Chevalier had alerted the guards of Lorelei's presence in the castle, though he was seriously doubting whether they'd be able to find her. She was a wizardess after all. After he'd gotten somebody to move the fortuneteller's body out of the tower, he'd rushed to tell Siegfried what had happened, and ask if there was anything else Lorelei had said to him.
"For goodness sake, Chev! No, she said nothing else." He clearly didn't want to hear any more about the wizardess, and so he ignored further questions. When the Knight had finally given up, he asked, "Hey, you brought it, right?"
"You're not really thinking of doing this, are you?" Chevalier pulled a small black box out of his pocket, but didn't hand it over. "You know how she feels about you."
"C'mon Chev. It's not like I have a choice. My parents were planning this since before I was even born."
"Well, your parents aren't here. You don't have to do this." Reluctantly, he handed the box to the Prince.
"Yes, I do. More than you know, Chev." He opened up the box, and inside was a golden ring, in the shape of a swan encasing a blood red stone. "Kind of funny, isn't it, that she dressed as a swan for the pa de deux tonight? I didn't even ask her to."
"You didn't need to. She loves those birds."
"Yeah..." He looked a little nervous. "Do you think she'll say no?"
This made the Knight laugh. "Her, say no to you, Sig? I don't think she even knows how."
But Siegfried was serious. "I mean it, Chev." He looked at the ring. "Maybe she will."
...
After a few words were spoken by various councilmen, the Prince and the Princess each ascended the stairs on opposite sides of the brightly lit stage.
Off to the side, Chevalier was speaking with a couple of guards who had been locked out of their tower post.
"How on earth did you lose your keys? They're attached to your uniforms!" What with it being the busiest night of the year, and the wizardess sneaking around somewhere, Chevalier was not amused at their apparent lack of common sense.
If someone were to be watching, they would probably laugh at the sight of two big, burly men, being scolded by a 20 year old who was only half their size. Chevalier wasn't really in charge of the guards, but, being the kingdom's Knight and the Prince's best friend, the guards typically paid heed to what he had to say.
"But we didn't lose them, they just won't work."
"Well try again! We need some-" But he stopped yelling because at that moment he saw Lorelei crouching down behind the stage, watching them.
"There she is! Grab her!"
The two guards immediately leapt at her, but she didn't even try to run away.
"Handcuff her." Chevalier looked at her smug face. "We're taking her your tower. I have a feeling she's the one that locked it up."
"Well, you are good, aren't you? Catching a big, bad, scary girl like me?" Lorelei winked. "Haven't I seen you around before, cutie?"
"Shut up." Chevalier nodded for the guards to start for the tower, "Let's go." He took a last look over his shoulder at Siegfried and Tullia, who were getting ready to dance, and then followed behind.
In the tower - which had opened suprisingly easily - Chevalier began to question Lorelei, but she wouldn't say a word.
"Fine, don't answer. I don't have anywhere to be." He sat down. "I can wait all night."
"I'm afraid you can't."
"Watch me."
"If you want me to tell you anything, then get this big goons out of here." She crinkled her nose.
"Ha! Get them out of here, and what? You attack me? That's not going to happen."
She rolled her eyes. "Chevalier, I'm a wizardess, remember? If I wanted out of here, I'd be gone." She looked up at one of the guards. "And trust me, I can take these guys without using magic."
Chevalier looked at her through squinted eyes, not sure how she knew his name. "First of all, as a prisoner, you are only to address me as Sir Knight. Second, I highly doubt you could."
Lorelei grinned, ignoring him. "I wanted to tell you something, but you just aren't asking the right questions, Chevalier." She remarked. "And you are wasting valuable time that ought not be wasted."
"If you have something to say, then spit it out. Otherwise you'll be spending the rest of your supernatural life in a cell underground. I know you killed that fortuneteller, though I'm not sure why. She hasn't had a vision in over 10 years."
"I'll say nothing with these two listening in. No matter how you threaten me." She leaned forward. "You really do want to hear what I have to say, don't you?" She taunted him, dangling the information in front of him like a piece of meat in front of starving bear.
"I- Fine." He ordered the guards outside, and gave him his key. "Lock it from the outside. Don't open it until I give word." Once they were gone, he turned back to Lorelei. "Now, what were you going to say? And make it quick."
"You know, you were wrong, I didn't kill that old woman."
"I'm not interested in lies. Tell me what I want to know."
She continued. "Did you know, Sir Knight," she said this with a sarcastic tone, "that when a supernatural vessel dies, the spirit and power still lingers? And it lingers until another vessel comes to take over." She stood up from her kneeling position on the ground quickly, as though the wind had lifted her up. Spooked, the Knight drew his sword for protection. This made the wizardess laugh, "That flimsy piece of metal, against me? How very amusing."
"Tell me what you have to say." His voice was cracking. Something told him being in such close proximity to this witch was a bad idea.
