orchid | red velvet x herb

[ BLOODHOUND ]

Nervous?

No, Red Velvet was not nervous one bit. As his boots echoed through the pristine castle's halls, he kept his back straight with nothing but pride. He had not been addressed by Dark Enchantress in quite some time. He could just smell the upcoming mission, the taste tantalizing on his tongue.

In truth, he was a little excited. His thoughts, however, would be cut short; leading the way with smooth and elegant strides, Pomegranate halted before the throne room. It was often unoccupied; even Dark Enchantress herself didn't care too much for it when she was not addressing those below her. A vast room where she could be the center.. it was perfect. No one had a single objection.

When Red Velvet stopped behind her, she pushed the heavy wooden doors apart and open. They were met with familiar stained glass windows and elegant tapestries. The castle they now inhabited once belonged to a kingdom long abandoned; it had collapsed before the rise of the Ancient Heroes. The castle was all that was preserved, destroyed homes outside overgrown with moss. Everything was connected; the castle erased from history, the tower She sought to guard. By the will of fate and those who shed their blood before they stepped foot on this Earth, Dark Enchantress had each and every tool needed.

She did not sit on the throne today. Instead, as Red Velvet laid eyes on her, he met nothing but her back. Elegant as divine marble, Dark Enchantress had not changed one bit. Her hand, thin and wrinkled, rested on the stained glass panels that warmed the room.

Even with her back to them, when she could not see them doing such, Pomegranate and Red Velvet dropped to one knee. They would not dare to raise their heads to get a better look without being addressed.

"My lady," Pomegranate began, thick voice echoing from dark wood. She spoke with inhuman respect. Red Velvet was unaware as to what she traded it for; in the few and far between times he had worked alongside her, their conversations were professional and hollow. "You have requested us?"

"And you have arrived promptly." Her voice, like the most comforting of branding on skin, sent shivers down his spine. Red Velvet hadn't seen her in weeks; the last he'd heard from her (save from awkwardly offering her chocolates for Mother's Day), he'd been dismissed to do nothing but train his hounds. The excitement of new blood..? He flexed the fingers on his claw in anticipation. "Pomegranate.. And Red Velvet. As per usual, you have come to me without any incident." The praise froze him.

"...So," Dark Enchantress continued, heels clicking on floors older than her. "I have something to ask of you. Will you listen?"

"Yes," a haunting unison sounded.

"Good." The contract had been sealed again, the guiding flame burned out. A proud smile formed on her face, but neither of them would see. She did not instruct them to rise. They knew these were not communal grounds; like fish, they were to bubble about as she pleased.

Behind the stained glass, the sun did not falter. Neither did Dark Enchantress, her ever-lasting beauty truly haunting. She was nothing but a snake, but not to the two who would kneel for her eternally. In thinking such, Red Velvet reminded himself of the promise he'd made all that time ago. Ever-so-small and afraid, weighed down by new life, he swore his all to her. Anything she required, anything at all , he would strive for. It had never struggled, never hesitated. Trembling flowers of teeth and viscera, he would forever hold their thorns.

He sure as hell wouldn't back away now.

"This mission.. I believe it will be quick work for the two of you. You may stand." Without a hint of hesitation, they straightened. "There is a small subdivision of the center kingdom's army that has been subdued by Licorice and Dark Choco."