Chapter Text
Luther hears footsteps running down the spiral staircase. It's definitely much steadier than when he first got here. Any progress is progress.
"Someone breached the barrier of the spell," Ethan says, his breath worryingly difficult for a very short staircase.
Luther calmly turns around from where he's sitting by the fireplace. "Are you sure? My birds didn't pick up any sight of the soldiers, not even anyone with a royal sigil. They shouldn't be able to be anywhere near us. Could it be a false alarm?"
Ethan shuts his eyes with more force than needed and shakes his head. "I'm sure. I set the spell to confuse anyone who comes close and direct them away from the castle area. But he's walking straight towards here."
"He? How many are there?"
"Just one. Two, if you count the horse in."
"I don't remember you being such a master of detecting spells, Ethan."
Ethan's look turns slightly sheepish. "I saw him on the tower."
Luther stands up, walks towards the door where Ethan is leaning on for support. His breath is still labored, now because of pain. They look at each other for a little longer; the cracking of the fire ricochets in the room.
"I'm getting the armor-"
"Let me answer the door-"
The two of them speak up at the exact same moment. Luther raises his eyebrows.
"You can't even stand still without leaning onto a surface. Where's that armor gonna get you?"
Ethan immediately pushes himself away and stands perfectly straight, as if that is the point. Luther pinches his nose.
"Just let me deal with him, okay? You said there's only one. If it's from who we were thinking about, it is unlikely that they would send just one person instead of a battalion of soldiers. Best case, he's merely a traveler who stumbled across your spell. Worst, if he's indeed here to sniffle, it makes even more sense that I dealt with him, not you."
Ethan's posture softens just a little, but not entirely. "But what if–"
"Do you not trust the power of the majestic Phineas Phreak?"
Ethan's shoulder drops, and a small smile finally rises to his face. "Of course I do, Luther."
"Then hide your ass somewhere back in the cellar and don't come out unless I tell you so."
"Thank you, Luther."
——
Benji lets out a huge sigh of relief when he spots the pointy top of the spiral. It was a terrible day, yes, but it could get worse. Hopefully things will get better from now on, since at least he has a clear direction to go. Normally he is pretty proud of his navigation, but something about these woods is really messing his head up. He swears he left markers at every turn he took, but they either disappear into the void or show up at places that made no sense at all. The heavy snow is not making it any easier for him either.
In all fairness, the castle seems to have appeared out of nowhere. The moment he saw it, he blinked twice and almost smashed his head on a nearby tree. How on earth did he not see it before?
He's too tired and cold to run any cogs in his brain. What matters now is to just get to the castle, find a shelter for Lady Grey (his horse), and with any luck, find a room sealed enough to keep the harsh wind away. The castle is not marked on any of the maps he has seen, so it is likely to be abandoned and forgotten long ago.
Lady Grey snorts reluctantly, trying to shake away the snow on her mane. "Patience, love," he pats her face gently and sweeps away the remaining snow. "We are nearly there."
Maybe it was a mistake from the beginning, Benji thinks, with a tint of bitterness. What was he thinking? Chasing down a dragon? Wake up, Benjamin Dunn, you're not ten anymore. He couldn't even find his way out of a nameless wood (it is concerning, considering that navigation is one of the few things he actually thinks he's good at). Not everyone gets to live through their childhood dream. It's about time he swallows the hard truth and just be happy about what he has right now. Before his dreams eat him alive.
He shakes his head just like Lady Grey. It's not the time for that thought right now.
The first thing he notices at the gate is that the snow melts near the steps. Which is weird for a supposedly not-occupied castle. The second thing is that the gate is open. The third, a very large man is standing at the top of the steps and watching him with very judgmental eyes.
"State your identity and your intentions here."
It took a while for his frozen brain to realize the man was demanding his answer. "Em, sir- lord, I am so sorry for showing up at your doorsteps uninvited–" he stutters, and the expression on the man's face told him he definitely got a negative point there. "–Dunn, Benjamin Dunn. But people usually just call me Benji." Another point gets taken away. Why did he keep saying that? "I was travelling through these woods and I think I lost my way–I saw your castle from afar so I came here hoping for a shelter against the snow. I didn't know this was your land, and I know it was rude of me to trespass, but if you were so kind as to allow me to wait for the storm to rest, I would be extremely grateful."
