Chapter Two: The Book

Introducing Kuma, the human and cat boy automaton, a mysterious book, and the Princeling Alexendar the II.

In the slender iridescent tower that belonged to the east wing of the Cloud Castle, Zari was reading the last passage of the golden inked book. She was seated by the windows where moonlight filtered through the oscillating silver curtains of the Grand Library. 

Her silver automaton, resembling a miniature of a little mountain cat boy, gingerly peered over the book Zari was studying. "Should I prepare notes, ma'am?" the automaton's silver ears twitched nervously in the cool night air that seeped into the second floor of the library. 

There was something odd and dangerously old about the book. And from the reaction of his master, the little automaton knew that with it came great importance and great secrets. Shadows were rarely seen spending their free time reading novels. Especially in the dead of the night.

"No Kuma, I don't think that would be allowed." Zari glanced up to meet the pale silver gaze of the cat boy. "This book is restricted." 

Although it seemed like a simple history book, it held the crest of the White Dragon that belonged to Achleon, the great second King. This meant that it was written quite a long time ago and oddly enough there were several discrepancies that did not match the other historical books written during the same time. Zari had also looked at the books during Alexander, the present Cloud King's reign. 

A thread of questions and secrets slowly began to materialize through the golden inked words of this mysterious book. 

Zari gently closed the book and rubbed her thumbs between the bridge of her nose. "Kuma, prepare the digi disc of the First Kingdom War." As the automaton leaped onto the bookshelves to locate the disc, Zari unfolded a pair of brass goggles with thin crystal lenses over her head and pressed the knob on the top right corner. 

Kuma obediently dropped the small round digi disc from his mouth into Zari's hand and sat back on his heels to watch. Zari pushed the digi disc into a slot on the right of her goggles and a blossom of light appeared on the crystal lens that was then projected onto the walls of the library. 

Three different files, each bearing a white crest belonging to the different rulers of Cloud Kingdom, materialized. There was Argos, the first King, bearing the crest of the White Lion. There was Achleon, the second King, bearing the crest of the White Dragon. And lastly, Alexander the I, the third and final King, bearing the crest of the White Stag. 

Zari stretched out her hand to press on King Achleon's file that was projected into the air in front of her. Two documents appeared as well as numerous lines of broken code. Curious, Zari titled her to the side and used both hands to simultaneously open the two documents.

The first document contained the deceased King's obituary as well as the date of his birth and the date of his reign. The second presented his family tree. 

"Kuma, what is the date of this digi disc?" Zari asked, suddenly agitated. The broken code was not something she wanted to mess with while snooping around the royal library in case it might trigger some sort of trap. 

"It is the most recent digi disc created..." Kuma replied nervously swishing his silver tail back and forth. 

Zari switched the brass goggles off and the light returned to the digi disk before settling the library room in murky darkness. The only path of light was from the windows where the moon waned a little bit. "A disk filled with broken code that was made quite recently?" Zari handed Kuma the disc to return. "Hmm, that's quite odd." 

There was a sudden hiss as steam pushed through the brass and gold tubes of the library door. Gears began to churn with echoing ticks. The sound reverberated through each corridor and bookshelves leaving the books slightly askew. With a swish the golden doors opened and sharp heeled boots clicked against the marble floors. 

Kuma came sprinting towards Zari and shot up her outstretched arm as she leaped towards the window. Half of her torso and legs were hidden behind the blanket of murky black shadow that rested in the corners of the room. Zari was confident of her abilities of a Shadow and instead of fleeing hid herself pulling the blanket over and around her face. 

She hadn't the time to hide the brass goggles and left them on the oak table by the window.

A tall lean man with golden curls, pale blue eyes, and a handsome face strode into the library room searching left and right before his gaze settled on the goggles. He picked it up and noted there was still a tiny bit of warmth from its most recent use. "It's the Prince!" Kuma hissed. 

