Chapter Sixteen

Farren

"W ow, okay, well, that's super fucking helpful," I reply.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. I saw how easily you pulled the spells apart that were locking your cell; you barely broke a sweat."

I shrug, "While that's true, I had just come out of the Void, so I actually have no idea if I still have enough power to pull apart any spells that are on Hades's vault, especially since I've taken on four princes."

"Oh, I hadn't even thought of that," Xerxes replies, "let's get there and find out what we're dealing with first; if you can't get through the spells, then we'll just come back again later. We'll know exactly where we need to go, and when you get back to the guys, you can all make a plan on how to get in, or better yet, since you now know that Grey is Hades, you can just come back with him and get him to open it for you."

"I keep forgetting that. It's strange, and yet it also makes a lot of sense," I muse.

"We should probably be careful what we say in these halls. We have no idea if anyone is listening; after all, you said there were five princes," Xerxes reminds me.

"Yes, Azreal, isn't an issue though, or he hasn't been this far," I reply, and then add in agreement, "but you are right, we should be more careful just in case."

From that point on, we all move silently through the castle; I need to concentrate anyway, just in case something decides to come out of the woodwork and attack us.

"This has to be the most tedious walk through a castle I have ever taken," I complain.

I'm starting to feel some of the wounds that have been inflicted on me while I've been fighting. None of them are bad enough that they're going to slow me down, but they are irritating me. The castle décor suddenly changes from stone walls and the bare minimum in décor to plush carpeting and even more ornate and brightly coloured tapestries adorn the walls. There's also a thick layer of dust that covers everything, and I mean thick. It's weird; there's almost a definite line where the castle is clean, and then boom, two-inch thick layers of dust cover everything.

A sound from my right has me tensing and my eyes darting to the edge of the hallway, and the floor-to-ceiling tapestry that moves just as my eyes land on it. I stay silent, not particularly sensing a threat but knowing that there is definitely someone behind the tapestry. Sure enough, after a minute of me and my creatures staying extremely still, a young face peers around the edge. She can't be older than fourteen, and she looks utterly terrified when she sees me, the varying shades of blue feathers on her head in replacement of hair ruffle in agitation.

She's the first person I've seen that isn't a Hellier, or prince and I can only assume that she works here in the castle, and I realise that I might be able to get some information from her.

"It's okay. We aren't going to hurt you," I tell her in the softest voice I can manage. I'm trying to appear unthreatening and not scare her, but I am very aware that I'm covered in both fresh and dried blood, various wounds that I'm sure are visible, and I've received on my journey through the castle.

She doesn't say anything, but she doesn't retreat either, so I'm taking that as a good sign—unless she's frozen in fear. I've heard that for some people, instead of having the fight-or-flight response in times of danger, they actually have the third option that not many people know about and they freeze instead.

"Are you the only one here?" I ask, grateful that my creatures are keeping themselves in the shadows and not moving. I have a feeling that they might freak her out. Especially since they aren't native Underworld creatures. Of course, a talking book might freak her out too so I'm really glad that Xerxes decides to be quiet as well.

She steps out from behind the tapestry by the tiniest amount, and I notice her hands clench at her sides. I stay really still, not wanting to spook her.

She shakes her head, "No, there are more of us. Not many, not anymore. They're hidden in the castle, the princes were on the warpath, and we have all learned to stay far out of the way."

"Oh?" I reply curiously, hoping that it prompts her to explain some more.

Sure enough, she moves even further out from behind the tapestry but makes sure that she is staying close to the wall.

She nods, "Yes. Lots of those who were here are now dead, killed in one of the princes' fits of rage or simply because they're bored. The lucky ones have escaped, and the rest of us are just staying out of the way as much as possible. I don't think any of the people who work here now are here willingly; all are either taken from the villages by force or here under threat of all sorts of things. Even the generals don't come here anymore unless they have to."

It seems she's had a lot to say for a long time, and now that someone has taken the time to ask her, she wants to get it all out as quickly as possible. I'm certainly not going to stop her; she's giving me important information.

I raise my eyebrow, "How did the princes know what was going on with the Helliers then?"

