Yeosang led Mingi through the most vital places in the castle. The entirety of the fiery stronghold was too much to explore in a day. And as long as Mingi kept away from the royal family, excluding Yunho, he was allowed to wander around to investigate the nooks and crannies in his free time.

Mingi got to peek into the massive throne room that comprised a glass floor over a pool of lava. It was bathed in an orange shine, so ablaze that even Mingi had been intimidated. The throne on top of a high podium had been empty, the golden seat discarded. Only the towering horn sculptures on the top corners of the mighty seat loomed over the room.

"You'll only be around Yunho's chambers while you are up here. He will probably accompany you anywhere up here or explain in detail which rooms you are to enter. More prominent are the facilities downstairs, however." Yeosang explained the castle as if it were no more but a casual residence while they walked. From time to time, they met other servants, or one of the palace inhabitants scurried past them. Yeosang greeted them all with respectful nods, so Mingi copied him.

"He will illustrate this to you later, but in the east wing of this floor are the study rooms. If he needs you to research something for him or he gives you homework, you can use those rooms. The bathing facilities he uses are next to his room. The other relevant places are all near the entrance area."

They descended the stairs once more. This time, Mingi could focus on the luxurious wall tapestry and the paintings that decorated the dark corridors. The sharp eyes of every infamous king, military leader, and other important royal figures followed the passersby around. All of them had sky-pointed horns and were bathed in their riches.

Intimidated, Mingi followed Yeosang down the stairs. They kept orderly to the side, leaving the middle of the stairs for the aristocrats to pass through. The servants inside the castle were experts at dashing through the shadows unnoticed. Fascinated, Mingi watched them smoothly keep the cogs of the castle going as they all did their private tasks without bothering anyone else.

One day, if he did well, he would be able to blend in just as well.

"To the left are the kitchens. To the right are the stables. Kitchen first. How are you holding up?"

"It's a lot of information," Mingi smiled honestly. Yeosang agreed with a smile as he pushed open the doors to the dining hall. Only a few knights lingered at one of the three mighty dining tables. Their boisterous laughter made Yeosang smile as he passed them.

They needed a while to cross the entire hall. The king had his own horizontal table for his family to gaze upon his subjects from a higher position. To the left was another door. Mingi hurried to get through as Yeosang held it open for him. Inside, the thick smell of food wafted in smoky clouds through the air. Metalware clattered, cooks ordered each other around, and a pot hissed.

"The kitchen," Yeosang confirmed with a sweeping gesture of his hand. "You will come here every morning to get Yunho his food, he prefers breakfast in his room. And every evening, you'll tell the cook what Yunho prefers for the next morning's meal." Yeosang waved at someone who Mingi didn't even see through the masses of tall shelves that had pans and cooking utensils hanging from them.

Before Mingi's stomach could start grumbling, Yeosang already whisked him out again. When they passed the guards this time, one of them called for Yeosang.

"I'm busy!" Yeosang called back with a wink. Quickly, he dragged Mingi off. As soon as they were out between the high pillars of the entrance hall again, Yeosang grimaced.

"Are they trouble?" Mingi asked concernedly. It wasn't unheard of that ground-pointed horned fellows sometimes got in trouble with higher-ranking people. Not only a few of them carried their horns with arrogance and liked to look down on the lower class. Mingi had hoped that the palace would be free of such vile power plays. In his kindness, Yeosang didn't deserve to be looked down upon.

"Ah, they can be a bother, but it's nothing too serious. Don't mind them." The dismissal in his voice had Mingi frown, but he didn't bore.

"Now, to the stables. Yunho has his own horse, she's called Nuckelavee. Call her Ave." Once more, Yeosang's knowing humour relieved Mingi.

"I guess you know how to saddle a horse?" Yeosang pushed the heavy gate open and nodded at the two guards. With crunching armour, they acknowledged him.

Mingi and Yeosang rounded a woman in a long silky gown who stood next to a mighty black mare and conversed with a stable boy. On the way down the long hall of horse boxes made of black wood, Mingi caught up with Yeosang again.

"I do."

"Good. Now rethink your abilities. Ave needs a gentle hand to comply and Yunho's past private servant needed Yunho to help him calm her every single time. Approach her with too much aloofness the first time, and she will despise you forever."

With big eyes, Mingi studied the horses. Most of them were mighty war stallions with massive bodies and muscular legs. Their black fur shone like molten gold in the dancing flames of the fire basins hanging from the ceiling.

"Not that Yunho is bothered by helping, but in the ideal case you would get his horse ready by yourself so he can set out quicker."

Yeosang swooped to the right around a corner. At once, the bays left and right of them grew even bigger. Expensive riding equipment hung from the walls, decorated with extravagant rubies and silver metal ornaments. The horses inside the boxes lived like kings, having a lot of space to move around and hide in the shadows that obscured their fur. Likely they were the horses of the royal family themselves.

Awed by the mighty destriers whose shoulders reached up to Mingi's head, he stumbled alongside Yeosang. In his wonder, he nearly didn't notice when the other man halted. The golden platter on the door to the bay read Nuckelavee, and the creature inside was unlike any other horse Mingi had ever seen.

