The Prince's Mark

Chapter Twenty Three

Getting to the castle required walking up a steep slope. This, paired with Sakshi's stupid sack of stones, made their walk a trial. Sakshi moved casually, used to the trek.

From a distance, the castle appeared to be covered in tiny cracks, but it was patterned like everything else. Doubtless they were more intricate than anything else in Dorssur. It also had several towers, each topped with what looked like a plant bulb with a single, white sprout shooting out of it. These towers had walkways connecting them, ensuring that anyone who lived in them didn't have to climb all the way down and mingle with whoever lived on the ground floor to get to another tower. The castle was large, but it was nothing compared to Mirthal's. There was a white wall around the castle enclosing it and some other buildings.

No knights stood guard at the door to the outer wall. Sakshi waltzed inside like it was nothing, so Mirthal did the same.

The ground here was cobblestone, but, oddly, some of those stones were missing or damaged. Mirthal frowned at the ground as they walked. Something like this would never have been acceptable in the Elven Kingdom.

As they approached, two guards rushed out to meet them. Their expressions shifted from stern to confused when they recognized Sakshi.

They wore strange looking armor. Portions of it were plated, with a rectangular plate on the chest and a round plate on the belly, but the majority of it wasn't. Most of the armor was thick cloth with an oval pattern covering it. Each oval had a smaller, tear drop shape inside. Strangest of all were the flaps of fabric hanging from the shoulders. These flaps gave the guards an almost birdlike look, as though wings hung down over their arms.

The three of them spoke in Winlean while Mirthal retreated into himself. He was a prince—should he act like one here? It would be polite to let people know he was a prince, but he was alone. Sakshi wasn't someone who could protect him in a struggle. Clearly, he also couldn't be relied on to protect himself in a struggle if his hair was any indication. If the common people disliked elves, it was possible that the king was strongly against them too. There was no telling what might happen if they knew they had the Elven Prince, alone and vulnerable, in their country.

The only option he had was to keep his identity a secret.

One of the guards, the larger one, walked off and the other turned toward Mirthal.

"You witnessed the mountains moving, did you?" the first, smaller sentry asked in accented Aodehsh. "Could you pull back your hood, stranger?"

"Oh, of course." Mirthal did was requested, not surprised by the way the two flinched when he laid eyes on his ears.

The guard and Sakshi exchanged forceful words with each other. Eventually, he gave Mirthal a wary look, but otherwise ignored him.

The other sentry, a weathered man with deep set eyes, returned and, after whispering to his companion, nodded to Sakshi.

"I told you he'd see us," Sakshi said to Mirthal, grinning.

Sakshi's confidence didn't make since to Mirthal. While Sakshi saw familiar faces, Mirthal saw men in armor who, if they wanted, could hurt them both. They weren't jovial or happy to see Sakshi. The shorter one, a man that looked almost too young to be a guard in the first place, kept stealing glances at Sakshi and fidgeting. Maybe this was normal Winlean behavior, but it didn't sit right with Mirthal.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Sakshi snapped.

The four of them walked, one guard leading and one guard bringing up the rear.

It was possible that this was standard procedure here. Winlea was strange and unpleasant, after all. In the Elven Kingdom, however, guards walking in front and behind someone only meant bad things.