The two soldiers at Natasha's shoulders did not touch her as they walked, but stayed close enough that a simple swipe of the blades resting on their shoulders could easily end her life. Easton strutted in front of her, his shoulders back and head high as he paraded their small party through the village at the base of the castle, curious faces peeking out from behind shuttered houses and cracked open doors as they passed, eyes following Natasha as cautious, inquisitive murmurs reached her ears.
The two other ranking officers had stayed behind with the soldiers, no doubt to keep the villages away if they tried to breach the gates, and Natasha forced herself not to think of what would happen to them, to Ky, as she moved along. She kept her eyes on the back of Easton's head, imagining the multitude of ways she could rid herself of him, as they made their way up the cobbled streets, a slowly ascending ramp, and through a second set of massive wooden gates that provided an entryway for a second stone wall that surrounded the castle itself. The road between the gates and the actual entrance to the castle was a short, wide bridge, a low wall on either side that hardly reached her knees. Glancing down below, the ditch was so dark Natasha couldn't tell where it ended, but from either side of it she could see gnarled, winding roots and branches working their way down into the abyss, and she knew any fall taken over the bridge would result in serious injury, if not death.
Turning her gaze back to the castle, Natasha lifted her eyes at the magnificent structure looming before her. Up close, the white stone walls and towers were even more captivating than at a distance, and the roots that threatened below bloomed into rich green vines and moss that crept up the sides of the castle in large points, eventually either ending in a gentle curve or climbing so high that they crawled over the walls that also served as pathways, as Natasha could see even more armed guards crossing them with their weapons raised to their shoulders. They paid no mind to her, completing their duty in silence, without a curious glance down at her as she was escorted through the archway, flinching slightly as the metal gates crashed to a close behind her.
As the sound of the metal slamming against the stone echoed in her ears, Natasha stopped suddenly when her escorts did. She glanced past Easton's shoulder as a man dressed entirely in black emerged from the shadows across from them, the doorway hidden by the open hallway that provided shadows to the sides of the courtyard, leaving Natasha to have to concentrate immensely to sense to movements that happened in the dark. She watched as two more people emerged behind the first, dressed in the soldiers' uniform she was accustomed to seeing, stopping just behind the first man on either side of his shoulder.
"Easton," the new figure said gruffly, his voice as low and as dark as his figure. Natasha's eyes narrowed as she concentrated on him, taking in the long, slick strands of brown hair that fell around his cheeks, the armored top he wore that squared out his shoulders and thickened his chest, the two massive swords that hung on either side of his waist, the tell-tale signs of other weapons hidden throughout his person. His appearance gave Natasha the unwelcome sense that he was infinitely more dangerous than Easton was, and when he turned his gray eyes over Easton's shoulder to where she was standing, a unavoidable chill ran over her that matched the lifeless color of his eyes.
"Lynch," Easton spoke up, and Natasha eyes flashed to him as she caught the unmistakable waiver of his voice. Lynch must have caught it too, because his thin, cracked lips turned up into the faintest of smirks.
"This is Natasha James, the girl everyone's been searching for." Natasha wanted to roll her eyes at the way Easton straightened and puffed out his chest slightly as he bragged. "I am to escort her to the dungeons to see her family before delivering her to The Five."
"On whose orders?" Lynch leaned back slightly as he relaxed his shoulders, crossing his arms loosely over his chest, looking down at Easton as if he was nothing but an over-excited child seeking to claim a prize.
YOU ARE READING
The Nightingale
Adventure[Completed] [Editing/Re-Writing] [10/9/19] For hundreds of years Natasha and the rest of her village have been prisoners within their own town, their own homes, as a punishment for what she believes was a failed revolution attempt against their unju...