"They didn't; the commanders haven't sent any new Helliers here for a very long time. That's why there aren't many here. They've died or been killed off. The princes still order the commanders to do terrible things with their armies to ensure that the Underworlders stay in line and accept their rule, although begrudgingly. From what we can tell, they try to keep the Helliers as far away from the princes and their tyrannies as possible."

I frown, "So, why haven't they done anything about it?"

"No one is strong enough, even with an army. The princes have a lot of power at their disposal, and there are people that do agree with the way that they're running the Underworld," she explains and then lowers her voice, "there are those that are so desperate to leave that they're willing to go to extreme lengths to do it. I know that they gained a following in the spirit side of the Underworld. There are many humans, creatures, and supernaturals from all over the many realms that want to go back."

"Desperation is a dangerous thing," I mutter, concern pushing against my mind.

This is really bad; even the souls that were human in their lives and have no magical qualities have a power to them simply because they're souls; if they went back, they could cause a lot of issues. They cannot go back to their old lives; it's not the natural order of things, and it quickly warps and distorts the souls. It can cause massive issues, huge mass murdery type issues. It is almost impossible to stop them because of the power they can gain.

In other words, the dead need to stay dead. Apart from those souls that believed in reincarnation in their lives, they remain until anyone they knew has moved on and then get their memories wiped and sent back into a new body with little or no memories of their previous lives. There are many complicated facets to the Underworld; after all, this is where all of the souls from all of the realms and all of the religions come when they die, their beliefs in life are honoured in death.

I've gotten off track; the short of it is that the dead can't go back to their lives without causing catastrophic consequences that are not even worth thinking about.

"It is, you need to be careful." Her warning surprises me as she looks down the hallway nervously, "from the looks of you, I'm going to assume that you are the reason that the princes went into high alert. They'll be able to catch you if you stay in one place for too long, and I fear that we've already hit that point."

She seems like she's got more to say, but the panic that is flooding her eyes makes me want to interrupt her so she doesn't have to worry anymore, "The princes are dead; I killed them."

Her mouth drops open as she simply stares at me in what can only be described as absolute shock; I wait while she processes what I just said and that I'm not joking.

After a few moments she asks, "You killed the princes?" I nod, and she gulps, but asks again, "All of them?"

I pull a face, "I killed all of them except for Azreal. He hasn't shown up, and I didn't see him while I was in the cells."

The open expression she is wearing fills with guarded caution again as she edges back toward the tapestry. I'd be offended by her reaction and her obvious fear of me, but I understand it. I shouldn't have been able to kill them, in fact, I'm not entirely sure that I did, but I do know that even if their bodies reanimate, they'll be useless without their heads, and even demi gods can't regrow heads. I try not to let it affect me; I should be used to the look she's giving me; it's been given to me many times over the years when someone has seen what I'm capable of. It usually comes from those that I'm saving, which is a real kick in the teeth. With time, it's stung less, but it still stings more than I'd like to admit.

"No one knows what happened to Azreal," she replies, her voice nervous, but she's still talking to me, which I'm grateful for.

"There haven't been any rumours or anything going around the staff?" I ask. I know how big castles like this work, there is always a rumour going around, some obviously fake but some of the best intel I've gotten has been from the staff in the houses of my targets.

She shakes her head quickly, "No, he always steered clear of the other princes; as much as he could, he was polite and kind to us and tried to keep his brothers in line whenever he could; he saved many of us from death. So we all noticed when he disappeared. It was around that time that the commanders stopped being willing to come to the castle and engage with the princes face-to-face. Azreal was the only one that they would deal with; when he was suddenly unavailable without any explanation, they refused to engage with any of the others. It really pissed them off." She finishes her explanation with a smile.

"He's dead then," I reply, my mind going a mile a minute, causing me to forget to censor my words and make them less blunt. Surprisingly, she doesn't seem offended at all.

"Yes, that is what everyone agrees," she replies.

I nod, then clear my throat, smiling as warmly as I can and hoping that I don't look constipated, "Gather all of those still alive and tell them to get out of here and go home. There's no need for you to stay. The princes are gone, and from what you've told me, none of you are here willingly."

Her eyes widen, "We can go home? Really?"

My smile widens, and I nod, "Really, you can go home. All of you can."

Her smile becomes blinding, and she quickly turns around, darting behind the tapestry and to what I'm assuming is a hidden door to allow the staff to move around unseen. The smile is still on my face as hers pops back out.

