I slowly wake up and find myself still in the room, my room, in the Castle. It is dark and very quiet as I sit up. I notice there is a window on the wall to the right of the bed concealed by curtains. There is no sunlight shining behind them, trying to get through.

How long did I sleep?

It was late afternoon when I arrived and fell asleep here. I get up from bed and wander over to the window, pushing aside the curtains. I find the Castle and sky dark with lights lighting up some areas around the courtyard.

It's nighttime.

These rooms have the perfect view of the courtyard.

But only this side. I need to see the other side.

I look down at my clothes and remember I am still wearing my favorite red long-sleeved poncho dress, my favorite autumn and winter outfit with frilly sleeves and my red over the knee furry boots.

I wonder if I should head downstairs and see if Ophelia is up and see what she wants me to do. There's no way I can fall back asleep now.

I push myself away from the window and wander through the room, grabbing my lance on the way and then opening the door when I reach it. I peek outside and only a few Knights wander the halls. It is quiet except for the few footsteps sounds across stone here and there from the few Knights. Each one looks at me and gives me a polite nod as they pass me by and I return the gesture.

I find a staircase leading down next to the one leading up at the end of the hallway and I start to descend them, unsure of what I will be doing next. I am in the Castle already and I have already started a career of being a Knight. And I haven't even thought about what that means yet.

Thoughts of the attack in my village still force their way through my mind and I just have to ignore them, hoping they will eventually cease. I am lucky I didn't have a nightmare just now when I was sleeping. That rest was dreamless, only filled with thoughts of finding Cain and Abel.

I reach the bottom of the staircase and find myself looking down both directions of the hallway, unsure where I am, or which room is Ophelia's. As I start to explore the hallway, which rooms belong to whom become more apparent. The Captains have a fancier door and there are signs labelling each room.

I find the one that says Captain Ophelia and look at the closed door for a short moment, unsure if I really want to knock and see if she is there or not. After a moment, I release the breath that was caught in my throat slowly and raise my hand up to the door. I softly knock three times.

I hear soft sounds come from behind the door and it opens partially within seconds. Ophelia's face fades in from the partially darkened room within and she smiles when she sees it is me. She pushes open the door further and faces me. She has casual clothing on now, with no armor on in sight. Her hair is down from its ponytail.

"Good morning, Katarina. How may I help you?"

I look back at her for a moment, "Morning? What time is it? How long did I sleep?"

She chuckles a bit, "All evening. It is now 4am,"

My eyes widen slightly, "4am? An early bird, aren't you?" I chuckle as well. I feel at ease now that I am talking to her and I rest my left hand on my hip.

She chuckles with me, "Yes. This is my duty to be up earlier than the rest. Did you rest well? You look well rested now. That was a good 12-hour rest, Katarina,"

My eyes widen even more, "I slept for 12 hours? Geez,"

She smiles and nods at me, "So, how may I help you? Are you ready for your tour and other things? Lady Nova has told me to tell her when you wake and when I begin your tasks as Knight,"

"O—Oh, yes. I came to you because I will not be able to fall back to sleep and was unsure of what to do next,"

"Of course. Please wait a moment. I will be right out,"

I nod, and she gently closes the door. I stand by the door against the wall and wait patiently. Thoughts of learning to use the lance like I begged Papa not too long ago fill my mind. I never thought I would actually become a Knight. I just wanted to learn how to defend myself, so I can stay with Cain. To find him. But now it has come to me never knowing when I will find him, and, in the meantime, I must serve as a Knight.

My home was destroyed, and I basically had no choice. I wanted to leave the village but only because I was distraught that Cain was leaving me. I never wanted him to leave. I just wanted to follow.

And now look at where I am. I left the village without Papa's permission, not by choice, but still. I am now pledging my life to Lady Nova without knowing where Papa or Cain are. Not even sure if Papa is even alive. And I still have no leads where Cain even went.

The worst part is... Now I am unsure if Cain is still alive.

I force away the tear that threatens to fall and force back the negative emotions now swarming within me. I was so distraught from the attack that I never really was processing what this all means.

Papa was right. I am much too young to be dealing with this.

Cain. Why are you doing this to me? I miss you...

The sound of Ophelia opening her door forces me out of my thoughts and I stumble to face her, hoping she will not notice anything. Luckily, she doesn't seem to notice, and she motions for me to follow as she turns to walk down the hall.

Her hair is now pulled up. She is now wearing her usual armor and outfit beneath the armor. It appears to be a simple tank dress with a breast guard, back of hand guards, arm guards, elbow guards and knee guards strapped over her over the knee boots. Those boots also have armor strapped over them, protecting her shins and feet. She has her lance resting against her back. All of the Pegasus Knights I have seen wear armor similarly to hers.

"So, first I am going to briefly show you around the training grounds, because I have already shown them to you yesterday. Then we will go to the armory where we will be getting you ready and dressed up,"

She looks slightly towards me, "You may use that lance if Lady Nova permits, otherwise she will assign you your armor and weapon,"

I nod and continue to follow her through the archway into the lit courtyard under the night sky, "So, over there on that side of the courtyard, is where we feed and groom our Pegasus. On this side,"

She spins around, and I follow her gaze, "Is where we practice lance techniques with each other in many ways,"

She smiles at me and gives me a nod when I nod at her explanation, "Every morning when you wake, you must report out here and begin your practice sets while waiting for everyone,"

"A practice set?"

She nods, "Yes. A practice set consists of the proper ways to swing and use a lance. So, when you perform a practice set, you go through the motions with a wooden lance on how to properly use one over and over again until you reach thirty times, completing one set,"

I nod, understanding and she continues, "Every recruit must perform each set, a total of four sets, consisting of one for lance techniques, two for muscle building and the final one for defensive techniques,"

I nod once more, "Understood,"

She nods and spins around, "This way, to the armory,"

She starts leading me to the back of the courtyard, on the opposite wall of the sleeping quarters and the throne room and another archway looms above us. As we approach, I hear a couple of clanking sounds and when we enter, two other Knights are inside.

They both great Ophelia with a simple nod and wave before going back to their work. Ophelia stops near the side with armor covering the wall from top to bottom.

"Good morning, Ophelia, Katarina,"

I spin around, and Lady Nova stands before me. I am somewhat surprised to see her here and I greet her, "O—Oh, morning, Princess,"

She smiles sweetly at me and turns to Ophelia.

"Morning, Lady Nova,"

"I shall take over from here, Captain. Thank you for taking care of this young one for me. You are dismissed,"

Ophelia bows swiftly and smiles, "Of course. I will take my leave,"

She smiles at me as she turns to leave the armory. Then I turn to face the Princess and her expression has morphed into concern as she studies me. I study her, unsure what she is about to say to me. What is she thinking?

She pulls me to follow her through the doorway in the back of the armory and when we reach the top of the stairs, the top of the outside protective wall opens up before me. I can see everything within the walls of the Castle down below and the tops of the four towers that used to loom in the sky above me are now only a few feet taller than me.

The Princess turns to face me and the concern in her eyes really intensifies, "You were the last person I expected to see enter my throne room. It has been 8 years since I last saw you. What happened, Katarina?"

Whoa, Lady Nova. No one expected you to come right out and say that right away!

What do you think she is going to say to Katarina?

How will she respond when Katarina answers her?