BANG.BANG.BANG.
"Prince Kaelith! Prince Thorien! Open this door IMMEDIATELY!!"
Lady Seris.
The loud pounding on the wooden door shattered the lustful atmosphere that had settled into the room. The three bodies that lay on the bed, intertwined in a sweaty mess sprang apart.
Enid stared at the two princes with wide eyes, shocked at what had just happened. Her breaths came rapidly, her chest rising and falling with the force of each pull of oxygen that she had been denied just moments before.
....fingers gripping her hair...
...teeth nipping her neck...
...her scratching broad shoulders...
Heat started to climb up her neck as her thoughts drifted back to what she had been doing just a few moments ago... and what she likely would have continued to do if-
"Prince Thorien! PRINCE THORIEN! I swear if you don't get come this instant, I'M GOING TO BREAK THE BLOODY DOOR DOWN!!"
Enid took a sharp intake of breath at the threat.
If Lady Seris entered the room right now...
She looked around herself, at the bunched up sheets, the wrinkeled clothes...the disheveled princes.
Messy, sweaty, shirts half-open...and hungry. She could see it in their eyes.
She froze again, only moving when the door started rattling. Lady Seris was trying to force it open.
It she came in now...
She tossed the sheets that had tangled in her legs away from her, shooting up out of the bed. It seemed to break the princes out of whatever trance they were in.
"Hurry!" She whispered furiously, pulling the sheet with her as she looked around the room for a place to hide, "They can't see me like this."
They snapped into action.
Kaelith got off the bed, moving his hand across the surface to clear the wrinkles as best as he could, and going to the parted window and pushing it open fully.
The cool air that came in helped her flushed skin greatly, as she was ushered into a cupboard by a hasty Thorien.
"Here. Get in." He opened a small door that she had somehow missed, shutting it close lightly behind her. Only a sliver of light came in from the room as she squatted in place, the sheets in her hand.
"Prince KAELITH!!"
Enid had no idea how this woman was able to almost shout at the two princes, but now was not the time to ask.
She watched with bated breath as the two princes cleaned up their appearance, swiping hands down their hair and wiping their lips. her heart skipped a beat as she thought back on how their lips had gotten so swollen...
Kaelith reached the door, and taking a deep breath to calm down, looked behind him once, at the room, his eyes resting briefly on the door Enid was hiding behind, before he turned and opened the door.
The door had barely opened an inch before Lady Seris pushed it opne fully, stroming inside with two guards behind her. She stomped into the room, her hends clecnhed as she took in the place with shrewd eyes.
Lingering on the opne window that brought in the cold draft and the still smoldering fireplace, she turned a complete circle in the small room, until she face the princes.
"Guards." She raised her eyebrows at the two princes as the guards turned to face the Lady Seris as one, "Find her."
"Hae!"
The two of them shouted as one, banging their spears into the ground at her command as they spread across the room, looking for the woman.
For her.
Enid gasped soundlessly, pressing her hand against her mouth as she reared back in fear.
No...No...
She watched helplessly as they searched every nook and cranny, looking for her. They lifted the sheets, opened the innumerable doors, looked behind each and every piece of furniture or art, looked inside each chest...
They hadn't found Enid only because she was in one of the cupboards farthest from the door, the one near the edge of the large bed.
In this enormous room, they were searching very quickly, and would soon reach where she was...and find her.
Thorien seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Now, now, my Lady Seris." He pushed off the wall he had assumed his position against, smirk widening as he crowded the noblewoman, who refused to back away, "Is this any way to treat your Princes? And searching through my room? Tsk tsk."
He shook his head dolefully at her, as if disappointed. The guards stopped their search and looked at Lady Seris, waiting for instruction.
Lady Seris was having none of it though as she waved the guards who wnet back to turning the room over. She saw a muscle move in Thorien's jaw at the blatant dismissal.
"This is not my doing, Prince Thorien. It's The Council." She turned towards the other brother, "Do you know what they're saying, Kaelith?"
This time it was Lady Seris who moved the last step closer to the Prince, staring him down. "That the girl who survived the Hunt bears the Moon's Mark. That fate has cursed her to bring ruin. You're risking everything for her."
Kaelith stepped forward, his hands fisting at his sides, "What did you just say?"
Seris's eyes narrowed. "The council sent me to confirm it. They want proof before they decide what to do with her."
'What to do with her?' Enid paniched even more, not helped by the guards who moved ever closer. Three more doors...
No one answered.
This was enough for Thorien's every present smirk to drop. The mirth vanished from his eyes as hetook another deep breath, gaze locked on Seris, cold fury behind his composure. "No one touches her. Not until I speak with The Council myself."
Two more doors...
"You're risking everything for a nobody-"
One more door...
"This is MY PALACE!" Thorien roared, his voice morphing into the powerful growl of a wolf's.
Nobody moved.
After the initial shock, Enid listened back in, her heart threatening to jump out of its chest. She could barely look away from Thorien, as he shook from anger, his chest heaving with fury.
"Get out, Lady Seris. And take your guards with you." Kaelith answered in his brother's stead, when it looked like his brother wouldn't say anything anymore.
Lady Seris, who after the display had gone unnaturally quiet looked towards the guards, and nodded at them silently. They bowed their heads at her and filed out of the room.
She took a step to move, when she stopped and turned towards Kaelith one last time.
Seris gave a short bitter laugh. "You think you can defy them? This is bigger than your pity, Kaelith. If the mark exists, it means the prophecy-"
But she didn't finish.
Because at that exact moment, the air shimmered.
A faint, silvery light rippled through the cupboard Enid was hiding in. She gasped, clutching the back of her neck. The warmth turned into a searing pulse as the light filled her vision.