The study was large and vastly empty. The plush carpet was smoothed down in front of the fireplace as if the lady lord had been laying there only moments ago, but upon closer inspection, one could see the wear in the floor, proving it wasn’t just a recent occurrence but a common one. Books were stacked on a small table. More lined the walls. A lone chair was in the middle of the room. It faced the fireplace and a single portrait above its mantle. The portrait was of a thin, beautiful woman. The woman was tall with deep brown eyes and dark, black hair. Intelligence hid in her eyes, but mischief hid in her smile. Her head was cocked slightly in an inquisitive way. Her hair tumbled over her shoulder, flowing like smoke. In her lap, there was an adolescent girl that bore the resemblance of the lady lord herself. Each of the lords took a seat on the floor beneath the painting.

“I’m sorry. My castle doesn’t receive many visitors. Usually this room is for myself, and I don’t need much.”

Faust glanced about the room and quietly watched the princess. “It’s good to visit you again.” He attempted a smile, but she waved at him dismissively.

“No need to thank me. You showed up uninvited. I assume you have come here to discuss the atrocities plaguing our lands.” The small party nodded. “I was afraid that may be the case.”

Lord Arlyn cleared his throat. “I am terribly sorry to bother you about this. It’s terrible talk for anyone. However, the plague seems to steer clear from your domain. We were hoping you had the knowledge to enlighten us as to why that may be.”

Barûk sighed and pulled one of her legs up towards her chest. “I know why it does, but I can’t really explain it to you.”

“Is it difficult to explain?” Arlyn asked.

“No. It’s just, I can’t help you. There’s little I could personally do,” she gave an uneasy look at the painting and her eyes grew dark, “and I have little reason to do it.”

Lord Cambridge erupted into a standing position. “Little reason? Men, women, and children are all suffering out there!”

Barûk scoffed. “And that means what to my people?” She looked away with disinterest and nonchalance. Faust tried to catch her eyes and pain instead caught in his. “You lot have caused all of our fair share of suffering. Besides, I already told you there is little I can do. I’ve already done so much.”

“Then do the little you can!” Cambridge’s voice, which had been quiet all evening, boomed through the castle walls. “If it’s a small amount, then it should do little to inconvenience you. There are innocents out there that have had nothing to do with your suffering!”

“Now, now, everyone,” Arlyn held his hands out as if he could physically squash the noise with his shaking, frail palms. “Let’s be reasonable.”

“Innocents?!” Barûk screamed, ignoring Arlyn’s requests. “They stand by as your kind slaughter mine!”

“So you’ll do the same?! We’re also your kind, in case you’ve forgotten. So prove yourself wrong! Prove all of us wrong! Prove to us that there’s kindness in your backwards kingdom! Or be the monster I know you are.”

Barûk stood quickly and placed a hand on her scabbard. Arlyn leapt to his feet just as fast and attempted to step in between them. Barûk grabbed Arlyn and pushed him to the side as he attempted to separate their screaming match. Faust sat on the floor, staring at his feet. No one could hear him, but he was whispering repeatedly to himself. 

Barûk walked right up to the bulking man who stood at least half a foot taller than her. “You dare to insult my kingdom, and you dare to call me and my people such?”

Cambridge’s face softened. Through the scars and the rough skin, his dark, beaded eyes held sorrow. “These creatures may make any man wince, but I never insulted them in such a manner. I’m talking to their ruler who is but a child, voicing childish grudges. A child who would allow the deaths of thousands to be placed in her idle hands. I was talking to you. You may look human, but you alone have the heart of a monster. You.” 

The Goblin Princess took a step back, aghast. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Anger filled her eyes, but she removed her hand from her weapon. “You can leave.” Faust began to whisper louder. “You all can leave.” His whispers could be heard, but they couldn’t be made out. “You all can leave and never return.” The whispers were almost audible now. “And you!’ Barûk spun quickly on her heel and eyed the seated man. “You can stop that incessant chanting!”

Lord Faust stood. He had a calm and quiet look to his face. He marched up to the princess and sighed. “You say that you have no reason to help these people. But I know the truth, Barûk. You’re scared. You’re tired. You’re annoyed. But the fact of the matter is, you’re also aware of the price that comes with this peace.” Then, the lord sighed. He continued what he was whispering, this time so the princess could hear. “Simon. Zroizgoild. Cromgold. Alizon.” With that, the princess’s eyes wavered and her angry charade fell away. Faust opened his arms to her, and she graciously took them. “You don’t want to face them anymore. You don’t want to lose anymore.” Quietly, the young lord peered over her head at the painting before them and closed his eyes.

