I have done a little piece before with the idea of Castle Krakenburg being haunted, and I guess I have the supernatural on my mind again, because now I'd like to explore the same idea, but with Siegbert.
Though the hour had grown late, the young Crown Prince of Nohr was not tired. He sat at his desk, a scroll stretched out in front of him. At his elbow, a candle guttered. When the flame flickered, he glanced at it and realized it was nearly gone.
Prince Siegbert pushed himself away from his desk and stood. His muscles had grown stiff from sitting, so he stretched before he went in search of another candle. His desk drawer was empty, but there were a few in the table by his bed. He crossed the room and touched the drawer handle, but before he could pull it open, he heard a noise he had grown accustomed to, but it still gave him goosebumps.
It was the sound of a woman's sigh, and she always sounded somewhat sorrowful.
"Hello?" he called. "Are you here again?"
He did not know who she was, or what she wanted, but she never bothered him. There was no set time of when she decided to come around, though he often heard her at night. Just as he always did to be certain, he rose to his feet and crept to his door. Upon opening it, he knew he was right. There was no sign of anyone in the hall.
"Oh."
He had a split second to decide as he heard her, this time clearly in the hall. He lit a new candle and switched it out with the old one. He took the candle holder and left his room. As he shut the door of his room behind him, he wondered just what he was doing. But he decided since he was already out there, and he heard her clearly, even if he did not see her, he wanted to find her.
He cut the corner, and found himself not alone when it came to hunting this unseen woman. He bumped into someone and bit his lip to keep from crying out. "Ophelia!" he whispered.
She looked shocked to see him as well, but she quickly regained her composure. "So the little princeling hears her, too?" she asked.
"Yes." He had not intended to sound so relieved. She would be the one to torment him about it. "Have you seen her? Who is she?"
"I do not know, this particular spirit likes to keep herself hidden from view." Ophelia tilted her head and tapped her chin with her finger. "I had no idea anyone in your family could see them."
"I thought I was the only one in the entire castle to see them."
She feigned offense and huffed. "Surely such a maiden as myself would have those abilities! I am hurt, Prince Siegbert, that you did not consider I had such talent."
"I'm sorry, Ophelia."
He sounded so wounded that she wanted to take her words back. Instead, she changed the subject. "Well, if we want answers, maybe we should look for her instead of standing here?"
"Yes, you're right."
They walked down the way Ophelia had come, careful to not make much noise. When they spoke, it was in whispers. "How long have you noticed them?"
"As long as I've been living here," Siegbert admitted. "I had never seen or heard anything in my Deeprealm. I did not even believe in spirits."
"I have always seen them." She sounded a bit proud of herself. "Even in my Deeprealm. Though I have never encountered such hostile ones as I have here."
Siegbert shuddered a bit. He knew what she meant. There had been disruptions in his room before, things toppling to the floor when no one else was with him. A hand had once jerked his arm as he slept, causing him to wake with a start and stay awake for the rest of the night. Not to mention the countless times he had either woke up to find someone he did not know standing over him or they had sprung up on him as he wandered the halls.
"Have you seen the one with the missing eye?"
"He's charming," Ophelia said with a giggle.
"Not when I'm trying to sleep!"
She continued to giggle, this time out of nervousness, but put her finger to his lips to shush him. "I'm sorry, I had no idea they disturbed you so."
She had questions, but if they were to find anything out about their mystery spirit, they needed to be quiet. They stopped to peek around a corner. Something brushed against Siegbert's arm. He tried not to jump, his heart racing, but it was only Ophelia's hair.
He felt ashamed of how easily he had been frightened.
They encountered no one for a time, living or unliving. "Do you think we've lost her?" Ophelia sounded a little sad. Even though she had learned Prince Siegbert heard this woman as well, she still had not learned her identity.
"She could be anywhere." Siegbert slowly spun in a circle, looking and listening for any clue that the woman was near. "Perhaps we should just go to bed?"
"Just a little longer?" Ophelia begged. "Please?"
