Prince Gyllen Ch. 14

After such an arduous journey that lasted the entire day, Min wasted no time propping herself up onto the edge of the vast mattress and haphazardly kicked her brown boots from her petite feet halfway across the floor to give her tired soles the much-needed chance to respire and recuperate. With an elated sigh of alleviation, the goblin girl leaned herself over towards the bedside stand to blow out the three tapers which were keeping the chamber just barely alight without once taking heed of the embellished snuffer at the base of candlesticks.

Normally, Min would rub one out before bedtime on the rare nights she found herself sleeping alone as a way to expunge her unutilised vigour, but she was far was too exhausted after their hours' worth of travelling to bother doing so this time. She could not even muster the energy to strip from her top and shorts or to pull the bedsheets up and over her diminutive body, especially once she plopped her half-shaved head onto the velvety pillows behind and below her. Not since the night she took the prince's virginity did she have the privilege of sleeping in such a comfortable bed, so much so that she lost all motivation to stay awake any further in an instant, blinking her eyes once thereafter before slipping into a deep, peaceful slumber.

Min slept for at least a solid couple of hours before she opened her eyelids once more though, for the goblin, it seemed like only a fraction of a second had passed. It was still dark outside, but Min's night-vision allowed her to perceive the room almost as clearly as she would during midday, albeit in a fuzzy greyscale instead of unclouded colours. The moonlight still shone through the uncloaked glass door and sent many gnarled shadows forth the furniture across the faded wallpaper, making the redhead feel as though she had phased into a distorted dream-analogue of the same room, yet still feeling entirely lucid.

A little off to the side from where she lay, she could discern the outline of something situated close to the room's entrance that she was unable to recall being there from when she first entered the accommodation. However, when she attempted to turn her head and take a better look, her neck remained firmly rooted in place, much to her confusion. In fact, her entire body utterly failed to respond no matter how greatly she struggled to move it, aside from some very light trembles on her biceps and calves. It was as if her entire being was being tethered firmly to the mattress by unseen ropes.

Min was now beginning to grow rather concerned. The black shape in the nook seemed to start taking on a more humanoid form. Min tried to berate the unknown entity instead, if only as a way to mask her fright, yet not one noise was able to escape her throat. By now, the goblin was in a full-on panic. Her heart was racing as she was quickly made conscious of how difficult she was finding it to breath all of a sudden. She tried calling out in vain again and again just for the unlikely chance that a passing prince or countess would happen to hear her cries for help, all the while still trying to break loose from her invisible bonds.

The phantasm remained perfectly idle in cadaverous silence, doing nothing but exude such an air of intangible dread that it made all of Min's instincts scream for her to flee its proximity as far and rapidly as goblinly possible. She clenched her jaw and scrunched her eyes shut once more as she focused every last ounce of her strength into moving any of her limbs in order to free herself from incorporeal confinement before the wraith could take whatever diabolical action it was scheming in its aetheric thoughts. Though she could no longer see it, she could nonetheless still sense its overwhelming presence encroaching further over her helpless self. She dared not look to verify the progress it had made, lest the last thing her mortal eyes should witness be that of an eldritch visage hanging mere centimetres away from her own face.

Min continued to futilely and excruciatingly resist for a few tedious seconds longer, her anxiety making the time feel as though it had been further prolonged by another hour before she was finally able to jolt up from the pillows with a start. Now sitting up, she took a brief, hesitant pause before allowing herself to raise a single eyelid, only to be greeted by the genial light of the broken dawn beaming in through the window. The room was restored to its uncrooked state, with no visible signs of the apparition ever being within its walls.