Prince Alexander the II drew a beautiful sword from its scabbard and sniffed the room. He whispered a few words and the sword immediately began to emit a soft glow. "I know you're here. I can sense you," the Prince said quietly. Kuma twitched nervously and clutched the tiny chain mail of Zari's blouse. "We're going to be discovered." Kuma wailed. 

Zari wrapped a hand around Kuma to sooth him and pushed herself further into the darkness while watching the Prince with her keen red eyes. 

The Prince slowly stepped into a beam of moonlight as his eyes searched the walls. 

She sighed and slowly materialized from the shadows. "Well I know I shouldn't play games with you, your Highness. But my kind are entirely fond of games." Her arms were still resting in the shadows behind her but she permitted her face and as much of her torso to be seen. Kuma stood on her shoulders. 

The sword snapped to a point at Zari's neck. It's soft light fighting to push back the inky blackness of the shadows in which Zari hid. "What are you doing here, Shadow?" The Prince growled grinding his teeth together at the fact that the sound of her voice had made him jump. 

Zari stepped out of the comforts of the black blanket and away from the sword to bow to the Prince. "Not the company you were expecting in the middle of this beautiful night, my Prince?" she teased coolly, while standing up. Although she was in the presence of royal blood, Zari couldn't help but sense that the Prince was no threat this late at night.

"Watch your tongue, Shadow." Alexander hissed as he pointed the sword at her again. Slowly he pushed the tip of his sword into the pale soft flesh of her neck. "Now answer me. What are you doing here?" The prince enunciated each word by sliding the sword tip down Zari's neck to rest at the gap between her collarbones. 

Kuma snarled as he noticed the blade sliding against chain mail. "You wouldn't dare use that sword to pierce my flesh," Zari said sliding her finger against the cold blade and pushing it away lightly. "Not when I could drown you in a thousand shadows." 

Her red eyes began to glow in the darkness. 

The Prince let out a low growl and lowered his sword but his grip at the hilt was still strong so that the whites of his knuckles could be seen through his flesh. "You're going to threaten the Crown Prince? You're willing to go that far to hide your midnight adventures, Shadow?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Wait till the King hears about this!" 

"Excuse me, your highness, your assumptions are premature. Might it have occur to you that I have been doing business for the King?" Zari reached a hand up to the collar of the black cloak she was wearing and turned the sides down. "Under the emblem of the Cloud King and the code of honor a Shadow must uphold, I was simply doing my duty of protecting the King." She turned her neck to the moonlight so the Prince could see the black tattoo of the head of a sinister looking White Stag mar her almost translucent white skin. 

As the Prince's eyes roamed over her neck to the tattoo under hear ear he silently cursed. The Shadow was right but his suspicion in his eyes never faded. Zari pulled the collar back up to protect her neck and faced Alexander. She bowed politely. "Forgive me for being rude but it is late." Zari faced the window and placed a foot on the windowsill. "Sleep well, my Prince." 

By chance, thick gray clouds rolled over the waning moon and for a moment darkness covered the palace's grounds. Zari gave the Prince one last look and then melted away in the shadows. 

Alexander cursed again and slammed his fist down on the table. He was sure the Shadow was hiding something and he had let her get away so quickly. If there was anything that wounded the Prince's ego more it was the fact that he had been bested by a female Shadow. 

Breathing in the cool night air, the Prince ran a hand through his hair and his gazed locked onto the goggles the Shadow had left. It sat on the table in front of him like a gift. The Prince picked it up and tucked it into his coat.

Maybe the Shadow hadn't bested him after all, the Prince thought with a smirk. He could easily access the history on the glasses and found out what Zari was keeping a secret. 

Author's Note

Alright, please let me know if there are any confusing points in this chapter. Ignore the grammar problems please as I'm sure there are plenty mistakes. What do you think of the character's so far? :)

Reviews

[Decanter Red]

Aww, Kuma is is so cute! X3

As an overall impression, you have improved much from your previous chapter, very well done for it! Vivid descriptions formed a Fantasy Victorian empire in my mind, the clinking of clockwork and some really dark juicy secrets yet to be revealed! Not to mention the ending was a slight cliffhanger which makes the reader anticipate for the future chapter. It's like the drama episodes which stops at the important scene, just so you will continue to follow the series. :)

What's not to love?

