As they approached the door Severus noticed a shift in the wind. Something was wrong. He acted on instinct as he threw himself at Tonks and pulled them both to the ground. He was not a moment too soon. When they landed he heard something swish past above them and land a few feet away.
An arrow.
Chapter 12:
Tonks, who had given a loud cry when he pulled her down, stiffened at the sight of the culprit. A band of twenty men riding on horses entered the clearing. They were clearly soldiers of some kind, but their faces were hostile as they rode forward and formed a ring around them. Some carried spears, and some had bows and arrows but they all carried the same uniform with an emblem of a red dragon on their chests.
"Halt!" yelled the one in front, a rather plump man with a black beard. The other horsemen pulled the reins and stopped. Tonks got to her feet and pulled Severus with her. He gripped his wand (no, not his wand he realised, he still had Tonkses wand) but he didn't pull it. These guys burned witches and wizards at the stakes. Even if being burned at the stakes was not particularly dangerous for a wizard, these men could still hurt them. They had weapons after all and could easily kill them with a bow and arrow if they wanted. A primitive weapon like that could not be stopped by a mere shield charm.
Severus decided not to reveal he was a wizard just yet.
"What is your purpose here" asked one of them. Not the leader but another man, probably next in command. He had a strong chin and a fierce glare. "Why are you approaching the door of the beyond?!"
Tonks hesitated for a second before she answered "We merely wished to examine it, sir. We have never seen a door like this before." Severus bit the inside of his cheek. She could have come up with a better answer than that. Admittedly, Severus had no idea what that better answer should have been.
"And who are you to decide whether you should be allowed to examine it, girl? You are mere commoners. You have no right to approach the door."
Severus wanted to ask what exactly gave them the right, but Tonks continued; "Umm" she said hesitatingly "Who are you guys?"
"We are the honourable men of Lord Mordon." Said the fierce one haughtily. As if he wondered why Tonks didn't know that already.
"Lord Mordon, sir? Oh, I have heard you are very brave men indeed" said Tonks with a flattering tone. Severus had no idea what she was playing at, but he decided to go with whatever she said. He did not agree though. If these were 'noble men' then what on earth were they shooting at them for!?
"Do not flatter me girl and distract me form the task ahead. Only demons can enter the door. You and your companion would have been killed instantly if you tried. This is the pathway to the demons land. Unless you are demons yourselves?"
"We are not demons sir, we are merely curious."
"Well then you better stay away while we do our job."
"And what are you planning to do sir? If you don't mind me asking?"
"We are selected by Lord Mordon to wipe this earth of this demon magic. We will burn the demon door with the holy fire and burn the demons with it." The Fierce one then gestured to some of the men to approach the door. Five of them pulled out torches from their belts and lit them. Severus felt his heart pound against his ribs.
They were planning to burn down the door!?
Tonks was not as good at hiding her alarm as he was. She gripped Severuss arm in panic and said; "But sir, what if it is not the door to the demons? What if it is the door to the fairies' land?"
"You know nothing of what you are talking girl, only demons can come from a floating door. And the door is open. The demons have already entered our world. We must purge the ones inside and trap the ones on this side. Then we will destroy them all!" exclaimed the Fierce one and glared a bit more at them before he turned and gestured to the other soldiers to follow his lead. They left Severus and Tonks on one side as they gathered towards the door.
"What do we do?" asked Tonks whispering, "Do we take them out?"
"They are too many. If we try, they will kill us before we manage to take them all" he answered.
"How do you know they'll kill us? We have magic and they don't."
"Have you ever tried to stop an arrow with your shield?" he couldn't help making a condescending tone.
"No, is that not supposed to work?" she said with a mock imitation of his tone.
Severus had to roll his eyes at her stupidity. Did she know nothing? "No, miss Tonks, it is not possible to stop an arrow with a shield charm. Do you think I would still be standing here still if I could?"
"Well excuse me for not having experience with arrows and spears in my line of work, Professor. Criminals don't seem to prefer them anymore in the modern world" she said with an annoyed whisper and turned her back on him. Then she seemed to get an idea and whispered; "Can we apparate in and close the door from the other side?"