Min had broken out into a cold sweat as her breast heaved with heavy, laboured breathing, feeling a slight cramping pain arise in her chest while she pondered over if what exactly she underwent last night had truly been real. It certainly felt genuine enough at the time. No nightmare she had ever experienced before instilled as much abstract fear like that vivid encounter with the revenant had done, regardless of its minimalistic nature compared to some truly outlandish dreams she had been a participant of in the past, yet the memory of it seemed to be growing more and more distant by the second now that she was fully wakened, thus she was not entirely sure if that was the case. Whether reality or fantasy, she could still feel her stomach tying itself in knots just by still remaining in the same space in which that disquieting event had occurred and decided it would be in her best interests to withdraw from said space for the next twelve or so hours for the sake of preserving her mental health, nabbing her shoes during her speedy flight through the unlatched door.

Her first incentive was to visit the dining room to see if breakfast had truly been set out while she slept just like the Countess had mentioned shortly before bedtime, a decision dictated mainly by her growling midriff. Remembering the way well, she soon found herself standing before the same elongated table the three of them had sat at during the previous evening. This time, it was laid out with dishes of bacon cutlets, bread slices, cheeses, a bowl of fresh fruit and a half-full pot of tea that still had some warmth to it. Gyllen seemed to have woken earlier and already ate his fill, judging from the crumbs dotted about on an empty plate at one end of the table afore an unfilled chair. He did not seem to eat much though, considering the sheer amount of foodstuffs left untouched, but that only meant there was more for her to help herself to and decided to take her time savouring the quality victuals before seeking out the prince. Of course, she'd much rather prefer a beer to start her morning as opposed to dry-leaf juice but nothing's ever truly perfect.

It took Min a little longer to recall the path to the castle's library but was able to rediscover its white entryway soon enough, walking inside after turning its knob to find the musty smell of old paper lingering in the air and herself surrounded by shelves-upon-shelves' worth of tomes covering every inch of the walls, with the exception of the exit. The room had a circular layout and the ceiling rose high above her like a giant cylinder, separated into multiple tiers for each floor of the palace by small balconies running along the inner circumference and linked together by ladders, some rolling along each ring of cabinets, others affixed permanently to the ledges. In the middle of the ground floor, a single desk stood with two piles of volumes stacked atop it, one significantly larger than the other, telling her that Gyllen had been busy browsing for a while now, yet the little princeling was nowhere in sight.

"Gyl, where are ya skulkin'?" Min called out, a little startled by her own ability to do so after her voiceless night, especially as her speech echoed up the shaft.

"No need to shout, Min. I'm right here." A soft, received-pronounced accent answered. The goblin's pointed ears pricked up as she followed the sound behind and above her to see her favourite blond peering down on her from a railed ridge hanging over the doors as he held a handful of books within his arms, before making his way downwards to meet her.

"Ya havin' fun up there?" She sarcastically asked while she watched Gyllen carefully descend the ladder one-handed, catching a glimpse of his cute, little arse snug in those tight jodhpurs of his from below unbeknownst to his awareness, making her soul to feel somewhat more at ease for the first time since her somnial horror.

"Oh, yes! This place is a true treasure trove." The prince innocuously, but earnestly, answered just as his feet touched solid ground. "Why, there are texts here from all over the world, not just Dacia. I've discovered plays, travelogues, magic grimoires and alchemy recipes in Gaulish, Hispanic, Pavlovan, a few in Yanchun and even a couple in Platinan." He explained while walking towards the desk and sorting the books he was carrying out between the two piles. "We could probably find something even you'd enjoy if we looked hard enough."

"Eh, maybe...but I'll pass." The goblinoid quickly replied. "By the by, Goldie, I know this sounds a bit outta left field, but did ya come across anything...weird last night?"

"Hmm...not particularly. Well, other than my room being all the way on the other side of the castle from yours. It was quite the trek, let me tell you. You'd think a place as expansive as this wouldn't be so sparse in the spare beds department." He griped. "Apart for that though, I don't think I've had a better sleep since leaving home!"

"There's also the nigglin' fact I haven' spotted a single butler or maid since we got here..." Min added. "Don' ya think that's a bit sketchy?"

"Hm, now that you mention it, I don't think I have either..." Gyllen pondered over the fact. "I'm certain they're around somewhere. Surely you saw the big breakfast that was ready for us this morning. We probably just keep missing them, that's all. Anything else bothering you?"

