Chaos & Order

Chapter 15

It took next to no time for them to return to the castle. Even less for Siel to place Aliyah in her room. The most time-consuming part was him doing a search of the immediate order just in case there were other demons around.

After confirming his charge's safety, Siel sat down to guard Aliyah as she slept. He sensed Boegarian's presence nearby, but he didn't move. The demon was more of an annoyance than a threat, but still, he'd prefer the princess have a peaceful sleep.

After a moment, Aliyah groaned a little before her eyes started to open. When she did, Siel waved his hand in front of her face, "Are you back?"

Aliyah blinked a little then looked at Siel before nodding with a smile.

"Did you have a good sleep?" Siel asked.

"I think so..." Aliyah replied as she started sitting up.

"I can vouch for that." Boegarian's voice said, a thumbs'-up appearing in the shadows.

"Thank you. Leave." Siel said, flatly.

"Sure." Boegarian's voice said, flowing away.

"What's he still doing here?" Aliyah asked.

"If I knew, I'd tell you."

"So...I passed out again. I seem to be doing that a lot..." Aliyah muttered in annoyance, running her fingers through her hair.

"And this castle seems to be becoming a hub for the supernatural." Siel murmured.

Aliyah nodded as she briefly looked herself over, "My wounds are gone. Is Artemis repaired?"

"It did, yes. It does make my job easier, I must say." Siel said in jest.

Aliyah let out a small laugh before a less encouraging thought occurred to her, "Why are they after me, though? I don't understand."

"I don't, either. It is quite perplexing." Siel said.

Aliyah sighed as she hugged her legs to her chest. "I know one thing, though..."

"And that is?"

"Any moment....someone's going to come to deliver a message from father or he'll do it himself. I'm going to be put into lockdown. And they'll say it's for my protection."

"I don't know if that would happen...but I won't leave your side."

Aliyah's head snapped around, looking at her bedroom door, "Footsteps."

"I'll check it out." Siel said. He turned incorporeal and leaned through the door. Coming up the spiralling staircase was one of the servants. Siel leaned back through and reported to Aliyah, "One of the servants is here."

"That's what I was afraid of..." Aliyah sighed as she pushed off her blankets and got out of bed. She only came to the doorway when she heard a knock at the door and a voice coming from the other side.

"Princess, I have a message from yo-"

Aliyah, though, didn't let him finish, "Let me guess, it's from my father and telling me to stay on castle grounds until further notice. For my protection, of course. You can go now."

    "It's for your good, princess..." the servant's voice said.

"I'm sorry, Aliyah." Siel said, putting a hand on her shoulder and a concerned look.

"I'm alright. It doesn't bother me anymore." Aliyah said as she sat on her bed.

"Well...still a lot to do inside a castle. And my guarantee is that Boegarian is never dull."