The Amber Castle

By morning, Princess Ruby had long pink hair, yellow eyes, and bright peach skin color. She wore a bright red dress and red shoes. She had a dark pink diamond on her hair, and she walked down the hall and entered the first floor. She found the peasants complaining about the stolen red dress and the device that clicked with a flash. She asked, “What grievances have you against the people?”

Prince Flame was at the back of the crowd. He had short brown hair and a brighter skin tone than his sister, and his eyes were red. He wore dark red attire with buttons and red shoes. Plus, he had a golden crown on his head. He said nothing or did nothing to lower their voices. Princess Ruby expected him to do something. He demanded, “Silence!”

The crowd stopped talking and looked at him. One woman raised her hand, “Someone stole my dress.”

“The machine clicked and clicked,” another peasant complained.

“Silence!” the fire prince repeated.

“Where are they?” the little girl asked with her hands on her hips. Perhaps, their daughter was on the same page as her parents. Probably, she remembered what the Mineralogists looked like, but she never used the term, Mineralogists, just ‘they’. “Where are they?” she asked again.

The prince looked at her. Her eyes were on fire. He said calmly, “The prince took them to his castle.”

“What prince?” the woman asked, confused.

“You are the prince,” the man pointed at Prince Flame.

Princess Ruby said loudly, “Our brother took them to his castle. Nobody should ask where he is.”

“But why?” the entire crowd asked with anger and frustration.

Then, the guards pushed the crowd out of the castle. They forced them to be in their houses or become prisoners if against their laws. The crowd was silent the whole time. Princess Ruby sighed deeply as Prince Flame approached her and whispered, “Sister, you should not say it. He might be angry and appear out of nowhere like yesterday.”

“He was after them, not us.”

“Plus, he was not looking for the amber rose pen.”

“He was not interested in the hot jewels. He was interested in, in, in knowledge and powers.”

“He was the only one who could withstand this loneliness without our help. He was more or less… stable in his obsidian castle.”

She gasped, “We should visit him.” Her hands grasped his arms, which she always does, and cares about the obsidian prince. That would not be a great idea for Prince Flame. He rather stayed in the castle and do his own thing. He would forget her request for today. But that would not work on his sister because she loved her other brother more than anything in the world.

In the mud of a quiet dungeon and cold atmosphere, Cherry opened the notebook “Adventures” and the pen to write down what happened from the beginning of the journey and up to the jail time. Roger said, “We should make a plan to escape.”

She stopped writing and put the pen down. She said this. “I am listening,”

“But first, we should check that no one is around us.”

Cherry looked up from the notebook and found a ghostly figure by the gate. She stood and followed that figure. Roger just followed her to the gate. Both were amazed at the ghost. Bubbles said, “Name’s Bubbles. I can assist you. By the way, no one is here, just me.”

“Is it okay to talk about the plan to escape?” she asked with doubt.

“I knew all the ways to escape from the Obsidian Castle. You should follow me.”

Roger tapped her shoulder quickly. “We tried to escape without knowing where the map was.”

“Ha, I can find one. Just wait here.” The ghost disappeared as the two exchanged looks and shrugged.

Back at the Amber Castle, Princess Ruby peeked through an open door to the Prince Flame’s room. “Are you ready, brother!”

“No eyes on me, sister,” he warned.

“I am not looking at your muscles. I am just standing by the doorway,” she lied.

“Well, if you are still here. You should be in the hallway waiting.”

The door closed behind her. She crossed her arms. She wondered how long her brother was still changing his clothes. What about my younger brother? Is he okay? Is he the loving guy that I knew when we were kids? Does he smile a lot? And he was lonely for how long? It cannot be so long, you know?

The door opened as Prince Flame wore his usual dark red attire with a golden crown on his head. “Ready!”

She snapped back to reality. “You took so long!”

“You are not ready,” he observed at her bright red dress.

She walked off, and he ran after her. “Wait up, sister!”

They were outside in the mid-afternoon and rode a chariot to the Obsidian Castle without notice from the peasants. They landed on the bridge of death. Both of them were not here to be swallowed by the dirty water or infection underneath the bridge. They were here to see their younger brother in his little castle. A correction that the Obsidian Castle was larger than their Amber Castle by one floor.

The guards left. They must hush the peasants’ complaints while the royalties absent.

“This place stinks,” Princess Ruby said after sniffing the dirty air.

“You want to visit him here,” Prince Flame said.

“Not in this bridge, but in his room,” her fingers pinch her nose.

“Oh,” the prince rolled his eyes. “You want to make out with him.”

“No, we should talk to him.”

“And try to distract him so much,” he said girly.

“Um, we should go.” Princess Ruby picked up her dress and rushed to the entrance while Prince Flame rushed in one go. Both waited at the black door with a broken ring hung loosely.

The princess pulled the ring and tapped once as the castle echoed with three knocks, interrupting the ghost hunt for the map in the prince’s room. The prince opened his eyes instantly to get up and turned to see the ghost lying on the floor. He asked with an angry tone, “You knocked on the door! You must be gone!”

The ghost stood quickly. “It was not me.”

“Then, why are you here in my bedroom?”

“Obviously, not interrupting your sleep.”

“You just want to help humanity in the dungeon.”

“Yes, that is my duty for now.”

“Then, who knocked on the door?”

“No one did.”

Then, three more knocks came. The prince got up and passed the ghost with a whisper, “Give me their knowledge.”

“I am not helping you.”

“You are one dead ghost to me.”

Then, the prince unlocked the door with the stone key and left the room quietly. The ghost turned and said calmly, “I am already dead.”

At the main door, the obsidian prince opened it with his hand. He found two familiar faces of his relatives. One was his sister Princess Ruby and his older brother Prince Flame. His lip tightened quickly as the males gazed through the cold atmosphere. What made them break away was his sister Ruby, who embraced him. She kissed his face with love. “Younger brother, I want to meet you. How are you today?”

He pushed her chest out of his face and said, “What was that a surprise? This was not my birthday. This was none of my business.”

Prince Flame was in between their sister and himself. “You should not act bossy around me, brother. I have eyes on you.”

“Brother?” he said with disgust. “I have long lived here without anyone in contact with me. I am an independent person. I do not need advice and help from you two.”

“I see you suffer enough loneliness without our parents. But you suffer more by yourself.”

“I have enough of this. Just give… some… space…”

A long stare was exchanged between the older and younger brothers. Behind them, the map moved like a feather, the princess found it suspicious, so she chased after it through the first floor which made the obsidian prince angry. The map went to the dungeon so was Ruby and the prince.

The map was given to Cherry, who was excited to share it with Roger. Before the celebration, Ruby tripped down the stairs to the dungeon. Then, the prince found her on the floor. He grabbed her body and put her on the nearest couch. She looked at him with surprise. He said, “Be careful, Ruby.”

Her eyes began to have tears. She embraced him.“My, my, my younger brother is back to me. He is kind.”

He blinked once and thought clearly. The map was sent to the smarter people. The ghost was the culprit of it all. Idiot! His teeth clenched.