The Howling Wolf

Part 10

The castle had a somewhat gloomy atmosphere to it; it seemed darker, colder than the one you remembered.

A voice suddenly halted you and you both looked up toward the remparts above you where you heard it.

Two soldiers looked down.

"Who are you and what brought you to the royal castle?"

"My name is ______ and I come to speak with my father the King."

"Who are the two other people?"

"My husband and my son."

There was a moment of silence after the two guards had disappeared.

The footbridge slowly lowered to the ground, above the moat, to allow access to the entrance of the castle. You confidently marched to the drawbridge but stopped in your tracks when two spears welcomed you behind the heavy gate.

"Do you carry any weapons?"

"We don't." You calmly answered while opening your arms.

The two of them exchanged looks and eventually put themselves at ease. They escorted you across the huge yard where you finally saw the bailey.

"Wait here," one of them said before walking away towards the wide doors while the other one kept an eye on your family.

They opened together, rusty hinges groaning loud enough to notice everyone residing in the castle of your arrival. You walked inside the great hall, a very wide rectangular room that had high ceilings and large windows to welcome the natural light in.

As you walked behind the soldier along the very long auburn carpet that led to the high royal throne, a sentiment of confusion overcame you as you did not recognize the place you had once lived in. The large tables that used to surround the room had been removed, the beautiful ornaments that decorated the wide earth behind the throne were no longer present.

The more you observed the soldiers while waiting for the royal family, the more you noticed their dull gazes. The few people you had come across appeared as no more than ghosts busying themselves in a castle that had lost its lacklustre.

The overall atmosphere unsettled you greatly as you started to fear for the worst.

A shiver ran down your spine and you began to feel even more exhausted than you already were, the air felt sick and dusty, you wanted to get out of there.

"Her Majesty the Queen!"

The male voice suddenly snapped you out of your reverie. Taehyung threw a dirty look at the soldier when your son, startled by the sound, faintly jerked in his arms. The sound dulled unpleasantly in the empty room.

Then, you saw her, the Queen.

You hardly recognized her either. Her lack of energy was so much unlike her, she was moving as vividly as her late mother the few weeks preceding her death. Her long and majestic dress seemed to slow her down on her way to the huge golden chair. Her features corroborated your inner feelings.

She sat down feebly and slowly she met your eyes. Her brows twitched.

Before either of you had the time to open your mouths, you noticed a figure out of the corner of your eye and your eyes softened.

You felt your weak heart beating increasing ever-so-lightly as his sight.

He had grown so much, changed so much yet he would still be unmistakable. His raven hair was the same, soft tendrils falling in his deep brown doe-like eyes in sharp contrast with his cream white skin. His figure was not the one of the little boy you had last seen before his departure. He looked strong, beautiful yet his expression also seemed faded, even your unexpected presence was not enough to rekindle his familiar brightness you were so used seeing.