Severus tried. He turned on the spot with the inside of the wardrobe on his mind, but it didn't work. He didn't move an inch. "No" he said in surprise. It was strange he had not at least apparated to the other side of the door, but he had not moved. "It seems one can only enter the other world through the portal."
"Fuck, then we have to get past them" said Tonks. Her tone suddenly grew more unsure. She was at loss . . . and so was he.
How did they get past them? How did they stop twenty soldiers with bows and arrows from burning the door without revealing they had magic. At this point, Severus was embarrassed to admit he forgot everything he had ever learned about defence. And that really was embarrassing. He had been a teacher at Hogwarts for fourteen years for Merlins sake! If these were deatheaters he could always manipulate them into doing what he wanted, but they were not deatheaters. They weren't even magical. How ironic that he would feel weaker in front of a bunch of muggles rather than a whole pack of deatheaters.
Then again, he knew the deatheaters. He knew how they thought and how they behaved. These guys . . . were soldiers from the fourteen hundreds. How was he supposed to know what they thought?
They could try to scare away the soldiers with fireworks perhaps, or some bright flashy lights? But fire could put the door in danger. Perhaps transfigure one of them into a bear and have him scare away the others? Then again they might end up killing him and they didn't want that to happen. They had no idea what that could do to the timeline.
While severus tried to come up with a plan that involved not killing anyone, including himself and Tonks, one of the soldiers lit his torch and gave it to The Fierce one to light up the door. Now Tonks seemed to lose her cool. She darted forwards and yelled; "Sir! What if the demons grow angry at you for burning their door and attack you? This could put you in mortal danger! Please, for your own safety will you not reconsider?"
The Fierce one gave her an angry glare and swung his torch at her. It hit her cheek with an ugly crunch. She exclaimed in surprise before she landed in a heap by his feet. Severus didn't know what he was doing. He exclaimed in rage and came forward. Some of the soldiers protested against The Fierce ones' behaviour but he ignored them "Do not get in my way girl! Or I may brand you as a witch for-!"
But he was interrupted by Severus who gripped his collar; "How dare you attack her like that!?"
Severus didn't do anything in particular to harm the Fierce One, but he was instantly pulled away by two other soldiers. One of them slung him to the ground and shoved his forearm against his throat.
But at this point the plump leader, who had been silent up until now, suddenly interfered; "Wow wow wow! Men! What behaviour is this? Do we beat ladies and bully commoners? Harold, loosen your grip on him" he said to the soldier who held Severus down. The soldier removed his arm from Severuses throat but did not let him stand up.
"I apologise for my mens behaviour" continued the leader while he helped a woozy but conscious Tonks to her feet "They can get a little carried away. But please proceed with the burning" he said to the soldiers as he turned to them. He had purposefully let Severus stay down.
"Oh, but sir, if you burn the door the demons will take revenge on you, I know it. You will put yourself in danger I promise you!"
"Oh, no need to worry my lady, we are mighty men and can handle demons."
"No but you don't understand!" she said in frustration, while she squeezed her eyes shut and gripped her head with one hand as if to force herself to come up with a better excuse. Obviously, her head didn't want to work with her. Severus could understand that, considering someone had just tried to use it as a bludger.
"Proceed please" said the leader and pointed at the door. The Fierce One snatched the torch from one of the more hesitant soldiers and thrust the flame towards the door.
"NO!" yelled Tonks and flew forwards. She seemed to have forgotten she had a wand.
As the other soldiers also put their torches against the door Severus made his decision. While still being held down by Harold the Soldier, he pulled out his wand and pointed at the plank that jammed the door open. Luckily, Harold looked another way. The plank wedged itself free from the crack and hit The Fierce One in the knee. He yelled in pain while the door shut with a small click. Then he launched himself forwards to make a grab for the door, but it was too late. The door faded away and disappeared.
They all stared in shock at the now empty spot where the door had been. Severus quickly hid the wand again. "What did you do?" whispered Tonks. It was directed at him, but she still looked at the absent door.
Then she cried in panic "What did you just do!?"
