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"Yes, that's me." Ianora paused. "Unfortunately."
"Well, if you're trying to escape a fate in King Castor's bed chambers, you'll not want to go that way." The spirit gestured to the path Ianora had been headed in. "It just heads to the underground tunnels where ... unless you can hold your breath for two days straight, and you're a strong swimmer. You’re not getting anywhere."
"Where does the other tunnel lead, then?" Ianora asked.
The woman shrugged. "Why don't you go see for yourself?"
Ianora had no reason to trust this ghost, but she had few options. One way or another, she had to choose a path, and either one risked death or imprisonment. She might as well hope this spirit didn't have it out for her, too, and trust she could lead her to safety.
"All right," Ianora said. "Lead the way?"
The spirit smiled and, in a puff of light, reduced herself into a small mote of light. She floated down the passageway, and Ianora followed down the winding tunnel, the sound of rushing water turning to a quiet hum in the background, until Ianora was so far away that not even her enhanced hearing could pick it up anymore.
Chapter 6 - Castor
After a skillful mixture of gentle prodding, bribery, and intimidation, Geordian and Castor finally convinced the sentient bleeding roses to behave themselves for the rest of the week. They would be allowed to watch the guests arrive and enjoy the music without being snipped at the root,if, and only if, they did not speak to or terrorize any guests who didn't talk to them first. Most of the roses had agreed, and that was enough for now.
Two days of cleaning and preparations passed, with Castor overseeing and critiquing the placements of decorations for the upcoming wedding. He wished that Ianora could have been out here, joyfully planning all the details with him, but he settled for the fact that he had her by his side at all, prisoner or not.
On the third day since Ianora's imprisonment, and four days until the wedding, the guests began to arrive.
The first came in a horse-drawn carriage, gilded and every inch lined with such finery that it might as well have been a work of art. It was impressive, to be sure, but not so much so that it overshadowed the man who stepped out of it. He wore a suit of armor, though whether for show or protection, Castor couldn't say. When it came to visiting him, his guests' practicality could go either way. A heavy broadsword was strapped to the man's side, and a shield emblazoned with his family's crest of a sea serpent rested on his back, a symbol Castor was only vaguely familiar with.
"I am King Emeric of Sesiti," the man announced as he strode up to them. "And I have come to offer my congratulations."
Castor inclined his head in greeting. "Thank you for your support, Your Majesty. I didn't expect to find you in attendance for the wedding."
"It's not every century that a king gets married, hmm? Especially under such dire circumstances." King Emeric scratched his neck, and emerald green scales were visible around his wrist and at the base of his neck. "You and I might not have been fond of each other in the past, but we do have one thing in common."
Castor raised an eyebrow, surprised to see for himself that King Emeric, a man who had kept to himself these past few decades, had also been cursed for being an enemy of Rainada and the Eroch family. Castor hadn't anticipated such a man to make such a large enemy, even in private.
"Two: a common enemy," Castor smirked. "Though, shame for us that there's nothing we can do about that for the time being."
"Indeed. But we may as well celebrate where we can." Emeric searched past Castor, but a frown settled on his mouth when all he saw were the lines of servants set out to serve to their guests' every whim. "Where, might I ask, is your bride-to-be?"
Castor gave Emeric a tight smile as they headed up the steps together, through the grand entranceway into the palace. "She is very overwhelmed that our wedding day is right around the corner, you see. She's very excited and has decided to reserve herself for the party before the wedding. And hard not to blame her, as we have been courting in secret for a very long time."
"Is that so? I've heard she is quite stunning. Most men I have spoken to on the matter have coveted and chased after her beauty for decades. If what you say is true ... that must be the real reason she never settled with any of those eligible men, hmm?"
"She is the most beautiful woman to grace these lands, of that I am certain," Castor said, trying not to let his displeasure show at the mention of what other men thought about Ianora's beauty. She was his, and his alone, and it was a disgrace that he hadn't been able to lay proper claim to her until now. "And soon she will be mine before the eyes of all vampires and men."
"Of course. I wouldn't dare attest otherwise. Still, I look forward to laying eyes on her myself at the ceremony, or perhaps sooner, if she is well enough. I haven't had the pleasure, you see. The Eroch family, as powerful as they are, has never paid much attention to my small island kingdom. I suppose we were never worth their time."
"There are few things Kel Eroch believes worthy of his time. It is not just you, I can say for certain."
The feud between Kel and Castor was a long and bloody one, starting back at the beginning of the Vampire Wars. In another lifetime, they could have been considered brothers and ruled over Elysium together, but that was not the path the world had planned for them. Instead, when Castor expressed his plans to take advantage of the chaos between vampires and other magical beings to forge his own kingdom, Kel's grandfather, the man who had turned Castor into a vampire a century beforehand, attempted to kill Castor.
Of course, Castor defended himself, and he was blamed for the other man's death. It was a shame that the feud was forged on what amounted to a huge misunderstanding ... as the vampire kingdoms that Castor had longed for had still been formed in the end, regardless of what the Eroch family stood for.
In the corner of his eye, he spotted a harried figure rushing through the crowd of guests in the hall, moving straight toward him.
It was the guard who was supposed to be keeping watch on Ianora's room.
Castor raised a finger to pause King Emeric in his tirade about weddings. "If you'll excuse me, Your Majesty, there is something I must attend to." He gestured to Geordian, who stood not too far away. "If you would go with Geordian, he'll see that you are well taken care of in my absence. Whatever you need."
Castor excused himself and went to meet with the guard at the side of the room. "Sire," the guard said, all panicked-looking. "Sire, it's the princess. She's ... gone."
"Gone?"
