Novel Full Chapter 1952 Up the Rabbit Hole
Chapter 1952: Chapter 1952 Up the Rabbit Hole
— Kat —
It was time to leave. They’d had some questionable snacks that Lily assured them smelled fine. They’d had a few drinks of what might have been alcohol but it wasn’t strong enough for any of the three to taste it… it also might have not been alcohol originally. They didn’t end up resting long though, they were low on orbs and had no idea where they were about to be left. They were also running low on time to get their job done. Hopefully, worst came to worst they’d be forgiven for a day or two delay.
The door to the exit opened up just like Trapmaster had said it would, leading to a long corridor… that seemed to end with another dead end. That was fine though, they’d seen plenty of self operating doors at this point so they began to walk towards it. A few minutes later when they arrived and no door appeared, they had a moment to be worried… before the floor started to shake and rise up.
Kat glanced around at the room as they rose up but nothing was given them a hint as to where they’d ended up… until the ceiling started to crack open. Kat shielded her eyes instinctively before moving the hand away, it didn’t hurt and it wasn’t even that bright actually, but the dimmer lighting from the elevator shaft had given way to the bright lighting off… something else. Kat would’ve guessed the sun but the shade was all wrong. It felt more like a blue light source.
Kat pondered on that for a few moments as the elevator took them up into a beautiful garden. Kat would’ve loved the chance to look at it a bit more, but the circle of guards with weapons at the ready stymied that idea. They were all dressed in heavy plate and had a mix of halberds along with spear and shield combos. “Halt! In the name of the king, you are to present yourselves to them,” stated the likely leader. Unlike the others, he had a fancy feather in his hat.
Kat glanced over at Hedera who shrugged very subtly before nodding more seriously at the guard. Kat nodded as well. When they did that, a nearby guard stepped forward and pulled out some handcuffs. Kat was still deciding how to react, when the head guard asked, “What are you doing?”
“Um… sir, you said they are to presented to the king. Is it not best to have them secured?” asked the knight.
“Perhaps it would be easier for us to do our jobs… but they have done nothing wrong. Technically,” answered the feather guard.
The guard with the cuffs clicked his tongue. “They’re trespassers sir,”
“And they entered through the Trapmaster’s path so it very much complicates things. Unless they resist, I will not see them chained without a direct order from my King.” Insisted the head guard.
The other guard, clearly not willing to argue with his superior stepped back. Kat was sort of expecting an apology or something but nope, the head guard said “This way,” and simply expected them to follow. No word of apology at all. Not what Kat wanted exactly… but that was fine. Kat just pulled Lily a little closer to her and got moving. It wasn’t like the restraints would’ve worked on her anyway.
*Hmm… maybe I should offer to accept them to make them feel better? No, best not because they might wonder why I’m accepting them but not Hedera. Though maybe she could pick them open? Best not to risk it I guess. If we’d planned this ahead of time… nevermind.*
The guards from the circle mostly formed up around them in two lines to keep them boxed in, while a few of the extra guards left to head to different areas of the garden. Kat wasn’t sure if they were rushing ahead or just moving back to their stations. The other sections of the garden were walled off by exceptionally long hedges that were a little more than head height for Kat. The main reason she knew there were other sections was that you could see some plants that managed to extend past the tree.
The section they were currently on seemed to be a very rose focused area. Rose bushes, a few rose trees, even giant roses that were the bush essentially. It was very nice to see and the river running through the section in a loop helped give a bit more spice to the area. There essentially wasn’t anything else in this particular spot. The path sure but no buildings or other accessories if you didn’t count the occasional bench… or the elevator of course.
There was also a castle nearby. It wasn’t central to the garden, if anything it was a bit off to the side… and it was tiny. More mansion sized then castle sized. One might argue ’that’s still quite large’ but not when you also included the courtyard and all the ramparts as well. They’d been squeezed down into a tiny footprint and… now that Kat was looking closer and they’d continued moving towards it Kat could see tiny guards patrolling it as well.
Kat didn’t know what to think as they made their way through the gardens towards the structure. Kat was wondering if she was about to get called out by some fairy sized king that would have a super squeaky voice… when she noticed that she was getting smaller and smaller as they stepped forward. Everyone was. As they got closer to the castle, it got larger and the other surroundings did as well. The effect was super strange, not even Lily could feel where the transition started happening. It wasn’t clear if they were shrinking or if it was all a space trick. Knowing Thyme it was probably the latter… but there was no evidence for that, just a guess.
The castle didn’t have much of a garden, the enclosed area, that Kat could see anyway, seemed more like a mixture of training grounds and horse grazing areas. Perhaps there was a garden at the other side… but they did just come from a massive one so perhaps the king didn’t bother. The main doors weren’t all that impressive… until Kat realised this was probably the back of the castle, and thus they weren’t the ’main’ doors at all. Even the drawbridge had been somewhat tiny now that she was thinking about it.
This was further confirmed when they made their way inside and showed they were in a series of back passages. A winding trip up four staircases and down three, they opened a door that turned out to be the audience chamber waiting room, before the head knight walked up to the knights standing guard at the big door towards the back, saluted them, and then was let inside. Kat and crew were clearly not meant to follow because the knight circle closed rank on them a bit to keep them in place… but they probably weren’t going to be here long for the same reason. Plenty of chairs were free in the space but they were being made to stand.
Kat was right. Not even five minutes later the guards opened the doors, seemingly without any further commands, and the feathered guard stepped out to lead them all in. The throne room was a large room with a bunch of huge windows on the side… weird because Kat was 90% sure those windows should be showing the palace walls. Whatever the case, they provided the main source of light for the room as the chandeliers were way too high to help.
The King… looked tiny. Not as small as expected, and he was a dwarf… but it looked like the original king was human or perhaps just exceptionally large. All of the ceremonial regalia, the crown, the fancy robe, and the sceptre were massive for the guy. The crown had clearly been modified to stay on without falling over the king’s eyes. Though he didn’t look too young. A slight helping of wrinkles and a very luxurious beard made sure of that. Alongside the… lacking hair up top.
To his side stood what was likely his advisors, an older dwarven man, a younger human man, and a middle aged dwarven woman. The older man and the woman stood on the same side while the younger man stood alone… though it seemed like there should be one more person on that side as the younger man stood a bit further away from the king, leaving an obvious spot for someone else to stand.
There was also a scribe, placed at a desk off to the side in a somewhat shrouded corner, complete with their own typewriter ready to mark down whatever was said in the meeting. Furthermore, there were another set of guards in plate behind the advisors. Though… were they human? Kat was looking and she couldn’t actually see anyone inside the suits but they weren’t so still she’d think they were mere decoration. Especially with the regular weapon adjustment.