Prince Gyllen Ch. 14

Precisely three strikes upon a wooden surface could then be heard. From these simple, terrestrial knocks, Min sharply reopened her eyes to find herself alone on the mattress, still nude and still in the same pose that fiendish succubus had forced her into, whom of which seemed to have vanished into thin air like a wisp of smoke, along with the candle it had brought. Had everything up till now truly been just a meagre nightmare? Looking around from where she lay, the goblin saw zero trace of Mircalla, or anything else for that matter, ever being present inside the room during the span of the incident, shortly realising thereafter that she was sitting upright and was able to move her limbs freely once again. Min had never before been so grateful to be able to perform basic motor functions in all her life. Temporary alleviated, the redhead would then flinch from fright once more as the same three knocks repeated themselves, coming from the other side of the door.

"Min? Min! It's me! Could you let me in? Oh, by the Gods, please let me in...!" A pathetic voice would squeak out to her in the politest manner possible while still sounding to be under a state of urgency. It could have been none other but Prince Gyllen. Min fell backwards onto the mattress with her hand to her forehead, exhaling with reprieve one last time, followed by the corners of her mouth raising into a small chuckle. The room's temperature remained quite brisk, so the goblin wrapped her bedsheets tightly around herself in order to conserve whatever heat remained in her clothesless body before making the trek from the bed to the door, during which there was enough time for the prince to impatiently make a third series of knocks upon the entrance.

"Alright, alright, I'm up now! Keep yer wig on!" She shouted in response and annoyance, even if she was thankful his interruption had rescued her from witnessing another horrendous vision to its end. She unlatched the door, opening to a very slight degree before Gyllen immediately barged his way inside, outfitted in the same baby blue nightgown he had worn the night he ceased his celibacy. He carried a lit candle in a handled holder in one hand and an open book loosely by its front cover in the other. Min was able to catch a brief glance of its title: 'Nosferatu', authored by a one Samuel Broker.

"Oh, thank you so much, Min!" Gyllen said, short on breath and all in a tizzy as he stood before the sheet-clad goblinoid. "It's this blasted book I started, you see! It frightened me so much, I couldn't sleep! Forgive me...I did not know where else to turn to..."

"YOU'RE frightened? How do ya think I feel!? I've been puttin' up with bad dreams for the last three nights. Well...I guess the one I was jus' havin' there wasn' too bad...kinda nice actually..." Min mused, noticing Gyllen was still wearing the stag-shaped talisman around his neck that he had received all the way back in Marha village.

"Well, do you think it would benefit both of us to share the one bed this last night? Even if Countess Mircalla might not entirely approve, I'm sure she wouldn't be too mindful." Gyllen asked. Min shuddered from the mere mention of the noblewoman's title and name, the image of the noblewoman's fanged fissure still fresh in her mind.

"Y-yeah, sure. Jus' don' end up wettin' the covers or anythin'...Gods know I don' wanna end up gettin' too randy t'night when we got an early start t'morrow." She joked to cope with the recent trauma.

"Oh, thank you so much, Min! I am in your debt." The prince said unobservantly, once more at ease. "Could I just...finish this one chapter first?" He requested, an innocuous smile peaking from the corners of his lips.

"I thought ya said it was scarin' ya!" Min replied. "How th' Hel can a book even spook ya in the first place when ya know it's all make believe?"

"It's remarkably well-written, and the story is incredibly engrossing. You see, Thomas has just found out..."

"Alright, calm yer tits, I didn' ask for the foot notes!" Min sighed. "Yer a weird lad, Gyl...cute, but weird. Straight t' bed when yer finished though, ya hear? I don' want ya keepin' me up t' all hours!" She added with uncharacteristic, parental-like authority.

"Oh, thank you again, Min~!" Gyllen cooed. "I won't make a peep. Promise!" The prince sat himself on a nearby armchair and set his candle on the small table next to it before resuming his place within the prose. Min, meanwhile, clambered back onto the mattress and laid herself down on her side, facing away from the dim yellow light of the blond's taper to try and finally get a few hours worth of sleep. As she curled up into a fetal position, she could feel something odd suffocating her pores and pinching on her skin whenever she made even the most microscopic of movements. Actually, she could feel the same sensation in several spots over her body, specifically on her chest and close to her navel. Having no idea what they could possibly be, she reached beneath the covers and ran her fingers over one of these unknown, tightening spots. It felt slightly elevated from her flesh and smooth to the touch, scratching at the stuff and then bringing her digit up to her eyes for a closer inspection. A wave of resurged agitation washed over Min when she discovered little shavings of a blood-red substance were what was buried beneath her nail.

When morning arrived, Min unprecedentedly woke first to find Gyllen laying next to her in complete tranquillity, though with only a pitiful percentage of bed sheets to cover the entirety of his human-sized body, as the vast majority of the covers were currently lying on the goblin's side of the bed. She dared not even make mention to him the hardened wax that still clung to her body and how it came about. At best, he would not believe her...and at worst, would regard her utterly insane. Instead, she discreetly scraped all the red candle drippings from off her green flesh and disposed of them accordingly before the prince could wake, taking a look outside in the meantime to see the weather had cleared up exponentially for the morning, the pale sun shining rather pleasantly over the grassy hilltop outside.

