Basch followed at the end of the party as they rode through the Bueswood Forest. After travelling so far in several days, they were finally about to regroup with Arthur, Princess Madeline and the other Prathagean rangers.
From the top of the hill they had just rode down a few minutes ago, they were able to see a few things in the distance. First of all, they were able to see campfire smoke rising from the trees, with Naktakė flying overhead to show that this was where the spellbreakers had set up their camp for the night. Secondly, they could also see the Royal Palace of Tark off in the distant east, about only two hours of steady riding away. Third, they could see the encroaching nightfall, accompanied by the setting sun behind them to the west.
Naktakė swooped in over their heads, doing a loop and cawing at Feliks, before straightening out and leading their way.
"I see their campfire smoke now," Feliks reported from the front of the pack, "We're almost there."
Only a few moments later, Basch was able to see the encampment. The rangers had gathered around their fire, along with two women that accompanied them, while the horses were tied up at the right side. As the group rode into the clearing, Arthur approached to greet them, along with the one ranger Basch hadn't met yet.
"Your Highness, your Excellencies," the ranger hailed as he caught the reins on Alfred's and Feliks's horses.
"Antonio, Basch," Arthur received as he caught the reins on their horses, "Long time no see."
"Good to see you, Arthur," Basch greeted, "I hear you're managing to get many things done in this realm already."
"Mostly in Prathage so far," Arthur answered as Basch dismounted his horse, "It remains to be seen what will happen with Ixaidel and Stulikya, and how much of a role I will play."
"Probably a big role, I'll say," Antonio remarked from the far side of his own horse, "Given how much you've accomplished already."
"I'll tie up the horses," Arthur offered as both Dukes stepped forward, "There's a few people in our party that Basch needs to meet."
"I can take care of introductions," Antonio offered, before gesturing at the other ranger, "This one here is Tolys, he is Naktakė's master and Feliks's dear friend."
"Your Excellency," Tolys saluted as he led Alfred's horse behind the two Dukes.
Basch gave the ranger a nod, briefly glancing back to see that Tolys was leading Alfred's horse behind Feliks's horse, towards where Arthur was tying up the other two horses. Basch turned back to look at the campfire, where two women were circling around to approach them. Alfred had reached them first, and he was hugging the one with long and wavy golden hair that matched his.
The second woman at their side was a brunette in shabby peasant clothing with brown eyes and flushed cheeks. For some reason, beyond her unspoken shame and embarrassment, Basch could sense something familiar about her. As he and Antonio approached, Alfred released the blonde woman from the hug and gestured at the Dukes.
"Maddie, this is Basch Zwingli, the Duke of Gaeniel," Alfred introduced, "Basch, here's my twin sister, Princess Madeline of Prathage."
"Pleased to meet you, your Excellency," Madeline addressed as she nodded her head, "We are pleased to have your assistance at this time."
"I'm pleased to meet you as well, your Highness," Basch replied, "I have heard much about you and your escapades."
"I'm certain you have," Madeline digressed, "I have someone else here to introduce to you all. Lenka here is from Inasdiff, and we have reason to believe that she and Basch have met each other before."
"Your Excellencies," Lenka greeted.
As Lenka gave a shy curtsy, Basch finally took a good look at her, and the memory clicked.
"It was you?" Basch recognized, "You're the one I danced with at the ball?"
"Yes, it was me," Lenka admitted shyly.
"You were the mystery woman in the blue dress?" Antonio put together, "How did you end up here?"
"Francis kidnapped her at the ball and whisked her away to Virside," Madeline elaborated, "Antonio, Alfred, why don't we go join the others? There are certain elements of her situation that she needs to discuss privately with Basch."
"Oh yes, of course," Antonio acknowledged.
The Prathagean royals walked away to join the rest of the group towards the right side of the encampment, leaving Basch and Lenka awkwardly standing there alone.
"Um, why don't we walk a bit further away from the fire?" Lenka suggested, motioning to the trees at the left of the encampment.
