Better Left Behind

The interior of the keep was as impressive as the external walls. Oak and mahogany furniture stood atop ornate carpets. Colorful tapestries hung from ropes, filling the space between the windows with woven splendor. Each tapestry depicted what seemed to be a monarch, with unique tools, clothing and weaponry. To Rich it looked like a lineage of kings and queens; he noticed the final tapestry closest to a set of metal doors deeper inside the keep resembled the Sire himself.

He glanced around at the waiting attendants and busy servants, grounded from his awe only by the feeling of Stella grabbing his hand in silence. He glanced down at her, watching her step carefully beside him while her eyes stuck to Arrow. She seemed unsure of the wolf walking along next to them, and did her best to use Rich’s legs as a sort of shield from the animal. Though it did not take long for Arrow to run off to a corner of the hall, startling a servant as he sniffed around the edge of the room.

“Arrow!” Rich hissed. “Come here!” Arrow bounded over and returned to stepping in line with Rich and Stella, whispers now shared between the various workers of the castle.

“Is that a wolf?” one worker asked.

“I thought they went out hunting,” replied another.

“Another one of the Prince’s games?” a guard muttered.

“Maybe. I’m certainly not cleaning up after it,” another said.

The Sire cast a glare back to Rich and Arrow, but became distracted by Nerrel. Rich used the opportunity to make his escape.

“Hey, Stella!” he whispered. The girl looked up at him with wondering eyes.

“Can you take Arrow to my room? I need to talk to father.” Rich said with a smile. Stella looked nervously at the wolf.

“Don’t worry, he’s friendly!” Rich assured. Arrow walked over and sniffed Stella, licking her face.

“Okay!” she giggled. She pet Arrow on the nose and turned to run down one of the halls. Arrow bounced after her with a playful bark. After a moment Rich followed, tracking Arrow’s playful barks to figure out where his chambers were supposed to be in the keep.

Stella’s laughter bounced off the walls just as loudly as she led the wolf up a flight of stairs and down a series of short hallways. Rich made note of the passing walls and doors, trying to come up with a method to remember this route for the future. Finally she reached an oak door and slapped it happily.

“We’re here puppy!” she cheered, bouncing up and down. Rich came around the corner with a smile, huffing lightly. This new body was not by any means overweight, but he could tell it lacked the tone and muscle he was used to having. At some point he would have to plan out a training regiment to fix this body up and return it to a form he more closely recognized. For what it was worth, the prince seemed to be somewhere around the age of twenty, so there was still plenty of time for it to be trained into something more muscular.

The door Stella led them to was ornate, fitted with silver crests and iconography Rich had seen on the tapestries in the great hall. Muscle memory pulled his hand to his right pocket, where he found a silver key. He offered a smile to Stella as he approached.

“You’re so happy Fuly! You seemed so angry this morning…” Stella said, looking over Rich with confusion. He fumbled with the key, sticking it in the door with a thud.

“Uh, well. I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Rich muttered, casting a glare over to Arrow. The wolf tilted his head, his tongue dangling.

With a turn and click of the key the door creaked open to reveal a large room filled with green carpets and small pieces of wooden furniture. Green curtains hid a large window near a king sized bed with a carved wooden frame. The sound of gentle sweeping turned Rich’s attention to an attendant in the corner, who looked up in surprise.

“Back so soon, My Lord?” he said, strolling up to a small table and taking a leather pouch from it. “And just in time, I had run out of water and was starting to get quite parched.”

What kind of nobles leave their attendants locked in a room to clean? Rich thought, frowning. The man’s white clothing matched his aging hair, his movements slow with age. A silver pin was clasped to his lapel in the shape of an owl. Now that he thought about it, Rich had seen similar symbols on the shields of some of the armored men around the castle.

“Would you like me to fetch the Lady for you?” the attendant asked, snapping Rich back to the situation.

“Oh, sure. I guess,” he muttered out, stepping into the room. Arrow bounded in and immediately sprinted to the bed, leaping on and rolling around in the linens. The attendant did not react much to the wolf, simply staring in silence.

“This is Arrow. Please fetch a bowl of water and bring it here, if you could.” Rich said, doing his best to smile as he ushered Stella into the room.

The attendant simply nodded and turned to the opposite door in the hall, moving to unlock it with a black key. It was much smaller than Rich’s door, and was not as well decorated.

“You are free to move about again, Princess.” the attendant said, offering a bow of his head before he set off back in the direction the group had come from. Rich turned his full attention across the hall, now eyeing the doorway. A woman strolled into the doorframe, crossing her arms and leaning against the wood. She was no less than a year from Rich’s age, and was dressed in a flowing if simple pink dress. Curled red hair framed her shoulders, but despite her beauty her eyes displayed nothing less than hostile rage in Rich’s direction.

“What,” she barked out, eyeing his dirtied and grass-stained form.

Princess? So, Fulcher’s wife. Probably another arranged marriage. Rich thought. He frowned deeper, unsettled by the implications of her being locked away for so long. Before he could say anything though, Stella ran forward and hugged the girl’s legs.

“D’aw Stella! It’s been awhile! I missed you while I was locked in!” she said. The last words held venom, and despite her happy tone the face she wore over Stella’s shoulder was one of disdain as her eyes stayed on Rich.

“So what now, Fulcher? Care to come inside and continue your worthless advances?” Schon hissed, covering Stella’s ears for the moment to allow the words to go unheard by the child. Rich looked down at himself, raising his palms to capture as much of Fulcher’s body as possible in his gaze. He shook his head.

“Do whatever you want,” he said, easing his door shut and leaving both in the hallway. 

That’s distressing. I’ll just leave her alone. It’s clear she doesn’t want to be here. That’s when the thought crossed his mind for the first time. 

If I were King, maybe I could outlaw these practices. Maybe I can change things around here.