Severus was also in shock. What had he just done? He had closed their only way home and now it was gone. They might never be able to return to their own time. He had been so consumed with protecting the door from harm that he had forgotten they needed it open. Whether it was whole or not mattered little if they could never use it. Severus could see that Tonks tried to hold back her tears next to the stout leader, who gave her a curious look. She had told him she hated to cry in front of people and here he had made her do it again, twice in the same day.
"The demons must have decided to run in fear of the holy fire" said one of them. But the danger was not over yet. Harold the Soldier turned to glare fiercely at Severus, whom he was still pinning down, and pulled out a knife from his belt. "Your interference made us loose our target" he said fiercely and held the knife against Severuss throat "You should be punished for that!"
Unable to move without being cut by the silver blade, Severus only felt a numb acceptance of his fate. Now he was certainly going to die. And why not? He was so embarrassed of himself he wanted to die anyways. Still, what little stubbornness he had left made him glare defiantly at Harold.
He heard Tonks exclaim in alarm and stagger forward, hopefully to intercept Harold and not to simply come closer for a better look while Harold dissected him. However, she was held back by the bearded leader who said; "Now now, Harold. This is hardly necessary. Put down your knife and let go of the commoner."
"Sir!" insisted Harold "These people could be druids, working for the demons. For all we know they alerted the demons of our arrival! In that case-"
"Harold!" interrupted the leader. "We have no proof of that! let the commoner up!"
"Sir! I must insist!"
"Do as I say!"
"Fine!" said Harold petulantly. He sheathed his knife and glared a bit more at Severus before he released him and rose, without helping Severus to stand. Severus stayed down for another second. Long enough to recognize how close he had just been to lose his head. His heart was still racing dangerously fast when he noticed Tonks who had fallen to her knees next to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked with a surprising amount of concern.
"Yes" he said and rose quickly to get some distance between them. He didn't like it when she came so close . . . or perhaps he simply didn't like it when she was crying over him as if he was dead . . . or perhaps he simply didn't like her concern. As if he deserved it . . .
Politeness would probably have him help her up on her feet again, but he was reluctant to touch her, and in the end, he hesitated for too long and she got to her feet on her own.
While the soldiers talked about returning to wherever they came from and started gathering themselves together, Severus crossed his arms defensively while guilt washed over him. He wanted to defend his actions. He wanted Tonks to stop crying. But since he was Severus Snape his attempt of reassurance came out as a harsh bark "They nearly burned the door, I saved our only chance to get back! So, don't you dare put the blame on me!"
Oddly enough she gave a little laugh and dried her tears. "I know, I know, now we have a chance to get back later if someone comes looking for us. You did the right thing. I'm sorry for crying, it's just a natural reaction." Then she put a gentle hand on his tightly knit arms while she dabbed her eye with the other "Are you okay?"
Her answer surprised him. He had expected her to yell at him or glare hatefully or freeze him out, or even attack him. But instead she sounded like she still cared about his welfare. He had not expected her to be so kind, considering the fact that he had just ruined her life . . . Again.
". . . yes" he answered. Then he noticed how red and swollen her cheek had become. "You should have a look at that . . . but perhaps not here" he looked in the direction of the soldiers.
She brought her hand up to her cheek to administer the damage. "Well, nothin's broken at least, but it hurts like hell" she said while wincing in pain.
The plump leader came over to them and gestured towards Tonks "May I ask why the lady is crying?"
"She is crying because one of your men hit her with a bloody torch!" lied Severus in annoyance. Bloody soldiers who ruined everything, put their noses in their business and pretended to care!
"You have my deepest apologies for my mens behaviour" said the leader, as if it wasn't all his fault. "May I repay you by inviting you to Lord Mordons castle to have a look at the damage? You are very welcome to dine with us tonight and we would be equally happy to provide you with a bed for the night."
Severus was about to refuse. The nerve of him to think their behaviour and the damage they had done to their lives could be repaid by food! But Tonks put a hand on his arm again and exclaimed; "Oh, sir, what an honour! We would very much like to accept!"
