We’re getting closer.

For now, let’s check in with former Chosen One, fallen princess, and all-around grump Katrina Lamont as she has a tense encounter with the local authority….

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The private chamber of Major Sonya Brayker was akin to an office or study. Located on the Bear’s third floor, a large desk sat before the window overlooking Lake Just. Maps and scrolls lined the walls, along with a collection of swords and axes. Two pairs of braziers in the corners kept the room lit and warm. A backdoor led to a darkened chamber, likely the Major’s private quarters where she slept and washed.

Katrina was seated in front of the desk along with Dinah-Celeste. Snow tapped against the window, but there was nothing to see of the lake beyond except total darkness. Somewhere unseen, a clock ticked away. The Dinah seemed at ease, sitting with her hands folded on her lap like a school-girl awaiting her instructor. In Katrina’s experience, getting called to the teacher’s desk rarely meant good things.

After a brief wait, the Major finally appeared. She was a large and hard looking woman that appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties. Stillwell must have given her Anathema, because she had the black sabre in her hand when she entered. Her scarred face was stern as she studied the blade, and the cold look she gave Katrina revealed this wasn’t going to be a friendly chat.

“I recognize this metal,” she said. “It comes from the Dark Lands.”

The Dinah let out a low gasp.

“I’ve been told.”

“How did you get it?”

“I took it from the man I killed. His name escapes me.” She paused, hearing another gasp from the Dinah. “He was trying to kill me, for what it’s worth.”

Brayker tightened her lips, though Katrina couldn’t tell if it was due to her explanation or the sound of her harsh, scratchy voice. The Major put the sword back in its sheath and took the seat behind her desk, chewing on what appeared to be tobacco.

“I’m told you claim to be Katrina Lamont.”

“That’s my name.”

“And by that, you mean…?”

“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “The.”

Brayker stared at her in silence, chewing away at her tobacco and tapping a finger on Anathema’s handle. Her gaze then shifted toward Celeste. “What’s your stake in this, Dinah?”

“None,” Celeste replied. “Like you, I am curious regarding the Princess’s appearance. If she is indeed who she claims, I would like to know for certain.”

Her tone was friendly and amiable, but something about their exchange troubled Katrina. She understood, given her reputation and history, why her presence might spark curiosity and questions. But, ultimately, what difference did it make to either of them whether she was the real Princess or not?

“Can you prove you are who you claim?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “How?”

The Major glanced at the Dinah, as if she might have an answer, but they both just stared at her in awkward silence made worse by the clock’s ticking. At that moment, Katrina foresaw a tedious future of getting asked to prove her identity and then being blamed when no one believed her. The craving for a drink returned. Even a cigarette would suffice.

“Okay,” Brayker said. “We’ll come back to that. I caught word over the fall this gang of punks calling themselves the Crimson Raven were marauding around Eaton until they were run off by a woman claiming to be the Ghost Princess. That was you then?”

She nodded.

“So, you’re a mercenary?”

She almost denied it but hesitated. “Um, kind of?”

“You don’t know?”

“I mean … I wasn’t hired. I didn’t offer myself as a mercenary. I just … I scared off the jackasses and then asked to be paid.” She paused. “Okay, I guess I am sort of a mercenary.”

Brayker nodded, though she didn’t look impressed. She then spat some tobacco into a can behind her desk, complete with an audible ding, which made Celeste frown. “Right. Say you are Princess Katrina … why are you here?”

“To get out of the storm.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t heard anything about this place?” Brayker asked. “No one’s mentioned who else might be here?”

Celeste appeared confused, but Katrina understood. This was about Leeroy. It was a soldier’s logic: an infamous pirate held in custody, followed by a dubious stranger out of the blizzard. She couldn’t say she was surprised.

“I’m sorry, Major,” Celeste said. “What exactly is the meaning of this?”

“You are aware Krutch Leeroy is here, yes?” Brayker said. “The pirate, Krutch Leeroy?”

“It was mentioned to me,” Katrina replied. “Should I be concerned?”

“Truth? I think you’re here because of him.”

In spite of the accusation, a bemused smirk formed on Katrina’s lip. Now that it was out in the open, she almost felt relieved. She kept her cool, as the Major had no more proof of her intentions than she had proof she really was the Vigorian Princess.

