Page 39 of Blood Red Woes

Step by step I head up, leaving the shambling crowd of dead people behind as I get closer and closer to the castle. Now that I’m close, I see the stone walls of the castle are clean, a brilliant white compared to the stained block that fills the rest of the city.

I’m about halfway up the steps when Rune speaks again: “Rey, wait.”

Though I don’t want to, I stop. “What?” My tongue feels heavy. Should it feel that heavy? I glance over my shoulder. Now that I’m higher than most of the city, I can see over the stone wall that surrounds it. The shadowstorm that forced me in is gone, nothing but pleasant weather as far as the eye can see.

“Before you venture further, you must face the reality that you may have to fight Empress Morimento. If that happens, you need to be prepared to do everything it takes to win.” AKA kill her. He wants me to be prepared tokillher.

Could I? Could I kill someone, even if they are a raging lunatic who let their people turn into zombies? I don’t know. I don’t know if I have it in me.

“And if I can’t?” I ask, my stomach in knots.

“I will protect you as long as I can, but I am… I won’t be able to protect you infinitely. Eventually, it will be up to you.” He sounds almost regretful at that, and I wonder if he sounds like that because he wishes he was whole or if he wants to protect me more than he’s able to in his current state.

Doesn’t really matter, does it?

I swallow hard as I resume my walk up the white block steps. “We’ll play it by ear.”

Rune is near silent when he mutters, “I don’t know what that means.”

“It means I’ll wait to make a decision until we’re inside and I can see what I have to deal with.”

“Ah, yes. That makes sense.” One day I might not have to explain every single saying to Rune, but today is not that day. I can never bring up any memes to him. They would be way too much to try to explain.

I reach the top of the stairs, the sun shining brightly on my head. A gentle breeze blows past me, rustling my hair and my cape. I’m sure I look like shit right now hair-wise thanks to the shadowstorm I encountered just outside the wall and in general. Washing my clothes in a river—washing myself in a river, too—with no soap… well, it can only go so far.

Ten feet away are the castle’s doors. Their wood is inscribed with metal designs, not only for latches but for a decorative purpose. My heart beats fast in my chest. The only thing I wantto do as I stand there is blink and miraculously wake up in my tiny apartment, and in doing so realize this was all just a lucid dream.

But too much time has passed. There’s no way this is some convoluted dream. Somehow, someway, it’s real, and I’m about to march into this castle to search for a dead man’s research. Oh, and let’s not forget that in doing so I might have to fight a freaking empress while I’m at it.

Yeah, this day keeps getting worse and worse.

“I can do this,” I whisper to myself, taking a step toward the doors. “I can—” Something pushes both castle doors open in front of me. They creak like their hinges haven’t seen use in years, one of the worst sounds I’ve ever heard. It’s almost like the doors open for me, like they were waiting for me.

Rune lights up on my wrist as he muses, “It appears we are already detected. The empress must know we are here.”

Great. So much for going in undetected, searching the place from top to bottom, and getting out all without a fight. I knew that was too much to hope for.

I swallow my nerves, steel myself, and march inside. That’s about all I can do. Of course, what I really want to do is run away and pretend none of this is happening, but there’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. This kingdom is in dire straits, and I’m caught in the thick of it. I have to do this if I have any chance of getting home.

A long hall stretches before me. Candelabras are fastened to each pillar lining the great hall, the candles in them lit and burning with dull flames. There are no windows in the hall, and yet I can see perfectly fine. The walls are made of white stone, though some ivy has broken through in some spots. The vine clings to the stone walls, climbing and growing even though it gets no sunlight in here. The floor is covered with a rich bluecarpet that seems to be a pathway of sorts, heading down the entirety of the grand hall before following along to the left.

The question is: do I follow the carpet, or do I go the other way and hope that, in doing so, I can avoid meeting Empress Morimento?

I don’t know what I’m going to do, but either way, I have to walk deeper inside the hall. I pass column after column, and I angle my head back to see the high arch of the ceiling. No murals, but even so, it reminds me of those ancient churches, where everything is intricate and still standing, even after centuries.

They just don’t make cool, strong buildings anymore.

As I lower my gaze, I happen to see something hanging on the outer wall of the hall, where the ivy is now so thick you can’t see any of the stone behind it. My feet stop, and I turn to look at what caught my eye.

A picture hangs on the wall, large enough that it’s probably only a foot or so shorter than I am. The ivy on the wall curls around its golden frame, but it does not touch the painting inside. I see the subject clear as day: a beautiful woman with a serious expression on her face.

And it’s like she’s staring right back at me.

My breath catches as I study the painting. Even captured by someone’s paintbrush, she is so beautiful it hurts. Assholes in my world would say she needs to smile, but that serious expression tells me more than a smile ever could.

She can kick some ass. She doesn’t hide behind her beauty. She is power and grace and beauty all bundled into one, with long, flowing blond hair and bright, crisp blue eyes that seem to capture and reflect the sun even though there’s no sun here and it’s just a painting. She doesn’t wear a crown, but she does have a jeweled headband on her forehead with what looks to be sapphires inlaid in the gold. A matching necklace hangs aroundher neck, and she wears all blue, though the portrait is cut off once it reaches her chest.

I can hardly speak. “That’s…”

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