"Eh, nah...'cept for a weird dream I had last night..." The goblin trailed off, feeling too embarrassed to disclose her night terrors to the blond like a scared child before deciding to drop the subject entirely. "Do ya mind if I hang out here for a bit...?"

"Pull up a chair, by all means~ Though I'm afraid I won't be one for much conversation at the moment. So many books to get through, so little time..." Gyllen mumbled to himself as he returned to his cataloguing.

Min searched around herself for something, anything to while away the hours that did not incorporate her disdain for heavy reading but soon sighed aloud in defeat once her minute-long scrutiny proved to be fruitless. She begrudgingly sat herself down at the desk and took one of the aforementioned few books written in Platinan that seemed the most appealing: a bulky bestiary with no title, picture or penname present on its mangy, leather-bound cover, detailing a pantheon of devils and abhorrences alleged to inhabit the angles betwixt realities and epochs. She sat there for nearly two hours thumbing through its yellowed parchment, struggling to decipher much of the terminology that exceeded three syllables. The most enjoyment she got out of it were the occasional schoolkid giggles she made whenever she came across a crudely drawn and grossly exaggerated set of gonads or udders represented in the illustrations alongside the inscribed descriptions, though even they were not enough to hold her attention indefinitely.

"Ah! This is borin'!" The goblin eventually declared, closing the tome over with a slam. "Ya wanna go have a nosy 'round the place instead, Gyl? Or are ya happy stayin' with yer paper an' words?"

"In all honesty, Min, when you've lived in one castle all your life, you've pretty much seen everything they've had to offer...I don't think there is much else here that would fascinate me." The prince explained himself.

"Yeah, yeah, poor you..." The lower-class goblin mumbled passive-aggressively.

"I'm quite content just skimming things over here for the rest of the day. Though, I should warn you that I saw some black clouds coming in fast from over the horizon this morning. I wouldn't recommend straying too far from the grounds, unless you're looking for an outdoor shower."

"Guess I'll catch ya at dinnertime then. Later!" She said as she was already halfway through the exit, leaving Gyllen to his own devices.

In truth, Min was more infinitely curious about the other things the palace could possibly hold within its multitude of recesses and depths. A castle does not remain this old and still occupied without hiding at least some secrets, after all, especially with the Countess' distant personality giving the goblin the impression she was hiding far more than she was letting on. She logically began her prying by approaching the closest door to her immediate position, located just across and a little to the right from the library. She reached up to its handle and pushed...only for it not to budge in the slightest. She rattled it on its hinges to see if she could jostle it open before determining it was locked too firmly for it to yield by her hand. Okay. Bad start. But there was still plenty of other doors left to try and she swiftly moved onto the next one in line without being deterred...only to find that one to also be locked! And the one after that. And the one after that...

Most people would have given up after the third or fourth attempt but, if anything, the denial only strengthened Min's conviction to find out what could possibly lie on the other side of these entrances that warranted them to be sealed as such. She must have exhausted every single door on the first floor she came across, yet they all resulted in the exact same outcome: locked, aside from the library, dining hall and main entrance, but surely there had to be at least one room neither of them had already visited in which that was not the case. Her inquisitiveness was too great for her to concede now. By this point, rain could be heard pelting, pinging and hissing hard against the walls, windows and ground outside, only deepening the dreary ambience of the atavistic citadel.

The goblin climbed to the second floor to see if her luck would improve there, though she only ended up having similar fortune with every door she tried early on. It was not until about halfway walking through the fourth corridor, just as she was least expecting it and beginning to find the whole situation absolutely ridiculous, was when she stumbled upon one door which rattled far more loosely in its frame compared to all the rest. It still failed to completely open, however, but it seemed it would do so if enough force was applied to it. Looking down either end of the hallway to make sure nobody could see what she was about to do, Min tackled shoulder-first into the door as hard as she was able. Goblins were not famous for their brawn, but Min's ram was powerful enough to dislodge the door free from its bolt (and make her shoulder severely smart for the next while), causing it to burst wide open and allowing her to take a long, decent inspection into the chamber at last.