Siegbert was quiet. Ophelia felt her heart drop. It was nice to spend such time with Siegbert, ghost hunting or not. But her mood lifted as he suggested they try to go back and see if she had returned to his room or had gone in the other direction.
They paused outside of his bedroom and waited. The seconds ticked by, but they heard no sound. "This way, then," Siegbert said. They walked slowly, both with hopes of hearing something that would give any clue to the woman being nearby.
After several minutes of silence, Siegbert stopped and faced Ophelia. "I think she's left us. At least for tonight."
Ophelia crossed her arms over her chest and started to sulk. She was almost sure he was right. "Tomorrow night, then."
"What?"
"Tomorrow night, we'll keep looking. And we'll search every night until we find her!"
"I don't know about every night, Ophelia," Siegbert began. "I have to study, I have training, I have - "
"What are the two of you doing out of bed at this hour?"
Ophelia cried out in surprise. Siegbert jumped so much that he dropped the candle he held. Both of them jumped into each other's arms and clung to the other in fear at the sudden arrival of the king. Neither one had heard him approach.
"Father!" Siegbert relaxed and let go of Ophelia. "I am so sorry, I just heard a noise outside of my room, and I ran into Ophelia. Our curiosity got the best of us."
Xander's stern expression became one of concern. "What sort of noise? An intruder?"
"I - " How could he explain to his father, the most serious person he knew, that there were not only ghosts in the castle, but one had him so interested in finding out who she was that he was intentionally looking for her? "Um..."
"Siegbert?"
Siegbert opened his mouth to answer, but he closed it as Ophelia poked him hard in the ribs. He jerked his head to see what she wanted. Then he saw why she was trying to get his attention.
It seemed she had found them. There she was, behind King Xander but only for a second. Before she vanished, Siegbert could make out long, curly blonde hair and a dark gown. Her lips moved as if in a sigh, but he did not hear her.
He found himself unable to speak and was thankful when Ophelia spoke up.
"I had heard it, too, Your Grace. But Prince Siegbert and I have come upon no one. Perhaps it was just one of the castle's many cats that startled us."
Xander looked from Siegbert to Ophelia. He felt sure they were lying to him, but it also looked like they had come across no harm. Both had nearly jumped out of their skins when he approached, so he was certain something had scared them. "I'll send some guards this way," he told them. "But the two of you need to get some sleep."
Both of them agreed to go immediately to bed and hurried back in the direction they had come and left Xander to stand there shaking his head.
"It was nice to see her," Ophelia began breathlessly. "She was beautiful."
"Yes, but who - "
Ophelia dug her finger into his ribs again. "Sometimes you can be quite dense! It was not obvious to you?"
"No," Siegbert admitted as he tried to squirm away from her poking. "But I only saw her for a moment."
"I'm quite certain that was Queen Katerina."
Siegbert stopped his wriggling and stared at her. "You mean... but why?"
"She stayed behind your father, and it also makes sense she would visit you, as well!" She let out a dreamy sigh. "It's so heartwarming, in a way. She's still here even if you don't know her!"
Siegbert was speechless. It did make sense, and not just in Ophelia's little world. She seemed to wait for him to respond. She stood there watching him, rocking on her feet with her hands clasped behind her back. He felt a sudden chill and looked behind him, but no one was there.
"Don't be jumpy," Ophelia told him with a smile. "If it is your grandmother, she won't hurt you. Not like our friend with the one eye!"
"Ophelia!"
She laughed and apologized. Her smile became a smirk as they neared his room and he offered to see her to hers first. "Ever the gentleman, and fond of changing the subject, I see." She was pleased to note spots of color appearing on his cheeks. "I will be fine. Ophelia Dusk can take care of herself." She winked then hurried off around the counter.
Back inside his room, Siegbert remembered the scroll he had been reading. His mind was far from wanting to read. He knew anything he read would be gone from his memory in the morning. He decided his father was right, it was past time to be in bed. After changing and settling down in the bed, he called out to her.
"Grandmother?" he said, his soft voice sounding loud to his ears. "If - if that's you... good night."
He curled up on his side and started to nod off. Just before he fell asleep, he felt his bed shift, as if someone had sat down near his feet.