Chapter 2

Cat

"Cat"

I flinched instinctively. Did I recoil as well? I wasn’t sure, but if I did, the Queen didn’t notice. She beckoned for me from her throne, and instinct made me extort myself from my position at the wall and make my way up to her. I knew that sharpness in her voice. It had been instilled in me ever since I was old enough to understand what ‘consequences’ meant. Someone had crossed the line; I only prayed it hadn’t been me.

Those short steps to her throne seemed to stretch on forever when her voice carried that edge, but it gave me enough time to think through the last few days and what I could have done. I had carried out my duties as laid down by her; followed the orders given to me. I couldn’t see I had overstepped, but someone could have seen their chance to get at me and report me. Bastards.

I kept my gaze low as I walked; I knew better than to look her in the eyes these times. It didn’t matter; my feet knew each step over the floor, passing the pillar and all the way up to the discoloured tile that was my end. My body, as well as my mind, was fuelled by instinct. Even so, I felt her eyes on me, they pierced me with the impatience only she could conjure when someone had wronged her. Someone would hang today.

I halted in front of her throne, careful to stand far enough away to be out of reach for her whip. There wasn’t a specific place to bow before her; it was her state that determined the distance, and today, I wouldn’t take my chances. The last echo of my footsteps died out, and the hall fell quiet. My hands had started to shake the moment she called my name, and I clenched them into a fist to stop it from showing. I heard her open her mouth, a sharp click as her lips separated, and I dug my nails into the palm of my hand. I held my breath as her words rang through the hall.

“The traitor unicorn has attempted the unforgivable. Such things cannot be tolerated. Annihilate her.”

I blinked for a moment. The Unicorn? So I was still in her grace?

“Take whoever you need; don’t return until the attempt is successful.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Now go.”

I bowed and left, my hands relaxing by my side. So someone would die today, but it wasn’t me. What had the traitor Unicorn done to finally meet her fate? The turncoat horse had been banished from her tribe years back when she rebelled. She was an outcast and a liar and should have been taken out when she mutinied. But the Queen had been generous enough to let her and her petty rebellion be. But it would end now. This was a trespassing she wouldn’t come back from. I already knew what I wanted to do with her.

My servant stepped out from the shadow of the pillars as I came out from the throne room. Instinct. That’s what made his body move, too. I don’t know if it was me who had instilled it in him, I don’t think he had ever earned the honour. Others had, though, and those bolts of lightning had created another layer of instinct. It didn’t matter, you learned quickly enough once you arrived at the castle. The Queen’s lash when you had displeased her was enough, and the instinct to serve would run deeper than any commitment you’d had before.

He bowed, his spindly veins creating a net over his wrinkled head. I barely remembered his face any longer, I only knew him by that pale, bald scalp. He had been assigned to me when I first arrived, and I must have known his name once, but you lose what you don’t use. It was the same with everyone else. I only knew them by their features. His, the bald scalp. Mine, the bolts of lightning that were the last many of them saw. Names were not needed when you knew how to serve.

“Bring Jale to me.”

He bowed and slipped away down the hallway without a word. I turned and continued in the other direction.

The Unicorn would be hunted down like a rabbit into the mouth of the fox. The only question was where she kept herself. She wouldn’t be easy to find; she was too clever to leave any traces. But most likely, she’d run to one of the Kingdoms that still weren’t under the Queen’s rule, taking refuge among those who wouldn’t talk. Ungrateful savage, she was blind to everything the Queen did for this land. Running her petty rebellion, hoping to overthrow her. Without the Queen, there would simply be primitive tribes warring between themselves. It was because of her that we had peace, and the harvests were bountiful. But the Unicorn had forgotten about it, the traitor. Jale would find her scent, and she would be hunted down.

I halted in front of the door to my room, took the key from my pocket and unlocked it. A musty scent of damp stonewalls escaped as I opened it and stepped inside. My own room. The Queen had been generous enough to grant me my own sleeping quarters after years of servitude. I would have still slept in the stables with the soldiers if it wasn’t for her kindness. It was small, with only a bed, a wardrobe and a night table, but I had learned to recognise the signs that showed you were in her grace.

I put my knife on the night table and sat down on the bed. She’d even let me keep my magic all those years ago. If she hadn’t, I would be running kitchen errands by now; my stature was too small for regular battles. Maybe it would have been even worse, and I would have been an orphan strayer, wandering the lands in search of food and shelter. The Queen’s benevolence towards me had saved me. My mother hadn’t wanted me; that’s what the Queen had told me as she’d gracefully taken me in. I didn’t remember anything about the time before coming here. My father, mother… Their names no longer brought any images to my mind. I didn’t even know what tribe I belonged to. The Queen’s kindness had spared me, and I would repay her for that with every act.

There was a knock on the door, and I stood up.

“Enter.”

The servant’s bald head came first, and moments later, Jale’s rowdy figure emerged from behind.

“You called for me”, he said.

There was a click as the servant closed the door behind him.

“We’re going for the Unicorn, she’ll die”.

He gave me a look I couldn’t interpret.“The Unicorn? Sara, that’s her name?”

“I don’t know. The traitor. She’s gone.”

He nodded and stroked his chin.

“How long will we be out?”

“Until we find her. We’re not to return until the task is completed.”

“So I’m stuck with you for a month or longer.”

I let his words slip. He was a paid hand and didn’t run on instinct. Which meant he was out of my reach.

“When are we leaving?,” he asked.

“Tomorrow at sunrise.”

“Any plans?”

“We take her down. What else is there to plan?”

“Her magic burning everything in its way?”

“Are you frightened? She won’t be able to take us both.”

“Let’s just hope it’s the right person who gets to her then.”

He grinned at me, a hidden threat that I suspected he’d never make good of. His tracking magic was too useful for the Queen to fall into her bad grace.

“Anything else?”, he asked.

“No.”

“Then until tomorrow.”

He left without bowing. I sat down on the bed. I would carry out the Queen’s order once again. It was I who reined in trespassers or took them out if they dared to cross the line. I knew I had done my job well over the years. My name was used to instil fear in children, and farmers avoided speaking of it after dark for fear of summoning dark forces. The Queen’s Whip, that’s what they called me behind my back.

I took my bag, packed the clothes I would need, and sat down to wait. Tomorrow, the hunt would begin.