The man in front of me had to take a moment before shaking his head and firmly hitting his chest with his right arm. "Not at all. Are you Lady Richmond?" he asked innocently. My nose crunched up unpleasantly at the name.
"I've come here to marry your prince." I replied. "My carriage is over there, it got destroyed by that thing." I pointed towards the hellhound, who was now being pitifully silent. I noticed how some of them were staring at my ripped dress and I curtsied sarcastically.
"Sorry that I couldn't keep my appearance in check while running for my life."
The man in front of me looked right into my eyes before bursting out laughing. Everyone stood there, stunned, before he put out his hand. "You sure do have an attitude, though I'd say that you're pleasantly different than what I had envisioned. I'm Uriel, patrol captain. Let me escort you to the palace, it's not far from here."
He gestured towards his sleigh and forced a smile. He's testing me, he doesn't think that I'm who I claim to be. I can see it in his eyes, but it seems like he can't take any chances and speak of his concerns out loud. For now, I'll just smile back and get out of danger.
As he helped me onto the sleigh, he told me to sit down and let him do the rest. I was surprised how fast six dogs could take a sleigh containing two people, but most of the trip was down slopes that seemed to be used quite frequently.
I was freezing so I ended up covering myself with a patch of fir that had was at the bottom of the sleigh and threw it over my shoulders.
"Look up, My Lady." shouted Uriel as we drifted across the snow. I looked up and all my eyes were filled with was white stars.
I looked at the winter palace, ornate with icicles and blankets of snow across its roof. Never before in my life had I seen something as gorgeous as this, not even in a painting. The size, the way that it spanned out over the entirety of the small island surrounded by a frozen lake, never before had I wanted to stop time this badly.
After a long sleigh ride, we soon reached the bridge. The gate opened once watchers on the arch of the bridge noticed the new arrival and the faster the dogs ran, the quicker our approach to the castle was. The dogs systematically began to run around the centrepiece fountain, slowly reducing their speed until we came to a stop. At that very moment, I realised that I must have forgotten about the cold since my feet and hands appeared numb.
"My Lady, welcome to Attinian Castle." Uriel declared, getting out of the sled before handing the reigns to some young men who appeared to be their carers. He then walked around and put out his hand to help me out, but I was so enamoured by the architecture of the castle that I didn't even noticed that his hand had been outstretched until the last minute.
"Oh, sorry." I spoke apologetically. He chuckled and brushed his gloved hand off on his jacket.
"I know, it's pretty amazing. But just wait until you see the inside." he whispered. "It gets much better than this."
Better? That seems hard to believe. I wonder what it looks like in spring. The flowing water, the warm colours of leaves on the trees circling the small lake, it would sound like something straight from a novel.
"So I guess that you don't see snow often in Richmond." Uriel uttered, trying to make conversation. I smiled. "I don't know for sure. I live on the eastern border, so it doesn't tend to snow a lot since we're quite close to Barroquant."
I walked up the stairs, looking around at the large door. I thought that I spied some of the castle's history on here. My fingertips brushed past the wooden carvings in the door, and Uriel chuckled.
"Sharp eye."
I smiled. "Is all of the castle's history written on this one door, or is it a part of a series?"
He smiled, looking up at the very top, just as I was. "Part of a 34 door series. It'll take you a while to read them all and find out their order. But here's a hint, this one is the first. Just so that you know where to start."
He knocked on the door, and it opened wide. Warmth immediately hit my reddish cheeks as I walked forward and into the castle's insides, only to find it strangely empty. Not a single candle had been lit, and the carpet seemed quite old, scuffed, and unwashed.
It didn't seem to bother Uriel and his men, since they walked right in without a care in the world, as if this quiet was the norm for them all. While his men went down the stairs behind the staircase, he began walking up the stairs.
"My Lady, this way. I'll take you to the Prince-, or perhaps you'd rather I have someone fetch your things from the carriage-"
"I wouldn't bother." I declared, laughing awkwardly. "Nothing that is in that carriage belongs to me."
Nothing at all. I don't know if he's planted things there to make it appear like I was well looked after or not, but I don't want anything that has been through his dirtied hands.
"What do you mean by that-"
"Uriel." a young man bellowed, running down the stairs. "The Prince is out hunting right now. He won't be back for a while. I-... who's this?"
His eyes fell onto me, and his eyes immediately made his way to my ripped dress. "A beggar?"
That warranted a hit on the back of the head by Uriel. "She's the Lady with royal blood sent from Richmond, in Bulynn."
He stared at me, then at my dress, then right to Uriel again. "I'll be down in the crash hall."
Yeah, he doesn't believe it for a second. Great.
-End of Chapter 6-
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