"As you wish, Lenka," Basch allowed, "If I may say so, I am both pleased and surprised to find you here. After you left the ball, I realized I did not know who you were, or how to find you again."
"About all that, there are two very important things you need to know about me," Lenka explained, "It's hard to choose which to talk about first, but probably the slightly more important one is about using my name."
"Your name?" Basch checked, "What is it about your name?"
"It's connected to my birth spell," Lenka revealed, "If anyone tells me to do something, and they use my name at the beginning of that sentence, I must obey that command and do exactly as I'm told."
"That's quite the difficult birth spell," Bash judged, "I suppose it's impossible to promise to never slip up, but I shall try my best to respect the use of your name. I suppose we'll have to teach everyone in Inasdiff to respect it as well."
"And that's where I have to discuss the second thing," Lenka continued, "I am not nobility, or of any social standing. I am just a servant who has been working in the palace kitchens all these years. I was only at the ball because the other maids tricked me into it with my spell. They found that blue dress in the storage room, it belonged to your aunt, the Queen Mother."
"You're just a servant?" Basch realized, "So that's why you seemed so different."
"It was not my intention to deceive you, or anyone, into thinking I was nobility," Lenka immediately rambled, "I really did enjoy dancing with you, but even that was pure luck to have happened in the first place."
As she fretted, Basch's birth spell informed him that she was being genuine, and that she was afraid of what he would do next. She feared that he would dismiss or reject her for being just a commoner, or worse have her punished for pretending to be nobility for that one night.
"Please calm down, that's not what I meant," Basch took over, "My own birth spell allows me to see whether someone has good intentions or not, so that I know whether or not to trust them. That's why I say you were different, you did not have the vain ambitions of the other ladies at that ball. I saw a gentle and virtuous strength in your demeanour, which is what enchanted me."
"Really?" Lenka checked, "So you don't mind that I'm just a servant?"
"Of course I don't mind," Basch assured, "As a Duke, I don't have as many restraints on who I spend my time with than if I were in contention for the throne. If anything I would like to know more about you."
"I would like that too," Lenka affirmed, "Princess Madeline says we have time to figure this all out, with everything that might happen in Tark tomorrow. I know you'll want to focus on resolving whatever mess Prince Ludwig has gotten into."
"Yes, that is very good judgement on her part," Basch approved, "In the meantime, is there anything else we need to privately discuss?"
"No, that's all," Lenka said, "We can join the others now, they've uncovered other messes you'll want to hear about."
Basch nodded as he gestured for Lenka to lead the way. Back in the main clearing, the others had all taken their seats on the logs surrounding the campfire, with two spots still available on the nearest log for the pair. As they both sat down, Basch glanced around at their companions, his sight freezing on the swan sitting on the edge of a log beside Princess Madeline.
"May I ask why there is a swan here?" Basch inquired.
"Ah yes, she is with us," Madeline described, "We were just telling Antonio and Alfred about how we found her at Virside, she was raised by Francis. She's under a spell that makes her a swan by day, she'll turn human again at sunset."
"Are there any updates from Stulikya?" Feliciano asked, "Has the situation changed there at all?"
"Nothing since we left Inasdiff," Basch answered, "I believe Feliks updated you all on everything to that point?"
"Yes, he gave us all the key details in his letters," Madeline elaborated, "There was the feud between the Queen and Princess, the ball, the Princess's mysterious death, the thieving dwarfs, Princess Natalya actually being alive and joining this band of thieving dwarfs, and most recently Ludwig's engagement and pending nuptials to the Queen."
"How are you all even keeping track of this mess?" Lenka mused.
"Yes, that's about all of it," Feliks chuckled, "We haven't heard from Gilbert since we parted ways at Ewixabet, he should already be in Tark sorting things out with Kiku."
"I did have a question about Princess Natalya and her band of thieving dwarfs," Arthur brought up, "Do you happen to know the number of dwarfs in that group?"
"Yes, Ludwig said there were seven dwarfs," Basch answered.
"I fucking knew it," Lovino blurted as he, Madeline, Tolys, Arthur and Feliciano burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?" Alfred demanded.
