Chapter Text
"Just a little further! You can do it!" Asher encouraged as his steed rushed forward at top speed.
It was midwinter and the snow was coming down hard. His vision had been obscured for most of the trip, but now it was starting to clear up and he could see the castle turrets coming into view above the treetops.
If he was quick enough, maybe he could beg for forgiveness and get away with a pay cut instead? Who knows, maybe the rumors about the prince were exaggerated and he'd be understanding?
He decided to hope for the best as he bowed his head to one particularly strong gust of wind.
Asher had been accepted as one of the prince's new castle servants just last week. His first day was technically yesterday, but the man wound up late after stopping to help a poor traveler fix his cart along the road, and afterwards he got stuck in a snow storm.
If his grandmother found out he was a whole day late to his new job, she'd be furious with him.
Finally the castle gates came into view. He noticed they were rather sinister looking with black vines creeping along the metal and gargoyles decorating the side pillars. The descriptions he had previously been given were very different from what he saw now, but maybe that was because the villagers liked to exaggerate? Undeterred, he shrugged it off and circled around to the servant's entrance. The gate was smaller here, but easier to access and he stood waiting for someone to let him in. When no one came, he hopped down and found that the gates weren't even locked. Just stuck closed by the ice and snow.
Kicking at the edges, he managed to free the hinges so he could guide his horse towards the stables. Once more he was hit by the odd atmosphere as the looming castle gave off a chilling sense of foreboding. He called out for a stable hand to help secure his horse, and when no one came, he realized the entire pace was empty.
Asher knew he had arrived exceptionally early in the morning. However, servants usually got up before this hour in order to stoke the fires and prepare meals for the day, so it was odd that no one was out and about, and even odder still that not a single light was on in the castle.
Another cold gust had Asher setting his horse up in the stable himself as he tossed a few blankets over her back so she'd be warm. After rubbing down her muzzle and providing a bucket of feed, he wandered towards where he thought the servant's quarters should be.
Upon finally entering the castle, he was struck by the sheer silence.
"Hello?" Asher called, his voice echoing in the halls.
The place seemed abandoned, but that couldn't be right. Firstly, he had just applied for this job a week ago and had received an approval letter from the head of staff. Secondly, there was no dust or cobwebs. Everything looked spic and span as he wandered into the kitchens, searching for at least one servant to tell him where to go.
Fear should have taken hold of him by now, but instead, he grew more curious. He wanted to know what was going on.
His family ran a local bakery in town, and after the plague took his parents, his grandparents were all he had left. They raised him in the same trade, teaching him how to make delicious desserts and braid beautiful folds into bread loaves, but it was never enough for him. Asher often applied for odd jobs. He once went to work for the local smithy, then quickly found he didn't have the muscle to swing a hammer properly. He also couldn't handle the heat during the hot summer months and fainted on several occasions.
Then he applied to be a stable hand where he found his love of horses, but was promptly fired for starting a fight with his boss when the man tried to put one of the horses down after it broke its leg.
As a last resort, he went to work at the local church. Unfortunately Asher had a tendency to question things and lasted less than a day before he was kicked out for having 'blasphemous thoughts'. That particular event got him shunned from the community for several months.
Ever since then, no one in town would hire him. His grandparents had already hired a new assistant by then, so the kitchen had become too crowded for him to help out at home anymore. That was when a traveling knight mentioned an opening for servants at the castle.
Even now, in this unusual situation, Asher was grateful to that knight, because otherwise he'd still be at home watching dough rise and not here, battling through wind and snow so he could investigate a creepy castle!
"My name is Asher. I applied to be a castle servant, but ran late for my first day. I hope the position is still available?" He called, wandering around hoping to find some form of life.
A gust of wind brushed his hair gently, and the man stared into the kitchens, wondering where it could have come from since there were no windows in here. After a quick bit of investigating, he shrugged it off.
Just as he was about to leave, another gust of wind brushed his face, and this time he could hear his name faintly being whispered.
Scanning the kitchen, he began to feel a bit disturbed when he realized there was no one else there with him. "Hello? Yes, that's me. I'm sorry I'm a bit late."
Silence.
Awkwardly, he cleared his throat. "Can you tell me where I can find the head servant? I was hoping I could talk to them. I understand if you're upset that I'm late, but I can make up for it. I'm a very hard worker you see and-"
"Enough!" A loud voice suddenly echoed in the room, startling the man. There was a sudden chatter, as though dozens of people were discussing amongst themselves all at once.