Mingi didn't know what his eyes caught onto first. The lyrate horns that delved from the animal's skull in a similar arch to Yunho's, or the elongated canines of her exposed dentitions. Penetrating red eyes glowed like jack-o'-lanterns when she turned her head towards them. They seemed to stare to the very bottom of Mingi's soul. When she shook her mane, it didn't spray sparks like the nightmares they used as riding animals in their world usually would. Instead, the black mane followed the momentum like black smoke, whispering around those burning eyes.

Ave was absolutely huge, looming over Yeosang as if she could bite his head off in one chomp. And she probably could.

"Good girl, Ave. This is Mingi, your new suitor," Yeosang introduced them. He nodded at Mingi to go pet her when he remained frozen in the spot.

Sceptical, Ave trotted over to lean her head out of the window. Her hot breath hit Mingi's hair and had it retreat to hide behind his horns.

"H-Hello, Ave," Mingi squeaked, terrified. He noticed Ave had no skin, just black muscles spanning over just as black bones. Her split and sharpened hooves could probably stomp him to death within seconds, and his respect for her grew by the second.

While the two of them seized each other up, Yeosang patted the saddle and reigns next to the stable door.

"These are Yunho's. You'll need to be careful when saddling her since she has a ridge, but the saddle is custom made for that. I'm sure Yunho will take you outside one of these days to explain your tasks while you are travelling with him, then he can show you how to saddle her. The beast doesn't like me."

When Ave snorted at his face, Yeosang giggled. Playfully, he swatted at her without actually getting too close to her tiger jaws.

Impressed, Mingi turned to him. He still had yet to reach out and pet the beast.

"It's a love-hate relationship," Yeosang explained with a giggle. Astonished by the intelligence of the horse, Mingi carefully rose his trembling hand. The entire day had left him in an anxious mess, and he was positively drained by now, but he would overcome this hurdle, too. Gently, he offered his hand and waited for the horse to decide whether it wanted to be touched.

Ave seemed curious. Her solid skull brushed over Mingi's knuckles as she breathed in his scent. Wisps of smoke fell into her eyes to imitate strands of hair.

Before Mingi could actually reach for her and touch her body, she lost interest. With an impatient huff, she turned to retreat into the shadows. Only her red eyes remained to stare at them. Mingi's blood chilled in his veins once more, but he courageously swallowed his fear.

Yeosang gave a little applause next to him.

"That went better than expected! You didn't lose a hand, congrats!"

Mingi looked at him hysterically.

"Did the last person lose a hand?"

"No, but he screamed as if he did. No wonder she didn't like him. Maybe they only say it was pixies and actually Ave stomped him to a pulp after having had enough of his screeching."

Yeosang's dark humour consoled Mingi only weakly. Before he could reply, however, Yeosang suddenly reached out to grab one of the bypassing guards at his cape. Surprised, the man turned towards them. He carried his helmet under his arm, sky-turned horns on full display. They sprouted left and right of his head in sturdy growths only to curve and point right upwards at the very end.

"Hello, there," Yeosang purred at him. The soft and rounded features of the knight carried youth, and his greyish-green skin wasn't marked by the symbols of war veterans yet.

"Yeosang," the other man breathed in greeting. When he glanced at Mingi, the man gave a shy nod.

"Are you busy? This is Mingi, Yunho's new servant, and he needs someone to help him move his things over. Unless you have any more questions about the castle?" The last line was directed back at Mingi. He shook his head with a smile. Everything he hadn't figured out yet he could learn by himself.

"I'd be happy to help. Right now? Or would you rather we meet tomorrow?" Direct to the point, the guard searched Mingi's face for an answer. Mingi fiddled with his claws.

"Ah, best is in the morning. I will pack my things and we can leave right then."

"Then I will drop by before my shift starts and help you move. I'm Jongho," the guard said with an infectious gummy smile. Mingi grinned back.

Yeosang gave him a snack on the way before he sent Mingi home. The day had been long and full of new information he had to store away. On his path back to the farm, Mingi thought about Yunho and his wild beauty.

Mingi packed his things in the two bags he possessed. He was sad to leave, but he knew that a different family would be able to raise in rank and take good care of his carrots for him. Until late in the night, he was busy saying bye to his childhood home and all the memories connected to it. He sat for the longest time in the shed behind the little hut. It had been his and Seonghwa's favourite place to play as kids. They had stacked up carrots here and carved some into figures to fight wild battles with.

Mingi was fond of his home, but the reason he barely got any sleep was because of his excitement over this new paragraph of his life. Tomorrow, he would report back to Yunho and start off right away to make the best first impression. He would learn a lot about the prince and help him in his daily life.

Mingi hoped he and Yeosang could become friends so he didn't feel entirely too alone in the palace. He also promised himself to visit Seonghwa on his first free evening to tell him everything about his new job they had been so giddy about for months now.

Jongho came in the morning to find Mingi sleepy, but jittery with excitement to return to the palace. Chuckling, the guard helped Mingi to fasten the bags on the two horses he had brought before they took off.

For the last time, Mingi travelled alongside the familiar lava steam. He told it goodbye with a smile as they rode off to the fiery castle.