Chapter 42 - Who Are You People?!

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Ebony gasped as the sword plunged into her back and went straight through her chest. Blood gushed from her mouth and she turned, shakily to look up at her murderer. Asher felt no sympathy for her though and relentlessly pulled the sword out, releasing her from it's hold and dropping the woman down beside Leon's body.

Her lips moved, forming silent words but unable to gather enough air to speak. Then her eyes glazed over and she went still.

A sense of disbelief slowly washed over Asher once he realized what he'd done. Never in his life had he considered himself a violent person, yet he had just been able to snuff out a life as though it were nothing.

It all happened so fast that he couldn't help feeling unsatisfied with this ending. He wished she'd had a more humiliating death, or at least suffered a little longer to make up for all the pain she'd caused. Angrily he grabbed the woman's body and yanked it away from Leon, then dropped his sword so he could kneel over the Prince himself. 

Once his frustration abated, quiet tears began to flow down his cheeks. He laid his head down on Leon's chest and tried to cope with the overwhelming sense of anguish.

A short sob escaped and he clutched Leon's shirt, wishing this was all just a bad dream.

His body felt like it was floating all of a sudden as his head trauma caught up with him. He knew he probably had a concussion, and if he fell asleep here, he'd probably never wake up again. That both scared and relieved him, and he closed his eyes just as the castle voices became boisterous. 

"It'll be alright." One of them said, more clearly than before. "We just need to summon the doctor!"

"Will that work?"

"He knows magic. Hurry!"

It was odd hearing the voices talk among themselves so clearly. Usually it was a low mutter or hushed whispers. Had he died and joined them? Was this floating sensation actually his own soul leaving his body? He wouldn't be surprised, nor minded if that were the case. Not if Leon was gone.

A hand touched his shoulder and Asher jumped, all his senses returning at once as his head shot up, expecting the witch to have somehow survived and returned for vengeance.

Instead, he found a woman standing there dressed in servant's attire. She had a cherubic face with bright brown eyes and curly blond hair done back in a loose plait braid. Asher didn't recognizer her at all, and was alarmed that she was partially transparent, though her form was solidifying more and more by the second.

Blinking, he noticed more people appearing in the halls, each one popping up like phantoms from the shadows.

"We need to get him out of the hallway." A ghostly knight declared just behind the servant girl. He was wearing a suit of armor similar to the ones that decorated the hall, and upon his chest was emblazoned the Aubert family crest. His face was hard, but his tone of voice countered that with a lilt of kindness.

Asher blinked to clear his tear stained vision. "Who...Who are you?"

He noticed that the servant girl was holding out a hand to him. "You may call me Felicity. Now please, let us help you two before the magic wears off."

"Magic?" Asher's mind was having trouble understanding the situation, and she nodded down at Leon.

Asher glanced over at the beast, realizing he'd been avoiding a thorough look ever since the fatal blow was struck. It was sickening to see the man he loved laying dead on the ground. It wasn't an image he wanted burned in his memory, but by the woman's indication he noticed that not only was the beast smaller than before, but his overall appearance had changed drastically.

Instead of the seven foot tall brute of a monster, he found an olive skinned man with a chiseled jawline and hard angled eyebrows. The man's hair was a disheveled dark blond with a V shaped hairline, and his cupid bow lips were partly open as he lay unconscious. 

Asher couldn't stop staring at the stranger and continued to do so in disbelief until an elderly man with thinning red hair and a roundish face came bustling through the ghostly crowd, followed by two more men with a stretcher.

"Out of the way!" He pushed a few guards aside with urgency.

Looking up towards the sound of the commotion, Asher couldn't believe what he was seeing. Right before his eyes, people were appearing out of nowhere and solidifying. Most of them were examining themselves and chattering excitedly, smiles plastered on all of their faces. It was quite an exciting atmosphere, then Asher remembered the oncoming statues that he'd heard just a few moments ago.

Shooting to his feet, he looked around in panic. "The gargoyles!"

"Are gone." Felicity caught the servant's arm just as he stumbled from dizziness. It startled him to know that she was already solid. "The curse is broken."

"What? How? Wait, is it because Ebony is dead?"