[Katiya K]

Hehe I've got a surprise for Kuma x) unfortunately I couldn't make him a hamster :/

Thank you for your kind words!!! Hehe Juicy ;) That's what I had in mind...thinking that it would be easiest to understand if I could try to portray it like a movie or show xD

[Decanter Red]

Oh how I write, I do it like imagining a movie...it was the easiest and most effective for me so far.

Aww, an automaton hamster! What should I do with it hehehe! X3 Oh yeah, speaking of this, I was reminded of the Golden Compass, if you had watched the movie.

[Katiya K]

I love the Golden Compass! I love the books as well they are so amazing and so well written. (secretly an inspiration :3 )

Can you just imagine a cute little mechanical hamster? Gah ^-^

[Decanter Red]

So far, I watched the movie only, because I don't really read much fiction other than online hehe. I know right! Sometimes we get inspired that we cook up something amazing after that ;)

Moe moe~! I think I will bite my thumb off if I see it haha!

[Katiya K]

I loved the giant polar bear too! After reading the Golden Compass and watching the movie - I wanted to be Lyra so badly >:p hahaha.

Ahhhhh *^_^* hehe. Wish we could have a Kuma or hamster automaton as a pet :')

[Decanter Red]

Oh, yeah. Aslan or something was it? But unfortunately, I paid more attention to daniel craig (was it him in there? I forgot lol) :p. we could get them in Japan maybe. They have all kinds of weird things there. Speaking of automatons, I heard that China operated a restaurant that employed ONLY robots. Robot chefs, waiters, and I have to say they look super cute!

[Katiya K]

Hehe Aslan was from Narnia silly :P Oh yes Daniel Craig was indeed in the Golden Compass!
That's true!!!!! Japan after all are the master minds behind Hamtaro :3
REALLY!! That is so cool, that is a place that we must definitely check out one day!

[Decanter Red]

Oh, damn. They are so similar that I mixed em up! But ROFL! XD hahaha, this is so funny hahaha! They like using such foreign names that sounds like malay or indonesian...its getting weird. You notice that hamtaro, the dubbed version, sounds like all other anime that is dubbed like pokemon ahha! Just google china robot restaurant and you might see it :3

[Gosia]

Wow, I didn't notice you posted new chapters until now. Well, duty calls and with being a FF member comes a great responsibility... And I was wondering how's the assasin girl is doing.

Zari is a fine protagonist and surely has guts. I like how you didn't begin introducing her by showing or telling how hard her life was (I'm not fond of this emo-talk), but made her into a confident, skilled in her craft woman. I also like that cocky attitude of hers, she's witty - definitely gained my sympathy by this. So far I feel that the prince is rather neutral, I can't really tell anything constructive about him except that he exists.

Now, the fictional world. It's really interesting how you combined fantasy with science-fiction elements like discs or (I highly suspect) autobots. I'm still quite lost about what exacly they are though.

Anyway, ending the chapter with a subtle cliff-hanger was a nice touch, making me wonder what Zari was looking for.

[Riding the Rainbow]

AWESOME CHAPTER!!! Thank God, this chapter showed me that we're writing two different stories! **happy**

[Katiya K]

Haha, yes its quite different and thank you for reading :)

[Riding the Rainbow]

you're welcome!

[Samuel Jack]

i really like the mix of technology and magic in your world, you've built up a brilliantly vivid place to experience. i found this chapter to be written more proffsionally than the first, but proably because your not trying to describe an entire castle and its workings. I really like your writing stlye, its very fresh modern fantasy, the kind of thing i like to read. you should keep working on this, as i can easily imagine reading this as a whole book.
The story has really hit the ground running, as Zari is already looking into something ammis with the current government (i think). You could do with the next chapter being more in Zari's head, as id really like to know more about Her and her training as a shadow.
Kuma is instantly awesome! and the Prince is a great baddie.
When i imagine what your writing, it always comes out in vivid colours!
keep up the good words.

