Boris was grateful to be walking in front of Mina. That red dress looked absolutely amazing on her and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to concentrate on moving if he was able to look at her easily. 

The guard at the gate waved them through without any kind of fuss when he saw them. He’d probably been informed of the the audience they were having with the prince. 

The inside of the castle was full of life; not as much as the lower city, but more so than the upper city. Servants rushed from one point to another and children screamed and laughed with joy as they were chased around by dogs. 

The building itself was even more grandeur upclose than it was seeing it from afar. The walls were light grey, not white. The grand doors that lead into the castle were plane, but made of solid, Scintilla wood. Two guards stood on either side of the dark brown doors and pushed them open upon the group’s approach. 

Inside of the castle was not quite as no-nonsense as the outside. The floors were made of pristine white marble. Statues lined both walls, busts of people that Boris had no clue who was. 

Mina seemed to entranced by it all, but really this was nothing compared to the czar’s palace back in Asha. He’d never been to it, but he’d seen pictures and it was ridiculously opulent. 

An older man came out of a side room and bowed lower. He had on a well-made suit that fit him almost like a second skin. “Welcome, esteemed guests. If you would follow me, His Royal Highness; Crown Prince Frederick Rowan the Second is awaiting your arrival in his study.”

Mina jumped, butterflies manifested around her with her ember eyes wide. Boris arched a brow, had she been so entranced by the castle that she hadn’t been paying attention? She quickly dismissed her power. 

“I apologise for surprising you, madame, but in the future I must insist that you do not utilize your Spirit’s powers whilst in the confines of the castle.” The butler levelled a glare on her.

She didn’t respond, but did nod her head. There was a slight tinge of red on her cheeks. 

“If you would please follow me?” The butler turned on his heel and began to briskly walk away from them. He didn’t even look back to see if they followed. The man was confident, and definitely gave the impression that he was used to people listening to him, even if he wasn’t the highest-ranking person in the vicinity. Boris decided he liked him. 

They took several flights of stairs up and then the older man stopped outside of a door made of dark wood. He knocked twice before opening the door and bowed low. He made sure he was far enough to the side that the four of them could walk in with ease. 

Boris’s eyes went wide with wonder at the sheer amount of books and and the shelves they sat upon. There were books of every size and color. His fingers itched to go through them and discover their secrets. He took a step forward and someone cleared their throat from the middle of the room.

He felt a flash of annoyance and his tail moved rapidly as he looked for the source of the sound. William. It had come from William. He rolled his eyes and then turned back to room, that’s when he noticed the man sitting at a large desk. His hair was a darker red than Mina’s and was tied into a low pony tail. The boyish grin on his face reached his cerulean eyes. A stack of books sat in front of him and papers were scattered about the desk, several with scribbles on them. 

“Welcome!” His eyes didn’t even venture up from the book in his hands. “Thank you for coming to meet with me.”

William stepped forward, not seemingly bothered by the prince’s lack of respect. He bowed low. “Your Royal Highness.”

“Oh, dispense with the formalities, Will. We don’t have time for that, and we’ve known each other since we were kids.” He flipped a page in his book. 

Boris blinked. He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d been expecting when he’d imagined the prince, but this was certainly not it. He was rather down to earth. It was nice. 

“Oh! This is interesting! Did you know that there are only ever five arch-devils at a time and that they can be born from any of the demonic sub-races? The only ones that we currently know about are a fiend and a succubus. Not entirely sure if the other ones have even been born yet.”

“No…I did not know that, your royal highness.” She tried to curtsy. She almost fell over. Boris had to stifle a laugh at her awkwardness.

“You can dispense with the formalities too.” He turned another page. “I want to offer you all a deal, a proposition. My father won’t allow me to go investigate this arch-devil myself, so I’d like you four to go.”

“Aye, and what do we get out of it?” Renault asked, crossing his arms. 

“I don’t suppose you’d accept the honour of saving the country?” He sighed and and glanced up briefly before his eyes returned to the book. “Not that I blame you. Honour doesn’t do shit. Five thousand thrones.”

Boris almost choked. “Altogether or each?” he asked. 

“Each. I wouldn’t ask you to divide that up, that would just be rude.” Another page turned.

That. That was a small fortune. Dukedoms had been bought for less than that. None of them would ever have to worry again, and if they were smart they’d likely be able to get even more in return through investments. 

“Deal.” Renault’s response was immediate.

“Da, I will take you up on offer.” Boris nodded. He’d be a fool to turn down that amount of money. 

Mina was the only one that hesitated. She chewed on her lip as she considered her options. Boris watched her. She was worried it would take her away from her mission to kill orcs. She took a deep breath and then nodded. “I accept.”

They soon found themselves in the kitchens of the castle, four of them sitting at a round table, awaiting the arrival of the prince. He wanted to go over their deal in more detail and discuss their plans. They were supposed to be talking about said plans, but no one was talking. 

“How are we even going to find this thing?” Mina asked, breaking the silence as she crossed her arms and shifted. She wasn’t comfortable and she kept pulling on the dress. 