"Splendid" said the leader "Then may I ask you your name good sir?"
"Snape" said Severus automatically, before he realized his mistake. He had forgotten he was supposed to have lived here for two months already. He glanced at Tonks briefly, only to see her glaring at him. "Err . . . Dorian Snape" he continued "and this is . . . Molly" he gestured at Tonks, using the first name he came up with.
Tonks curtsied to the leader who took her hand and kissed it "Well, may I ask if this lovely lady would like to ride with me to the castle, lest her injury make her faint?"
Severus frowned at this, but Tonks answered immediately; "Oh, thank you sir, but I'd much rather walk with my husband" she said this while she slipped her hand into Severuses again as if to prove a point "There is no man I feel safer with."
The soldier looked disappointed, but he straightened and nodded; "Very well," then he turned to his men and ordered them to get ready. First when they started to move did Severus ask her what on earth was her deal. He was, again, awkward by the fact that she held his hand.
"Don't you see? If we want to travel to The Well, we need supplies, and where better to find everything we need than a castle?"
"I'm sorry, did we agree to travel to The Well suddenly? I must have missed that."
Tonks rolled her eyes "As if we have anything better to do. We can't exactly sit here and stare at an empty field for another month."
"Perhaps we could try and reveal the door, so we at least know how to get back to our own time before we embark on an epic quest to a place we don't even know exists?" Again, his voice sounded harsher than he meant.
Tonks glared at him again and squeezed his hand harder. "As if I haven't already thrown every single revealing charm over that area already. There is no way to make it appear, or accio it or whatever. The door simply doesn't exist until it is visible again. I've tried, Severus, I've tried for months. But there is no use. All we can do now is wait for it to appear the next full moon. That's in three weeks. In the meantime, we can keep ourselves busy by going to The Well." She suddenly nudged his hand and gestured towards the soldiers. They were moving away from them. "Walk" she said and pushed him in the direction of soldiers. A gesture Severus didn't appreciate. He wanted to call her out on her rudeness, but he didn't want to start a fight in front of the medieval soldiers. Instead he started to move in that direction in lack of something better to do.
"What do you suggest then? That we sneak in through an unknown amount of guards and soldiers and act as common thieves?"
"Yep." she shrugged at his raised eyebrows "Well it is better to steal food from the rich than from the farmers in the village."
He had to silently agree to her logic, but he didn't need to like it. If they were heading out on some journey together, they needed supplies like food, water and blankets and so on. Stealing that from rich people was more considerate than stealing from the poor. It was also less likely to be discovered. But he didn't want to suddenly head out on a journey without plan, without preparation and without a proper destination. He didn't want to travel in a place where he didn't feel confident about his own abilities.
And he certainly didn't want to travel with Tonks.
Not only was she terribly annoying, she was also young, confident, and quite beautiful. Everything was wrong with her. He was not comfortable with the idea of travelling with her . . . alone . . .
How could he spend that long with her when he wasn't even comfortable with holding her hand?
And yet it seemed like he had agreed to do just that . . .
But it was a bad idea. Especially because of that tiny issue with the rain. It had been bad enough to spend his time as a woman in the 1990s, but here? Severus had no idea how women were regarded in this time period but he had a pretty good idea. Women had no role, no say or opinion. They were regarded as belongings either by their fathers or by their husbands, and even though Severus was male right now, that would very soon change by the next rainfall.
He didn't want to travel as a woman.
He didn't want to travel at all.
Ahrrrg! All just because he had to close that stupid door. Why could things not be simple?
But he supposed they wouldn't. His life had never been simple . . .
Tonks:
While Snape continued to worry about the aspects of travelling as a woman, grumbling over his own lack of abilities and occasionally questioning his own sanity, we continued to walk behind the soldiers through the forest and down the hill to a gravel road that lead away from the village. Most of the soldiers rode ahead of us to Lord Mordons castle, but some of them stayed behind to lead us in the right direction.
At this point we could have taken out the remaining soldiers with our wands but I saw no harm in continuing to follow them.
