Axel leaned against the wall, head in his hands. He stopped screaming a while ago. It had done him no good. One of his eyes wandered to the chest. Sooner, rather than later, he would have to put on whatever was in there. The Queen had told him not to keep her waiting, and though he wasn't sure how patient she was, he wasn't willing to find out.
Axel pulled off his coat, and dropped it to the floor. He took his knife from the pocket, and placed it on the floor next to the chest. As he undressed, he began to cry again. He knew it would be best to simply accept his new reality, as there was one thing his father had made sure he knew before he died.
The Fae could not lie. That was one of the few weaknesses they had, but in this case, he wished it wasn't true. Axel wiped his eyes, and finished bundling up his clothes. As he approached the fire, he took a shaky breath.
"Goodbye, me." Axel said in a barely audible whisper. Then, he closed his eyes and threw his clothes in the fire. Rather than burning normally, they disappeared in a puff of smoke, gone in an instant.
Axel stood, staring in bewilderment. After many long seconds, he turned back to the chest. He pushed the lid, and it slid up soundlessly. Inside the chest, was a set of neatly folded clothes. There was a white shirt and gray pants, along with a pair of fur lined leather boots and new undergarments, as well as a belt laying next to the boots.
He reached into the chest, and dressed himself rapidly. The shirt was smooth, and felt alien to his skin, as all of his old clothes had been rough things. The pants were much tighter than he'd have liked, but the boots were quite soft. He put on the belt, and slid his knife through the top of it, hiding the blade behind his back. He left the shirt untucked, and allowed it to hide his knife.
Now fully dressed, Axel turned to leave, closing the chest with a dismissive shove. The lid made no sound despite the impact, though Axel didn't care enough to make sure it was fully shut. He swung the door open quickly, and exited the room. Only then did he realize one very important thing, a question he'd forgotten to ask.
He did not know where the throne room was. To make matters worse, the ends of the hallway were identical, each made from reflective marble, his own confused face staring back at him.
"Should I find someone and ask them?" Axel pondered as he looked from side to side. He couldn't hear any footsteps, nor any signs that there was someone near him. When the Queen left, which way had she gone? He grunted in frustration upon realizing that she must have vanished after closing the door, as he hadn't heard any footsteps.
Axel took a deep breath, and turned to his right. If he was wrong, there was only one other way he could go, at least from here. Without waiting for his sense to make him double guess himself, Axel set off, travelling at a pace just below a run. His footsteps echoed through the empty hallways as he moved. He whipped around the corner, seeing nothing but another polished hall with another corner at the end of it.
This did not stop him. He kept going, breaking into a run as he moved. He rounded the corner in a manner of seconds, and stopped dead in his tracks. Not because he'd found the room, but because a single idea stuck in his mind.
When he was younger, Axel remembered his older brother giving him advice when navigating a maze, otherwise confusing terrain. Always stick to the left. With another deep breath, Axel turned and began to sprint in the opposite direction.
He rounded the corner, and barreled down the next hall. He passed that room's door as he ran, and noticed that there was a small insignia on the center of the wood that looked exactly like the one on his hand. Perhaps it was a royal crest of some kind?
Had he been more optimistic, or perhaps more foolish, he would have entertained the though of being royalty. However, Axel knew better, he was little more than a debt slave of sorts. Just like his father.
He pushed the thought from his mind as he rounded the left corner. There was another hall, identical to the one he had just left, but he saw something at the end that drove him to run faster than ever before. Shadows danced against the wall at the end of the hall, so Axel carried on, thanking his brother for his advice as he reached the corner.
Just like before, there was another hall. However, this one ended in a large set of double doors. At opposite ends of the entrance, stood two men. They appeared to be entirely made from ice, their bodies blue and translucent, each holding long spears. Though he was at least eight meters away, Axel thought he could make out pointed icicle beards on their faces. There was also someone sweeping on the left side of the hall.
