The Princess's Servant

110. The Tower

The torches near the entrance to the tower were unlit, and no light streamed out of the windows above. Darkness had covered the land, now, and the last ember of dusk faded from the sky. Holden brought his fingertips to the rough wood of the door. He pushed and it parted.

Before them was a spiral staircase. The prince looked back at the servant, who returned his gaze, but seemed more interested in checking the surrounding area for threats than sharing a moment. The two ducked in and headed up the worn stone steps.

At the top of the staircase was a second door.

Holden stuck his hand out.

"Brace yourself," Sebs told him, and the prince pushed the door aside.

The inside of the room would have been pitch black, had ribbons of moonlight not been filtering in. The room was filled with piles of documents and boxes, but that's not what drew Holden's eye. In the middle of the mess was a pool of what appeared to be a thick, dark liquid that glinted like wine. The spill emanated desk were some feet and the hem of a dress that stuck out from behind a desk.

Holden recognized it as Sybil's dress.

"SYBIL!"

"Wait, princling—" Sebastian tried but Holden ignored him.

He ran and tore aside the desk to reveal her curling blonde locks. Half of them were soaked in blood, and they shook as she gave a light cough. The prince trembled.  "Sybil..." He crouched down and took her shoulder. He gently moved her to face him.

Shocking light eyes. Sharp features. A twisting  smile.

"AH!" He scrambled back. The girl rose to a seat and stared at him with steel eyes.

Sebastian lowered the hand that had floated to his belt.

"AHAHA! I got you good!" Morrigan dragged the wig off her head and released her pearlescent hair. The entire right side of her body was dripping with blood that reeked of copper.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Holden shouted as his sister stood. "And where the hell did you get a wig like that?!"

Morrigan blinked a few times. "I ordered it the same day I met Sybil. I have a wig for most of the noblewomen in Ward. Just a hobby of mine." She winked.

Holden's expression fully soured. "You're not normal," he said. "And where is Sybil? I know you're keeping her somewhere. I— I demand that you take me to her this instant."

Morrigan lit up at that. "Oh, His Highness 'demands!' How could I refuse?" She crossed her arms. "I'm not taking you to her, brother. She's mine now, and you're just going to have to accept that."

Holden's eyes flashed with something Sebastian had not seen before. "Take me to where she is." And then he added: "Please."

His sister laughed. "Or what? You'll ask with a cherry on top?"

"Or leave you here with Sebs."

"Oh! Getting serious! I guess I have to do whatever you say!" Morrigan laughed some more, the blood shining on her as she did.

"Psst." Sebastian waved Holden closer.

The prince stepped over to him.

"I'm not going to torture Morrigan," he whispered.

"Oh, I don't want you to actually hurt her. Just threaten her. Spook her a lil', you know. Do what you do best."

"That's not—" he pinched the bridge of his nose. "First of all, torture is what I do best, and second of all, it won't work. She's... you know. Like you."

"'Like me?'" Holden thought on that. "How do you mean?"

Sebs opened his mouth to speak but before he could, Morrigan floated her face next to his. "He's telling you I'm a masochist."

Holden jolted and flinched away from the girl. "What?!"

Sebs shrugged.

"You think I'm a masochist?!" Holden replied.

"You are, aren't you?" Sebastian asked.

"No!!"

Morrigan butted in again. "Then how come you want Sybil back?"

"I—" Holden huffed, his face reddening a touch. "It's not important."

She waited for more.

"It's not something I can explain to two people who don't have a concept of empathy!"

"I have a concept of empathy," Morrigan said. "I just don't have the thing itself."

Holden stared at her a beat and considered not saying anything. But, relenting, he huffed out another breath and said, "It's because... she's my wife."

"Oh," Morrigan considered this. "An ownership thing."

The prince bristled. "No. It's the opposite of that, actually."

"So... She owns you?"

"Not that either." Holden told her. "Like I said, it's hard to explain to someone without empathy."

"Then explain it like I do have empathy," she suggested.

Holden hugged his arms to his chest. "If you had it, I wouldn't have to explain anything. You'd get why I was helping her. Intuitively."

"Whoa. Really?"

Holden nodded.

"It's alright, little rabbit. I understand you," Sebastian smiled.

The prince studied the man. "I don't think you do," he said.

Sebs nodded once. "Sure I do. You care about her. Even though she hurt you, you don't want her to endure any suffering. After having suffered yourself, you don't want anyone else to feel that same way. You just want everyone to be alright."

Holden relaxed a little. "That's actually... Strangely—"

"And you're a masochist," he completed. "A closet one, who's not ready to be out yet. But your secret's safe."

"Right. There it is." The prince sighed. "Well, whatever. I'm off to go look for Sybil, regardless of whether anyone gets me or not. Clearly this has been a dead end..."

"Ha! Look for her all you want, but you'll never find her," Morrigan jeered. "We hid her well."

Sebs and Holden exchanged a look. 

"Is she in the maddening room?" Holden asked.

Morrigan's eyes widened. "... No.".

Holden and Sebs shared another look and a nod. They turned and headed out.

"Wait!! I said she's not in the maddening room!!" Morrigan chased after them and tried to block the door.

"Uh-huh," the prince replied.

"Maybe you can torture the information out of me!! You haven't even tried!!"

Sebs shoved her aside and stepped through the door with Holden. "Goodbye, ghost girl," he told her as he shut the door on her face.

"'Ghost girl...?'" Holden whispered at Sebs, who only shrugged. And the two headed down the stairs.

A/N: LONG time since my last update. I meant what I said though that I'm going to finish this story no matter what. I also laid the groundwork for the next chapters so those should be coming soon.