The Secrets of the Castle

Chapter 4

I sat on the school, downing my third glass of ale. The bartender looked over me, debating whether they should cut me off. I placed the cup down on the counter, wiping my mouth. There weren't many people, considering it was still early. An older man took a seat next to me, ordering himself a whiskey.

"You're a long way from home," he said.

"How would you know?"

"You don't do a very good job on hiding those ears of yours," I pulled my hood further over my head as he laughed, "Unless you don't care."

"Just passing through. Don't want any trouble," I said, smiling at the bartender as they brought another drink.

"You look too young to have been in the war," the man remarked, almost too softly for me to hear.

"I didn't."

"Then -"

I swiveled around, hands clenched into fists, "Look, I would rather not talk about it."

The man chuckled, a smirk placing on his face, "I think I have something that you might like."

He got up from his seat, placing down a few silvers on the table. The stranger beckoned me to follow him, and by some strange will, I did. He led me about a block away before turning down an alleyway. Least it wasn't the dead of night. I didn't ask any questions, you learn not to when hanging around these kinds of people. He stopped at a doorway, pausing for a second before knocking a pattern. 2 knocks, a pause, then a third. A different on sounded from the other side moments before the door opened. A younger woman stood there, smiling at us. The first thing I noticed was that her eyes were a ghostly white color. A crow sat on her shoulder, black eyes staring at me. The crow cawed twice, craning its neck.

"Soril, you're back again." She hugged him tightly, then turned towards me, "I see you brought a guest."

"This is..." The man - Soril - looked over at me.

"Eroi. My name's Eroi."

The crow cawed three more times, beady eyes staring into my soul. The woman chuckled, stroking its head.

"Elven one, huh. I would've thought you would stay away from this city."

"Let's go." Soril growled, grabbing her arm and walking down the hallway, "And close the door behind ya."

I nodded, closing the door, and followed them. We walked in silence until we reached a set of stairs. The woman walked down first, Soril waiting for me. He nodded at me, motioning for me to go first. I did, which was probably stupid. The stairway led to an open bar-like area. A few people sat on the schools, drinking and talking to one another. The woman was sitting besides a burly bearded man. The two were laughing loudly, at a joke or something like that. Soril cleared his throat, my soul jumping out of my body as he did. The chatter died down, everyone turning towards us.

"Everyone, this is Eroi," He announced, motioning over towards me.

The group of them muttered a chorus of welcomes before going back to whatever they were doing. The woman from earlier got up from her seat, the burly man following behind her.

"This is Faji, she's our medic, and that's Gatijo, he's one of our initiators." Soril explained.

I tilted my head, "Initiator?"

He turned towards the two of them, a silent exchange happening. Soril beckoned me over to follow him as he walked over towards another room. The four of us entered the room. A table stood in the middle with several chairs around it.

"Go take a seat." He said and sat down at one of the chairs.

The other two took seats next to him. I walked around to the other side and sat down in one of the chairs. A few minutes of silence passed before Gatijo cleared his throat.

"We would like you to join our little....group," he started to explain, "You see, all of us have some kind of vengeance against the Royals. They screwed over a lot of people."

"What would you need me to do?"
"We have this....well, this sort of task we need done. And quickly."

"You need to kill Prince Ajay." Faji broke in.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

I stood still as one of the other guards tightened the breastplate. The weight of the armor was a contrast to what I was used to. Thankfully, they didn't require me to wear the full thing. For now. Two guards stood watch, probably making sure I wouldn't do anything stupid. Not that I would, I mean I'm not an idiot. Newly assigned to guard the princess, the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Almost. The assignment would've been better if I were with the heir, but he already had a guard. Either way, this got me into the castle.

The guards led me through the various hallways, you could get lost in here until we stopped at two massive doors. Guards were posted outside, nodding as we approached, the doors opened, the Royals standing there. The King and Queen were sitting on their thrones. Two children stood to their side. One who I easily recognized as Ajay, the heir to the throne. The other, I didn't know. Strange, everyone knows the Royals. Standing in front of the throne, back to me, stood the princess. She turned her head, eyes widening as she saw me.

"This is your personal guard, Eroi." The King said.

I kept walking, though the two guards hung back, stopping a few feet in front of Aryn. My eyes wandered as I looked over her. Thin, pretty, what you would think of a princess. Light freckles dusted her face. I noticed her fists clenched at her sides. Not too pleased to see me. Then again, the feeling was mutual.

"Greetings, Princess," I said, placing a sweet tone on my words, finally looking up to meet her gaze.

Light brown eyes stared back. The shock was gone, now a soft smile set on her face. Though she still seemed displeased with me.

"Hello, Eroi," she said, my name rolling off her tongue with ease.

How did I get into this mess?

Authors Note!

Hey, so I totally didn't forget what day it was. Totally. So sorry for the late post and if this chapter is a little sloppy. My brain hasn't been giving me any material. Anyways, I hope y'all are enjoying the story so far. It's been a slow beginning and with 6 different characters some of the scenes overlap. Also don't forget to vote, comment, share, follow, etc. if you like the story. 

Don't forget to stay hydrated, eat, and just take care of yourself. Stay healthy and safe. Love y'all and be happy!