“You did what?” Nico muttered angrily, his dark eyes flashing.
Erik’s own eyes flashed in return. “You heard me. I let you sleep and went on a nightly excursion by myself, and I’ll do it even more if you’re going to give me this kind of an attitude about it.”
“Fine,” grumbled Nico. “What did you find out?”
“Something is definitely going on in the bowels of Prospero’s castle; unfortunately, I could not find out exactly what, as I had to tend to the Lady Francesca.”
Nico raised an eyebrow. “She was up too?”
“And Lord Alfredo.”
“Oh.”
“Lady Francesca did see something though; what exactly it is, neither of us really know. Perhaps we’ll find out for certain tonight. But what the lady has told me is that Prince Prospero and Lady Juliana were in a kind of trance in the black room. A ritual, to be sure, but what kind of ritual I don’t know yet. Prince Prospero was apparently lying down during this trance, while Lady Juliana was sitting. Lady Francesca didn’t notice anything else; she was too frightened to stay. I happened upon her as she was returning to her room, having just been startled in turn by Alfredo. The creep was apparently wandering the halls with a mask. I was sorely tempted to reveal my face to him at that moment, but he made no move to touch the lady. I came back here not long after Lady Francesca and I spoke. She said she would try to find out what was going on in that room, seeing as how she’s going to be spending quite a bit of time with Prince Prospero, though she really doesn’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“How could she? Her father and her boyfriend are being held in the dungeons.”
Nico’s eyes widened. “Say what?”
“Prospero apparently intends for them to be the entertainment before the masquerade.”
“A gladiator match; they won’t agree to it,” growled Nico.
“No, of course not, they’re Christian.”
Nico blinked. “They’re Christian?”
Erik nodded. “And Lady Francesca informed me that Prospero made her take off her cross and it’s disappeared. She also mentioned about some chanting she heard when she got up.”
Nico put his hand on his chin. “Chanting, eh? No crosses, and a life of pleasantries. If she is a Christian, perhaps Prince Prospero is a Satanist? Would that be considered something worth releasing the Red Death over?”
Erik shrugged. “It is a possibility, which could suggest that the Christian God released the Red Death.”
“That would make sense.”
“One other thing I found out from Lady Francesca.” Nico glanced at him. “It seems Prince Prospero has ruled with tyranny. He has forced the villagers to practically starve so that he may live in prosperity. And the first one who contracted the Red Death in Catania was a woman who met a figure on her way home. She was handed a red rose and was told that the hour of deliverance is at hand.”
“Whoa, this is getting kind of intense.”
“Perhaps the Red Death is sparing many of these poor villagers from starvation this winter?”
“Erik!”
“It is just a thought, my liege.”
“A dangerous one at that.” Nico sighed. “I was hoping to save as many as possible, but at this rate, we might be able to only save Francesca, her father, and her boyfriend.”
“I know, but at least it’s something.” Nico nodded and slowly rose from his bed.
“Nico?”
“Someone died just at the castle walls,” he whispered.
He rushed to the window and peeked through the blinds, Erik peeking at a higher spot. Prince Prospero and Lady Francesca were standing at the wall below them, looking down at someone – Prospero with a face of indifference, Francesca with sorrow. Prospero handed a crossbow off to a soldier before tossing something over the wall.
“Madam, spare yourself the Red Death,” he spoke over the wall, but he was loud enough that Nico could hear him from their balcony.
The curtain closed and the two turned to walk away, when Nico felt another soul leaving its body.
“Nico?”
Nico sighed. “Whoever that woman was he was talking to, she, she’s gone.”
Erik placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Then we must do all we can to save as many others as we can.”
Nico nodded before turning to him with determination set in his face. “We have to get to that room tonight.”
Getting into that room was a little harder than it looked, but they finally managed to get in.
Erik let out a soft chuckle. “Looks like our kind of room.” The room in question was practically all black, save for the window and a few pieces of decor.
“Yeah, if there wasn’t so much red. I mean, I don’t mind it, but here, it’s just eerie. And that red window doesn’t help much,” stated Nico, indicating the lone window shaded in a deep, blood-red color.
“My liege.”
Nico turned. Erik was pointing at an altar with two grotesque dragon-like statuettes set up on each side, flanked in turn by a dark candle.
Nico sucked in his breath. “He is a Satanist. No other religion that I know of has such statues or candles.”
“I agree with you.”
Nico blinked and his eyes widened; he hadn’t realized it before, but now he did. The room felt suffocating, like it was closing in around him. “M-maybe we should go,” he began.
“Sh, I think someone’s coming,” whispered Erik.
“By Hades, now? Does no one besides Lady Francesca and myself sleep in this castle?” Nico whispered harshly.
“Well you’re not exactly asleep right now, are you? The chair, quick!”
The two practically dove behind the chair, right as the door opened. They waited with bated breath as someone moved about in the room. The next thing Nico knew, he was smelling the distinct scent of smoke. Someone was burning the candles. He let out a soft hiss in frustration, right before Erik tapped him and pointed to the shadow. Nico shook his head and held up a finger, he wanted to see who was in the room really quick before they left. A low hum began to resonate in the room, and Nico realized with a start it was chanting. He slowly, carefully peeked around the chair, and he recognised the figure of Lady Juliana standing in front of the altar. As soon as he heard the words “Lord Satan”, he grabbed Erik’s hand and shadow traveled them back to their room.
“We need to get ourselves and them out of here as soon as possible,” blurted Nico upon their arrival.
“Then why did we come here?”
“For these,” Nico replied as he grabbed a pouch. He opened it to show Erik the contents, the rose petals.
“I thought I told you to keep them on your person at all times?”
“I only took them off so I wouldn’t lose them in that room. Come on!” Nico quickly stuffed the pouch in his vest pocket before grabbing Erik and shadow-travelling again, this time to a secluded section of the dungeon.
“Now, how do you propose we find them?” Nico winced and gave him an oopsie-look; he hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“I guess we’re going to check each cell,” Nico whispered back.
The two began looking into each cell, an easier task than previously thought, for most of the people in the cells had been tortured, broken. They were looking for two men who could still walk and had the glint of hope still in their eyes. After several minutes of wandering through the halls, the two began to worry that they had come to the wrong place. That is, until three people dashed by them in an adjacent hall. One was clearly a lady with fiery red hair.
“Lady Francesca!” blurted Erik, but the trio had already passed.
“Come on!” Nico dashed after them, Erik on his heels. When the two finally caught up, the trio were surrounded by guards and faced Prospero.
“What . . . how?”
“What can you want of two men who have done no harm to you?”
“They killed three of my guards, three human beings; according to your faith they have sinned greatly. Tomorrow at the feast before the masque, at least one of them will pay for those sins.”
Nico let out a soft growl before he and Erik shadow traveled yet again. Back in their room, they tried to devise a plan to rescue the three, but no other opportunity presented itself.