Uh Oh

[Part 1] [Part 5] [AO3] [Cover Art] [Eddie&Chrissy Art]

In the light of a new day, Steve was beginning to feel a little more positive about things.

It helped that he seemed to have awoken before most others in the castle and with the morning sun fighting off the darkness, he saw something out the window that he had missed the night before.

His room overlooked the back of the castle, over the clifftop and out to sea. He could see as far as the horizon could reach, miles and miles of grey choppy water and low hanging clouds visible from edge to edge.

It was like he was floating on a lone island out at sea, but that wasn’t what had really caught his attention.

Down below, directly underneath his bedroom window there was what looked to be a small, disused, but private beach.

There was no sand, just grey stone pebbles and a weathered dock that had probably seen better days extending out into the water.

It looked like it would only be able to moor a fishing boat, it definitely wasn’t a dock for all of the warships he knew this kingdom boasted.

The beach was small, maybe only fifty yards across but it was definitely a part of the castle grounds. There was a long set of stone steps leading from the castle down, looking as ancient as the rest of the stonework here.

Steve figured that maybe a refreshing morning swim would be enough to get his mind back in the right place again. It’s what he always did to relax back home. 

It would probably be a lot colder than he was used to, maybe slightly rougher and a lot saltier but he reasoned with himself that he was a strong swimmer, and he was a little desperate to work out his anxious energy.

Robin and Hopper would probably tear his head off when they found out he went swimming alone again, but he wasn’t worried.

He would be fine.

[Part 1] [Part 4] [AO3] [Cover Art] [Eddie&Chrissy Art]

There was music spilling out towards him, the high stone walls of the castle echoing and distorting the sound before it hit his ears.

The halls he walked with Chrissy were towering tall. Steve couldn’t tell how far up the ceiling went, extending so high the darkness swallowed the light, making them seem endless.

It was dark, though the lanterns hanging off thick iron chains along the walls tried their best to chase it away, he got the exact same feeling he’d had before when approaching his own parents in the great hall back home, the darkness making it somehow cavernous and claustrophobic at the same time. 

But the feeling was amplified here and it made him feel incredibly uneasy.

Every so often, over the sound of the music, there was a high pitched whistling, the wind whipping against the castle walls, almost like the wailing of a distraught woman.

It was cold in here, colder than it was outside and there was the slightest smell of damp coming off the stones.

He wasn’t sure if that was a result of the sea being so close or the stormy weather but either way, the lanterns and braziers seemed to be doing very little to chase it away.

Steve would have expected to find thick rugs or rushes along the floor, tapestries and draperies hung on the walls to keep the heat in, but there was no such thing in sight. 

It was all bare and quite… severe.