Dungeons

They must have been riding for hours. The wind swept against his face taking his ponytail on an infinity ride. Sapphire wasn't so lucky. Her french plaits had come loose and was basically flew in her face that she had to spit out some strands of hair about once or twice. Nevertheless, she didn't seem to mind as she looked focused on outracing the prince whose dashing appearance seemed to annoy her more than her wind swept hair. Raphael grinned back at her. It had been long since he went on am aimless ride like this. It felt fun to get lost on a foreign path and then trave their way back to the villa when they were tired. He felt his back pocket for his phone to make sure they won't have to... ask for directions.

"Hey Raphael," Princess Sapphire called picking up the pace beside him. "Does this place look any familiar?" She asked.

They had just passed a country side and took a left turn into a forest reserve. Raphael halted and turned his horse around.

"The Sacred Grooves." He said. "It's for the king...our father that is. Come on, we ought be heading back now."

"You don't seem to like this place much." she said with a sly smile.

"Not a fan of wild animals thanks for asking."

"It's closest to the Palace right?" She continued, steering her horse to follow his.

"Well if you're talking about the main Palace then that would be a yes." He said pointing at four fairly visible towers up ahead that was well known to be the palace peak. Then he checked his watch. "Some minutes to tea." He announced fishing out his phone from his pocket and turning on the GPS.

"Perhaps we could just make a small stop home. At least now we're here. Cause I have a feeling we won't get the chance to do this again in a long time, and...."

"Sis, I wasn't going to say no." Raphael cut in apparently not ready to be subject to her irrelevant logics.

"Oh, right...I knew that," Princess Sapphire added quickly.

The prince rolled his eyes and and tugged on the horse's reins, sending him on a gallop across that plains intentionally leaving his sister behind.

It was a matter of minutes for them to reach the palace_ the antique one that is. The most magnificent building in the kingdom that was made purely from precious stones and surrounded by solid break walls with an a big bronze gate that held two impressive looking flags. The prince and princess rode to the side gates. it won't do to make an entrance anyway. There, they met the duo of guards that were on day shift who did not in the slightest hesitate to let them in.

Raphael glanced at her. "What now?"

At that moment, a blonde haired man with dark shades walked up to them. His gait spoke that he had been in the army for years though, he was dressed casually in green long sleeve and flannel jeans with a fleece coat draped over his shoulders. The only thing that signalled some form of defence was the sheathed sword strapped to his waist but yet Raphael knew that he could draw it out faster than anyone else would. When he reached them, he bowed formally.

"Prince, Princess."

Prince Raphael bowed back in greeting. This man ranked among the few people that had earned his respect. "Sir Lionel," He said.

It was a bit odd that the army commander would be here. The army base and the border lines seemed more likely. Sir Lionel gave a short nod as though reading his thoughts but for some reason, ignored it.

"Did your father send you?" He asked. "Is there a message or what about the mission? Should we stand back and...."

Sir Lionel glanced at the prince and knew from the expression on his face that he knew nothing about the mission.

"Anyway, let's forget about that." He said dismissively. The prince was about to say something when he continued. "There, I'll send for one of my knights to take you in. He'll attend to you and would even drop you home. And of course, I'll attend to the horses."

"What mission?" Prince Raphael frowned deeply.

The straight forward Sir Lionel went on. "If the king didn't see the need to tell you yet, then I won't either." He took out a phone and dialed a number. "You probably don't want to hear this, but when the time comes you'll know. In the mean time, enjoy your stay here." He finished with a smile.

Sir Lionel took the tow horses by their reins is that walked away.

Princess Sapphire walked to the magnificent holding looking thoughtful. "Hiding information now are we???" She mused.

The Prince threw back his head in laughter. "Father would tell is when we ought to know. I don't intend to go investigating with you. But of course, for an idle person like you, scavenging for info is probably the best idea." He laughed. "You have my fullest support!"

She threw a punch his way but his reflexes from as good as ever. Prince Raphael kept a considerable distance between them as they entered the main palace. There, just as promised was an even taller man here to treat them as guests in their own house. They followed him up the fifth spiral staircase which led directly into the training room.

"Hmm, why here?" The prince muttered as he walked towards a rack of weapons. Surely he didn't bring them there because he thought that training was the only thing he liked right??? He had quite a reputation but hey!

Sapphire cast the prince a look like, "thanks again bro" and walked to the window. "Is there really no fun here?" She complained turning around for goodness sake the only view that was available there was a sea that stretched in the distance and unless it was sunset, that was extremely boring.

"Well go on! don't you speak!" She snapped addressing the guard. "Entertain us for crying out loud!" She threw her hands up exasperatedly.

"I'm afraid my job is not to entertain princess." He replied with a bow. The prince glanced over spinning a spear in his hands.

"We've made a stop Sapphire, can we go home now?"

She sighed walking out. "Sure, sure. But first, since I'm here, I'll ask around about that mission of a thing."

Raphael knew her well. Especially when she was freaking idle. Then, it seems like she developed some sort of disorder or the other. Perhaps this time it was Obsessive compulsive disorder.

