The castle never ceased to amaze me by how big and maze-like it was, I was being dragged through so many hallways I had never seen in my life.

Not that I had ever felt the need to explore it thoroughly, I knew how to get to where I wanted but that was it.

In front of me, Shea was walking confidently, like she knew the place like the back of her hand. After so many years working there, she probably had memorized the entire layout of the castle.

She was holding my hand and pulling me through these unknown corridors at a high pace.

"Can- can yo- can you slow down for a bit!"

She was walking too fast for someone like me to handle, I wasn't used to walking around like that and I was currently gasping for breath while she pulled me along like nothing was wrong.

"Elly are you- nevermind"

She looked back at me worriedly but instantly understood why I was asking her that. I felt really embarrassed letting her see me like that, but it's too late now. I blame my comfortable life for this!

"Let's stop for a second, we can rest here for a bit"

She looked around in search of a place to sit.

"No, we- we can ke- keep going"

She looked at me from top to bottom as I was fighting to control my heavy breathing.

"It's best for us to sit down and rest"

She grabbed my hand and pulled me into one of the many doors. Inside was a dimly lit, dining room, with two long tables and plenty of chairs around them.

"This is the royal knights’ dining room, no one uses it at this time of the night"

I sat on one of the wooden chairs close to the edge of the table, and Shea sat across from me.

She waited for me to regain control of my breathing before starting.

"So, about what I wanted to ask you..."

I could feel myself instantly tense up, something troublesome is coming up.

“…”

“…”

After listening to Shea’s ‘carefully’ concocted plan, I couldn’t help but be speechless, she had a reputation for being reckless, but to act in this way…

“You plan on rescuing her on your own…”

I had to repeat what I had just heard to grasp that it was actually true.

“You understand how careless you are being right now?”

I couldn’t help but shout in anger, even if she felt responsible for what had happened she couldn’t act so hastily.

“Do you think you have what it takes to be able to go against a witch on your own?”

My heart ached at the thought of letting her do something like that. While shouting I hadn’t noticed the tears that began forming in my eyes, luckily Shea was looking down and hadn’t noticed it.

As I was wiping my tears with a handkerchief I had with me, Shea suddenly sprung up.

“You are the one underestimating the royal maids!”

Her expression was fierce, her words full of unwavering conviction.

“You don’t even know the hellish training we had to go through to be worthy of serving the princess!”

I really had no idea how tough said training was, but the princess’ maids were famous in the castle for being able to withstand anything. And the princess’ reputation as a tough child was well known to most of those who were close to the royal family.

“One time, the princess even asked me to-”  

If we continued screaming someone was bound to hear us, I had to defuse the situation as quickly as I could.

I quickly made my way to Shea’s side, putting my hand on her shoulder as she was trembling while remembering something the princess had requested of her.

“It’s alright, I understand now”

I patted her back while she was calming down.

“I am sorry for getting so angry at you”

Her breathing became regular again, so I stopped patting her and made my way back to the other side of the table and once again sat in front of her.

“I should at least hear what you wanted to ask of me”

She took a deep breath.

“I have the skills, what I need is the knowledge…”

So that’s why she needed me.

If someone were paying attention to the castle stables we would have been stopped, but with how frantic things were nobody had the time to take care of the royal family’s horses.

“Are you sure we can take it?”

Shea seemed was unsure of herself, but it was too late to back out now.

“I am sure they will understand”

While she skillfully prepared a horse for our departure I thought back to our conversation in the dining room. After hearing her request I ended up getting angry again.

How can she expect me to know how to kill a witch?

But during my outburst, I noticed an opportunity, a way for me to guarantee that she wouldn’t end up hurt.

It took some convincing, but I managed to make her agree to take me on the journey under the premise that killing a witch wasn’t that simple, and it would take a while to teach her how.

I also left a message addressed to the queen telling her the whole situation, it would have been best if I stayed to give her support, but I had made my choice.

“Everything is ready”

I held Shea’s waist tightly, I didn’t expect riding a horse with two people would be so hard…

And so, in the middle of the night, two hooded figures left the castle through the south gate while mounted on one of the princess’ favorite horses.

topoko

It took longer than I expected, but here it is. Just passing by to mention that next chapter is back with the princess! Hope you enjoyed and see you on the next one!