Chapter 8: If you don't act like anything is wrong, no one will notice
"My Lord. What are you doing while injured?" One of the guards, the taller and more built of the two asked. Sam's grip on Cass' arm tightened and he gathered that Sam either didn't like this man, or had a bone to pick with him.
"Am I not allowed to move around my own home?" Cass demanded, and the guard's eyes widened.
"O-Of course not, my Lord. I was just...worried about your health." Cass scoffed.
"Of course you were." Cass looked him up and down, taking in his good build, and the way he carried himself. His black hair was slightly windswept, just enough to keep it out of his eyes. His brown gaze stared down at him and Cass could sense a slight animosity towards him. He was definitely cocky, that much he could tell, but he couldn't sense any laziness from him. He could from the second guard and from the way the second guard carried himself.
The two were like night and day.
Where this guard had his uniform in perfect shape, the other was sloppily put on. Barely holding on for dear life.
Cass felt a plan forming in his mind. A plan to offend this guard, and put the other in his place.
"I'd like to take a guard for myself, just in case." Cass said, and watched as both of the guards seemed surprised. "Of course it would not be good for me to use magic right now. My head is injured." He told them, and they seemed to understand what he meant. Cass was fully bullshitting. He didn't have a clue about magic in this world yet. "So, you." He pointed to the sloppily dressed guard. "You're coming with me." He ordered.
The guard who clearly cared about his job tensed.
"Are you sure, my Lord?" He asked almost immediately and the other guard nodded his head vigorously. Cass wanted to laugh. If you were going to worry about having to actually work, you should have gone for a different job.
Cass had a big plan he had to get underway. One where he had to rehabilitate his image, and it wouldn't do him any good if the people under him were even slightly incompetent.
"I am sure." Cass stated with finality. The dark haired guard sighed, closed his eyes and nodded.
"I shall remain here until you get back safely." He told him, and Cass felt his lips turn up slightly. He was pissed, but he was able to follow orders even when upset. Good.
Cass didn't even look behind him as he moved down the hallway. He expected that the guard was following him, and with Sam glancing behind him, he knew that he was.
"Uh, Sam?" Cass whispered and Sam jerked.
"Y-Yes my Lord?"
"Where is the temple?" He asked and Sam nearly tripped before he fought a smile from crossing his lips. He coughed several times.
"You don't know where you are going?" He asked, clearly trying to compose himself and Cass looked straight ahead as they continued to walk.
"Not at all. Its location completely escapes me." He told him, not embarrassed because why would he be? He didn't even know where he was going. There was no need to be embarrassed.
"You didn't show it my Lord." Sam said. Cass had no idea if he was praising him or criticizing him. "We aren't quite going in the wrong direction, but this is the long way to go to get to it." Sam's tone was warm. "Is it alright if I behave as if that was your true intention the whole time?" He whispered and Cass did chuckle then.
"Ah. Thank you for asking. I will tell you now, you don't need to ask next time. Take the action that will make it look as if I knew everything from the beginning." Cass told him quietly. Sam squeezed his hand.
"Understood." He replied, and shortly thereafter, Cass noticed as they slowly changed the direction they were going.
The house, no, the castle was fucking huge. It had so many chandeliers that Cass thought his head was going to spin. He'd never seen such obvious displays of wealth in his whole life before this, so he was having a hard time wrapping his head around this.
They'd even come across an artist working away on a portrait. Who the fuck did that anymore? Cass hadn't heard of anyone doing that anymore, unless they were the artist themselves. He'd seen plenty of videos of people painting their homes with majestic landscapes and the like, but they'd been the artists.
They hadn't hired someone else to do it. They'd been time lapses he'd seen with his own eyes.
The artist was scared of him, either way. It didn't matter if he wanted to speak with them. From their gaze alone Cass could tell that he scared them. So, he left them to do their job, even if he wanted to remain around and watch them work.
He guessed it just wasn't in the cards for him.
Fucking villain ass face. God, that interaction only fueled his anger he felt towards the creatures that had placed him here.
Feeling moody, and knowing that everyone could damn well tell, Sam held his tongue as they continued on their way through the castle. They had to go down the grand staircase, which was a nightmare all on its own.
The space was huge, brightly lit, and made him stand out like a sore thumb. Cass' heart was racing in his chest, hoping beyond hope that he didn't run into any of the main characters. He'd be in big trouble, and he didn't want to explain where he was going to them.
He wasn't going to pray, that was fucking sure, but they didn't need to know that!
Thankfully, only a few maids passed by so it wasn't of any concern to him. Sam led him to the right once he finished getting down the stairs, one painful step at a time. The lazy guard behind him even suggested that they head back to his rooms if he was having such a hard time.
