Malevolence (A School for Good and Evil Fanfic)

Chapter 6

They came upon the manor in late afternoon. They had been trudging along the bank of the river for about an hour, both of their boots and skirts getting incredibly muddy, when they noticed the trees thinning in front of them. Agatha squinted toward the opening, walking faster, and Dot followed suit. They burst through the trees and saw it for the first time.

The manor loomed in front of them, elegant in a dark and foreboding sort of way. Four grey stone towers rose from a larger central tower, all of which narrowed into black and silver points.

"If they never stopped, they must've ended up there," Agatha deduced. Dot followed her gaze to where the raging rapids crashed into a moat that surrounded the manor, which was tinted an unsettling shade of red just like the river water.

"Who lives here?" asked Dot in a hushed voice. "Do you think someone might've kidnapped them?"

"We're in Bloodbrook," said Agatha grimly. "It's a Never kingdom, and this is a dark and foreboding miniature castle in the woods. If they found two young witches trespassing on their property, it's very possible." Dot gulped. She looked toward the front doors of the manor, large wooden double doors with two men in tailcoats standing deathly still in front of them.

"So should we sneak in or..." she started, but Agatha was already walking toward the bridge to the door, which honestly seemed to defeat the purpose of the moat. The moment her foot touched it, however, she let out a strangled gasp as she was suspended in the air as if by invisible cables. Dot rushed over, yelling her name, but immediately met the same fate. The two men snapped to attention, one stalking toward them while baring sharp teeth.

"Who dares to invade the home of the baroness?" the man snarled, his fingernails stretching into claws.

"We just want to find our friends!" Dot squeaked, absolutely terrified. "We promise, we don't mean any harm."

When the man looked unconvinced, Agatha spoke up. "We have questions for the baroness regarding an ongoing investigation."

"Are you insinuating something?" The man cracked his knuckles.

"Of course not," Agatha assured with a fake laugh. "We only wanted to know if she'd seen anything around the area that might help us find something we were looking for."

"And why should she listen to you? You're just two filthy young women. I'm surprised you haven't been picked up by some freak in the woods by now."

"She should listen to me because I'm the Queen of Camelot," Agatha snapped. "I'd like to speak to her, royal to royal."

The man's gaze suddenly shifted from looking at them like snacks to looking at Agatha with some semblance of respect. "I... will go see if she wishes to speak to you," he said with a small bow, turning tail and walking back to the door. His claws shrunk back to a normal length as he motioned to his fellow guard.

"The royal card," said Dot with a grin. "I'm impressed."

It was a few minutes before the man returned to release them from whatever curse was put on the bridge. They fell onto the stone in a pile, and Dot knew she'd wake up tomorrow with a terrible bruise on her tailbone. But she scrambled to her feet, desperate for any shred of information about her friends, even if that meant talking to an evil royal in a terrifying manor.

"The baroness is taking lunch as of now," said the man as he led them through the doors into an ornately decorated entrance hall. "Her daughter has returned to the manor after years of absence, so as any mother would, she's spending some quality time with her."

"Her daughter?" questioned Agatha with a suspicious twinge in her voice. Dot didn't understand why a baroness's estranged daughter had anything to do with them, but Agatha continued. "Who's her daughter?"