and the physicians have been with your father. He is not in good shape, they say. They are unsure how much longer he has,” Rashel said solemnly.

The words cut Katryna like a sword strike. Her head slumped down. Too many emotions began to scream inside her mind all at once.

Aunt Rashel held her niece in a tight hug before whispering into her ear. “I’m just glad you arrived when you did.”

“So am I,” Katryna said.

“Let’s go in and see him.”

The moment had come. The moment Katryna had both been longing for and dreading at the same time.

The Infinity Guardsmen stepped aside to let Katryna and Aunt Rashel through into the king’s chambers. The oak door swung open with a groan like an old tree.

A thick waft of stale air hit Katryna’s nostrils. King Giliam’s room was gloomy, illuminated with the faint glow of candles and a dying fire in the hearth.

At the end of the large chamber was a canopy bed with red and white silk curtains hanging down. Rowan and Finnigan were seated next to a sickly old man who lay under a thick duvet.

The old man looked like a corpse. His skin was as pale as moonlight with sunken eyes and cracked lips. He had blue bruises all over his dried skin.

That cannot be father. It cannot be.

Aunt Rashel took Katryna’s hand. She only realised then that she had been standing frozen in place for a few moments.

The room was silent except for their uncertain footsteps as they came to Giliam’s bedside. Katryna felt tears welling from her eyes when she realised that it was in fact her father before her.

He looked so old, so frail. So close to death.

Rowan and Finn moved aside to let Katryna see their father. Rashel sat beside the old man’s sweat-stained pillow, running her fingers through his thinning wisps of hair.

Katryna felt as stiff as rock, standing beside him. No matter how hard she inhaled, she felt like she could not get enough air into her lungs.

“Father?” Katryna breathed, before kneeling at his side.

Giliam opened his bloodshot eyes, turning slowly to look at his daughter. A sort of smile spread across his wrinkled face before forming into a grimace and a deep cough.

Every move he made seemed like agony.

Giliam reached his bony hand out to feel Katryna’s face.

“Katryna?” His once proud, booming voice had shrunk into a dying man’s whimper.

“Yes, father. It’s me. I’m here now. I’m here.”

Giliam attempted another smile with his thin lips. “I am…so glad you have come,” he spoke slowly. “I missed you more… more than you could ever know.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“Could we have a moment?” Katryna asked, looking to her other family members. Finn, Rowan, and Aunt Rashel glared at one-another and then back at Katryna before nodding and leaving the room, respecting her request for privacy.

Katryna held her father’s hand to help relieve the guilt she still bared for leaving so many years ago.

She could not help but notice how the alleged poison had devastated Giliam’s body. The king was old, but the poison had aged him by decades. Patches of skin were blue, his hair had nearly all fallen out, and his gums was bloody.

Katryna’s emotions were beginning to boil over at the sight of her father. It had been so long, and she could not accept that this was how his life was going to end. She felt the guilt swirling around in her mind in a whirlpool of pain, frustration, and fear.

So many years of pain.

“It has been a long while, hasn’t it, father?” Katryna said with a light-hearted smirk. “As soon as I got word of what happened to you and mother, I left Redwatch for home.”

“Home…” Giliam breathed.

Katryna gazed around at the room she had once looked upon so fondly as a youngster. Her parent’s quarters, the royal bedroom of the king and queen. Once full of such grandness, life, and light.

Now a dishevelled, darkened hollow.

“How are you, father?”

“Jerrem Denar… says that I do not have much time left. They know not what poison was used.” The king began coughing. Drops of blood spat from his parched lips. “There is nothing we can do, except quell some of the pain… No cure.”

“I am sorry I did not come sooner.”

“You…are here now. That is what matters.”

Creator, he looked so old. So decrepit, like a piece of fruit left out in the sun too long.

The king could barely keep his eyes open. He seemed to be going in and out of consciousness as he spoke, his gaze drifting into unseen realms.

“Do you have any idea who could have done this?” Katryna asked.

