Chapter 4

As I walked in the halls of the stony keep, it reminded me of my years in the Marble Citadel of Edenburgh where I spent my youth. No other edifice can compare to its beauty. Its green and gold architecture spirals to the sky. The Ruby Garden blooming precious stones from the great river. The Yard where we trained bloody hand-to-hand combat.

"Lady Redriver is a widower, her husband, the late Lord of Flintenburrow passed three forty suns ago. No heir and no siblings has the lord." Hester explains. "A lady of the court since her youth. So she'll ask questions as she deem fit. Best to be patient with her, prince. She's rather an eccentric sort."

I nodded. These men in black-red coats give me a certain discomfort, a certain anxiety. I knew little to none about their abilities, their strength, save only by the orbs of cyan hue they possess. I can still feel the aches in my body where Jhayson struck. Shame filled me. How can I let myself be off guard? Deavid would have laughed at a mistake so minor. 

It's been a while since I've seen a rapier, a blade styled for piercing and trusting. The last time I saw such an archaic weapon was on display in the Gallery in the Marble Citadel. And here these men wield it like a part of their own. This steel, this metal. I grimaced at the thought of these men confronting a bearer of metal, but I winced more as I saw the castle guards covered with iron and steel. A yellow-and-white tower insignia on their chest. A bald man emerged from their ranks, with an emblem of the sun on his chest. He only looks at Hester, disgust in his face.

"Guard Captain Ulrick." Hester began. "Has the Lady been informed of our arrival?"

The guard captain frowned. "What urgent matter requires the attention of our Lady, commander? At these very ungodly hours of the night."

"Matters that I will personally deliver to the Lady." 

"What you have to say to her, you can say to me." The castle guards now stood besides Ulrick, blocking the passageway. Their faces disgruntled, obviously annoyed by our sudden arrival. 

A silence swept by, loud enough to understand the tension between them. The luxors and the castle guards. 

"No." Hester says. "This is only for the Lady."

"Tsk. So unfortunate. Then, you may not pass this hall."

In the midst of Hester's company I am, but I can sense the commander counting the guards. Twenty.

"I am going to only say this once, Ulrkick, in manner you can understand." Hester warns, his tone deep and dark, clear enough for all to hear. Eyes piercing each men in front of him. "Move. Aside. All of you. Or I will. Cut. Whomever. Stands in my way. Now."

Ulrick raised an eyebrow."What?"

It took a heartbeat, mayhaps shorter. Smooth. Sharp and fast. Droplets of blood and guts splatter on the stone floor. A guard is split in half, from face to groin. Hester's rapier is wet and red. All the guards moved aside as fast as the wind. Ulrick's eyes are wide open in surprise. 

"Might I remind you of your place, captain, because for whatever title you bore, at the end of the day, you are a guard of this castle and I am a luxor under the king's jurisdiction." He says, as he wipes the blood away with a cloth. "I will not hesitate to act upon anyone who obstructs matters I deemed important for the realm." 

To a degree, I concur with Hester's actions. Time was a currency I cannot waste, especially now when my own men are fighting against a sorcerer. Our retinue continued through the dreary halls with a black mood. The castle guards followed as their duty demands.

Deep in thought I am. Lady Redriver, Hester says. Lord and Ladies. Such titles were long obsolete. Archaic blades and armor not seen since the Age of Mysticism. A sudden harrowing notion came to mind.

 Am I in the past?  A time where sorcerers were advisors of kings. When wars were rampant among humankind and as frequent as dinner time. A time when demonkind, vampyrahs, and graelings can cross our realm. A time my kin yet set foot upon the world. An era of darkness. 

Impossible. One of the Universal Law dictates the inability to cross time, either it be backwards or ahead. Then where the holy fudge am I?

Word of our arrival had spread in the keep, even in these late hours when the green moon had set. I saw servants skittering around from one chamber to another. 

We enter inside the gray chamber, through a wooden door with an arch top and iron ring knob. The court was stone, and on top of the dais sat the Lady of Flintenburrow, splendid in a gown of gold, lined with red. Eyes speak of recent sleep. Several advisors surrounded her, they wore robes of varying vibrant colors.

"Do what I owe this pleasure of this nightly visit, commander? Why disturb my slumber?" She says mildy. A woman in her forties, powder white face, tall. Round and thick. Long black hair knotted.

Hester moved aside, revealing me to the Lady. "This man is Prince Lexander Oldblood." He says. "As so he claims. It is within reasonable understanding that he is a Bearer. Gold hair and gold eyes. He requires assistance with a scholar of yours." The advisors began whispering to her ear. 

"Anyman can dye his hair." Lady Rossen stepped down towards me. Inspecting as if I were some kind of specimen to behold. "But not any man can change the color of his eyes." She stared at my eyes. "How can you prove you're a Bearer, prince?

"No specimen am I to be observed, bitch. No hound to be ordered about. " I glared at her eyes of blue. "I will prove to thou nothing."

"Then you wasted my precious time. Guards, seize this charlatan! Take him to the dungeon, the deepest and blackest one. And for the morrow, we behead him at the square, for all to see and learn."

Spears and swords point at me. A lobstered guantlet took hold of my shouder, Ulrick smiled victoriously. A short victory I might say.

A high pitched scream came from his throat. Piercing the night's silent veil. It echoed through the castle, throughout the town. A scream to remember. For all their disrespect and insolence this world hand brought upon me. I want them to mark this night. The night I boil their guard captain within his shell of steel. His face bubbled, skin and eyes bursting. Blood leaking wet and dried as quickly. Finally, as if it had been an eternity. He finally fell, his head charred black and red, smoking and melting. The pungent scent of burned flesh filled the court chamber.

Horror in their eyes and jaw open, from Lady Redriver, from the guards and her advisors, gasping. Speechless. 

"For the hundredth time..." Now with a suitable amount of audience with prestige, I felt more compelled and complete to announce my name. "...I am Prince Lexander Oldblood. And I have proven enough." I took one step towards Lady Rossen, and with a seething voice I asked but one simple question.

One simple burning question.

"Where is thy scholar, bitch?"