Cass almost killed him with his glare.
The next area that they travelled through was a glass enclosed hallway. It wasn't quite a greenhouse or whatever you would call it, but it changed the feeling of the area around him. It was like leaving behind the castle and stepping into an actual fairy tale.
Stone floor, stone accents. They could see what had to be the temple in the distance before they even arrived.
"Whoa." Byron's quiet exclamation was exactly what Cass wanted to do. It was so cool. It was clear that whoever designed this part of the castle had put a lot of thought and care into it. That they had cared deeply about whoever was spending the most time over here.
Cass would guess...probably the Vespertine boy and Lady Ava? Did the heroine have a preference for them? That was...good information, if that was the case.
The temple itself didn't actually look that new. It looked...quite old. Cass turned his head slightly towards Sam who perked up right away.
"Yes my Lord?" He asked softly, and Cass turned his gaze towards the temple they were slowly approaching.
"I get the feeling that this temple was here before the castle." Cass said, and Sam chuckled.
"You are correct. The temple was here first, which was why you had to negotiate for the area around it. The fairies in the area get to use the temple still, but within certain time frames now. There is also an outside access. This entrance is through the side door, where the priest would normally enter." Sam was a wealth of information. He'd really lucked out.
The temple for some reason gave Cass a pit in his stomach. The closer he got, the more he wanted to turn tail and run. Huh. He didn't think that was from him, since he'd never had any religious trauma or anything of the sort. That had to be from Lord Blackburn himself. Interesting.
Cass had to fight himself when it came time to step into the temple. It was the strangest sensation. What on earth did Lord Blackburn have against the temple?
Sam entered first, helping Cass over the step since he was still quite weak, but once they had entered through an old, wooden door and into the main chamber, Cass couldn't tell that there was much difference between churches in his world and temples here.
There were several pews in neat rows facing towards a beautiful stained glass backdrop. Several gods were in the glasswork, and Cass wondered if it was the origin story of this world. It made no sense to him and just looked like pretty pictures. There were several people? Some looked like men? Maybe there were two women?
He didn't care, really. He was here for a different reason, and that was probably going to be very disrespectful to anyone who was here. So he was hoping that they would be the only ones who were in here.
Of course he wasn't that lucky.
A soft gasp let him know that he hadn't scanned the area properly. Swearing internally, he turned towards the sound and found someone who he was conflicted about. Lady Ava. The party's healer and the woman who would take over as the High Priestess of the church.
A woman who looked just as frail and weak as Lord Blackburn did, but she got treated the way she should, while Lord Blackburn was practically shunned. He wasn't bitter since Lord Blackburn had done it to himself, but it did leave a bad taste in his mouth.
Sighing, Cass made his way towards her and she stumbled to her feet.
"L-Lord Blackburn? I didn't know you were the devout type." The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop herself, and she gasped again, covering her mouth. Cass couldn't blame her. She was probably severely shocked.
Cass glanced at the small entourage he had and sighed again. He let go of Sam's hand and used both hands to pull back his hood.
"I had been hoping not to run into anyone." He told her and watched as she dropped her gaze. Her face flushed and Cass wanted to kick himself. That wasn't the reaction he wanted. "My memories haven't fully come back, and I'm an impatient person. I was hoping that praying to the...gods would help." The words felt foul coming out of his mouth. He didn't want to pray to the fuckers who put him here with practically a threat, yet here he was.
To throw hands with them on their turf.
Lady Ava's whole demenour changed. She looked like...she was going to cry? But she held herself together.
"It was so terrible that you got into an accident while helping Lucy train. Lucy feels terrible about it." Cass couldn't remember anything about 'Lucy' but he had a feeling he was really upset.
Upset that Cass woke up at all. Jokes on him, Lord Blackburn wasn't around anymore, so in a way, he was responsible for him dying.
Maybe he should tell him that just before Cass himself was leaving this world, or their lives. Whatever came first.
"Well, I don't remember him well, but I feel bad that he feels bad." Cass told her, and she blinked.
"Oh. Right." She wasn't...the smartest, was she? No, that's an unkind thought, Cass. You don't know this woman. She could be very book smart and just awful at social interactions. Hell, everyone had issues talking to Lord Blackburn. Maybe that was it?
Cass was stiffly standing there and she seemed to notice. She panicked, moving back and forth at the front of the temple.
"Oh! You came here to pray, didn't you? I'm so sorry. I'll move to one of the back pews. You can go near the front so that the gods can hear your prayers better, Lord Blackburn." Her offer was so...kind. Generous. She had no idea the kind of prayers he was planning to send.
"Right. Thanks." He told her and watched as she rushed to the back of the temple. Well, here goes nothing.