[Katiya K]

Samuel, I really enjoy reading your reviews. They are immensely helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and share my enthusiasm for assassins! I can't wait to show you guys what I have in store for her and the Shadows. But I understand what you mean when you compared the two chapters apart. And now I'm starting to think maybe work on it more (first chapter) or turn it into a prologue.
ALSO thank you for answering my questions about the characters! I'm glad I started them out on the right foot. Your comments have given my such motivation to keep writing! Thank you!

[Christoph Poe]

I'm just going to keep it short and sweet now that we're acquainted.

"She was seated by the windows where moonlight filtered through the oscillating silver curtains of the Grand Library."

This isn't a big deal at all, but you can eliminate 'was seated' by saying 'sat'.

"She sat by the windows where moonlight..."

Have you ever heard if the 'to be' verbs list? It's nearly impossible to write an entire novel without using them. One of my English teachers told me that if you've got to use then, it's best to use them at the beginning and ending of paragraphs. Don't use them in the center; it throw off concentration.

Not a big deal though! Just maybe something you could think about as you're writing.

"A thread of questions and secrets slowly began to materialize through the golden inked words of this mysterious book bearing Achleon's crest."

Here, we don't need to know that the book bares Achleon's crest, because you mentioned it just a few sentences before. I do this all the damn time, and don't realize it. GRRRRR so it's okay. :)

"The sound reverberated through each corridor and bookshelves."

I think the description can be enhanced here. Considering I'm understanding it correctly, you could say: "The reverberations sounded off through the corridors, shaking the books across the shelves." I guess that's be a much more dramatic approach, but it's only a suggestion.

"With a swish the golden doors opened and sharp heeled boots left clicks against the marble floors."

You could just say "clicked" instead of "left clicks".

Okay, so I'm throwing all the technical stuff aside to let you know that I LOVED IT! It's a very captivating world, and I'm still interested to keep moving forward. I get an 'anime' vibe off of it. I don't know if you watch anime or not, but if you do, then it's showing and there's NOTHING wrong with that.

Great work!
--Christoph

[Katiya K]

Oh Christoph! Who knew you could be so picky?? XD

Just kidding, thank you I LOVE it when reviews are precise. One thing that I worry about a lot is repetition and I have some trouble with it when writing. So thank you for the specific sentences that seem weird and need work.

Hehe, yes I watch anime and read manga. I love it!! The manga style is a huge inspiration for this book. I'm glad you noticed it! :)

Now...will you get to writing a new chapter so I can critique your writing and be super picky? :p

Thank you again for the amazing review!

[Christoph Poe]

You're very welcome!

It has a huge anime feel to it, and to accomplish that through writing is an amazing 'feat, whether intentional or not. It will attract readers like crazy, I'm sure.

And I've not finished the first chapter yet, but I'm uploading paragraph by paragraph. I've probably got about 800 words left, roughly, before its finished. And thank you for keeping up!

The romance side of the book comes into affect in the next chapter, so you may (or may not) like it a little more. Fantasy is my backbone, mystery and romance are the ribs.

[Katiya K]

Hehe I hope so! My goal is to turn this into a book or ebook, whichever.

I'll be glad to take a look at it!

Romance, Fantasy, Mystery...they make deliciously interesting stories.

[Joshua Hunter]

Wow, I have been waiting for this for a few days now and it doesn't disappoint! I love it! The whole world you are creating is very intriguing and unique! I cannot wait for the next chapter now! Great job!

[Katiya K]

Yay! I'm glad you think so :) Thank you again for taking the time to read it!

[Joshua Hunter]

Your very welcome I Read it as soon as I got the read request. (not always on my computer very often :)

[Katiya K]

Aww I feel quite special! x)

[Joshua Hunter]

You should, because you are! :) and so is your writing!

[Katiya K]

Thank you :)