Also, I was still woozy and probably useless in a fight. My face throbbed while we walked, and I could feel the entire left side of my face swell to twice its normal size. It was painful alright. I couldn't see for myself how it looked, but judging by Snapes expression, it was pretty bad.
I couldn't remember ever being hit in the face this hard before. Not even that time Mad Eye had accidentally bashed my nose in during a fight with some low criminals. However, I couldn't very well pull out my wand and heal it, in case I was discovered. Being seen performing magic among these people would give me a lot more than a simple concussion.
The problem was that my dizziness made me trip over nearly every root in my path, or if there were no roots in near proximity I would trip over my own feet or simply over thin air. The only reason why I didn't faceplant in the dirt was because I used Snape as a handrail.
He didn't like that. He was clearly annoyed at my noses sudden interest in the dirt, and he was again uncomfortable about having to hold my hand. In fact, he suggested I ride with one of the soldiers in front of us after all, several times, but I couldn't make myself let go of his hand.
I had waited for so many days, weeks, thinking I would never be able to see anyone from my time again, but here he was, alive and well. I couldn't help it. I needed to reassure myself he was really there. I needed to make sure he wouldn't disappear on me and turn out to only be a dream.
I also wanted to keep up the appearance of a married couple in front of the leader soldier. I did not like the look he had given me when he asked if I wanted to ride with him. As if I was a piece of gold that he could possess as long as he lay claim to me. His disappointment had been obvious when I announced that I was married to Snape. That meant I was taken. He was honour bound from the Christian church to stay away from me. Of that I was glad, so I didn't care how much I had to hold Snapes hand. It didn't matter who he was. I actually did feel safer with Snape than with any other man in the world. At least in this time-period. It wasn't as if I had feeling for him or anything, I simply considered him my closest friend at the moment. Which he basically was considering he was the only person I knew in this time except for the villagers of Watercrest.
The castle of Mordon was a two hour walk away from the village. We spoke very little on the way, apart from the few times when Snape tried to warn me about something I could potentially trip over, then go quiet mid-sentence because I had already tripped over it.
But I made a point of patting his arm now and then just to reassure him. Of what I wasn't sure. It was hard not to worry about him after he closed the door. Every time we went through a Switch we also shared a mental connection that allowed us to share emotions. Even messages. I had discovered that today when I told him to stay where he was so I could come and find him. The sensation was strange. Instead of receiving a reply from him, I had simply felt his wordless agreement to my message. But even though the connection usually faded completely after a few minutes, I had still been able to pick up on his feelings after the door incident.
Based on his tone and expression one could have assumed he wanted to kill me, but his feelings of guilt and insecurity said something else.
It was so strange that I had never considered this side of him before. I knew how unsure and guilty he felt about our potions-thing, but I had never considered how that defined his character. Now I realised how insecure he really was. Not just about this one incident, but in general. He tended to put the blame on himself even though he fooled himself he blamed everyone else. It was a bad habit, but I could understand why he did this. He had no one to tell him when things weren't his fault. But I decided that I would do everything I could to let him know I didn't blame him for this.
Perhaps he would believe me?
Of course, I understood his emotions perfectly. I hadn't handled the situation very well myself, and I was the one who had spent two months in this time already. How could I fail so miserably in defeating a bunch of morons with spears? I was a fully trained auror for merlins sake! I could have used my metamorphmagus abilities to turn into a demon and scare them off (something that would most likely have gotten me killed) or perhaps I could have turned into a beautiful woman added some magic sparks and some light and claimed I was an elf or a fairy?
But . . . I had genuinely forgotten about my abilities.
Something that was terribly disturbing.
I had spent my time in Snapes body for just a little over two months, and I had already started to get used to it. I had already grown accustomed to not being able to change my shape anymore, nor to use magic.
Instead of solving the problem with magic, I had tried to use diplomacy or trickery or something. Turns out I failed miserably with both of those. Snape might be embarrassed about his decision to close the door, but I should truly be embarrassed about my own inadequateness. How could it have gone so wrong? How could I be so bad at trickery when had strived to be a trickster ever since I started school?
Had my younger self seen me now, she would have died in shame.
