Ever After (ONC 2024)

Chapter 12 - Royalty Are Simply Better Than Commoners

They followed the pathway up until they came to a stone wall built between two walls of a little canyon. A large wooden door was built smack in the middle of it. In front of it stood a bored looking guard. He wore purple and gold striped pantaloons, a fancy button up shirt with frilled collars, and a gold helm with a spike on the top of it. He had a long black beard that was tied in a braid and he carried a long staff with a spiked metal ball on the end of it. He let out a yawn before speaking in a flat tone. "Halt. Who goes there?"

"Hi there, I'm Arthur and this is my travel companion Hamlet. We're here to see Prince Charming."

"Is he expecting you?" the guard asked.

"You know, I think he might be," Arthur said.

"Okay then, I suppose I'd better let you in." The guard started fumbling with a large brass keyring that appeared to have about forty keys on it. One by one he started trying the keys in the lock on the door. "No, not that one. Not that one either. Is it this one? No, it is not."

"Why would the prince be expecting us?" Hamlet whispered.

"He wouldn't, but we probably would have gotten turned away immediately if we'd told the guard that." Arthur whispered back. "Still, I've got to admit I was expecting a little more interrogation from him. Seems like the security's a little slack around this place."

The guard continued trying keys with no success, until he reached the second to last one on the keyring. That one fit perfectly in the lock and turned with a satisfying click. The door creaked open revealing a hedge lined cobblestone paved road heading straight to the castle.

"Say, that castle looks pretty spacious," Arthur said to the guard. "Do you happen to have any idea where we might find Prince Charming in there?"

"I hear he hangs out a lot in the lounge on the first floor," the guard said. "It's down the hallway to the right when you first enter. I'd check there first. If he's not there he might be sleeping in his chambers on the seventh floor."

"Got it," Arthur said. "Let's hope he's on the first floor. Something tells me they probably don't have elevators in this place and seven stories sounds like a lot of stairs to climb. Where's Rapunzel when you need her?"

"Oh, I know where she is," Hamlet said. "She's back at the tower where we first climbed the mountain."

"Have you ever heard of a rhetorical question?" Arthur asked.

Hamlet stared at him blankly.

"Well?" Arthur prodded.

"Oh," Hamlet said. "Of course I've heard of rhetorical questions. In fact, I thought you were asking one when you asked if I'd heard of them, so I assumed you weren't expecting an answer."

Arthur sighed. "Let's just go find Prince Charming."

The castle was surrounded by a moat filled with snapping alligators, but the drawbridge was currently lowered, so they were able to cross it easily enough. There was an enormous arched entryway with a raised portcullis leading into the castle itself.

They found themselves in a cavernous entry hall with white marble tiled floors. Lengthy hallways with plush red carpet stretched away to either side of them and a grand staircase spiraled its way upward directly ahead of them. Arthur spotted a couple of servants scurrying around, but otherwise the castle was surprisingly empty and the quiet felt a little ominous.

Following the guard's instructions, they headed down the hallway to the right. The way was lit by numerous candelabras that either sat on fancy sculpted pedestals or were affixed directly to the walls. There were many closed doors on either side of the hall, and the spaces between them were decorated with tapestries and paintings of kings and queens.