He laughed out loud, turning to look at her head-on. "Oh, I'm well aware," he replied. "I know that you won't be anywhere but close."
"It's no secret, Princess," he replied sarcastically. "You might just be the best thing that's ever happened to me. Now, let's go watch me get killed."
They got to the top floor and Ferris hesitated outside the door before turning to look at her. "You might want to stay out here," he said quietly. "I don't want you to see this."
She looked up at him, her brows furrowed, before quickly wrapping her arms around him in a small hug. "Good luck."
He seemed genuinely shocked, but hugged her back, his shoulders sagging in something adjacent to relief. She would feel something wash over her, a strange, almost shimmering sensation, like an electric current. When he pulled away, he squinted before nodding. "Thanks, Princess."
He turned and knocked on the door. The door opened slowly and Ferris took a deep breath before entering, closing the door behind him. It didn't catch on the latch, though, and it was left slightly open.
There was a silence before someone spoke. The voice was sharp and stern and low, as if the very earth had parted to make way for this voice. "Mr. Costlough," the voice said quietly. "It's been a while." "It has," Ferris replied, his voice changing into that playful tone he yielded with strangers. "I thought I told you not to come back to this town," the voice said slowly. "I thought you were warned last night." "Well, I couldn't end my visit without stopping by to visit an old friend," Ferris responded smoothly. The voice chuckled, although there was no humor to the tone. "An old friend...? Fascinating, Mr. Costlough. Tell me, how is Alyssa?" Ferris fell silent and the voice got a little louder. "Not interested in talking about her, Ferris? You seemed awfully keen to talk just a few moments ago." "She is not your concern," Ferris replied, his voice quite sharp. "She's not why I'm here."
There was a silence before Ferris spoke again. "I believe that you found a necklace recently. A special one." "You know better than anyone that I get a lot of things, Ferris. You'll have to be more specific." "This one is from Sylvaele. From upriver." There was the sound of someone standing up from a chair and a sudden, quick advance. "That is not information you should be hearing." She would hear Ferris cough, gasping for breath painfully as she heard him stumble. A low thud came from the room and dark grey fog began to roll out from the crack in the door.
The floorboards creaked as someone walked around in a circle before someone came to the door, pulling it open suddenly and stepping out. He was incredibly tall, but also incredibly old, his face lined with wrinkles and his eyes sunken into his skull. His white hair was hidden under the hood of his cloak and as he exited, he looked in Fleur's direction, his eyes sliding over her absently before he spoke back into the room as he headed down the stairs, appearing to ignore her. "You've interrupted me, Ferris, but I can deal with you in a moment. I appreciate your patience."
Fleur looked terrified, saying nothing as he left. After a moment she peered in, her brows furrowed anxiously.
Ferris was on the floor in a startlingly large pool of blood, twitching numbly as he stared into nothingness. His eyes were most disturbing. It looked as if his irises had caught fire, flickering with deep orange light.
She gasped, dashing in and kneeling beside him. She looked for the source of the blood. "Ferris? Ferris, can you hear me?"
It was hard to tell where the blood had come from, his shirt already soaked. He didn't respond to her, but his hand made limp grasping motions at the collar around his neck.