In retrospect though, our current situation was probably our best outcome. If I had used my abilities to scare off the soldiers and failed, there would have been nowhere else to run than through the door, and then I would have to leave Snape behind. No matter how annoying I found him, I couldn't do that to him. If any of us had used magic we would have been burned at the stakes at best or shot and killed at worst. Now we were at least alive and free to do whatever we wanted.
Even though what we wanted was to chase some far-fetched legend about a magic potion that we didn't know existed . . .
Even though Snape had my wand at this point and I had his, I didn't try to exchange them while we walked. I figured we could do it eventually when nobody was looking. But I never got the chance to do so. After another two hours of walking in silence, in which my head had managed to clear a bit and I wasn't tripping over everything anymore, we finally arrived at a small castle overlooking a field with a new little village nearby. The soldiers led us through a stone gateway into a small courtyard and demounted their horses. Then two of the soldiers left their horses to the others and led me and Snape through a pair of wooden doors and into an entrance hall. It was definitely not as big as the entrance hall of Hogwarts, but it was well decorated with tapestries and paintings. Then we were ushered through another door and into a large hall with a neatly carved wooden throne in the middle.
There were women in expensive silk dresses and men in embroidered coats standing or sitting on stone benches around the throne but there was an open space in the middle of the room, where the soldiers positioned us.
Upon the throne sat the most unattractive man I had ever seen.
Next to him, Snape looked like an underwear model (which was a thought I would never have made elsewhere . . . Sorry snape).
The man, I assumed it was Lord Mordon, looked like a soldier who had become lazy in his old days. His skin was sickly pale, and his belt was tight around a large pot belly. But that was not his worst feature. His face looked like someone had put eyes and a mouth on a piece of dough. His lips were pudgy and red, his eyes were watery, and he had a greying wispy beard on his chin. It was hardly flattering.
The people in the room turned to look at us when we entered, and the two soldiers positioned themselves in front of us. "My lord" they said in unison and bowed. "Reports of the door of the beyond sir. We tried to burn it, sir, but it disappeared before the flames could catch on. We believe the demons noticed our presence and fled."
Lord Mordon pursed his lips in disappointment "We will have to something the next time the door appears. I will not have demons running around free in our land." Then he indicated to me and Snape behind the soldiers in question. The soldiers backed up and positioned themselves on each side of us, facing the pudgy man in the throne. "My Lord, this is Mister Dorian Snape and his wife Mrs Snape. Sir Bragi took the liberty to invite them to the castle to meet you."
"Bow" I ordered Snape as I curtsied myself. My mind halted slightly upon hearing the name 'Mrs Snape'.
"I figured that myself thank you" he whispered back in a fake cheerful tone and bowed elegantly. He too looked quite diffident about my new title. But when we straightened up again, the room fell silent. The soldier looked at Snape, clearly expecting him to say something. Snape caught on quickly and turned to Lord Mordon with a fake charming smile "Yes, we are very honoured to meet you my lord. My wife talks about you a lot. She has always had a wish to meet you in person. And your men are very brave indeed."
Lord Mordon smiled, clearly flattered. "Thank you, Mr Snape. You and your wife are very welcome in my castle." Lord Mordons eyes rested at me for a moment too long before he said; "May I ask you what happened to your wifes' face Mr Snape?"
The soldiers on each side of us squirmed a bit but Snape straightened with a condescending look at the two soldiers. "One of your soldiers struck her down with a torch, my Lord". One had to admire Snapes acting skills. It was obvious he had done stuff like this before. His act as a biddable servant was flawless, and I was vastly impressed. This was something he knew how to do. Of course, he had plenty of practice from playing the servant of Lord Voldemort.
Lord Mordon leaned in to one of the men sitting next to him and whispered something. When he straightened again, he smiled and brought his arms out in a wide arch. "Then let my physichian have a look at that injury. A lady should never have to be treated as such. I shall have a talk with the soldier responsible, but in the meantime, I invite you both to dine with us this evening, that is the least I can do for my mens behaviour."
Without glancing at me once, Snape accepted the invitation with another bow. Lord Mordon then waved for a woman in the back of the crowd "I will let lady Fiona take your wife to my physichian. He will help heal her wound."
