Little time had passed since the death of Hamlet the prince of Denmark and the country had come to turmoil, for since all those who would have taken to rule where now dead, the task now came to Horatio to find a man to take the crown.
"Horatio! Horatio!" A tall, lank, man called as he raced into the large, expanse of a room in which Horatio stood.
"Paul? What is it?"Horatio questioned as he donned a hat that covered his dark, black hair.
Paul paused a moment to catch his breath, then spoke "Mark says he hath found a man of noble birth fit to be king."
"Mark?"
"Aye, Mark. He doth be a boy of but 14 but Mark has said that he is surprisingly wise for such an age."
"Well then let us go meet this boy." Horatio stated then began to walk through the stone entry way, Paul swiftly followed after his friend his cape trailing behind him. The two wandered down several well hewn halls lined with thick tapestries and a few paintings here and there, until they came upon a spiral stair which lead them down to the castle's ground floor.
When Horatio opened the door there was a quick gasp of shock. He looked and saw a woman with her dark brown hair pulled high in a bun. She clutched her chest as she heaved she had apparently been running.
"Anne?" Paul questioned as he stepped out from behind Horatio. "What 'tis it?"
"I...saw..." She breathed.
"Saw what fair lady?" Horatio interjected.
"Rozencrantz..." she said.
"But...but Anne your brother is dead!"
"I know Paul. But he was there! I swear!"
"You as well?"
"I as well what good scholar?"
"You have seen a ghost?"
"Other people have seen ghosts of my dead brother?"
"No fair lady. Others have seen a ghost."Horatio paused a moment then spoke again. "Come fair lady I think it would be best if you would travel with us for the rest of your way."
"Aye." Anne answered.
So Paul and Anne followed Horatio through the familiar corridors of the castle. They then exited through a large door out onto the castle grounds. They then saw Mark who was a sturdy, round, man and next to him was a young boy with sandy blonde hair and bright, blue, eyes.
"Ah, Horatio," Mark began. "Come, come meet Andrew."
Horatio slowly strode up to Mark, while Anne and Paul stood stationary.
"Hello Andrew." Horatio said as he looked down at the boy.
"Good day, good sir."Andrew said as he looked up slightly at Horatio.
"Come Andrew." Mark said. "There will be time enough to talk to this scholar and his friends." Mark then put his arm around Andrew and began to push him towards the door. The two then entered the castle.
Paul half-heartily, produced an apple from his pocket and took a very large bite out of it. "Why is he always so stuffy?" He then proceeded to eat away at his apple, as he walked up to Horatio. "So...How come he asked you to meet him then he pushed him away from you as fast as possible?"
Horatio then looked at his friend as if to say ,I-can't-believe-you-just-asked-me-that, then spoke. "You know how Mark is...Always trying to escalate himself into a higher position."
Paul then looked up and around, yet the person he looked to find was not there. "Great just great..." He muttered.
"What?" Horatio asked his friend.
"Oh, nothing, except that blasted cousin of mine just ran off, before I could tell her that Bernardo wanted to talk to her."
"Bernardo? Do you mean the castle guard Bernardo?"
"Yes why?"
"He's considered quite the ladies man isn't he?"
"Aye, but my cousin, Anne, she hates him, says he tries to hard."
"Really?" Horatio questioned as he and Paul began to walk towards the door.
"Yes." Paul replied as he opened the door and walked through. "Coming?"He asked as he looked at Horatio who lingered outside the entryway .
"No...I think I'll go for a walk I haven't had one in a while."
"As you wish." Paul answered as he shut the door.
Horatio turned and looked out upon the large expanse of land, that the castle was situated upon. He then simply began to walk aimlessly about, here and there, until he finally reached his destination that he had not gone to for so long, the bridge.
This bridge had been a source of reflection for him over the years, it had also been where he had first met Paul and Hamlet as well. Horatio sighed as he rested himself on the rail of the bridge and looked towards a large plain which eventually merged into a small hill.
Horatio then easily fell back into his old ways, he began to think, though for some reason, he found he could not make his thoughts fall upon anything but that cousin of Paul's. Perhaps it was the fact that she has seen the ghost of Rozencrantz. Yes, that must be it, he thought to himself.
Time passed, for a long while, Horatio stood upon the bridge his mind sometimes wandering off into the countryside. But mostly just reflecting on the events of the day.
"GOOD HORATIO!"
Horatio was quite taken aback by the loud voice.
"LORD PAUL SAYS I AM TO TELL YOU THAT DINNER IS SERVED!"
"Thank you Francisco." Horatio said with a hint of that, well-alrighty-then-voice. He then began to walk up to the door.
"I AM ALSO TO ASK YOU IF YOU ARE COMING!"
Horatio thought this was a rather stupid question, since he could clearly see that he was indeed coming. "Yes Francisco."