"Actually, I think the credit would go to his majesty." The girl started coyly walking Asher away as the doctor's assistants put Leon on the stretcher. "Everyone knows an act of true love can break most curses, and his majesty was willing to give his life to protect you."

"But...She said...You mean he...?" Asher stuttered, trying to come up with the right words to describe how he was feeling. Part of it was embarrassment, though most of it was worry as he continued to toss glances back at the Prince.

"You two won't be separated for long. Relax." A second servant, this one wearing a clean butler's uniform with a razor cut beard and sleek black hair piped up and patted Asher on the back. "You've been through a lot. It's time to take it easy. His majesty should be alright. Didn't you notice he was still breathing?"

No. Asher hadn't noticed and he cast another glance back, only for two more knights to block his view, both smiling in amusement. "He's alive." The knight on the left assured him. "Don't worry. We'll take care of him."

"Where are you taking him?"

"To his room. We'll let you rest in the one next to his." The butler explained. "Once the doctor gives the okay, you can go see him. Until then, you need to be treated yourself."

Asher opened his mouth, preparing to say he was fine, then a wave of dizziness overcame him and he stumbled, cursing his body for betraying his tough act. The two servants looked on in sympathy before helping him back up and walking him to a nearby guest room.

Naturally the doctor's primary focus was to make sure Leon was okay first, so in the meantime Asher was lain in bed and treated by his assistant instead. He was lucky to have not sustained a gash to the back of his head, though they made sure to keep him talking for a good while so he wouldn't fall asleep and go into a coma.

By the time he was stable, everyone in the castle had fully materialized.

"Um, I was wondering if you guys were aware of where Laurent's body is?" He asked, hoping to give the kid the burial he deserved.

Felicity had dubbed herself his primary caretaker until Leon woke up. She stayed by his side with a gentle smile as the assistant worked to take his pulse and temperature.

"We are." She answered solemnly. "We all are. Don't worry. He'll be treated with special care."

"What do you mean you all are?"

"Oh...We were aware of everything while we were cursed." She explained, lifting her expression a bit. Then, in an attempt to change the somber tone, she wiggled her eyebrows knowingly.

"Everything?"

"Everything."

Asher frowned, then blushed head to toe in embarrassment when he realized what that had meant. He knew the voices had been around the entire time, but he hadn't considered what he'd do if they saw and remembered the things he and Leon did after they became human again. And worse, they all knew about it?

Asher grabbed a pillow and buried his face with a disgraced groan, earning a laugh from the other servants. The assistant who treated him was younger than the other assistant, with bright blue eyes and wispy brown shoulder length hair that was combed back out of his face. Just like Felicity, he was more than happy to engage in conversation.

Once his embarrassment passed, Asher peeked out from over the feather down pillow, remembering another important thing. "What about Trevor?"

"He...We can't do much about him." Felicity folded her hands in her lap and sighed. "Miss Ebony had used a spell to turn him into a frog, like she did with Lady Elise. She killed them both and tossed them out the window. It'll be hard to find their bodies since they were turned into such small creatures, but we at least know which window to start with..."

"But weren't you guys..." Asher waved, trying to think of the words to use for this question. "'Turned off' when that happened? The entire castle was muted and I couldn't hear any of you when that happened."

"It was very hard to speak." The assistant explained. "It was as though we were all sharing the same consciousness when we were cursed, but we still retained individual thoughts. In order to do or say anything we all had to focus together, but usually it got split out so it sounded like multiple voices, though the only words we ever got out were the ones that groups of us agreed on."

"It was so awful." Felicity shook herself as though trying to rid her body of the bad memory. "I thought I lost my individuality. But to answer your question, yes, we were muted, but we could still see everything that happened. We were never really gone, just...Restrained when she did that."

Just then, a knight stepped into the room and interrupted their conversation. "The doctor says his majesty has stabilized if you'd like to see him."

Asher all but sprang to his feet, then froze when his vision blacked out temporarily. His head pounded, but he rubbed his eyes and ignored it as he rushed out the door and back into Leon's room.

One of the first things he noticed was that the gargoyle busts were gone from the mantlepiece, as were the statues. He realized they must have been part of Ebony's addition when she cursed the castle...The creep.