Lady Fiona was a tall dark-haired lady with a thin horse-face. She looked at us like we were a pair of dead slugs. She rose and came up to us. Her dress was made of a fine green silk that rustled slightly when she walked. I curtsied politely to her when she stood right in front of me, but she looked down her nose at me with a long condescending look and refused to curtsy back. I decided I didn't bother to get insulted. While Snape had to stay and talk to the ugly Lord Mordon, I was led out of the hall by lady Fiona. I gave Snape a quick glance before I left. I suddenly felt very unsure about leaving him, but he gave me a small nod that told me he would be fine.
Lady Fiona didn't say much as we walked but I didn't particularly feel like talking to this arrogant lady. She led me through a few stone hallways before we came to a wooden door. She knocked before we entered a strange and messy sort of infirmary with only one bed in a corner and shelves upon shelves of vials with various contents. Only a few of the vials had magical content, like wolfsbane and Jillflower leaves, but mostly there were only normal things like dried birch leaves and pickled frogs.
The physician was an old man who reminded me of Doctor Frankensteins Igor. Same hooked nose and same deformed back. But he seemed nice enough. He examined my cheek and smeared on some kind of strongly smelling herbal tincture. I knew this tincture would probably have absolutely no effect. I could have healed my wound quicker myself, but I let him treat me before he sent me away. Lady Fiona stayed silently with me in the tiny infirmary until I was done. Then she led me out and into the hallway. I expected her to lead me back to the throne room, but she called out for two passing servants further up in the corridor and ordered them to take me to a chamber and have me dressed properly for dinner. "Ladies have to be presentable in Lord Mordons castle" she said, before she turned on her heel and left me with her nose in the air.
I wasn't sure if I should find this insulting or consider it an opportunity. If I could get hold of a dress that would be a great advantage for our journey further as I would not have to glamour myself all the time. I pretended to be happy with this suggestion and followed the two servants.
However, the dresses I was presented with turned out to be a little too extravagant for my taste. One was heavier and more expensive looking than the other. But I thought I could always sneak down and steal one of the servants dresses if it came to that. I chose the least outstanding dress with a light lilac colour, a simpler material than silk and without those flitty widened arms that were so popular in this era. I needed some help by the servants to put the dress on, but when I was finished I put my jeans and t-shirt into the little backpack I had brought with me and put it on my back with a glamour charm, so no one would notice it at dinner.
I also chose to keep my own leather boots on in case something happened and put a glamour charm on them too. I didn't know why, but I felt like I needed to be ready to leave at a moments notice. something felt off about this castle, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
When it was time for dinner, one of the maids came to fetch me. I followed her downstairs to the hall where a company of the other ladies of the castle stood waiting for me outside the doors. I was a bit overwhelmed by that. It was not like I was one of them, but I stood behind the company as they went inside. The men were already seated but when the ladies arrived they all rose from their seats. Snape had not been given new clothes, but I guessed there was no need for him to dress properly. He was just a common guy after all.
Snape surprised me by pulling out my chair for me with a very fake sweet smile. I gave him an overly fake smile back. Some of the other men had done the same thing for the other ladies so perhaps he only copied them. Wise move Snape.
We were clearly outsiders and spoke very little in the company unless someone asked us questions. But the food was delicious, so I focused mostly on that. Especially after I noticed how Lord Mordon kept sending me these furtive looks. It was creepy and disconcerting, and I hoped he would lose interest in me soon. But unfortunately, I had no such luck. When the main course was finished the lord turned to us and started asking questions.
"So Dorian, I hear you live in Watercrest what was your purpose there?"
Snape made up some jargon about what he had done there. Mostly he repeated what I had told him. But as the lord asked him what he was going to do now, Snape answered without hesitation "Now I will bring my wife to London where we will try our luck." He was so good at lying I would have believed him myself.
The lord then proceeded to tell some tales about London in a pleasant manner. Even though I found him unattractive, Mordon seemed pleasant enough to Snape. That was until the dinner was over and it was time retire for the night. It had become pitch black outside when Mordon put down his goblet.