"You shouldn't head into that half of the castle. There's a reason why it's not been cleaned in the many years that Hades has been missing."

"Care to share?" I ask. Having to admit to myself that the very definitive line of clean and dirty had really piqued my interest.

"I wasn't here then, but those that were passed down the warnings before they were killed. That wing leads to Hades' private quarters and throne room. Anyone that has gone in there hasn't come back out; no one knows for certain what happens to them, but their pain-filled screams somehow manage to echo around all corners of the castle." She gulps as all colour that was in her cheeks drains away, "Something guards that side of the castle. Once the princes realised that, they sent Helliers in to go and kill whatever it is but none of them ever returned. They lost a lot of Helliers that way. They also used it as punishment for people that pissed them off, visitors and staff."

"Well, fuck." I reply.

"Pretty much," she smirks, showing a level of humour that I'm surprised she still has considering the shit she must have been through.

I return her smile, "Thank you for warning me. Unfortunately, I have to go in there. Make sure that you get everyone out, and they know that they can head home. The bodies of the princes are scattered around the castle and on the grounds if they need proof that they are actually dead. I know I would."

She nods, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

I dip my head once in acknowledgment of her words, but I've never been very good at handling gratitude, especially in this situation, since I killed them in revenge. The fact that it has saved these people is a massive bonus, but the reasons at first were mostly selfish.

She seems to understand that I don't know how to reply because she smiles once more and then does this cute little wave before she disappears again, and I hear the soft snick of a door closing.

"Well, that was certainly an interesting conversation," Xerxes says from my hand, and I flatten my palm out again so he can rest on it properly.

"I'll fucking say, she threw a lot of information at me that I'm going to have to pull apart later and tell Grey, especially the thing about the princes having a following with the souls. I assume that they were managing to get some Underworlders over to the Fae realm at least because of the Underworlder Wraiths that we came across."

"Yes, that's certainly one of the biggest things that need to be addressed, but the more immediate worry for me is that we need to head through the doors and into the side of the castle that has probably taken hundreds of lives."

I can't help but chuckle, "Yeah, that may be a concern, but we need the key fragment. It's not like we have much choice."

"We could come back later? You know, bring the guys and Grey, the person who can most likely control the thing that wants to kill us?" he suggests.

"I'm not saying that you're wrong and that your idea wouldn't be an excellent idea, but something is telling me that I need to get it sooner rather than later."

Xerxes sighs heavily, "I had a feeling that you were going to say that."

His response makes my smile widen, "Don't worry, we've got Poca, Meri, and Oryn with us, and I'm pretty handy with a sword. We should be able to handle whatever is in there. Will the magic guide still work if you go back in my pocket?"

His voice is filled with relief as he replies, "Yes, it should do. Thank you. I'd much rather hear it from somewhere safe than get dropped in the middle of a fight and then get eaten because that would be just my luck. I've survived wars, warlords, crazy maniacal dragons, deranged Fae, and trigger-happy gods only to die by being eaten by some unnamed creature."

"Erm, X, sweetie, you're rambling," I interrupt when it doesn't sound like he's going to stop any time soon. Poca lets out this sound that sounds suspiciously like a chuckle, and I glance behind me to see all of them with varying looks of amusement on their faces; they're clearly finding this as funny as I am.

"Shit, I am, aren't I?" he asks and then continues before I have a chance to reply to him, "I do that when I'm reaching the end of my nerves, and actually, I think I've done really well to hold onto my nerves for this long I mean I really like you and you've been so kind to me even though I nearly killed one of your mates and I didn't deserve for you to spare me, but I don't want to lose you, and I had to see them hurt you and I couldn't do anything, and I thought you were going to die and then you exploded with power and you are fine and went on a massive rampage that sounded terrifying and now you're faced with even more danger and instead of running away like most people would you're just ready to dive straight in with barely any fear and quite frankly you scare me but your also one of my best friends, and I know that's kind of weird, but shit."

By the time he's finished, my eyebrows are in my hairline.

"Wow, that was one hell of an info dump. We're good, I'm okay. We've been through enough that I consider you one of my closest friends ever, and that says a lot because I spent a long time without friends. I promise that when we're back in the Shadowlands, you can go to your library and have nothing but comfort and peace for as long as you need it."