Katryna and her riding companions arrived at the city walls just as the sun sank beneath the horizon out to sea. The sandy orange walls reached high over her head, built with ancient sandstone from the very cliffs of Ravenrock many hundreds of years ago, if Katryna remembered her studies correctly.
The gates were open, to allow movement in and out of the city as night arrived. Several guards stood at the gatehouse, long spears in hand. Their wooden shields had red and white painted metal decorations with the spiralling pattern of flowers and vines of the House Bower sigil. The steel armour of the captain was engraved in this same pattern.
Not exactly the most threatening of sigils, but beautiful nonetheless, Katryna thought to herself.
Despite nightfall setting in, Ravenrock was abuzz with activity. The outskirts of the city were mainly populated by the poor and the peasantry, and the main gate Katryna and her company had entered through would take them directly through this area. They would then cross the many bridges that over Ravenrock’s famous canals, before arriving at the bailey of Castle Bower which sat on the highest hill of the city overlooking the harbour.
Katryna was met with a familiar yet overwhelming array of sounds and smells. The crowds were loud. The scents that Katryna picked up were overpowering- a strange mix of perfumes, ocean mist, vegetable stews, horse shit and body odour.
“Nothing’s really changed,” Trish said. Katryna could not tell if she that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“It’s exactly as I remember,” Katryna said, with every sight and sound triggering a long-forgotten memory.
Most of the rowhouses and tenements in this part of town were multi-storeyed, intertwisting with each other like old tree roots from decades of constructions and add-ons.
Shops were on street level. The merchants in the temporary stalls along the sides of the main thoroughfares were storing their goods away for the night. Those fortunate enough to own or rent a street-facing shop were closing shop as well.
Katryna observed the shop signs which hung over the streets like branches from a tree. There were taverns, barbers, brothels, tailors, cobblers, smithies, apothecaries. Anything she could think of, all in one place.
A dog barked several blocks away, setting off some of the other strays running through the gutters. Katryna eyed a couple of unfortunates trying to convince men to be with them for the night… for a price.
She glanced over to Trish who averted her gaze from the whores with a nervous gulp.
Lamplighters went around with flaming torches to light the metal lanterns which hung from the eaves of many of the buildings. The dark city streets fell into a beautiful orange glow as the lanterns came alive.
Katryna had forgotten the serene atmosphere created at night by Ravenrock’s thousands of city lamps. Ravenrock was famous for its lamps. Some even called it ‘the City of Stars’, others ‘the City of Canals’.
Katryna turned to Trish. They couldn’t help but smile at each other. Despite their anxieties and anticipations, they were glad to be back.
“It really hasn’t changed one bit,” Katryna repeated to herself.
Tulip whinnied, almost as if she too had realised that she was back home. Her limp was already fading.
But the biggest dissonance that Katryna was suffering with was how alike all the people looked. She was not used to it. Most of the people living in Ravenrock were of pale skin, spoke Alyrian, and were freemen. In Redwatch, where Katryna had been living for the last several years, slavery still flourished, especially with the lucrative market available by being located nearer to the west coast of the continent.
Anai were the most common race to be enslaved by man, due to their short stature and passive personalities, making them good workers who rarely questioned their imprisonment. Katryna knew of some places in the world where human criminals were enslaved as punishment.
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In Redwatch, Katryna had seen all sorts of peoples. Men, of course, and their slaves, but also Valkhor, and even some Tekawa Nomads. Camridia had outlawed slavery, and remained one of the least multicultural kingdoms in all of Eos.
Katryna’s company rode onto the Westgate Bridge, their horses’ hooves clopping on the worn cobblestones beneath. Blackstone Rush flowed underneath the arching bridge. The canal had a tendency to become a raging river whenever the rains struck.
They crossed many more canal bridges, making their way further towards the upper city, known colloquially as hightown. Castle Bower was by-far the tallest structure in the Ravenrock. It reminded Katryna of a huge guardian watching over its domain, square-shaped, with stone towers on each corner rising into the sky.
Up high around the peak of the keep circled flocks of grey gulls and coastal drakes.
