Rise of Knight and Sword by Miriam Wade

Author:Miriam Wade
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult fantasy, steampunk fantasy, young adult steampunk, retellings
Publisher: GenZ Publishing

“Get down!” Mordred commanded. Guinevere ducked below a wooden desk and pressed her back to the cabinet. Arthur crouched down beside her, and Mordred hid behind the door. The two men unholstered their weapons and readied them for an encounter.

Outside the room a large metal door slammed shut. It’s just the wind, Guinevere told herself. It’s just the wind.

“Guinevere?” A muffled voice said.

She slowly raised her head above the desk and peeked out the window. Hueil was walking past, his shadow silhouetted by the lab’s incandescent lights. Two guards followed him, both armed but not brandishing their weapons.

Guinevere dropped to the floor and closed her eyes, taking slow deep breaths. There is a thick wall between us. I can do this. She felt a hand touch hers and opened her eyes to see Arthur. He nodded reassuringly and removed his hand. I’m not alone this time, she thought, slipping the capelet off her shoulders to reveal the long black dress from the heist. She took one more deep breath before standing up.

“Hueil,” she said sweetly, with mock infatuation. “You found me.” He was dressed similarly to their first encounter, his expensive suit overshadowed by the radiance of his jeweled fingers. The sight of him made Guinevere want to hurl, and she tried desperately to hide any sign of fear.

“What are you doing here?” Hueil said, his voice muffled by the wall.

“Your dilophosauruses were left behind, and I just couldn’t stand the thought of them being alone.” She walked over to the cage at the corner of the room and gazed at the muzzled dinosaurs. One creature was hiding in the shadows, the other lay motionless on the floor. She reached between the bars of the door trying to pet the upright dilophosaurus’s snout, but it ran from her outstretched arm and cowered in the back of the stall.

“Come here,” Guinevere whispered to the creature, fluttering her fingers in the air. It didn’t listen. Instead, the dinosaur flared its neck flaps and tilted its head at odd angles. Suddenly, the dilophosaurus charged her hand which she removed with only moments to spare. Its head collided with the metal bars.

Hueil let out a long sinister sounding laugh. She whipped around and looked at him crossly. Two additional guards had appeared bringing their total to four. They remained motionless and arrayed themselves throughout the hallway. Guinevere signaled their number to Arthur and Mordred.

“Careful,” Hueil said. “They might not be able to spray their venom, but they are still 400-kilo predators.”

Indignantly, Guinevere crossed her arms in front of her.

“Isn’t there anything you can do for them? They’ve been neglected,” she said.

“Would you like to feed them?”

“Yes.” She smiled.

“Alright, walk over to that shelf and grab the top left container.” Hueil said. “Inside you should find several snacks.”

Guinevere did as she was instructed and grabbed the canister. It felt empty as she withdrew it from the shelf.

A large metallic click was followed by the squeak of an un-oiled hinge. She froze. Slowly she turned around to find the cage door open.

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