He spun around, trying to find the source of the noise, but no matter where he looked, there was no one else there. "Can I ask if the job is still available?"
"No it is not!" The voice called above the chatter.
"Go home!" Another voice ordered. "There's no work for you here!"
Asher gulped uncomfortably. The kitchen was pretty dark, so he assumed someone may be hiding in the shadows and playing a prank on him, but then he noticed the noise was loudest to his right. Curious, he leaned over and put his ear to the stone.
The voices were coming from the walls.
Rightly shocked, he nodded and backed out of the kitchen. "Right. Yes, well, it seems you...May very well be correct. And I should...I should go." He turned and bolted down the hall.
Were those ghosts? Real ghosts? He barely contained an excited squeal at the idea. What were the odds that he'd get sent to a haunted castle for a job?
Should he head back to the stable and flee like a rational person? Of course, but that's not what he was going to do.
Asher was thirsty for answers. He'd only ever heard stories about supernatural beings and from what he was told, ghosts could only yell and slam doors, so he wasn't quite as scared as he should be. Instead, he concluded that only the living should have the right to tell a living person what to do. With that, he decided to continue his search for the castle staff because unless they told him themselves, he refused to believe he didn't get the job.
"Hello?" He continued to call out, hoping to find some form of life. Abruptly as he rounded one of the corners, something whipped out and entangled itself around his head.
Startled, Asher clawed at the fabric and after a brief struggle, he found the edge and peeled the thing back until he was freed.
Hopping away as quickly as possible, he turned to find that it was a flag staff being held up by a suit of armor. The cloth itself was what had gotten wrapped around his head somehow and he examined it, curious on how that was, when he noticed it was swaying. This wouldn't have been odd at all if there was some form of breeze at the moment.
This just solidified his theory that the castle was haunted.
"This is the best day ever." He murmured excitedly.
Then he heard something that wiped away all his enthusiasm.
It was a deep, low grow, followed by the clop of hooves on stone.
Asher listened intently to see if he could figure out what it was. From the clopping noise, he figured it may be a horse or goat, but it didn't sound like it had four legs. What's more, the heavy footfalls indicated that whatever it was, it was big.
Ghosts were one thing, but Asher crossed the line at dangerous animals because unlike spirits, animals had claws and fangs and a reputation for tearing fleshy servants apart.
All at once he lost his adventurous spirit and started inching down the hall. As he did, the flags went still.
The growling grew nearer until it was just around the corner. Initially Asher had hoped to slink away without making any noise, but as soon as he lost his nerve, he stumbled backwards and bolted down the way he came.
Unfortunately, one of Asher's other failed jobs had been a delivery boy. The job was simple. Carry packages from one end of town to the other and make sure they were delivered on time. Since he didn't have a horse at first, Asher had to run all over the place just to make his quota. The problem was that Asher wasn't the most nimble of beings and had broken half his parcels due to various tumbles. This was immediately demonstrated here when he promptly fell flat on his face.
Scrambling back up, he froze as the creature snarled above him.
Hot breath blew on the back of Asher's head, and he expected the beast to bite down. Instead, it waited, and when it did nothing he slowly peeked over his shoulder to see what was hunting him.
The creature he saw was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Its face was almost humanlike, with yellow eyes and fur crowning its brow. The beast had no ears but long, black fur atop its head and a small set of grey horns. Its mouth was bared in a terrifying snarl, exposing rows of sharp teeth. The creature's arms were long and furry, ending in clawed digits that could double as black daggers.
A snakelike tongue flicked out, tasting the air, and then it stood straight. Its hind legs cloven like a goat's, with a serpentine tail sticking out the back side. The creature had on a torn vest and pants, making it seem as though animal limbs had sprouted from a poor man's torso.
"Who are you?" It growled in a deep, threatening voice.
The terrified servant failed to manage more than a squeak.
"Speak up!"
"A-Asher...S-sir?" He uttered nervously.
"What are you doing here?" It demanded.
"I'm h-here for the j-job."
The creature seemed bemused as it tilted its head. "Job?"
"I-I was s-supposed to be here last night, b-but I got delayed."
At that, the beast threw its head back and let out a demonic cackle. "You mean to tell me that you escaped the curse by being inadequate?"
Suddenly the hall filled with voices, similar to the chattering from the kitchen.
"W-what's going on?" He dared to ask. At that, the beast stopped its laugher and glared, no longer amused as it stalked back towards him.