Castle Bower, unlike the outer city walls of Ravenrock, was all mortar and stone rather than sandstone. The sole gatehouse, flanked by two watchtowers, ensured that the city guards could keep an eye over who entered and left the castle.
“Here we go,” Katryna said to Trish.
The grill-like portcullis was down when Katryna’s company arrived over the drawbridge. She was met with an Infinity Guardsman, one of one hundred of the royal family’s personal bodyguards and protectors of Castle Bower. The guard lifted his visor, revealing a chunky, square face and splotchy beard. “State your business,” he spoke, coldly.
Katryna cleared her throat. “My…my name is Katryna Bower.” Well, that didn’t sound convincing.
He scowled. “Who?”
“The princess?” There was a long pause. He doesn’t know who I am. “I’m here on urgent business, to see my father, the king-”
“The king is sick and is not receiving any visitors at this time,” the guard spoke in a pre-rehearsed manner. “Now, if you will make your way back from where you came-”
“No, you don’t understand,” Katryna said bluntly. She was becoming frustrated. They’ve forgotten who I am. Weeks of travel, only to be held up by some ignorant guard. “My name is Katryna Bower, I am the daughter of the king. My brother, Prince Finnigan, sent a request for me to return home at once.”
She pulled out the letter he had sent almost a month prior. The Infinity Guardsman read it slowly. At first, Katryna thought he was just reading it carefully, then it dawned on her that he was struggling to read the words. He noticed the family seal imprinted at the bottom of the parchment but still looked confused.
“Please,” Katryna sighed, “if you just”-
“Let her through!” a voice called out from inside the bailey. Katryna peered behind the guard to see her younger brother, Finn, running towards the gatehouse. “Let her in!”
Katryna smiled with happiness. One of the only people she was eager to see again upon returning home.
The chains lifting the portcullis up groaned under the immense weight. The guard bowed to Katryna as a gesture of apology, handing her back the letter, and stepping aside.
The company rode into the bailey. Katryna jumped down from her horse, placing the reins into Trish’s hands, and running up to Finn with open arms. They embraced one another.
“Creator, it’s been too long!” Katryna said. She took in his scent and his warmth, letting it absolve the hurt still in her heart.
Finn kissed his sister’s cheek, and they looked at each other, studying how their faces had changed and grown.
“Kat, the last time I saw you-”
“You were only six years old!” Katryna said. “Now look at you, you are a young man!”
Finn had really grown into his looks. He had stunning blue eyes, was clean-shaven, and his dimpled cheeks reminded Katryna of his exciting, mischievous youth. His fair curls flowed down the side of his face. They ought to make the girls go crazy.
“It’s so good that you came,” Finn said, his smile slowly fading.
“We got here as fast as we could. Redwatch is a long ride away.”
“I know,” Finn replied, trying to comfort his sister. “I know.”
Katryna rubbed her hands awkwardly. “I wish we had a chance to catch up properly, but…”
“It’s best we go inside, first. We can find time later for catching up.”
Katryna paused, unsure if she wanted the answer to the question she was about to ask. “Is… is father…”
“He’s still hanging on,” Finn said. “Mother passed the day before I wrote the letter to you.”
Katryna felt tears welling in her eyes but refused to let them free. Her mother’s death brought anguish to her heart. She had never been able to patch things up with her, and for so many years, the two had lived separate lives across the world to avoid one-another.
But Katryna felt no glee in her mother’s death. Only sadness, only regret. She could not deny the relief to know her father was still clinging on, though.
Finn held his sister again, tightly, recognising that she needed to be consoled.
“I’ve missed you, baby brother,” Katryna whispered in his ear.
Several servants arrived to take the horses to the royal stables and bring the travellers’ bags inside. As they got off their horses, they bowed to their prince. Trish curtseyed elegantly.
“Come on, we should head inside.” Finn held her hand. “The family is all here, and we have a lot to discuss.”
The day Katryna had been dreading had finally arrived. She held her head up strong while gritting her teeth in anxiety.
The prince and princess made their way into Castle Bower.