The sun had already begun to dip on the opposite side of the castle by the time Min had reached this room, meaning very little light was able to penetrate through the hazy windows on the inside, the drizzling rain clouds outdoors only adding to the ill-lit conditions. Of course, the goblin had no problem seeing through the dimness, but what she saw simply baffled her further. The room appeared to have been a nursery at some point in time, hinted by the decaying rocking horse, playpen and crib amongst the other deteriorated furniture, all caked under a dense layer of dust and veiled by tangles of cobwebs suspended from the ceiling. The overall dilapidated condition of the room indicated it must had gone unused for an age, a VERY long age, and left Min with even more questions than she had before. It seemed she was about to find her answers, however, when she then suddenly felt a menacing presence manifest over her from behind, not unlike the same brooding air she sensed distilling from the visitation in her room last night.

The goblin pivoted around in a heartbeat to find the figure of the Countess now looming over her, staring down on the smaller female with a hostile spark in her reddish-brown eyes. A distant rumble of thunder coincided perfectly with the noblewoman's inconvenient appearance, as if symbolising the anger that was broiling deep from within Mircalla's gut once she caught her visitant intruding where she should not. Normally, Min would have had no problem standing up to anyone upwards of three times her size (even if she was in the wrong), but she was unable to even rally up a mocking jab against the Countess to make light of the situation. It was as though Mircalla was discharging an imperceptible force of pure repression just from standing there that kept the goblin girl at bay. Min could not recall the last time she felt so helpless before somebody.

"I had hoped you would not see this..." Mircalla said, though in a despondent tone rather than the expected intonation of wrath. Min remained in startled silence but started to feel more at ease once it was evident Mircalla bore no ill intent. "I do not doubt you have had your uncertainties since arriving here yesterday evening. Perhaps it is time for me to explain some things. The fact is, Madam Min...I am not all that I seem to be." The Countess continued, undeterred by the absence of a reply. "For all the elaborateness and affluence my estate and finery may imply, in truth, the Mircalla lineage had been very poor for generations by the standards of nobility. A scarcity of taxes from a scarcity of permanent residents in my lands, you see. As such, many of my castle's rooms have been in disuse and disrepair for years now, like the one you have happened across. The absolute best I can cope is by keeping them under lock and key as so visitors can only explore the aspects of the palace that are still presentable. I have hardly enough funds to even keep most of my staff in permanent employment. It would not shock me if you had not yet came across a single one during your stay so far, that's how few of them remain. I cannot express enough pardons to excuse myself for not being entirely honest with either of you."

"H-hey, don' sweat it, lady." Min eventually spoke up, wanting to try and comfort Mircalla once the noblewoman looked to be on the verge of tears, though she was promptly interrupted by the Countess in turn.

"Please, just 'Elizabeth' will do." The noblewoman requested.

"Uh, okay then...Elizabeth." Min resumed her point. "If ya think this is bad, you should see the state a' my place. I got barely enough room t' even think 'bout havin' visitors eight days out a' the week. 'least you got space!"

"All I ask is that you do not mention this to the young prince." Elizabeth added. "I do not want him to think any less of me from my living conditions."

"I don' think Gyl is the type a' guy t' think that way, but I get ya. This gob's gob is zipped." Min said with a slight smile, finding something of a kindred spirit in the Countess given the parallels to their constant monetary woes despite the difference in social hierarchy. "I know how t' keep SOME things under wraps. Even Goldie will testify to that~"

"Many thanks to you, Madame Min. You are too kind and understanding towards a stranger like myself." The Countess replied as she too made an expression that bore a passing resemblance to that of contentment. Min only wished more people were this pleasant whenever they caught her in the process of breaking and entering. "I should also let you know dinner will be ready shortly. It would be appreciated if you inform Master Gyllen on your way down." She said, reaching over the goblinoid with a long arm and closing the crèche's door shut once again.