Giliam could barely muster up the energy to shake his head. His eyelids grew heavy.

“There must be something, father. Anything at all.”

Before Katryna had finished her sentence, Giliam had passed out. His hand became heavy in hers, but his chest still rose and fell ever so slightly. She patted his hand gently, wanting nothing more than to keep pushing him for answers, but knowing he needed all the rest he could get if he had any chance at all of surviving.

Katryna left Giliam’s bedside and headed back out into the hallway where Aunt Rashel, Finn and Rowan were waiting.

She felt a surge of anger beginning to boil deep down. She closed the door behind her to give her father a rest and faced the rest of her family.

“How is he?” Aunt Rashel said.

“He passed out. For the time being, I think we need to focus on figuring out who poisoned mother and father. We are all in danger until we bring them to justice. I want their head on a spike, and I want it now,” Katryna said sternly.

Finn looked stunned at the words that had left his sister’s mouth.

Something had changed inside of her. Her stare spat venom, her lips trembled, her fists were clenched. She stood tall with rage.

Rowan nodded with an agreeable smirk. Finally, something that he and Katryna could get behind together.

“Rowan, I think you should head the investigation with the High Sword. We need to know exactly who had access to mother and father. When, where, how.”

Rowan cut her off. “Woah, woah, woah. Hang on a moment. Who are you to bark orders at me, sister? You come home after all these years and expect to direct our investigation, is that it?”

Katryna shut her eyes in frustration, realising she would not be able to get through to him so directly. “I only meant that-”

“In case you had forgotten,” Rowan spat, a vein in his forehead beginning to pulse, “I will be king soon, after father passes to the æther. Which means I will be running and delegating any and all inquiries into this matter. I will be overseeing our House and this kingdom. Quite frankly, I am surprised you even had the hide to return when you did, and here you are, now, giving me orders?”

“Rowan, I am simply trying to push for swift justice. I want whoever is responsible to be caught at once. Until then, we are all in jeopardy.”

“She’s right,” Aunt Rashel said.

“We need a more direct plan of attack,” Finn added, siding with his sister.

Rowan shook his head in awe. “Ever since we were children, you have always sought to belittle me and emasculate me.”

“We are not children anymore, Rowan. We need to work together if we are going to keep our House strong. I don’t want to argue. It’s time we try something different, for father’s sake, at least.” Katryna replied sternly.

Rowan stood in silence. He looked at Rashel and then at Finn, trying to judge what they thought. After a moment, he nodded just once, seeming to realise that fighting would get them no closer to the truth.

“For House Bower,” Rowan said. “I will talk to the High Sword and round up anybody who had contact with mother and father these past couple of weeks.”

“Thank you, Rowan,” Katryna said. “Let’s work together on this.”

Katryna held out her hand. Rowan grabbed it firmly, looking her straight in the eye and shaking her hand. Katryna hoped he meant what he said.

“Finn,” Katryna continued, “I think you should try and aid Jerrem Denar and the royal physicians in identifying the poison. Perhaps they missed something that you can help them with. Perhaps…we can save father’s life before it is too late.”

Both of Katryna’s brothers agreed. She was glad that Rowan was not trying to fight against her for control any longer.

Perhaps working towards a common goal is exactly what we need to get along.

“If we can find the poison, perhaps we can find an antidote,” Rowan said.

“Exactly.”

Finn agreed and stood tall. He needed some orders to follow. He was still young, a follower. The past two weeks of misdirection and confusion had clearly been weighing him down.

“Aunt Rashel,” Katryna said, “I think it best you stay by father’s side. I trust no one more for the task than you.”

Rashel kissed her niece on the cheek and crept back into the king’s chambers to watch over him as he slept.

“What are you going to do, Kat?” Finn asked as the three siblings were about to disperse.

Katryna looked back with raw emotion in her eyes. “I’m going to go talk with the diplomats from Ember. I find the timing of their visit, and subsequent meetings with mother and father, to be a little too coincidental for my liking. I will start there.”

END OF ACT I