It was dark when Hermione spotted the gates of the castle they were supposed to spend the next few days in. The light at the gate was a welcome sight as they emerged from the dark, ominous forest, and Draco and Harry moved to the front. She glanced back at the woods and felt a chill run down her spine. Something told her that they had barely escaped the looming trees with their lives. Whoever had been following them no knew where they were. There were guards at the doors, and when they saw the two knights, they opened the gate, glancing at the group. "Glad the four of you made it without any problems. These are the two from the other kingdom?" The guard said it like it was poison, eyeing them warily. Draco simply nodded, choosing not to answer him and just walk through the gate, but Harry spoke to them.
"They are. Be careful, we were followed on our way here, and they may try and get into the castle." The two men nodded, and waited until the servant had gotten through the gates to close them back up. Hermione had seen a man dart into the castle as they had rode up, and now he was back with a posse of servants. He came up to her and Ron, and bowed.
"The King knows you are here, but he does not wish to see you until tomorrow morning. If you will each follow us, we will lead you to your rooms." The guys were now getting off their horses and handing them over to the stablemen, and Draco came over to help her down. As he lowered her to the ground, he whispered a simple "Be careful" into her ear. Then, he turned and walked away to catch up with Harry. Startled, she stared after him until a maid came up beside her and bowed deeply.
"Your Highness, if you will follow me, I'll lead you to your room." She could feel eyes on her as she walked after the young girl, and she understood why. She was an outsider, a threat to them, even though she was there to try and make peace between the two nations. She was pretty sure that Draco had been warning her about the servants and people of this kingdom, and she was definitely going to watch her back from now on. Not that she hadn't been before, but it seemed even more needed now. The maid led her through the halls and stopped at an elegantly-carved door. "Here we are." She said, bowing again. "Your belongings are already inside. I shall be back in a moment to help you put them away." She then opened the door and left. Glancing around, Hermione detected no signs of danger, so she stepped into the room, almost as beautiful as the one she had left behind. As the maid had said, her bags were sitting near the end of the bed, so she closed the door. She then walked to the bed and sat down, happily sinking into the feather-soft bed. After such a long ride through the woods and dirt, all she wanted to do was take a bath and go to sleep. It seemed like a bath was out of the question for the night, though, so she took down her hair and changed into her nightclothes. As she finished, she heard a knock on the door and she walked over cautiously.
"Who is it?" She asked when she reached the door.
"It is just one of your maids, Princess Hermione. We are here to help you change and put away your things." It sounded true enough, and after cracking the door to make sure it was really just the maids, she opened it all the way, allowing them to come in. "Princess! I sincerely apologize for not getting here in time to help you change!" The maid said, panicked. "Please forgive me!" Hermione waved her concerns away with her hand.
"I'm not mad, don't worry about it." As who she guessed was the head maid fussed over her hair and clothes, the others began to put away her things. They were quick and efficient, and pretty soon all her things were pressed and put away, and she was sitting on the bed with her clothes perfect and her hair combed and nice in a ponytail. The maids promised that they would be back in the morning to lead Hermione to the bath and help her get ready before finally leaving her to sleep. Sighing, she slipped into the soft, warm blankets and closed her eyes as the candles were blown out by the last maid and her door was shut. She was very tired, and even though she tried to stay awake and alert, she was soon sound asleep.
Draco paced the floor in his room, unable to sleep. Sure, he was tired, and he would love to just fall onto his bed and sleep forever, but something was nagging at him. And Malfoys hated to be nagged at. As a Malfoy, he should be sleeping and not worrying about this stupid place. And she should definitely not be worried about the not-so-bushy-haired-anymore girl sleeping in a room down the hall from his. Groaning, he walked over to the table and picked up his sword. He had to go check on her, because he couldn't shake the feeling of dread, like something bad was about to happen. Silently, he stepped from his room, his sword strapped to his side, and sneaked down the hall. One good thing about being a Slytherin out of the millions of them was that he was naturally sneaky from years of sneaking out, and cunning. He turned the corner of the hall that led to her room and stopped suddenly. There was a dark figure opening the door that he somehow knew led into her room. And the figure was wielding a knife. Quickly, he stepped out and walked towards her door as quietly as he could. The person didn't hear him, and Draco got to the door right after the person slipped in. The figure of a man loomed over the unsuspecting girl peacefully sleeping below him in the bed. Draco knew he'd have to get the element of surprise, so, still silently, he sneaked into the room as fast as possible. He got there just in time to grab the muscular arm as the man lifted the knife to strike. Surprised, the man turned to face him, and Draco drew his sword with his free hand. "What do you think you're doing?" Draco hissed lowly, pressing the tip of his sword to the mans throat. He didn't recognize the man, but the man seemed to recognize him, because he sneered.
"Oh my, if it's not knight Draco, mister perfect. Protecting the enemy, eh? You trading your own king and country for a woman?" Hermione was up now, and she reached to her nightstand and withdrew the knife in her satchel. He was glad to see her silently move into position behind the man, holding the knife tightly in both hands.
"Of course not. Are you so much of a coward that you have to sneak up on a woman in her sleep to actually kill someone? I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be here. There is a pact between both kingdoms and she is to be completely safe here." The man pretty much growled at him, his face twisted and animal-like.
"She could be a threat to your country, but you're still going off the King's orders. The King is betraying us too, by letting them come here." Draco kept his sword steady at the mans throat. Suddenly, the man turned and swung his arm away from him. His chin began to bleed as he swung towards Hermione, whose eyes widened, but she blocked the knife with her own. Out of nowhere, the man had another knife in his left hand, and Draco swung his sword, cutting the man deeply in the chest area. The man sagged and fell to the floor, but his eyes were still glowing that inhuman way. "We'll win..." he muttered. "King'll... die... Hail-" Hermione and Draco stared at him as he died, his blood staining the carpet. Hermione's face was pale, and she was shaking.
"What have we done?"
