45 Chapter 45

~Talfen, the Capital of Coldshore~

~Inner Court, Reqiel's Palace~

Sarell stepped into Reqiel's bedroom without knocking because he didn't expect the noble to be up so early and so was startled when he found the young Angel standing right at the center of his room.

"Your Highness?" He called in concern, cautiously stepping forward.

Reqiel pulled down his shirt quickly like he had been caught doing a crime, "Sarell? Why are you in my room so early?" He tried to change the direction of the conversation.

"I'm always in your room this early, what were you doing?" He narrowed his eyes.

Reqiel couldn't deny that, he had no idea how Sarell managed to be primly and properly dressed at the very break of dawn. He was dressed in dark green robes, his dark red hair in a simple braid down his back.

"Nothing?" He said far too quickly and very suspiciously.

Sarell was totally unconvinced but he didn't push, "It's a surprise to see you awake so early, Your Highness," He said with a tight smile to hide his panic. "Are you perhaps heading back to bed?"

"I'm not… Princess Aethel is coming over this morning, right? I want to be ready by the time she arrives." Reqiel said.

Sarell kept his smile up, genuinely worried that the air on Earth was bad for his young master, because Reqiel couldn't physically wake up early, it was simply impossible,

"Certainly, Your Highness, I'll…"

"Stop that," Reqiel cut him off with a sour expression.

Sarell sighed and his smile dropped, "Fine, but I have to admit I am a bit worried, are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine, have the servants come to clean me up." He said dismissively, already heading off to the bathroom.

Sarell silently watched him walk off, he was used to being in Reqiel's company for most of the time, he wondered if he would lose that entirely now that the noble Angel was given freedom to do the things he wanted to do.

He shook his head to dispel his pesky thoughts, it was dangerous to blur the lines. Although Prince Reqiel treated him exceptionally well, he was still nothing but a servant, an Angel of common blood.

He quickly stepped outside of the bedroom to summon the servants to do their job. The rules on Earth were lax enough that he could leave them to it if the situation called for it, instead of hovering over them and studying their every move.

This was one of those situations because just as he made his way back to Reqiel's bedroom, a servant hurried to him to inform him that a personal bodyguard had been assigned to Prince Reqiel, and the bodyguard in question was currently at the door.

Sarell was pleased by this and not at all surprised, the Royalty of Coldshore would not dare to do anything that would put Reqiel in danger because it would call for war.

He immediately headed for the entrance doors, it was his duty to get to know the bodyguard well, especially as he would be accompanying Reqiel more often than not. He nodded to the guards standing on the interior side of the door and they immediately swung the large doors open to reveal the very last person he wanted to see.

Sarell stepped back with genuine terror in his eyes, feeling like his throat was closing up from fear. He wasn't letting this infernal creature within ten feet of Reqiel again.

Without prompting, the guard from the walk the evening before stepped inside, close enough for their robes to touch. Sarell felt his beating heart completely stop its motion when the tall guard leaned forward to whisper to him.

"You don't want to make this complicated," He said, darkness threading his low voice, "I'm harmless, mostly, and as long as you don't give me a reason to do otherwise, I'll dutifully do my job."

Sarell felt the room swim in front of his eyes but he somehow managed to regain his composure and clear his throat, "Come with me," He ordered, turning around and heading straight for his private quarters.

Andras calmly swept after him, studying the interior of the palace. The architecture and artistry was pleasant, if a little too simple and far too bright for his tastes.

He had been as shocked as the Angel had been to see him at the door but he recovered faster; he hadn't been expecting to run into two Angels in the span of two days. At least this one had a sense of self preservation but even with that, was just as harmless as the troublesome Angel.

Andras wasn't the type to kill off Angels that couldn't even fight back, especially if he wouldn't gain nothing but trouble from it so they were safe - for now.

Sarell's mind was a whirlwind of chaos, he considered trying to contact King Rinon but he had no idea how, and even if he did, he had no idea why. He couldn't say for sure if the new bodyguard assigned to Prince Reqiel was a Demon and that was what made the entire ordeal so terrifying.

He had seen a demon or two in his early years, and they had been soulless husks with blacked out eyes and sharp claws, nothing like the human-looking bodyguard who seemed to carry a cloud of tangible darkness around with him.

He ushered the bodyguard in and against his better judgment, he locked the door and then turned to face him without letting go of the door knob. "What is your name?" He asked with a calm he wasn't feeling.

"Andras," The dangerous creature said calmly, standing in a relaxed posture.

"What are you?" Sarell asked again and this time there was a telltale tremor in his voice.

"You'd be better off not knowing," Was his casual response.

Sarell believed that without a single doubt, "How do I know I can trust you?" He shrank backward, wishing he could just walk up to King Holdred and demand Andras to be thrown out of the Kingdom.

"You don't."

A shiver ran down Sarell's spine at his cold answer, 'this surely can't be allowed, right?' Reqiel would certainly be able to do something about it. There was no way that Prince Reqiel wouldn't be put off by his new bodyguard, he also had Princess Aethel on his side who would do whatever he asked her.

He forced himself to take a deep breath, right, he was just panicking without a good reason, Reqiel would definitely be able to fix this, he just had to trust the noble Angel.