"Arthur has been telling us the old folktales and stories from his world, ones about magical adventures," Feliciano explained, "We've been finding parallels between those stories and some of the situations he is encountering here in our realm. It just so happens that one of those stories involves a beautiful princess, an evil queen, seven dwarfs and a poisoned apple."
"So does that make Natalya this realm's version of that princess?" Feliks figured out, "If so, wouldn't Arthur have to help Natalya to find the poisoned apple that lost its poison?"
"That's what we suspect, it's the only one of the stories Arthur has told us so far that features a poisoned apple," Lovino elaborated, "However, if it needs to be used first to lose its poison, then that potentially puts Natalya in danger. One bite of the apple puts the victim into a sleeping death, and only love's first kiss can break the spell."
"If Princess Natalya is anything like Belarus, then we may not need to worry about that," Arthur illustrated, "Belarus is strong, stubborn, smart and perceptive, she would not allow anyone to trick her into eating a poisoned apple. Given what you have said about her joining forces with bandit dwarfs and plotting to overthrow the Queen, she is definitely not following the typical Snow White story. As ill-fitting as this may seem, rebelling against fairy tale standards is actually quite appropriate for her personality."
"It has been many years since I've spoken to Natalya," Antonio disclaimed, "but even at that age she was incredibly smart and perceptive. There is the question of how she has endured the last few years, being trapped in the castle by Erzsébet. But if the reports of her recent activity are true, then Arthur's assessment should be accurate."
"Is there any way she would know about tomorrow's wedding?" Madeline inquired, "If she is plotting to attend the wedding and humiliate Erzsébet, we might have to watch for her interference."
"Kiku last reported that the wedding was announced across Stulikya," Basch answered, "If her band of dwarfs have access to the rumour mill, she will definitely know about it. Kiku had been visiting the village of Ivrark to observe the people on behalf of Ludwig and Gilbert, so the first thing we'll need to do in Tark tomorrow is to speak to them. If Natalya's rebellion is the side to be chosen, we need to be ready for it."
Just as Basch finished his sentence, a glow of magic suddenly surrounded the swan and obscured its appearance. The others turned to watch as well as the form shifted and grew in size, before settling into a human form. The glow subsided to reveal a young woman with blonde hair and green eyes, and Basch couldn't help but think of how similar she looked to the portrait of his mother back in Gaeniel.
"Hello everyone," the young woman greeted, "My name is Lilli, that wasn't mentioned earlier."
"Hello Lilli," Alfred replied, "We're glad to have you with us."
"Tell me, Basch, does Lilli look at all familiar to you?" Arthur suddenly asked.
"Yes, she looks like an old portrait of my mother," Basch answered, "Why do you ask?"
"I ask because Lilli is not all she seems," Arthur explained, "In my world, her human name is Erika Zwingli."
"Erika Zwingli," Basch checked, "You believe Lilli here is my sister?"
"Sure do," Arthur confirmed, "Francis has kept her at Virside as long as she remembers, he raised her."
"I see where you're going with that line of thought," Basch assessed, "However, there is a problem with this attempted connection. You see, my family never told anyone what Erika's birth spell is, which means we can use it to test whoever claims to be her. I'm very sorry for Arthur's mistake, miss Lilli, but my sister's birth spell was never turning into a swan."
"But that's not my birth spell," Lilli corrected, "The swan spell was cast on me by someone else a few years ago. My birth spell is that I will die of a broken heart."
"That's impossible," Basch gasped, focusing on reading her for any lie, "Is that really your birth spell?"
"Yes, that's my birth spell," Lilli confirmed, "Francis used his magic to research its limits, I unfortunately cannot avoid this fate. If anything, it nearly got triggered recently, I could've died if I stayed in the attic at Virside any longer."
"After Francis locked you in there?" Tolys noted, "So it's a good thing we found you then?"
"That's very lucky, because dying of a broken heart is also Erika's birth spell," Basch revealed, "Arthur's right, we have reason to believe that Lilli is indeed Erika!"