As he rounded the corner, Axel did his best to slow down, only succeeding in knocking his own feet out from under him, and tumbling face first into the polished wall. He screamed and uttered a word his mother would have struck him for, were she still around.
"Oh! Are you okay?" Someone said, their voice heavy with concern and surprise. Axel looked up to see a black haired girl dressed in a plain blue dress staring down at him, a broom in one hand and the other covering her mouth.
"Huh? Oh, yes. Thank you for asking." Axel said awkwardly as he struggled to his feet, using the wall for support. He flashed a small smile at the girl, who looked down.
"Oh, it's no problem. You can't run in these halls. They're like glass or ice... You must be new here. Uh, My name is Cin." Cin lowered her hand, and smiled at Axel.
"I'm Axel. Nice to meet you. Is that the way to the throne room?" Axel said, nodding at Cin. He pointed to the doors behind her. As he asked that question, the smile faded from Cin's face. Her expression became one of pity and she only nodded.
Rather than say anything else, Axel frowned and nodded at her again, before taking of towards the doors in a light jog. As he passed her, he could hear the girl sigh. This only caused his frown to deepen, but did not slow his pace.
When Axel reached the guards, he realized that he had in fact been correct. Both men were constructed entirely from ice. Were they even men? Could they move?
Both of his questions were answered as both spears crossed before him, barring his entrance to the throne room.
"What business do you have here?" The men spoke in unison, in a monotone voice that lacked any kind of inflection or life. Perhaps they were constructs of some sort?
"Uh, Queen Mab commanded me to meet her here. I... owe her a debt." Axel said in a shaky voice, Cin's look still troubling him.
"All right. You may enter." As suddenly as the fell, the spears disappeared from his path, reappearing in their resting positions with such speed that Axel wondered if they'd ever left.
The doors swung open slowly. Axel stepped into the throne room, and stopped dead in his tracks.
The throne room seemed to be constructed entirely out of blue ice. There was no surface that did not shimmer, despite the lack of natural light. The room was massive, easily as large as the town square back in the village. Axel suspected that this room alone could hold two hundred people each spaced three feet from one another.
One the far wall, sat five thrones, each hewn from ice, shaved and carved with such skill that Axel could tell it was perfect, even from the other side of the room. In the largest throne, sat Queen Mab. On her right sat what appeared to be a man. Opposite both of them, there were smaller thrones, each with a person in them. Two on the man's side, one on Mab's.
"Axel, you have come to fulfill your debt." Queen Mab's voice called to him. Though she was on her throne, it sounded as though she was right next to him. Axel nervously looked around, just to make sure she was not right next to him.
"Yes, I have." Axel shouted, approaching further. He was only able to walk half a dozen paces before his body froze in place.
"Do not approach us unless you are told to, boy. And there is no need to shout, in this room, we can hear you with ease." Mab commanded, her voice cold with a touch of harshness.
As nigh always in her presence, Axel could not speak. Suddenly, light overtook his vision, and he found himself at the foot of the thrones. He looked up at the royals, all of whom glared at him with looks fit for insects.
"Celica, my daughter. You asked for a bodyguard, and now you have one. If you break this one, you will not get another." Mab addressed one of her daughters, the one sitting in the throne at the man's right hand. As soon as the words left her mother's mouth, she wrinkled her nose at Axel.
She opened her mouth to speak, but froze in a manner similar to Axel. Her eyes were wide with something between fear and frustration. Odd sounds escaped her throat, fragments of words or retching, Axel did not know.
"Spare me your venom, daughter of mine. Take him, and begone. We have grown up matters to attend to." Mab said, the annoyance in her tone apparent. Light invaded his vision again, and Axel found himself back in the hallway, this time next to Celica.
He turned to look at her just as she turned to look at him. Their gazes met for a few seconds, and then she looked up.
"Worthless." She remarked, then storming of down the hall.
Axel took a deep breath, and let it out slow.
Then he followed after the princess.