Leon lay tucked into bed, still unconscious, and Asher stood beside him, once more in wonder on how this was the same monster he'd been serving all this time.

"Is he really okay?" Asher blurted, not knowing what else to say in the awkward quiet.

The elderly doctor stood beside him with a proud smile on his round face, lighting up his squinty little eyes. "Yes he is. I use healing magic myself so I know a thing or two about how spells work, and what essentially happened was that Miss Ebony cast deadly magic on his majesty right when he broke the curse. The unwinding of magic that occurs in that time tends to lower the effectiveness of any other spell cast, so they pretty much cancelled each other out, but his majesty will still need to recover for a bit. Even with it's potency reduced, it was quite a powerful blow he took, but I'm sure he'll recover quickly with you by his side."

Asher stiffened, then eyed the group in the room. They all seemed at ease, no disgust or mistrust in their eyes as they patiently waited for the servant to respond. He then swallowed hard, not used to this feeling, and asked, "Aren't you...Disgusted with me?"

Those weren't the exact words he'd meant to use, but they slipped out before he could stop them and now he was tuck with whatever consequences they called forth.

The group didn't seem bothered one bit by it though and the doctor just shook his head. "Young man, there's nothing to be ashamed of. After everything that happened, we are the last people who would have anything against you. We know just how deeply  you care for the Prince, and that is nothing anyone will ever hold against you after what's happened."

Asher blushed at the praise but failed to think of a good response. So he pulled up a chair and sat beside Leon's bed. "When do you think he'll wake up?"

"Anytime now." The doctor answered. "I'll leave you two alone, but there will be guards just outside if you need anything. Call for me if you think anything's wrong. Oh, my name is Doctor Fern by the way."

"Thank you, Doctor Fern." Asher smiled politely back as he was left alone to watch over the strange man laying before him.

He scanned his body, more curious than ever and uncertain if this really was the same person. He was certainly handsome, possibly more handsome than the rumors gave him credit for. He wasn't seven foot tall anymore though, and much less hairy. He did have a small bit of stubble on his chin, but that just made him look more dashing somehow.

The servant noticed that the doctor had changed the Prince into his nightshirt. He was glad the man was being so well taken care of, though felt a little jealous that he would no longer be needed for such tasks.

Looking back into the man's face, he recalled the painting on the wall and noticed that young Leon had amber eyes. Not quite as bright as they were when he was a beast, but still beautiful.

Asher waited patiently by his bed, keeping in eye on the rise and fall of his chest, reminding himself that the Prince was alive. After a while, a few more servants came in to offer snacks, but notified him that they didn't have much of a variety since the kitchen needed to be refilled manually now.

Asher informed them of the letter he sent out and told them they might find people in nearby towns seeking to help Leon. There was a small chance that with the spell lifted, they'd manage to find their way to the castle now. Hopefully the return of the Prince would be enough to calm the loyal nobles, and they'd take care of the traitors who plotted against the kingdom.  

Felicity arrived a little while later with a book so Asher could pass the time more easily, and when it started getting late, he stretched and considered whether he should go to his own room or remain here. His question was answered by movement on the bed as Leon stirred for the first time in hours.

His heart jumped as the man's amber eyes fluttered open, taking in his surroundings. He reached up to rub his head, then paused for fear of scratching himself on his claws. When he noticed his hand was human, he bolted upright and started examining his whole body in wonder.

Patting down his arms, then ripping away the blanket to inspect his legs, he began running his fingers through is hair, feeling for horns with a disbelieving grin. With a short laugh, he finally noticed the servant watching him.

Asher's chest tightens with delight as he greets the Prince with a wide grin. "Hello."

"Asher?" He asked with a deep, silky smooth voice. All traces of that beastly gravel removed.

The servant nods. 

Leon continued to stare in disbelief. Then he carefully leaned forwards and touched Asher's face, brushing a lock of blond hair out of his eyes. Asher leaned into the touch, eyes closed, and is only startled when he is suddenly pulled into a bear hug.

He may no longer be a beast, but he was still pretty ripped for a human. Despite this, he held the servant with extreme care, burying his face in the top of Asher's head as he held him close.

Realizing this was their first proper embrace, Asher reached up and hugged him back, decidedly happy to no longer have to worry about those nasty claws. 

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