“Agreed,” I said as we marched onward, and when I glanced up at the orange-hued sky, Alexander and the other familiars were still following us. “Alex, how much farther do you think we’ll have until we reach the palace?”
I’d say about another half hour on foot, he remarked. Too bad you can’t fly, huh?
“How will we enter the palace?” Revna asked in a quiet voice since more and more merchants appeared from their shops as they cleaned up whatever they had displayed outside. “Do we have a plan, or are we going to make it up as we go along?”
“I think I have an idea,” Penelope piped up in an eager voice. “I’ve noticed this kingdom is filled with too many villagers. Surely, they pay visits to the prince to beg for food, shelter, or whatnot. What if we go in and plead to have a word with him? We can say our house is on the brink of falling apart or something along those lines. At least it will get us inside.”
“That’s a clever idea, Miss Penelope,” Vanessa said, even though she looked at Vesta as we started to pass by more lavish looking shops and well-built houses. “And if that doesn’t work, I’m sure Miss Vesta can use her charms to sway the guards for an audience. Remember, as I said, this prince is spoiled and greedy, but he’s still a man and, like all men, can be deceived easily by a pretty face. Just be sure to ask him about the room.”
“Do you think you can handle that job, Vesta?” Akira chuckled in a playful tone. “It might be the hardest one yet.”
“Yes, I’m sure I’m up to the task, but thank you for asking, Akira,” Vesta replied before she teasingly stuck out her tongue. “In fact, I bet I could persuade him to go to hell and back for me if I asked.”
“Let’s hope that’s actually true,” Vanessa said in a more serious tone. “It might be our only hope.”
We walked the rest of the way in silence, and the closer we ventured toward the towering, sea-stone palace, the more elegant the houses and shops became. I looked down at our mediocre clothes and mud-covered boots, and I knew the prince would believe we were indeed in need of help. Even if he seemed like a royal asshole, it would be worth a shot.
Finally, we reached the castle’s bridge, and I could see a line of peasants already forming outside of the palace and waiting to gain entrance. Hideous, scale-covered women were shouting with crying babies in their hands, and I also noticed several elderly men with farm animals trying to reason with two guards standing outside the portcullis.
The castle itself was simple in structure, with only four towers, and every stone was equal in size and shape. It was a plain palace, and the only form of decoration I could see were the many stained-glass windows, which depicted sirens, whales, kraken, and other deep-sea creatures. Even though they were busy pieces of artwork, the glass colors were muted, and they barely sparkled under the glowing sunset.
We gathered around the crowd building outside of the gates, and I craned my neck to look at the two guards who were doing their best to push back the pleading peasants. No matter how much they cried or begged, the two scaled soldiers didn’t show an ounce of mercy. Neither of them wore helmets, and one had pale hair while the other had locks as black as night.
“Please, for God’s sake, let me in!” one woman with bright yellow eyes, a long red braid, and teal-scaled skin wailed. In her arms, she carried a small baby that resembled something between a shark and a human. “I need to speak with the prince! My husband died trying to find sea-glass for us to keep our home, and now--”
“Silence!” the guard with the lighter hair roared. “The prince will see no one tonight! Go back to your homes! That’s an order!”
“But we need to see him!” a young man with bright orange hair yelled, but when he tried to run past the guard with dark hair, the soldier quickly pulled out his sword and pierced the peasant with his blade.
Women screamed, and others took several steps back as the young man fell to the ground in a pool of his blood. The soldier didn’t look slightly bothered as he stared at the other villagers and raised the bloody weapon into the air.
“By God, I swear the same thing will happen to the next idiot who tries to surpass me,” he shouted, and it didn’t take long for the other villagers to quickly begin vanishing from sight.
We stood still as the peasants swarmed and pushed past us, and when they were all gone, the two guards narrowed their eyes in our direction and then looked at each other with broad grins.
“Are you hard of hearing?” the pale-haired soldier asked as he stared right at me with furrowed eyebrows. “Get the fuck out of here before I gut you next.”
“But I have something to offer the prince,” I said, and I could feel Vanessa shifting uncomfortably by my side.
I knew this wasn’t part of our original plan, but I had something else in mind.
“And what could that possibly be?” the dark-haired guard demanded. “If it’s not sea-glass, then you might as well leave now.”
“Is the prince in need of maids or servant girls?” I asked, and the two guards stopped smiling at once.
“He has plenty,” the pale-haired one scoffed. “Now, leave. This is my last warning.”
“But are they as beautiful as my wives?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, and when I turned to the other women, I beckoned them to take a couple of steps closer. “Take off your hoods.”
“Yes, husband,” they answered simultaneously, and when
