Knightqueen (Oronis Knights #3)

“As my queen commands.”

They left the main path and started up the hillside. It was steeper than she’d realized and in places, she had to grip the rocks to haul herself up. Smaller rocks skittered under her feet.

Sten was several steps ahead of her and reached the rise first. He stopped.

Breathing heavily, she moved up beside him and gasped. “What the—?”

The top of this part of the mountain was flat. It was covered in small rocks and dirt, but ahead, was a patch of metal. That’s what she’d seen.

“This isn’t natural,” she said.

Sten shook his head. “No. It’s too flat, and look at that curve.” He pointed.

The edge of the plateau was a perfect semi-circle, projecting out over the side of the mountain.

“Maybe it’s a temple, or something?” She made her way toward the metal. Crouching, she used her hand to clear some of the smaller rocks and debris away.

Definitely silver metal. She saw some sort of alien writing etched into the metal. “Sten, what do you think this is?”

“I think this entire area is metal.” He looked down and sucked in a breath. “And that’s an airlock door.”

Carys gasped. “By the knights, this is a ship?”

Crouching beside her, he moved his hand over the metal. He found a flap and lifted it. Under it were three round black buttons. Sten touched them, and a second later, there was a hiss and a thunk. He jerked his hand back, just as a circular piece of metal retracted and slid open.

Leaving a hole and a ladder leading downward.

“Sten, a ship!” Excitement winged through her. “It might be operational. It’ll definitely have some sort of comms system.”

His brow furrowed. “It looks like it’s been here a long time, Carys. It probably crash-landed. We have no idea what condition—”

She scrambled onto the ladder. “Only one way to find out.” She gripped the rungs.

“Carys,” he growled. “Let me go first.”

“Too late.” She headed down the ladder.

She heard him grumbling as he followed her. Good.

Then guilt hit her. He was worried about her safety. It wasn’t his fault he’d hurt her feelings.

She had to put that moment in the pool behind her.

Climbing off the ladder, she looked around.

The ship was in a bad state. Panels had fallen from the ceiling and cables dangled everywhere. Chairs had been ripped from the floor and flung around. Dust covered everything.

Sten’s boots clunked on the floor, and he looked around too. “I don’t recognize the design.”

Carys didn’t either. Ducking some cables, she headed toward the front of the ship.

“Carys, be careful.”

She half expected to find some bodies or skeletons of whoever the ship had belonged to, but thankfully, she didn’t see any. She squeezed through a damaged doorway and into the cockpit.

There were four curved seats in front of a long control panel. Old scorch marks told her there had been a fire. She wondered what had happened to the people who’d crashed here. The viewscreen was covered in grime, but through one clear patch, she saw the ravine below.

The ship was perched right on the edge of the cliff, but she figured since it had been here for decades, it was safe enough.