Chapter 4

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"Keep your head down. Whatever you do, don't look the king in the eyes unless told to do so. He's never lashed out or anything, that I know of at least, but it's still good to show respect," Taylor lectured as we walked down the dirt trail that led to the castle.

I remained silent as we got closer and closer to the looming stone castle. I don't really get how this dimension was in such an in-between state. They had luxuries that some dimensions could only dream of, but then they stayed with the medieval look. This castle was a perfect example. It had the looks and design of a genuine gothic stone castle. It was tall and even had a wooden draw bridge that went over a moat. However, I could see from here that there were lightbulbs around every corner. This place is weird.

"Are you even listening?" Taylor snapped at me.

I let my eyes fall on her tired face and felt a tinge of sympathy. She tried to not let me see it but she's exhausted from hosting me. "Of course I am," I reassured her.

My words calmed her a bit and she nodded her head. She suddenly stopped so I stopped as well. She anxiously ran her fingers through her hair and seemed on the edge of a nervous breakdown. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I just feel really anxious for some reason," Taylor apologized. I nodded in reply and we continued on.

We got to the draw bridge of the castle and a few guards looked at me in awe. Instead of asking us what our business inside the castle was, they just tried not to make their gawking too obvious. We walked past them and onto the castle grounds. "Is it usually that easy to get in?" I asked Taylor.

She shrugged and replied, "I don't know. I've never been here before."

"Wait. So you don't know where we're supposed to go?" I inquired.

"Not really. Maybe we can ask one of the guards that are pretending not to stare at you?" Taylor suggested with a grin.

I looked around the courtyard and saw a few guards placed every hundred yards or so, and Taylor was right... They were all staring at me. "I guess asking one of them to escort us wouldn't hurt," I reluctantly agreed with her.

Taylor's eyes immediately landed on a more handsome guard, and she dragged me over to him. The guard straightened his stance, making the sunlight gleam off of his silver armor when he realized we were heading in his direction. His blue eyes rapidly flickered from my face to the ground. "We need an audience with whoever does the stuff with the humans," Taylor demanded.

The guard's bushy brown eyebrow raised and he asked, "Do you mean Prince Cato?"

"Does he deal with human refugees?" Taylor questioned.

"Last time I check he does," the guard replied.

Taylor put her hands on her hips and gave a single nod. "Then we need an audience with Prince Cato," Taylor declared as she held her chin up high.

The guard was a little flustered by the small girl's demand. He gawked for a few seconds then finally shook his head. "Umm... Of course. Let me tell someone to cover me and I'll lead you to the prince," the guard complied.

The guard then ran away from us. "Well I think that went really well," Taylor said looking at me with a proud grin.

"If he actually comes back you can consider it a success," I told her.

She looked in the direction the guard had run off to and asked, "Why would he not come back?"

"Life has treated you too well if you never even considered that he might not come back," I grumbled. I'm starting to remember why I don't spend a prolonged amount of time with people.

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