The group remained frozen for a long time as the young woman’s wails drowned out the castle. She finally settled in Faust’s arms on the floor and slowly moved to be seated beside him. His hand gripped hers in a gentle way as her eyes betrayed all of the pain and exhaustion that was within her all along. When everyone had settled down, the princess had bowed her head and given them her sincerest apology.

“I am sorry. You’re right, Lord Cambridge. I was a child. However, I was not doing it out of spite or a grudge. It was selfishness that led my refusal, but it was born of a long line of selflessness. I don’t expect you to understand because you know little of my life, but I will ask for your forgiveness regardless.”

Cambridge seemed taken aback, and he finally took a seat across from the princess. “I am quick to judge at times. Battle teaches you to do that after so long. If you’re not quick to judge the field and people on it, you are quicker to die. I forget that women are tricky, however, and they hide their true intentions in ways war could never explain. I apologize for the things I had said. Personally, I have no qualms with the kinds of creatures you have in your care. Although, they do irk me. Monster should only be used for those with ill intentions, and I am ashamed to have called you one. I also called you a child and failed to recognize that I was speaking the truth. You’re not a backwards ruler. You’re just a scared child, and I expected you to act as if you weren’t.”

Barûk smiled softly at the large man. “Battle has trained you well, my lord, but your wife has certainly trained you even better. Please, thank your lady for me when you return.”

Cambridge gave a small nod, and there was a flickering behind his eyes that spoke of warmth. Warmth for the young lady and her kingdom. The man may have a distaste for monsters, but it was more similar to the way a young girl may shy away from bugs. The animosity there was vain at most. Barûk knew his confession was more than just an apology. It was also announcing any misinterpretations she may have had about him. To which, she was ashamed she still believed in such stereotypes.

Barûk leaned back and drew in a sigh as she slipped her fingers out from Lord Faust’s hand. The young man gave her an encouraging smile. “I suppose I have no reason not to help you then. I still don’t particularly wish to do this, but you’re right. People are suffering. It would be cruel of me to not offer my assistance.”

Lord Cambridge’s eyebrows lifted up for a brief moment, but it seemed as though he had spent his words for the evening. He merely gave her another nod in agreement. Lord Arlyn silenced a small coughing fit before grinning at the Lady Lord with curious eyes. “You are certainly an interesting specimen, Lady Barûk.”

Barûk gave a knowing grin and a sighing laugh. “You don’t know the half of it.” Barûk stretched and sprung to her feet. Her face was glowing, and all signs of crying were washed away within seconds. “Well, if we are to do this, we’ve got a long way to travel. That may be inconvenient enough, but we also must travel by foot. We may be able to take some mounts, however, I have my doubts. We would certainly have to abandon them about halfway.” She was flitting about the room and had pulled out a small satchel, hidden among the stacks of books. She began stuffing tomes and novels into it. She picked up a letter opener, tested its edge, and tossed that into the satchel as well. The visiting party merely watched her in a state of confusion. “Well!” she cried into the room. “I said it was quite the trip! A hassle of one at that. Go pack what you need and rest up. We leave in the morning - not first light, however. I would very much like to be spry starting this journey, and this will be the last time I get to sleep in. Leaving at first light to begin travelling is a silly, futile task if you ask me. You’ll still need to camp and rest. What a ridiculous notion. Ask Grr’okk to fetch Agnesa. She’ll show you to your rooms.”

Just like that, the party dismissed and were shown to their rooms. Agnesa kept their rooms relatively close to one another per Cambridge’s request. Also per Cambridge’s request, they were kept distant from most of the mansion’s staff. Young fire demon sprites occupied their fireplaces, and pixies would bring them their necessities, but the rooms remained otherwise empty. Cambridge went right to sleep. His hefty body hitting his mattress like a stone in water. Arlyn peered out the window and marvelled at all of the infrastructure that made his guest room before having another fit and deciding to retire for the night. Faust, however, found much difficulty in sleeping. 

The young lord kept thinking of the brief moments when he held his old friend in his arms. Perhaps friend wasn’t the right term for the young woman a few measly floors above him. Perhaps it was time he returned to his senses and admitted what she meant to him again. Barûk was his first love, and she rejected him. He never thought it would hurt him so deeply even still. So he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling as he thought of how warm her body felt in his arms, and how he wished he could let her stay that way and cry away every pain she ever felt. When his eyes finally began to close, a new memory poured over him, and he was haunted by that lilting song he heard upon his first arrival. It wasn’t the song he heard upon reaching the monstrous manor, but instead the song he heard when he first stumbled upon Cromgold's imprisoned guest.

I hear the wind whisper in my hair

The earth it calls to my feet

I hear the water drum in my blood

As it all sings to me

“Flee, my child, fly

Leave your prison cell

Here lies your grave

Here, you live in hell

Your heart, it knows the truth

You have to fight the odds

Otherwise, my child

It will be the death of all gods”