Upon reaching the royal castle, the guards free open the large gates on sighting the man on his horse. He raised his hands up in greetings and walked in with the horse. Alvey stepped down from his black stallion and brushed his head Patting it. "Good Boy Robin." He said with a smile and attached the reins to the man in charge.
"Here, change his shoes. I need those shiny ones for my Robbin." The man nodded and walked away with the stallion. Meanwhile Alvey turned around and walked into the castle's premises. Loud footsteps and faint whisperings were heard when Alvey continued to walk deeper into the castle. The maids greeted him and stopped their works which he replied with a smile.
"I told you I would win his heart." Says one of the maids who turned away and continued to wipe the window of the corridor.
"That's funny Valeria. We all know I'm the only one in his heart. So back off." The other maid who was dusting the desk of vases said confidently. This made Alvey who was far end of the corridor to roll his eyes. He pushed opened the doors right after the guards called for his arrival and stepped into the library where the king was flipping through some papers.
"My king" He bowed lowly. The king looked up and dropped the papers. "Did you drop the message Maynard?" He asked and dipped his quill into the ink, scribbling some words into a piece of paper.
"I did My lord. Lady Belle is doing just fine. She enquiries for the well being of Asher." He bowed again and the king nodded. He waved his hands gesturing for him to get up. Alvey did so and seeks permission to leave.
Alvey left and continued his pace to the second prince of Maverick who seems to be busy with something. The guards raised their hands up indicating false approval. "The prince is busy and orders no one to interrupt him." Says one of the guards with a buff voice.
"Alright. Once he's done, notify him that Alvey sends his greetings-"
"Maynard? What a pleasant surprise!" The prince exclaimed with his mighty voice from within the room. The guards gave way and the prince pulled open the doors.
"Alvey! My good man"
"Greetings Prince Asher" He bowed down in greetings to the young generous and handsome prince. The prince nodded in response and gestured for him to enter. "I thought my day was going hectic." He huffed a sigh.
"I can already guess what you were busy with." Alvey replied with a hint of mischief in his voice. "Always with the bad thoughts... Ohh careful there." He almost stepped on something if not for him.
"That's wrong actually. I was only trying to state facts." Alvey defended with a slight smile.
"It has been long since I last engaged with a lady. All the mistresses aren't attractive enough." Asher said picking an apple from the mini basket of his desk and taking a bite. "The king really needs to surf for more. What do you think?" He asked.
Speaking of beauty, Alvey's mind drafted back to Sia. The girl with a hidden face. He was confused as to why a lady would cover her face. Girls normally show out their beauty to attract men and suitors. So why cover your face? A smirk appeared on his face when an idea popped.
"Maynard!" The prince pulled him out of his trance and Alvey snapped his head. "My apologies." He bowed and Asher held a light smirk. Crossing his arms he sat down on one of sofas. "Did hoi deliver the message my father sent you to?" He asks looking at him keenly.
"I did. Lady belle cares about you. Anything wrong?" Alvey stated with an arched brow. Asher walked over and requested for a maid, which one was quick to come and clean up the little mess Alvey caused.
"Nothing actually. Just a long time since I last met up with her... HEYYY! Careful there.. Oh!" Asher was quick to walk over the maid's place but unfortunately her arm which was on the desk for her support to get up slipped and the ink jar fell on the marble floor, Spilling. The maid looked up and hastily stared at the mess she created with a horrified look. She's dead now.
"I'm.. I.. am verrr-y sorry. My lord!" She bowed lowly with a shaky voice and quickly picked up the rag she was using and wiped the floor causing an even bigger stain.
"Get out!" Asher curtly said through gritted teeth. This made the maid more terrified and confused. How is she now going to get the stain away? She thought and quickly scurried away shaking.
"Are you going to sack her out?" Alvey asked with pursed lips looking at the stain on the floor.
"Oh Don't worry, these old maids aren't capable of a simple task I assign them. I also want new faces. Gosh! I need to converse with Sir Vincent about the ball." He quickly stood up and walked to his desk in which splatter of ink was present. He huffed a frustrated sigh and ran his fingers through his black hair.
"All these maids are useless. Maynard, get that maid fired." He stated and squeezed the present paper he used.
"If you keep firing them. they might only be few left"
"Well I can't stand lazy asses!" Asher sat down and continued to work. "You can take your leave."
"Alright, thanks for your time." He bowed one last time before leaving. After some hours has passed and he was done completing his assigned Work. He left and rode his horse back to the village. Stopping near the edge of the forest where he last spotted Sia.
Sia was done applying her makeup and packed all her belongings. Ready to leave. She huffed a long sigh and started to walk into the forest, not deep but enough to not be spotted. She walked some miles and the chattering of the market could be heard. Sia continued to walk some more until a particular quiet time when she decided to walk into the road. Raising up her dress she successfully passed through the buses and dusted her dress.
Little did she know that someone was watching her every move.
••••
.
After a long ride of driving, Harley finally pulled over and parked the car. Lizzy abruptly woke up from her slumber. Harley removed her seat belt and unlocked the car getting out. Lizzy did the same.
"Why'd we stop?" Lizzy asked confused until she saw the old looking manor. "Well that's pretty old. What are we doing here exactly? And why did you park the car in the bush?!"
"Stop blabbering and be quiet. Now follow my every move." She then quietly walked into the manor's fountain that consisted of rusted metals and dried leaves. Everywhere looked abandoned.
"I don't trust this place. Can you at least explain what we are doing in here?!" She whisper yelled and Harley sent her a sharp glare through her glasses.
"You'll know in an hour now shhhh!" She rolled her eyes and followed her. Harley pushed open the large door which caused a creaked noise. "I had to close my ears because of this noise."
"Can u just shut up"
Lizzy pursed her lips and filled her in. Turning to the side and carefully observing the building. There was a long sideways stairs that leads to different doors up the stairs. Harley turned her touch and Lizzy did the same. "I'm going to observe here, you go up." Harley said adjusting her purple glasses and she nodded, climbing the stairs calmly and humming to an unknown song.
"Wait what I'm I even observing?!" Lizzy stopped with a confused face and was about to turn back when suddenly she was face to face with a wall. Her eyes widened at the close intact. She looked up slowly and her eyes met with a shiny crystal clear blue eyes.
Harley cleared the spider webs at her way and slowly but carefully walked deeper into the hallway. Sensing someone's gaze on her, Harley quickly entered the nearby room and turned around. Just in time when a cat jumps down from the hole of the ceiling and majestically walks away. Harley huffed a sigh and picked the heat detector from the side and turned it on. It makes a light sound and slowly the screen turns neon blue in color signifying no heat.
"Lizzy, oh God I forgot to explain to her" Harley face palmed herself and started to walk back to where she left her. Climbing the stairs carefully and looking around she then raised the heat detector and moved around in search of heat. "Damn thing! WORK already!"
"Lizzy?!" She called out and received no reply. "Lizzy?! This isn't time for hide and seek. We need to get going." Still no sign of response. Harley climbed the last stair and missed her footing. She yelped and flung her arm away to grab something. Her heart pondering hard and within a second she was Flung back and hit a solid chest. She looked up with widened eyes and quickly scurried away from his concession and sprinted down the stairs. A way in which he won't easily get to her.
"LIZZY?! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HEREEEEE!" She screamed moving downstairs
. She finally reached down and looked up to find an empty hallway. Her heart pondered more and she turned on her heels and left the building.
•••••
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~