Once Gyllen had woken and they both were dressed, they made their way down to the dining hall one final time, breaking their fast without the company of Elizabeth, as was expected.

"You'd think she'd try to see us off at least on the last day." Gyllen remarked. "Not even a note or anything of the sort by the looks of things. I haven't had a chance to properly thank her for her warm reception."

"WHAT reception?" Min bluntly asked her rhetorical question. "Ah, forget it. She probably couldn' hang about for very long this mornin' anyways even if she could." She brushed the topic off just as promptly. In truth, Min had seen the Countess more times than she was fully comfortable with, dreams or not. The blond had no idea how lucky he was to see Mircalla only twenty minutes per afternoon and still be in complete control of his own tendons during the meetings.

Afterwards, Gyllen returned to his room to pack his bag and collect whatever books he had chosen to take home with him. Min, having not brought any of her own luggage, simply waited outside the main entrance till the prince was ready for the return trip. While there, she paced to the hill's precipice and looked down from the summit, only just now realising how breathtaking the sights of the Erdeuelan countryside were from such an altitude. In the sunlight, all the creepy creatures and imagery they passed by on their initial journey seemed to have never existed. Taking their place were rollicking expanses of vibrant green trees, hills and mountains as far as the eye could see. Even homely cottages and modest steeples were sprinkled here and there in the few fields that divided the forests. Still, that same biting wind persisted within the atmosphere, and Min swore she could discern one or two snowflakes flitter about the grounds just as they had both seen during their arrival. Just then, she could hear the dull noise of hooves trotting upon dirt and mud, with the clatter of constructed wood following not too far behind it. She looked to the mouth of the mountain trail in time to see the appearance of two black steeds drawing a carriage of equal colouring.

"Well, well, well, looks like yer comin' 'ome after all, me li'l green filly!" Was the first thing Wolsing said upon seeing Min again, tipping his hat to her by the brim. "Colour me surprised. I don' 'member the last time Liz let such a pretty one go...oh, 'ang about, where's Blondie-locks got to, eh? Aw, bugger me...don' tell she mucked up an' took the wrong one..." Min was bewildered by his statement, but her questions were all but forgotten about when the titanic entryway doors pulled open and out came the very boy he had just been querying about, dragging behind him his case that had seen a significant increase in weight than when they had arrived.

"Ah, there ya are, sah! We was jus' talkin' 'bout ya!" The shabby man perked up as he eyed his walking piggy bank, hopping off from his perch and walking over to where the blond was struggling. "'avin' a spot o' bother there, sah? Allow moi." Wolsing reached over with a claw-like fingers and yanked the case from Gyllen's grasp without giving the prince time to agree to his offer.

"Careful! There are some priceless first editions in there!" Gyllen said, taken aback by how easily the cab driver was handling his bag. Dacia was home to some very physically capable people apparently. "Well, thank you for returning to collect us in any case, Mr. Wolsing."

"Oh, I always keep me promises, sah, 'specially when there's some extra dough t' be 'ad." He guffawed before climbing back up onto his seat. "Shall we shove off now then? Or ya wanna do a last sweep o' yer rooms first?"

"No. Let's get goin' already." Min promptly replied as she opened the carriage door and seated herself inside. Gyllen was flabbergasted by her bluntness, but followed her all the same, not wishing to embarrass either of themselves further before the driver. Wolsing merely shrugged his shoulders before giving a whistle from his pursed lips. The two horses began to slowly pull the carriage back down the way they had came.

"Did ya have a nice li'l escape then? Strictly between us, sah an' ma'am, what'd ya think o' the Countess? Total beaut, amirite?" Wolsing began to banter while he steered. "I'd love t' sink me claws in 'er one o' these days if she wasn' a...well, I 'ave a feelin' our li'l em'rald friend 'as an idea what I mean..." He said in an almost sneering manner.

"What is he talking about, Min?" Gyllen curiously turned to his red-haired companion.

"N-no clue what yer on about, mate." Min responded quickly but with a stammer. Attempting to feign disinterest in the discussion, the goblin took one last forlorn look from out the carriage's window, resting her arms upon the edge and her chin upon her hand as she watch Şolomanţă gradually disappear down behind the rise in the road.

She almost jumped in place when she thought she saw...something positioned by a grimy window on the third floor of the waning castle. If asked what it was had seen, she would recount, in utter earnest, a description of the Countess Elizabeth Mircalla's white profile, clouded by the filthy glass but still unmistakeably her, observing the carriage, or perhaps her visitors, abscond her domain in quiet, dispassionate mediation until she vanished from view. In a world of magic and monsters, there were yet still some anomalies which defied rational reasoning even amongst the most astute of intellects.

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(Thank you for reading and I am sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors.)