Chapter 26: A short walk
Ethan walked slowly through the wide corridors, lit by torches set into iron brackets. The polished stone floor reflected the light in pale tones, and each step echoed back at him. His face remained calm, but his eyes never stopped moving: the shifting of guards, hushed conversations that died out the moment he approached, anything that seemed off.
Now he noticed the castle felt alive, but not in a healthy way. The movement was constant, almost mechanical. Nobles in heavy robes whispered in corners, always keeping watch on the corridor behind them. Guards stood too still, like the golems of Eldranor.
Ethan didn’t need anyone to explain it. Now that he was paying attention, he could feel it: something ran through these people like invisible threads. Empty gazes, calculated gestures, even their smiles seemed forced.
He paused for a moment in front of a stained glass window depicting ancient kings in battle. The light that passed through it painted the floor in red and blue.
Why hadn’t he felt this distortion in mana when he’d used the scroll before saving the princess? It made no sense at all. He had been at his sharpest then, yet saw nothing like this.
Ethan almost let himself get distracted. But he quickly turned his focus back to the corridor ahead, where two nobles were whispering too softly for an ordinary person to hear.
"...He doesn’t react the way he used to."
"It doesn’t matter. As long as we keep up appearances..."
The rest was lost to the echo. He couldn’t be sure whether they were talking about the king or some other noble in the same situation.
He kept walking, turning a corner where guards stood rigid, their spears grounded. The way they kept staring straight ahead, without so much as glancing at him, felt unnatural even for trained soldiers.
Something was completely wrong here. Not just with the king, who Ethan already suspected was a puppet, but with the entire structure around him.