"I also absorbed her memories, and all her past predictions." She paused for a second, to slip from her handcuffs, "And again you were wrong," She sighed, then leaned up against the cooled furnace. She snapped her fingers and a small flame appeared in the palm of her hand.
Ignoring what was clearly being done to intimidate him, he kept her talking. "About..."
"Her visions. And she had many, many of them in the past 10 years."
"You're lying. I don't have time for this."
"Oh Chev, you should be more open minded. One of these visions concerns you, after all." She looked at him through the fire.
"Me..." He straightened his sword, "Tell me."
"Ooh, sorry, I'll save that for another day. But right now, I'll tell you the one regarding our sweet Princess Tullia."
Chevalier swallowed hard. "What's going to-"
"Timing! Please don't interrupt, sweetie. This is urgent." She walked over to the window and climbed up onto the windowsill, looking out over the celebration outside. Chevalier followed her movement with the tip of his sword. "The beautiful Princess, I'm afraid, was cursed long ago, as a child. And tonight, you get to see what happens to her." She laughed again, wickedly, and lifted her hood over her head.
"What-"
"You're confused? And rightly so." She turned to face him, and said loudly. "If the Princess Tullia ever speaks of her true love to whomever she falls for, then she will vanish from existence. Poof." She closed her hand and extinguished the flame. "Never to be seen again." She held her hand behind her ear. "Sounds like their song is almost over. Pity, seems I won't be able to watch, but then again-" She tapped the side of her head, "-I've already seen it." With that she took a step out the window and plummeted straight down out of the tower. Chevalier ran to look, but she was gone.
"What she said, it couldn't be-" He gasped in horror. "The Prince is- and she's going to-." He sheathed his sword, then ran for the door.
"Unlock this door right now! Let me out! Hurry up!" He pounded and pounded until the guards swung the door open, and the Knight rushed down the stairs.
"Hey, where did the-" But that was all he heard of the guards, and he was in too big of a hurry to care where Lorelei had gotten to.
When he reached ground level, the dancing had stopped, and he could see Siegfried kneeling in front of a blushing Tullia.
"Stop!" But no one could hear him. He needed to get to the stage.
"My wonderful Tullia, will do me the honor of becoming the Queen of my life?" A little gushy, he thought, but he was a performer, and it made the crowd "ooh" and "ahh".
"My Prince I- I don't know what to say-" Clearly, Tullia was not a performer, but there were more "oohs" from the people. Tears in her eyes, she answered him. "Yes, of course I will!"
Both of them were blushing now, as the Prince stood up and slipped the ring on her finger. They held each other's hands and kissed.
Still running through the crowd, Chevalier continued yelling. "Stop! Prince! Stop!" But it was no use over the sounds of the screaming crowd.
Tullia broke the kiss, and moved her mouth over to Siegfried's ear, and began whispering. "I know why you're doing this, Sig, and I want to, for your sake. But I need to tell you how I really feel. My Prince, I-"
"Stop!" Chevalier had made it to the stage and had hopped up onto it, but it was too late.
"-love you. I truly and honestly love you. With all my heart."
Suddenly, her skin was glowing, brighter and brighter, until she was an orb of light. No one could stand to look at her.
Frightened, she cried out. "What's happening ? It's burning me!"
"No!" cried the Prince and Knight simultaneously.
"Help!" She screamed one final time. Then for a second she was reduced to a single speck of light, before it extinguished itself, leaving only the swan and ruby ring spinning on the wooden stage.
...
Two weeks later, the Prince had hardly left the east wing. He slept late, took barely any food, and spent the days locked away in his dance studio. Most people found nothing strange about this, it was normal for someone to grieve like that when they lost the love of their lives. But to Chevalier, there was nothing normal about it. Siegfried had loved Tullia, but no more than he loved any other of his close friends. Chevalier knew something had to be going on behind the scenes, and decided it was time the Prince tell someone.
It was raining that day, perfect weather for deep conversation about loving and losing. The Prince had arrived, sometime around noon, at his dance studio. But Chevalier was leaning up against the doors, waiting for him. He had locked the studio up, and wouldn't let him inside.
"Sig, you need to tell me what's going on. No more shutting yourself away from other people."
"I don't need to talk to anyone. Give me the key." But he didn't sound very forceful, but then, even when he wasn't depressed he never was.
"No." He crossed him arms. "Prince, please."
"I said no." He was upset, and his voice was shakey.
"Siegfried, I know there's something else going on, other than you just missing Tutu." It wasn't very often that Chevalier used the Prince's full name. And when he did he was speaking to someone else. It felt weird saying it to the Prince's face.
"I said you give me the key! That's an order, Chevalier!" He yelled it this time. He tried to look threatening, and most smart people would obey any order given to them by an angry Prince. But Chevalier knew Siegfried: he wouldn't hurt anybody, and especially not his oldest friend.
