The Prince and the Count's Daughter

Chapter 8 - The Prince Returns

Cyrus' POV

It was a cold night, with frost settling on the ground. I could see the stars clearly and the moon was almost full.

I walked slowly alongside Elijah, with our trunks floating behind us. It had been well over a decade since the last time we had come home. Home, that felt so strange to say now, it was more like a distant memory.

We rounded the corner and the dark, looming castle came into view. It looked... dead. Last time I had seen it it had practically glowed with magic, it was beautiful. I stopped walking and just stood gazing at it in despair. My heart broke at how sad and abandoned it had looked.

Elijah stopped and gazed back at me in confusion. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's... something's wrong, it used to glow with magic." I said sadly.

"It is 3am, I don't suppose many people are doing magic right now." He turned back to look at the castle. "Maybe you just remember it with rose tinted glasses."

I gazed at the castle again. "Maybe." I conceded.

We set off again wordlessly, soon reaching the back of the abandoned wing. In front of us was an old, rusted, iron door. I remember when it looked brand new. On the few occasions we have returned to the castle in the hundreds of years we have been gone we have always used this door. The wing was abandoned, no one would see us or ever know we had been here. Well... apart from her, but something about her made me trust she would keep her promise.

As we ascended the stone steps and made our ways to our old rooms I wondered about her. I had never told Elijah someone had seen me here last time we had returned. He would only have worried and forbidden us from returning for several hundreds of years and I miss the castle too much to do that.

I finally reached the familiar wooden door of my old bedroom, coated with a layer of dust. I pushed hard and with a creak it swung open. I was desperate to collapse into my bed, it had been a long trip but it was freezing and covered in dust.

I stood aside to let my trunk float in behind me and watched as it settled itself down at the foot of the bed. Starting at the door I made my way around the room with my hand, illuminated with magic, hovering over each surface and watched as the dust disappeared.

Once it was clean I stood before the fireplace. Despite hundreds of years of magic I'd never quite mastered fire. I could start a fire but it was never as hot as it should be and went out easily. I moved some wood into the inner hearth and took a metal lighter from my coat's inside pocket. Carefully I lit a single piece of wood and added it to the pile.

Next I stripped from my clothes and laid them across the chaise lounge. I collapsed into my bed and laid back, gazing at the huge ruby above me. Most of the times I return here I barely notice it but it really is beautiful. Eventually I fell into a deep sleep.

BANG, BANG, BANG.

I awoke from a deep sleep to see the sun dancing across the room through the red curtains. With a huff of annoyance I pushed myself up and pulled on my trousers and shirt.

I stormed across the room and flung the door open. "What do you want?" I raised my voice at Elijah.

He pushed past me into the room chuckling. "You are irritable in the morning," he replied, annoying me that he hadn't answered my question. "It's time you got up, we have work to do," he added.

I closed the door and rubbed my eyes in an attempt to wake myself up. Elijah had brought with him two glasses and a bottle of dandelion and burdock and had set it on the small table before sitting in his favourite armchair and removing the notepad from his inside pocket. I grumbled before flopping into the other chair and pouring myself a glass.

After a few tedious hours of discussing the issue with the Blood Warlocks in the west, Elijah went into the bathroom.

I was looking across the notes we had made when I was startled. The sound of voices drifted in from the hallway. Instinctively I jumped to my feet and began to make my way over to the door. I'm not sure what I was going to do but whatever it was I never got the chance.

The door swung open and there stood three ladies, all looking at me with a mixture of pure shock and embarrassment.

My breath caught in my throat. It's her... and she's beautiful.