"Well I suppose it is time to retire for the night. I want to ask you if you would like to spend the night in my castle, my good sir" said the lord to Snape "but I would have to ask your favour in return. That is the usual custom within these walls."
"Yes of course" said Snape politely.
"I want you to spare me your wife tonight and let her spend the night by my side."
I stiffened in disbelief, but Snape seemed unable to comprehend the request. "I'm sorry?" he said, clearly confused. The request was apparently so atrocious he couldn't fathom it.
"In return for my hospitality I ask you to let your wife spend the night by my side. Only then will I allow you to stay" said Mordon calmly. I felt a surge of rage at his request and I rose suddenly from my chair. Snape stayed silent for a moment before he rose too, although more composedly than I. His voice shook with anger when he answered the lord "Never have I met a lord so disgusting such as you. My wife is not an object to be traded for food and hospitality. I am sorry to have intruded upon you for so long, but if that is your request for our continued hospitality here then we will leave immediately." This time it was his turn to grab my hand and he pulled me determinedly towards the hall entrance.
"Wait!" yelled the lord after us. "Bravo! You passed my test! You are very welcome to stay here, my good sir. That was merely a test I usually do for our newcomers to see if they have a sincere heart towards their wives. I have often discovered men who do not care for their women so long as their own welfare is secure." He turned to his other peers and laughed heartily. The other guests used just a second too long to catch on and laugh with him. Some hesitatingly lagged. "You have passed my test quite admirably" continued the lord.
We stopped and hesitated.
"Let me offer you a room at my castle for the night. No repayment is necessary. This is my offer to you since you turned out to have such an admirable heart."
I met Snapes eyes. "I cannot detect that he is lying" said Snape sincerely "I merely think he has a twisted sense of humor."
I nodded. If Snape didn't think there was anything fishy about him then there could probably be no harm in staying for a little longer. At least only for the night. I was very tired after all, and we needed food supplies and maybe horses for our journey. Despite our better judgement, we turned back to the table and pretended to forgive the lord for his request. I still though it was a despicable thing to ask even if it was to test Snapes character.
I decided I didn't want to be in the castle for long. That meant I had to sneak down to the kitchen the same night and steal food and blankets if I could find any. Snape agreed to this idea when I told him quietly after dinner ended, and everyone went to retire. It turned out though that we had been provided separate rooms. His was a floor below me. I knew it was common in these parts of the country for husbands and wives to live separately but I had an eerie feeling we should stay together. I couldn't place the feeling though, so when I noticed Snapes obvious relief over our separation, I let it pass. He was clearly not comfortable about the idea of sharing a room with me. I guess I could understand him, I felt much the same way about him. Even though I had held his hand all day, it was still Snape.
We agreed that Snape would come to my room at midnight, and then we would sneak around in dillusionment until we had found everything we needed. Then we would leave early in the morning with whatever transport we could find. I couldn't help feeling there was something wrong about this castle, so when I entered my room, I locked the door behind me and warded it against muggles and intruders. Only a wizard would be able to open that door.
I didn't know why I felt compelled to ward my door. All I knew was I had Mad-eyes voice in my head shouting 'constant vigilance!' repeatedly. So, I put a curse on the door as well to burn anyone who tried to enter without knocking, counting on Snape to be smart enough to notice this easily.
Feeling pleased about my work, I went over to my four-poster bed to take off my expensive gown and change back into my jeans and t-shirt. It would be hard to sneak around in silence, whearing a floorlength ballgown. Too easy to trip over.
Then I waited.
About half an hour left till midnight, while I was sprawled over my bed and playing with a ribbon from the dress I had been wearing, I felt a sudden dizziness that could only mean one thing. It was about to rain.
I went over to the little window in the corner of my room to look out. It was clouded as far as I could see in the darkness.
It would start to rain any second.
As I stood there by the window I heard someone enter my room.
I turned around to greet Snape, half planning to call him Mrs Snape for the rest of the evening.
But it wasn't Snape who crept through the door.
It was the creepy lord Mordon.
