Working For The Prince (BxB)✔

Chapter 34 - Returning

Asher led the way back to the castle with little trouble. The group of knights were accustomed to long trips and didn't request to stop and rest at all, which cut their time down by quite a bit. Though it was still pitch dark by the time they arrived.

Laurent stayed by his side as Asher mulled Donna's warning over in his head.

He couldn't imagine that Elise would be one of the nobles who had turned traitor. She had nothing to gain from it. Right now she was wooing the Prince, and if she succeeded, she'd become queen and rule over the very country that their enemies were planning to invade.

It didn't make any sense, but he couldn't dismiss it entirely. Elise was failing miserable with her plan at the moment, so he'd most likely have to consult with another woman and now he knew to be extra cautious of nobles.

"Is this it?" Demeter asked, pulling back his hood for the first time to reveal a head of crazy red hair.

He looked much younger with his hood down, which surprised Asher because he had imagined the guy to be old and bald under there.

"Yep." Asher confirmed as they approached the gate with the two gargoyle statues, yet once he passed he noticed the mage and knights stand back. "What's wrong?"

The mage stared at the gargoyles, his gaze shifting from one to the other, and then to the castle where more sat perched on the roof. "These aren't statues..."

Asher frowned at the ominous statement. "What do you mean? These have been here ever since I started working. What else could they be?"

The magic user sucked in a breath and urged his horse forward. "I don't know, but they give off bad energy."

The servant recalled how Elise acted as though she didn't recognize the castle despite being here before, and now wondered if the gargoyles were some form of magical addition that caused it. Perhaps the source of the automation?

What would happen if he smashed one?

Unfortunately he didn't have time for such playful thoughts, so he brought the men around to the stables and showed them where to set their horses up. They then went through the servant's entrance as he carried the caged pigeon.

Asher was greeted by a large gust of wind, which all but knocked him backwards if it weren't for Trevor standing behind him. The pigeon fluttered unhappily while a cacophony of irritated whispers caught his ear, but as usual, he couldn't understand what was being said.

"What in the world was that?" One of the knights asked, wide eyed as he drew his sword.

The other men looked just as unsettled by the atmosphere. Asher could only imagine how much more spooked they'd be if they could hear the voices like he did.

"It's the castle." He explained. "The witch enchanted it to take care of everything that the missing servants usually would do. You could even say it's alive."

"Alive?" One knight repeated unhappily. "Then does that mean we volunteered to walk into the belly of a beast?"

That was a rather poetic way to put it, Asher thought. "You haven't met the beast yet." He said instead, and gestured for them to follow.

The sconces burst to life as usual, and every time they did, the knights would jump and yank out their swords or daggers in fear, then meekly put them away.

He felt like he was escorting a gaggle of children, yet Laurent was acting calmer than all the adults combined, mostly because he had become adjusted to the creepy atmosphere.