"Tell me. And that's an order." He wasn't being serious, but that was the point.
Siegfried smiled slightly, but it quickly faded. "You don't understand." He turned his back on his friend.
"No, I don't. That's why you need to tell me." But it was no use and Chevalier could tell. The only way to get the Prince to talk to him was to trick him into speaking, the way the Prince usually did to Chevalier. "If you tell me, I promise to tell you what happened to her."
This got Siegfried's attention, but he acted like it didn't. "I know what happened to her. I watched her disappear with my own eyes."
Chevalier sighed. Siegfried knew how to play this game, too, obviously. If the Knight wasn't careful, he'd tell all without getting a word out of the Prince.
"But I know why. And you want to know, too, don't you?" He was mocking what Lorelei had said, hoping the Prince would take the bait.
"Fine. We have a deal, then." He turned back towards Chevalier. "You go first." But Chevalier shook his head. The Prince sighed, knowing that he was beat. He walked over to the door and slid to the ground, looking rather dazed. "She was this kingdom's last hope, you know. My last hope."
Chevalier joined Siegfried against the wall. "What do you mean 'hope'? Hope for what?"
"Come on, Chev! You don't think I'm stupid do you? On second thought, you don't need to answer that." The two friends smiled. It was the the thunder outside that reminded them of the seriousness of their conversation. "I know what's coming, Chev. I know the Raven's going to come back for me."
"Who told you that?"
"I'm the highest power in the kingdom. I can find stuff out pretty easily." He rolled his eyes. "It was a bad idea, keeping it from me. How was I supposed to be prepared when the time came if I didn't know it was coming?" He bowed his head. "I've been spending the past 12 years of my life learning ballet, because I love dancing. But I should have been learning how to fight."
Chevalier understood the Prince was scared. "The prophecy said you would reign victorious, Sig. You can't lose. The Raven will be defeated when the time comes."
"It said the Raven would die, I know. But that doesn't mean I can't too. Anything the prophecy doesn't mention leaves room for anything to happen." he buried his face in his arms, starting to tear up a bit. "Im not a fighter, Chev."
The Prince and Knight sat in silence for a while after that. Siegfried was right, anything could happen to him. Maybe that's what she meant by "sacrificing much". And he definitely wasn't a fighter. He was peaceful, and Chevalier both respected and envied it. He envied the Prince's peaceful and kind nature because it was the one thing he himself could never be. That was another prophecy that had been made. "And the boy would grow to be the bravest of warriors, both guardian and guide to the newly born Prince. But he will be alone, his only friend the Prince whom he serves." Chevalier had been made to pledge an oath of loyalty to Siegfried when he had been only six years old. He'd grown up in the castle after that, alongside the Prince. They had practically been brothers. There was no escaping that future now, prophecy or not. Chevalier would live out his days, the only one capable of protecting the Prince.
As they listened to the rain hit the window on the opposite side of the hall, they remembered their lives, back before the Raven had appeared. The town had been a wonderful place, free of danger. But that just wasn't meant to last. Neither was the silence.
"What did Tullia have to do with your prophecy, though? She was never mentioned."
"No, she wasn't. That she's gone now is- it's really my fault." He had stopped crying, but his eyes welled with salty tears. "I thought that maybe if our kingdoms were combined, when the Raven returned her father might feel some sense of loyalty to this kingdom. I thought he might send his army to aid us." Siegfried seemed ashamed at his own selfishness and hung his head. "I've tried to make myself build up an army from our kingdom, but I just couldn't bring myself to force innocent villagers to go up against that murderous beast."
Chevalier leaned back up against the wall and looked at the ceiling. "Wow."
"It was wrong of me, to try and use Tutu like that. Especially because of what she told me before she, well, you know."
He knew what Tullia had said to the Prince, but he didn't need to say it out loud. Again they sat by quietly as the rain picked up.
"You still want to know why she disappeared?"
"No, it doesn't matter. No matter what the reason may seem to be, when you get down to it, it's really my own selfishness that led to it." He buried his face again, and this time, practically blubbering, he whispered. "It's because I'm so scared, Chev. Fighting frightens me."
Laying a hand gently on Siegfried's shoulder, Chevalier spoke softly. "It frightens everyone, Sig. Everyone's afraid of what might happen when the Raven returns. But you're going to be ready when the time comes. I'll make sure of it."
For a long while after that, Siegfried and Chevalier sat without speaking. They knew there was much they would need to face in the time to come, and they wanted to relish the calm before the storm.
...
Okay, just a quick little author's note: You may notice a few slight alterations in the story. Try and read it not as the version of The Prince and the Raven that they had in the series, but rather as what was happening to the people in... that... story. Nevermind. Just try and enjoy it.
And thanks to all you who read the first chapter and reviewed it!