Home > Gilded Rose

Gilded Rose
Author: Emma Hamm

Chapter 1

 

 

Claws scraped along the stone floor overhead. Amicia squeezed her hands against her mouth, holding in her screams. The sounds dug into her tongue like needles.

The earthen scent of herbs and dirt emanated from underneath her nails. She’d been gardening, her hands buried in the ground from where she planted lettuce in the garden. Then they had attacked Little Marsh.

One of the creatures, perhaps more, was above her head at this very moment. The talon-like claws on its feet clicked upon the stone floor above her head. The long slithering rasp of its tail followed the footsteps as it descended the spiral stairwell into the root cellar where she hid.

Her hands shook against her mouth as the metal handle turned. Her father was a tinker. He’d created a complicated locking system that kept out thieves. But would it also keep out something as monstrous as one of the Dread?

The handle turned again, then shook, and jerked out of the door with ease. A glimpse of gray, leathery skin filled the small hole where the handle had once been.

Amicia shrank back. She pressed her spine against a wine barrel, trying to tuck herself far into the corner. It couldn’t see her if she made herself small enough. She could hide just a little longer, as her father had made her promise.

Make yourself scarce, he had whispered before leaving to help defend their home. Stay where you are. I will find you.

But he hadn’t returned. She reached forward and yanked her worn brown skirts tight against her leg as the door opened.

She might be hidden in the darkness, but the creature was not. It stood next to one of the wall sconces with fire playing across its strong features. Red light highlighted the long length of its horns, the harsh angles of its face, and the broad muscles of its gray form. Little more than a loincloth covered its lower body, revealing more skin than she had ever seen before. It looked as though it were made of stone. Considering how difficult the soldiers claimed these creatures were to wound, perhaps they were.

The beast tilted its head back, inhaling through its flattened nose. She was certain her scent would be impossible to isolate, even for hunting hounds. Herbs hung from the ceiling of the root cellar, drying next to this season’s meat. Barrels of wine and mead hid her from its view, and her scent wouldn’t overpower all that.

The male, for it had to be male with shoulders like that, took a few more steps into the cellar. Grunting huffs of air chuffed from his nose, followed by the strange reverberation of a growl deep in his chest.

Had he found her? Did he know she was hiding here?

Be brave. That’s what her father would have said.

Amicia glanced around one last time, hoping there was some hidden door in the root cellar she hadn’t ever known about. Hoping there was something that might help her.

But all she could do was wait. No weapon rested nearby, and she was not a strong woman to begin with. She had not worked in the fields with the other peasants; she had helped her father in his endeavors, fixing locks, clocks, and any mechanical bits in the kingdom. Calluses had never settled into the fine lines of her hands, muscles had never formed in her arms. She couldn’t fight one of the Dread and hope to win.

A clawed foot stomped the dirt-packed floor beside her. Another chuffing sound echoed, and its exhale brushed against her head.

It must be able to hear her heart. The stubborn organ beat hard against her ribs, trying to convince her to bolt and run as far away from this place as she could. But running wouldn’t save her. It would only give the creature a better chance at catching her. Still, her heart wanted to flee this place. The fear turned her muscles to twitching fibers, ready to lunge at any moment.

She squeezed her legs closer and stared at the pool of her dark hair tangled on her knees. Don’t make a sound, she told herself. Don’t even breathe.

The Dread beside her gave one last huff and turned to leave. Amicia squeezed her eyes shut as the sounds retreated, her breath catching at the sight of the great, leathery wings attached to the creature’s back.

The membranes stretched and flared open for a moment, the claws at the high joints brushing the ceiling and knocking a few of the herbs to the ground. Then, he started his way back up the stairs, his long tail lashing as it disappeared.

Amicia counted her heartbeats, all the way to one hundred and then back down to zero. One of the Dread had already checked this cellar; she could stay here, wait it out.

But her father was out there. Somewhere. Maybe he’d already been grabbed by one of the creatures and she would never see him again.

Tears built in her eyes, and then terrified droplets fled her body as her heart had wished to. She might never see him again, and then what would she do? He was her only family. The only person who cared if she was alive or happy. The one who had bandaged her scraped knees and listened to her rambling stories of fairies in the garden.

No, she couldn’t stay here. But if she left, then she’d be out in the open, and they could grab her, drag her back to their castle, and turn her into one of their own kind. But she couldn’t remain frozen in the same corner she’d hidden in as a little girl, while all the people she loved faced the monsters of their nightmares.

Amicia rolled onto her hands and knees, then crawled out of her hidden spot between barrels. Every movement sounded as though she were banging pots and pans together. Here I am, Dread! Come and find me.

She ground her teeth. Be braver. Her father hadn’t raised a daughter frightened of the world. He’d raised her to think through issues, to solve problems and to fix them. Not to remain frozen in fear.

Standing, she dusted off her long skirts and righted the white apron that had twisted around her hips. She’d lost the kerchief which should have held her hair away from her face.

Amicia rubbed her hands down her arms and surveyed the root cellar for anything she might take with her. Something that would give her some kind of protection. The only thing that might work was a frying pan hanging on the side wall. Her mother’s trusted pan that had cooked many a meal before she’d fallen ill.

With the frying pan securely in her hand, she felt a little better. Almost as though her mother’s spirit was guiding her. The weight pulled her arm down, but that didn’t matter. She could swing a frying pan and perhaps knock one creature out. At least she’d get one before they changed her into a monster.

She made her way to the spiral stone staircase, peering around the corner before stepping up. So there would be no sound, she carefully placed each step. Her soft slippers whispered against the floor, the hushed sound barely audible to her own ears.

When she reached the door leading upstairs into her home, she took a deep breath and pressed her hand against the caramel-colored wood.

“Careful now,” she whispered to herself. “Quiet.”

Amicia leaned into her hand, easing the door open. The small sliver revealed the room beyond had been torn apart.

The table where she and her father ate breakfast every morning was split in half and laid on its side. Chair legs were scattered across the floor, haphazardly tossed aside. The fire in the hearth was long dead, leaving the entire room gray and cold.

How long had she been hiding? The sun had already gone down, but it felt as though she had only been hiding for moments. Or perhaps forever.

Swallowing hard, she nudged the door open the rest of the way. Her home was empty and ruined. The small bed in the corner where she slept was nothing more than feathers and torn scraps of fabric. The tapestry of her mother rested in shreds beside her bed. Broken plates and cups decorated the floor like pieces of her history all smashed at her feet.

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)