WARHAVEN II

Four

Fifteen minutes passed as I waited as patiently as possible for the head soldier to return. I saw little to no movement in the towers, but noted the archer in the tower to the left with his arrow aimed at me for good measure.

I hoped they would make things easy and allow me a meeting with the King, although it was a sign of entitlement and disrespect to come here unannounced and request a meeting. Hopefully they felt my urgency and not my disrespect.

The large soldier returned, "The King has approved your request. Please, follow me, Princess." His sudden respectful cadence was laughable.

We made our way to a large stone building directly to the left of the inside of the large metal gates. They shut behind us with a loud bang and locked back into place.

I was thoroughly strip searched by two female soldiers. Their professionalism was commendable. I was glad I hid my blade in my fro, they missed it, just as I wanted.

I was escorted through the castle city by two heavily armed guards. The cobblestone path acted as a main road leading directly to the base of the mountain, the castle entrance.

On either side of the road we're bustling shops containing a plethora of goods and produce. There were art shops, chapels, produce stands, tailors, blacksmiths, you name it, they had it.

I could see that the thinner side streets contained small one story homes that were filled with creatures of all different species. I was shocked to see that despite a majority of the population being fairy, there was a large presence of dragons, witches, and even rouge wolves. They lived in peace with one another. Definitely an odd place for our time.

The walk to the castle was long and despite my people watching, I was still on guard. The metal atom or scraped and clanked as the large soldiers at my sides moved surely.

We approached the entrance to the castle mountain where we were stopped by more guards. They inspected me closely and went over my identification paperwork once again. I tried to be patient but was growing restless.

After another twenty minutes of verification, I was passed off to a tall female fairy. Her tall heels clicked on the stone floors as she led me into the mountain. Into the palace.

The inner workings of the mountain are extraordinary. From the arches in the architecture to the concave ceilings complete with detailed carvings of fairies at war.

Massive silver chandeliers hug delicately from the center of the concave sections of the ceilings. They held tall wax candles that illuminated the space with a soft glow. The castle was warm despite the cold stone walls and floors.

Servants, soldiers and staff bustled about, doing their best to avoid clashing their tall, delicate wings.

Intricate paintings hung on the walls framed with deep red curtains, in place of windows. Some were of past Royals and others were of the castle grounds as well as landscapes.

The woman walked with sureness, her translucent wings stretched wide in front of me and I tried not to stare, as it could be seen as inappropriate.

The tall fae woman's heels clicked softly as we ascended the narrow, stone staircase. I tried my best to avert my eyes as her hips and plump backside softly swayed with her steps.

I looked to my feet, boot clad and rough as they stomped a little less delicately against the steps.

We climbed so far and high that any human would have begged to stop ages ago. I was glad for my supernatural abilities that kept me moving at a steady pace, unwinded.

We twisted, moving up the winding stairs, passing several windows. We must be near the surface of the castle and from the looks of it, thousands of feet in the air.

Eventually, we came to the top. A massive guard stood at attention behind an ornate podium. His face lit up, a grin stretching across it when he saw the woman escorting me.

"Francesca, to what do I owe the pleasure?" The woman's wings spread slightly as she batted her lashes. He ran his eyes down her body in response to her blatant flirting.

She cleared her throat politely before saying, "The King has a visitor."

The man looked at me with intense suspicion in his eyes, "Did he approve said meeting? I have nothing on the schedule but his card game."

I rolled my eyes, a card game, of course. I cleared my throat and stepped forward, "It is unplanned. I have urgent personal matters to discuss with him,"

The man smirked, "Fourth one this week, that's a new record for our King." He chuckled softly, clearly impressed. Sick.

"I am disgusted by the insinuation. I am the Princess of WarHaven, you idiot. Take me to the King, I've been here for 3 hours and still have yet to see him. Did you all miss the fact that I said my business was urgent?" The guard huffed and stood as the woman stared at me in disbelief.

"He is in his lounge, just through the red door, Princess." He said quietly before bowing his head in respect, as he should

I said nothing, making my way to the red door. I took a deep breath before knocking once to announce myself and swinging it open.