The carriage carrying the children is Traveling throughout the green fields, some trees were visible, but no hint of a fully-fledged forest, far across the grass there lays a castle of grey, Sara noticed that the carriage is going towards it
"Wait aren't we going to the capital" asked Sara as she got her head back into the carriage
"What do you mean?" asked John as he peaked outside
"This is no capital that I know of" continued John saying"
"Wait let me see," said William "Oh that, it's the snake head" as he went back into the carriage
"Snake what?" said Thomas
"It's a castle known for securing the trading routes between the Varish and the Big market" continued William
"And why are we going there?" asked Thomas
"It seems we are going to spend the night" said Henry as he two went back inside
"It is better than sleeping in the grass," said Isabel
The carriage slowly approached the pit surrounding the castle, deep enough to delete any thought of unauthorized entry or escape
"Who goes there" a voice shouted from the doors top; it was the commander of this castle wearing with a helmet of iron
One of the knights of the carriages stepped over with his horse carrying a flag, The symbol of the Varish kingdom woven over it, A crown hanging over a sword's handle, the crown had blood all over it, it showed decay as if have been eaten
"We are an envoy for the king, we are seeking the king's capital on behalf of his orders," said the knight
"And perhaps what brought you here, the capital is that way," said the one over the castle pointing the direction of the capital
" We seek shelter for the night, a place to rest," said the knight
"You may sleep outside," said the man
The masked man peeked outside on purpose, the moment he was seen he went back again
The commander of the castle without another word went back inside the castle
The bridge started to lower itself; it hit the ground as the metal bars raised up slowly revealing the man who was spoke to them
He was in his late 20s, he was a ginger, short haired, small dots over his nose, little scars over his face, he spoke without his helmet on saying "Welcome my dear guests"
"Wow, Connections-based favouritism," said William
"I guess the mask in itself is a banner, but why didn't he allow us entrée when we revealed it" said Thomas while the carriages were entering through the gates
"Because it can be faked, anyone can weave a couple of threads together," said Henry
"Why name it the snake head?" asked Isabel
"Because it was a poison for the enemy lines, it won't be breached no matter how hard they tried" replied William "So the Vikings names it that way"
The carriages all got inside, the chains pulled the bridge upwards as the gates closed them inside
"Welcome to my humble house, I am sorry it might not suit your highnesses for we don't get many guest- oh... you are children" said the Commander of the castle as John and his friends stepped foot outside
The commander of this castle greeted the Masked man once he saw him
"At ease, so, where will I be staying for the night?" said the masked man
"Follow me sir" said the commander of the castle
Some of the guards took the carriage and the horses to the stable while other escorted the guests to their resting place
One step after another up the high castle the children were escorted
"So... were you born here?" said Isabel to the guard leading upstairs
No answer came from his side, he just continued walking silently
"You know, with this attitude you might never get married" she continued
"Isabel!" Sara yelled in a low-pitched voice
"What? I was just being socialist "replied Isabel as they reached their room
They reached a door, stepping out the way the guard let them in, they found 6 beds in total, each 2 had a window in between
They put their stuff by the side, Isabel said sitting on her bed
"We can't dream of such comfort back at the camp"
"Don't get used to it" said John "We don't know what awaits us in the capital"
"Can't you just, not think about it for a moment," said Isabel
John tried to explain himself but he was cut by Thomas who said
"She is right, thinking about it is not going to change the invadable, just calm down, be at ease for a moment in your life"
"Wow..." said William staring down and out the window
"What?" said Thomas coming up to him
Staring down he saw the pit that surrounded the place, it went deeper than they thought, the bottom was unnoticeable, sharp spears of wood were implanted in the sides, there was some wooden carriages hanging here and there, some skeletons who have been eaten by time
It was inhabited by snakes and ghosts
"How can a human dig this much up," said William
"With enough numbers it won't be that hard" said Thomas as he went back inside
"No matter how many people join in, when you reach the stony level, you won't have the time or the strength, and it is not that far out" said William looking at the sides
The stone wasn't that far out, light reached it with ease, but it looked carved out, as if claws dug it up, wavy lines were here and there
"The bigger question is how long was this castle here, this looks quite old, but not old enough to have the chance to make it this deep," said Henry
"Maybe the pit was always there, and they only built these walls above it," said Thomas
"If so how did they fill up the centre? that would as hard if not harder than digging it up" replied John
"Do you think they named it snake head because it was inhabited by snakes? or because a snake dug it up?" said Sara
"Were you not listening?" said Isabel "They just answered that question"
"I was" replied Sara "I just theorized that what we know might not be the full truth"
"That is one big snake, maybe it is under this castle still, dead or alive" said Thomas
"I'd rather see it dead" replied Sara
"seeing how big the castle is, I cant imagine how tall his body is" said John
"Should we go at night to the dungeons and try to dig up its remains?" said Thomas
"I bet they would sell for a very high price at the capital" said Isabel
"Guys, it is just a theory, Sigh... this is how fake histories are made" said William
"Anyways" said Henry "We need to rest for the night, We might not have something like this for a very long time"
The night cold and quite, the darkness dug its claws deep inside the lights, in a room with only a hint of a candle's light the masked man sat by himself, he stared down at a paper with weird language covering the sides, he held a pen in hand as if attempting to write down something on it
Centring it a designee for a bell, a very big one at that, it seemed to be made of copper, silver and gold, some gems covered the sides, it was barley a quarter finished, he folded the paper shut and laid it inside his pocket, just to turn the lights off