The silence between them was deafening the rest of the time at the inn as she redid the concealment spell, as they got ready for the mission and now as they made their way to the castle. Whatever happened between them seemed to have made things worse. Sometimes Selene caught the prince looking at her in a way it made her afraid to close her eyes at night, she was sure there was pure hatred and murder in those eyes.

Although he probably felt the same. After all, unlike Kaelan she did express her hatred and went as far as pressing a dagger against his throat while he slept.

Their relationship was truly beyond repaid.

The castle looked eerie at night. The stone walls were towering over them as they slowly approached an area that was not covered by guards. No doubt they thought this part was impenetrable, no door or windows in sight but they didn’t think about teleporting vampires. Not that she could blame them since it was not something the witches knew either.

“Are you ready?” The vampire took a step closer as he spoke.

Selene nodded, almost trying to convince herself that she was. They needed information and it’s not like the humans around Orlon had it, it was something locked away in the castle and the only way to get it was to do it themselves. She’s never infiltrated anything of this size with so little people, and it scared her. But just the thought of what happened to her, happening to anyone else from the coven made her skin crawl and King Flurin had to be stopped.

Kaelan wrapped an arm around her waist, his eyes focusing on the top side of the wall, searching for a suitable place for them to land, and it would have been nice to get a warning when he did.

Again the odd feeling of everything disappearing took over and the next moment they both stood on top of one of the walls with the castle in full view. It had that same boring look as the rest of the buildings in the capital, only difference being the fact this was made of stone. So old and not taken care of that most of the outer walls were covered in moss and vines, only the windows were left fully uncovered. Most of the castle appeared to have been left unoccupied, with only a few rooms left lit by soft candle light.

Only the guards were left standing around the courtyard, following the same pattern they did when Selene and Kaelan last came to visit. Selene would feel frightened about getting caught but there was no guards near them and the night covered them in shadows.

The prince quickly reached out his hand, summoning a couple of ravens that flew away and start patrolling the area. Selene was starting to feel a little bit useless with how much she had to rely on the vampire, but her specialty were not helpful at the moment. There were no animals for her to speak to, her summons were large creatures of the forest that would cause chaos in moments, and most of her magic was for attacking and defending herself. Either of those would cause more trouble than good.

From the wall, Kaelan teleported them inside the castle. This time Selene could tell it took a toll on his body. The prince’s breath was quicker and the hand on her waist trembled lightly.

“If you overdo it, we won’t get out.” Selene whispered, conscious of the unknown surroundings.

“I’ll be fine.” Kaelan whispered back and took a long step away from her. “There are two guards at the end of the hall and a person in the end room on the right side.”

“And you know this how?” At this point Selene would have to report to her mother how little they actually knew about vampires since this one left her with more questions than answers.

“I can smell them.” He said simply as he entered the first door.

“Creepy but alright.”

The moon was the only light that illuminated the hall. It was stupidly long as expected of a castle, with a long dark red carpet running through it. The left side was mostly windows with ornate candle holders and on the right side between the doors hang portraits of what could only be the members of the royal family.

Selene followed the prince into the first room, just to find what looked like a receiving room. Nothing but a couple of coffee tables with furniture around them. Even then, they both checked the room thoroughly, making sure there is nothing in between the cushions or any papers left on the tables. The second room was a guest bed chamber and a third storage room for the servants. Neither had anything of use and Selene was growing more impatient and filled with worry that this has been a waste of their time. However the fourth room was an office.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

There were to large windows at the back with a desk in front of them that was stacked with papers and correspondence. The two side walls were shelves stacked with books to the point they were almost falling off. Not to mention the large couch that looked so tempting to lay on after how tired Selene felt with digging through the previous rooms. This room would be her dream to stay in for a few days if only it wasn’t filled with the same dull colours as the rest of the kingdom. She was starting to think that Theria was allergic to anything bright and exciting.

Kaelan quickly began to search through the papers at the desk, sorting them through what might be of interest or not, while Selene started to look through books, setting off any that mentioned conflict with the other lands or history of humans.

“This is locked.” The prince mutters with annoyance as he yanks of a drawer.

“Here.” Selene walked towards where the vampire stood and placed her hand on the lock, willing it to open.

“Well, that’s useful.” Kaelan said as he grabbed the papers from inside, his tone showing slight amusement.

“I learnt it much to my mothers displeasure when I was young and wanted to sneak out.” She said as she eyed the new pieces of information, those had the royal seal meaning it will be coming back with them.

What did catch her eye is the printed letters on the top of one of the papers.

The undead.

In moments, Selene started to question if such things were possible. While yes, the witches did create the vampires who were on a brink of being called the undead, the creatures still had a beating heart and had to drink blood to provide for it, and she didn’t think the papers were calling the vampires the undead.

Her momentary panic was interrupted by the prince grabbing the top of her head and pulling her down under the desk.

“Someone’s here.” He explained.

Right on time the door creaked open and steps sounded through the room. Whatever panic Selene felt a few seconds ago no longer seemed important. If they were caught and dragged back to those awful cells, they won’t be able to read through this, won’t be able to warn the others of what might be coming.

Kaelan pressed a hand to her mouth, and pulled her closer to him. The sound of her breathing must of been louder than she thought and even though she wanted to move away, Selene was thankful that she could rely on the prince at least in that moment.

She started to count in her head to distract herself, trying and failing to not think about the possibility of the human moving towards the desk. After a few minutes the steps left the room and both of them slowly peaked their heads out.

Whoever came here seemed to only have grabbed a few books from the shelves and return to wherever they came from.

“We have enough, we should leave.” She said as she looked back at him.

“Grab what you can.” Kaelan said as he began to gather the papers, rolling them up and putting them inside his pockets, when there was no room he held as much as he could in one hand. It was a shame Selene couldn’t teleport herself, that way they could carry out so much more.

Selene held the books close to her chest and they began to sneak out the room and to the spot they entered from. Kaelan pulled her close again and shadowed them away to the tower, then to the street, dismissing the ravens once they were out. For a moment she thought she would have to carry him back, his steps were unsteady and his face somehow paler than it already was, but when she tried to reach out he moved away from her as if repulsed by the idea of her help. So she didn’t bother him again.

Back at the inn they settled down the papers and spread them across the table. Unfortunately Selene was right, the humans were not talking about vampires but about the dead corpses of soldiers.