He pleads with all his misery of the day, which is considerably a lot. But the man seems unmoved; he only narrows his eyes and looks at him from head to toe more than a dozen times, as if trying to see him through. Benji waits anxiously for a decision.
"Not my problem," the man declares and goes off to close the door.
"No, wait, please!" He dashes up the steps, almost slips on the melted snow, and Lady Grey throws him worried glances. "–a barn? Stable? All I need is a place with a roof against the snow for me and my horse," He practically begs, and he doesn't even have to fake the shivers in his voice. "I am very ill-prepared for the snow and I have been lost for quite a while now, when the sun sets in a few hours I will have no place to go–I will be completely out of your sight during my stay and leave as soon as the snow settles, I swear on my mother's soul–"
The man pauses his movements and frowns, and that lits up Benji's hope for a tiny bit. His expression seems softened, but recovers to the stony one in less than a second.
"I am very sorry to hear that, Mister Dunn, but unfortunately we have no capacity for any guests. Please leave this area from the way you came as soon as possible before we have to make you." The man states in a final decision voice.
"But–" Benji wants to say something to change his mind, but he knows it would be a futile task. He watches at a loss as the man cleans the ice shards on the hinge, about to shut the gate. Where should he go now? The sun is very low. The chance of him getting out of the woods before the sunset–or rather, the chances of him not freezing to death in a couple of hours–
"Please, do come in. It would be very rude for any host to shut the door to a guest on as bleak a day as this."
A gentle voice comes from behind the large man, further down the shadows of the stone walls. It wasn't loud, but clear enough that even Benji heard it with the man and the wooden gate in between. It also makes the large man turn around in lightning speed and throws an ominous expression to where the voice came from. (Benji is not a master at reading faces, but it's definitely not a happy one.)
While he is still stunned by how things have turned, the owner of the voice comes forward into the light. After his encounter with the menacing large man, Benji doesn't really know what he was expecting, but the man seemed… normal. He was about his height–no, slightly shorter–with a head of fluffy dark hair. He is in a simple long robe that looks too cold in this weather. In his right hand a candlestick, the other a leather-covered book. Not a cleric, as there are no signs of any cross or crucifix. A scholar, perhaps? It is not entirely uncommon that the scholar of a noble family is designated to look after an abandoned estate.
None of it really mattered, because the not-normal thing is that the man is smiling at him in a way that Benji can practically feel steam evaporating from the top of his head.
Noticing that none of the other two are moving, the man sighs and turns to the larger man still blocking the gate.
"Luther, can you bring the horse to the stable, please?" The shorter man keeps his smile, but somehow it looks much less confident as it is now directed to the larger man. The larger man–now Benji knew as Luther–whose stare intensifies into something that clearly says disapproval. But after a long pause he walks out of the gate nonetheless.
"No, I mean, thank you so much for allowing me to stay-" Benji finally snaps out of it when Luther walks past him (a bit begrudgingly, but somehow not to him) and towards Lady Grey. "But I can bring Lady Grey to the stable myself! There is no need–if you would just show me the way–"
"I'm sure you can, but you look pretty miserable and cold." The man with the gentle smile raised a single eyebrow, and Benji honestly has no counterargument to that. And the fact that he’s miserable and cold. "I think there happened to be some mulled wine on the stove…But of course you can go to the stable, if that's what you prefer."
And before his further protest, Lady Grey has already gone (quite happily) with Luther and disappears behind the corner of the wall. He would be angrier about her abandoning him so fast if he weren't also desperately hoping to leave her and get to somewhere warm.
"Mulled wine sounds amazing," he murmured. "Thank you so much for your hospitality, Mister-"
Benji pauses, realizing he still doesn't know the name of his host. The man hesitated for a second and said:
"Hunt. It's the name of my family."
Benji chews on the name as he follows the man into the yard. Not a particularly well-known family in this region, but a common last name. It felt like he'd seen it somewhere.
He threw everything from his mind behind as soon as he smelled the spices of the mulled wine.