“I see,” she said. “What are you basing that on, Major?”

“Don’t act stupid, lady,” Brayker said, dropping Anathema on her desk. “You’re going about claiming to be the lost Princess of Vigor, offering your sword to anyone who’ll pay.”

“So?”

“So what I got here is a mercenary conveniently showing up at the same time I have one of the most dangerous criminals in the country on my base. Do you really think that’s not going to raise some alarm?”

“Major, I just wanted to get out of the blizzard.”

“Major Brayker,” Celeste said. “If I may … if this is Princess Katrina Lamont, then surely she wouldn’t interfere with the affairs of the Sentry Elite. Certainly not over a lout such as Krutch Leeroy.”

“Exactly,” Brayker said. “If she’s Lamont. I don’t buy it, and frankly, it pisses me off that she’s going around telling people she is.” She leaned forward, her stern face settling into a nasty scowl as she looked Katrina in the eye. “Ten years. Vigor fell ten years ago, and no one’s seen or heard from Katrina Lamont ever since. Then one day, you just decide to show up?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize there was a time limit to reclaiming my name.”

“You know what I think, lady? I think you’re a liar. I think you’re a fraud, and I think this whole thing is a work. I think you’re one of Leeroy’s lackeys, come to bust him free.”

Celeste looked mortified, but Katrina wasn’t impressed.

“What really kills me, though,” she continued. “I might believe Katrina Lamont went into hiding after what happened to her home and people. I wouldn’t blame her either. But you know what I don’t buy? That Princess Katrina would spend ten years in exile and then come back just to be a two-bit mercenary.”

Katrina’s mood darkened. “Is that so?”

“You got brass, lady. Gallivanting around, using that woman’s name, just to kill thugs and bandits for drinking money.”

Her face contorted into a mirthless smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “I’m actually trying to cut back on my drinking.”

“You think this is funny?!”

“Ladies, please!” Dinah-Celeste said, springing to her feet. “There’s no need for this to escalate.”

Brayker, her face red, turned away and went to the window to collect herself. Katrina, however, seethed. She could handle accusations that she was connected to Leeroy. Though frustrating, she accepted disbelief over her identity. But, somehow, the woman getting offended about it stirred something ugly inside.

The Major remained at the window, taking deep breaths, while the clock ticked away. “Princess Katrina was younger than me,” she said, sounding calmer. “I was already in the Academy when she fought her war on Tyrell. She still inspired me. I have no ties to Vigor, but I remember hearing the stories. I wanted to be like her. She’s the reason I stuck with the Sentry Elite even when times got hard. She was a great woman. A hero. And what happened to her was a tragedy.”

She returned to the desk, her anger dimmed to tired resignation. It wasn’t contempt Katrina heard in her voice now. It was disappointment.

“You’re a disgrace. I think you’re a bloodsucking, shameless, faithless, dishonorable leech. It’s disgusting you have the nerve to soil that woman’s good name, and I’m about tempted to throw your sorry ass in a cell right alongside Leeroy.”

The wind howled in the brief silence that followed, sounding like a long-suffering animal. Another time, she might have let the Major’s words slide off her. Another time, she might have been wounded by Brayker’s charges and worried she was disgracing herself and her name. But on this night, Katrina only felt black rage bubble in her gut.

“That so, Major?” she said, standing up. “You don’t like that I’m not all you dreamed I am? You don’t like that I’m not the great hero you believed me to be? Tell you what, why don’t you spend your whole life fighting to free your kingdom from a madman. Then, when you finally kill the bastard, you get to watch while a plague consumes your home and kills everyone in it. You watch everything you fought and hoped for choke to death on their own blood, then tell me how fucking heroic you feel after!”

Brayker’s eyes blazed. She looked ready to tear her head off. Katrina would’ve been happy to do the same to her. The only thing between them was a desk. And the Dinah.

---

The finish line is in sight! The Gray Kings will be released this coming June 9th!

You can already pre-order the e-book at these various stores.
Paperback won’t available until actual release date.

And, as ever, if you haven’t already, be sure to purchase the previous two volumes of the Graylands saga:

Available through these links here and also available on itch.io

Graylands and The Gray Kings ©2026 by M. Walsh