A girl and a boy dressed in white silks, barely covering their body enter the bedroom five minutes later, Arne has since checked for CCTV cameras or anything astute that would provide him of the knowledge that this was some kind of prank that was being played on him, a kind of set he was on.
But even when he had looked out the window and found a deep fell that told him he was in some kind of tower or something, overlooking a garden of flowers and trees in the dark, smelled fresh daffodils and magpies [ro1] and night breeze, the walls as thick and hard under his hands as they looked, he knew, he knew something in his gut that he wasn't yet ready to accept.
It was a trickle of something, a primordial feeling, as if he had been here before, as if those yellow brown eyes that had looked so viciously and poisonously at him did not lie, he had felt that orange haze over him, it wasn't like losing consciousness, it was like being in warmth of something so warm and deep that you forgot everything else, it was the way his heart was beating erratically in his chest, his mom would never lie to him, never hide those things from him, they all were lying, they had to be.
He frowns at the blonde girl, and the brown haired boy that was kneading his leg and calling him Prince before. They both were looking down on the floor, not meeting his eye, what were they, helpers?
"I am Kenworth and she is Eisimina, we both serve you, we are to take you to the bath, your highness." The boy says looking a little up and blushing furiously.
He wasn't in the mood for some kind of bath, he just wanted to meet those councillors and get his mother back. "I am not going to any bath; just take me to those councillors."
"But Lady Linnea told us that you were here from afar, and the councillors had been called an hour after because of your bath." The girl says looking up at Arne for a moment, then blushing furiously and looking at the floor as if it held the most interesting painting in the world, the boy looked at the girl in shock, as if she had done something daring.
Why the hell they were blushing like infants, for god's sake if these furious people became anymore indignant than they were, Arne would lose his mind, but then he breathed and found his head still heavy, he needed a clear head to talk to the councillors as they called them, and what harm a hot bath could do? He didn't want to sit in this hideous room waiting for an hour doing nothing, he says, "Okay, show me the bathroom."
What he sees isn't a bathroom, he is standing in the harry potter and the goblet of fire bathroom, where Harry uses the Prefect's washroom to open the egg under the water, it's high carved ceilings, alcoves, braziers, with a large pool that lapped water in streams announced it wasn't a normal bath, neither the stone walled hallways and passageway Arne had walked to come here.
He had walked through an antechamber, to a connecting hallway, a labyrinth of passages, had seen people in white drapes and other people in black clothes looking at him as if he was some kind of a Neanderthal.
He stands there, and lets himself soak the over induced information, the castle he was sure he was in, the sweet scent meandering through the air, the brazier where the charcoal was burning, and the alcoves that were lit with wall torches, he was in a meth induced dream or something, but then he was not.
He has checked.
He looks at the clean clothes lying near the pool on a stone filigreed table, the carafe lying on top of it, and says turning towards the helpers who had brought him here, "Okay thank you, now you two can-" and he stops in his tracks, his eyes widening in horror, those two helpers, the blonde girl and the brown haired guy were naked, head to toe, their eyes wide and opulent, breathing fast, their barely covering white clothes lying near their feet, and they were looking at him like-
"What the fuck, why have you removed your clothes?" Arne nearly shouts, face red, removing his eyes away from them and staring at the floor, he was in a fucking mad place with crazy people.
He hears the gasps of the girl and the boy, helplessly looks at them and not down their body, their eyes gaping holes into him, faces flush, staring at him as if he was speaking some another language.
"But your highness, do you not like-" It was the girl.
"Wear your damn clothes."
The girl stills, hurt waving in her blue eyes, whatever she thought Arne would do, this was a mad hole, he would find that yellow and brown eyed stranger and kill him, and even as he thinks about that stranger who called himself Talish, he thinks about his naked chest that was bulging with abs and muscles, those gleaming pale golden skin that looked like as if it contained light, those vicious burning eyes, the way he was standing in his room only wearing pants, is this how these people lived here, getting half naked or full naked whenever they wanted without thinking about anyone else's privacy, what kind of Neanderthal they were?
Arne hears the scuffle of clothes, turns his head to the other direction, only when he stops hearing the movement, inclining they were dressed back, he turns his head in the direction of the boy and girl.
He releases a breath and glares at them; they were back to the barely covering white silk, "Who told you to get naked?"
"Your highness, we thought-" The brown haired boy nearly turned to the shade of maroon, shame clear in his voice.
"You thought," Arne's voice comes icily and sharp, he sees the boy flinching and exhales, he didn't want to scare the boy, fuck, he was the scared one here, but he says, toning his voice a little bit, "You don't even know me, how can you think, who told you to?"
"It's a tradition here, your highness, we know you haven't been here for a long time," The girl says, looking at Arne's from under her lashes for the first time, her hand intentionally swings from her pale neck to the swelling breasts that were half visible underneath the ridiculous white cloth she was wearing, "we can teach you," she says and without waiting for another moment her another hand reaches down to the brown haired boy's hardness, and cups it into her hands, making the boy gasp.
Arne staggers back in surprise, then stops himself repeating the quote in his mind that he had learned in third grade, 'weakness is an enemy that kills you slowly,' for whatever reason these people were calling him your highness, prince, there were councillors waiting to meet him, Linnea and Anker, whoever they were, looked like an important people in this place, surely these two helpers had to listen to him, he could throw them out with his strength if it came to that, but words he had to try first, he was in a vulnerable place.
With as much power as he could muster, he says, "Stop."
The girl's hand instantly stops moving on the boy's hardness, with heavy lidded gaze and flushed face the boy stared at him, whereas the girl's face was as indolent as it could be, the only sign of arousal or defiance was her other hand squeezing her breast.
Arne jaw clicks, "Get out."
This time when the boy flinched Arne didn't care, he could barely contain his anger and hatred for these people, the girl whereas looked as if she was taking a breezy walk in the evening, barely flustered. [ro3]
"Your highness-" she started, hand leaving the boy's genitals.
"I said get out." Arne roared.
He didn't have to repeat himself again, the boy and the girl evaporated like wisp of air, and he found himself taking desperate gasps of air, the steam in the air felt too hot on his skin, he wasn't going to touch the water, or anything here, he walked out the wretched bathroom and met with two armoured guards clamoured in silver star crests, the girl and the boy were to be seen nowhere, good.
He says, "Take me to Linnea."
The guard's eyes widen under his helmet, he bowed his head so deep, he almost fell to the floor, the other guard, did the same, and he says, "She said-"
"I said," he musters again, with enough power in his voice, face tight, "take me to Linnea."
The guard didn't make him repeat again, with one arm calling out one of the several helpers in the hallway; the guard muttered fast silent instructions to the helper.
And then he was walking with those guards, through those stone halls and lit walls clamouring with gold and silver intricacies, through people in different coloured clothing who gasped when they looked at him, he didn't care, there was only one thing in his mind.
He wanted to find his mom, get her out of the prison, and walk out this miserable place, and one thing more he thought, teeth clenching, jaw hard, he wanted that yellow and brown eyed snake or rabbit, or whatever the fuck he was, the one that had brought him here, kidnapped his mom and thrown her in prison, he wanted him in front of him, and he wanted to punch those vicious angled jaw and luminous face.