Did she not like it? She looked amazing in it. It was really hard to take his eyes off of her. It accented her curves in just the right way and showed off how toned and lean her body was. 

“If someone had been better and questioning the fucking thing, we’d know that,” Renault muttered, glaring at her. 

“I didn’t hear you asking any questions,” she shot back. 

“Now is not time to be fighting. What if we just go to Acrua?” Boris held up his hands, he was sitting between the both of them and didn’t want to be in the middle of tempers flared even more.

“Well, that’s a tall order,” came the prince’s voice. He unceremoniously took the only empty seat. He had a book in his hands—a different one from a few hours ago—and one of his legs hung over the arm of the chair. 

“It’s not something we agreed to do,” Mina said quickly, casting a glare at Boris. “Acrua is a bad idea. It’s a country of demons. There’s no way we’d be able to blend in and no way to guarantee that the arch-devil is even there.”

“It would be surefire way to get information, though,” Boris said. “Where better to find information than where they are from?” 

He definitely didn’t want to go to try to learn what their culture was like, to see and experience it for himself. They were an entire race of people, surely they weren’t all horrible. 

“Literally anywhere else, what the fuck? How would we even get there to begin with, let alone not get immediately caught, tortured, and killed – or worse.” Mina paused and glanced at the prince. “My apologies for my rudeness, Your Royal Highness.”

He waved a dismissive hand. “Nay, you’re fine. I said it before, dispense with the formalities. They’re long and tedious and have no place here. Call me Frederick.”

The prince opened his book and began to read. “She has a point though. Going as you are wouldn’t work. You could go to the Elves first. They may be willing to cast glamours on you to help you blend in.” He smiled.

“Aye, and while they’re telling her how to disguise herself, they’ll be taking the three of us away to make babies with. They’re more civilized than the demons, but forced reproduction is still rape,” Renault snarled and shook his head. “That’s a bad idea.”

“I may be able to assist with that,” Frederick said as he looked up from the pages of his book. “I could give you my seal. We have a treaty with the Elves, so if you show them the seal they should let you go with the information you need.”

“Should?” Boris arched a brow. There was a lot of ifs and maybes here. He wasn’t sure how he felt about all this.

Frederick shrugged, “I can’t make any full guarantees. They’re not my people and I don’t exactly hold sway over them. It should work for any authorities or higher-ups you come across though. I don’t see them wanting a fight started with us.”

Mina chewed on her lip and slowly needed. “It could work…and it seems like it may be our best course of action at the moment.”

Boris stared. She didn’t honestly think this was a good idea did she? There was so many ways it could go wrong!

“You would be able to see the culture of the Elves too. I wonder if they have any interesting technology we could study.” Percy piped up from his shoulder. Boris blinked. He was right. He could study them and how they do things. This was a great idea!

Renault stared at her and then threw his hands up. “Fine, but if I get kidnapped by a sexy elf lady, it’s your fault.”

“Then we are agreed? I will provide travel rations and mounts. We need to also figure out the best path to take to get to Ashora and then Acrua. The only port that travels there is in Meskonga.” Frederick went back to reading his book.

“There are three ways we could take to get to Meskonga. We could go through Valasti or Bara. Valasti is safer, but both will take double the time than if we just go over the Verda Mountains.”

“The mountains and Valasti are cold. What’s wrong with going north and going through Bara?” Mina asked.

“The tensions between our country and Bara aren’t…great. I’m worried they would take one look at William and consider it a declaration of war.” Frederick shook his head and turned a page in his book. “It’s a time-sensitive mission, and while I don’t really like asking people to take the more dangerous route, but over the mountains would be the best choice. The sooner we get the information we need, the better.”

William nodded, “As you say, Prince Frederick.”

The prince frowned and glanced up at William with an unamused look. “What did I say?”

“Right. Sorry Frederick.” William turned his head away. 

“Better. Right, so you’ll be taking the mountain route. You’re welcome to stay the night here and get outfitted for the journey tomorrow.” He snapped his book shut and stood. “It was a pleasure speaking with you all and I shall see you tomorrow.” 

Boris wasn’t sure how he felt about the look he saw in the prince’s eyes. He was planning something.

“What have we gotten ourselves into?” Mina asked after the prince was gone.

“A stupid, foolish plan that if we pull off will make us all ridiculously rich.” Renault grinned as he stood. “Sounds like my kind of plan.”

Mina shook her head and stood as well. “I have no plans on dying until my mission is accomplished. This is just a detour that will help in the long run. She turned to William and frowned. “He left without telling us where are rooms were.”

The butler appeared in the door, as though he was summoned by her words. “If you are finished, I will be honoured to show you to your rooms.”

“Good timing,” Mina said. Boris and William stood at this point. “I believe we’re all ready to be shown our rooms.”

“I don’t need one. I have a room in the barracks, I’ll sleep there,” William said as he walked by them. “I’ll see you in the morning.”