"Do whatever you want. See you here when you're ready but don't let it pass tea time." He said, casually leaning against the wall. He kept spinning the spear in his left hand and whipped out his phone in his right. He on the other hand always had something to do and therefore did not develop any sort of disorder...unlike some people....

He watches as her back disappeared down the stairs then shook his head and returned to his phone. After a while, he dropped the spear and checked his watch. Fifteen minutes... looks like she was really serious about this information scavenging of a thing.

"I'll go pick up some things from my room first."

He said to the guard who nodded still maintaining the expressionless look on his face. Raphael didn't owe himself accountable to this mere guard but didn't want to make it difficult for his sister to find him later. She couldn't even call him if he wanted to.

"tsk tsk..." He thought, "The week is still long. Maybe I'll just get her a new phone...."

He toyed with this idea for a while as he walked down the spiral stairs and didn't notice there was a knight following him.

"Alertness, zero!" The man announced so close to him that the prince whirled, all his defence instinct immediately activated.

"Don't creep up on me like that. If I was still with a spear I would have accidentally chopped your head off!"

The prince glared, a switchblade knife glinted halfway in motion in his right hand. He returned it to his pocket looking mildly ruffled. Then he remembered that this was the same thing he had done to a certain someone this morning. Luckily, that someone hadn't reacted that fast.

"Really!" He thought. "So karma had a sense of humor?!"

"Wonderful! Wonderful reflexes!" The man bowed deeply looking were much amused.

"Honorable Lemieux Elinn" He acknowledged with a short bow. This was also someone he took seriously. The second in command to Sir Lionel. This man was a commander of a legion. Although, he was reported to have a very quirky sense of humor. "What are you all doing here?" He asked as they walked together.

"Mission. Awaiting orders from the king. Perhaps you have come with the order. Sent by him presume." He said looking expectant.

"I am no messenger of my father's. And I will not play hermes." The prince replied curtly.

"Pity. Then pray, what are you here for?"

"To seek fun, entertainment, something new."

"And you think you can find that in an antique building?" He laughed. "Well you can try looking for secret passages, or try the dungeons. If you're lucky there'd be something that interests my Lord." He said his eyes twinkling yet somehow managing to look deadly serious at the same time.

Raphael thought it through. Come to think of it, he had never been to the dungeons. Perhaps there would be some gold there like story books claimed. However, he found those dark cellars... uninviting.

"And if nothing there interests me, then we could talk about your execution." Raphael winked playfully.

"Yes my Lord! but pray thee, take with you a weapon." Honourable Lemieux said playing along. "You might find yourself running back with double the speed." He grinned.

Raphael scoffed all the more determined to do it. If he remembered correctly, the fastest way underground was through the trapdoor in the court room. With something to look forward to, he took the second staircase... then came down and took the elevator. Honourable Lemieux stiffened a laugh and marched on to meet his superior who was currently being interrogated by a very determined Princess Sapphire.

Underground wasn't only cold and dark. It also smelled like, well, underground. This was the third time that the prince was taking a stairs that led him all the more underground. The dungeons was located in the west of the palace. The prince switched on his GPS but this crazy underground channel offered no internet services. One of the few times he was forced to pull out an actual compass. He took mental notes on the routes he took and sometimes even marked them with a permanent marker, deciding that if he got lost here it would not be funny. When he got to the black gate of the dungeons, he was slightly amazed. Even here was made of precious stones and showed next to no wear. He flashed his the flashlight the phone provided at the solid locks on the gate. It had a few scratched on it but otherwise, seemed quite unhackable. He pointed the flashlight into the dungeons and saw that the design was just like cells, opposite one another and a free walking space between them, large enough to pack a car and stretched on forever. He frowned slightly. He expected worse. It seemed that the living conditions of this place was surprisingly above his expectations. But then his eyes widened in shock as he glimpsed some of the prison occupants. They were... he swallowed donning his suit firmer. They were skeletons! some broken, crumbled to dust, worse than his physics lab spice men. But, they were fellow human beings right? The stink and dread of the place immediately intensified over a hundred times. Standing there alone, shivering slightly, the prince felt a soft hand on his shoulders.

"And half of them didn't deserve it." A voice seemed to say.

He spun around horrified but there was no one behind....at least not one that he could see.... He ordered his mind to shut up. Now he was hallucinating! But then, who knew how long that place stretched on? How many innocent people? In the stories, kings threw people into the dungeons as often as kids went to the park. A wave of guilt hit him.

And just then, a soft tune echoed through the dungeons. An eerie demonic tune to be precise. Raphael took a step back. The more he lingered, the louder it sounded. It drained him of his remaining energy. His legs felt weak. He immediately felt very malicious intensions. Feelings he knew didn't come from him.

"Am I being influenced by the tune?"

He thought weakly. He held the rails of the dungeons, his face ghostly pale. chord after chord was struck as the player continued mercilessly. He knew he might actually run mad if he stayed. The only thing his brain could think of was, 'must_go_now.'

He forced himself up then staggered a few steps and walked, retracing his steps. The tune continued, it seemed even fiercer, inviting him, it was time for revenge....

Raphael broke into a run down the path he had come through. He didn't even have the strength to think sarcastically otherwise his thoughts would have been,

"To bring a weapon??? Heck if you were giving warnings was there any need to be metaphorical!"