Emerald had said that the trapdoor in this old, rusty, abandoned barn led to the network of secret tunnels that ran throughout the entire castle. Rella wasn't sure she believed it, but figured if the faerie had said it, it was probably true. Climbing up the ladder, she raised the door on its hinges and stuck her head into the tunnel, looking around.
There were cobwebs all over the place in the wooden tunnel, but not much else. Grasping the edge of the door, she raised herself into the tunnel. It was barely big enough for the group to crawl on their hands on knees a single person at a time, and Rella had to wonder if the whole tunnel was going to be this way.
"It gets bigger further on," Ruby's voice called from behind her.
"I had hoped so," she called back, and continued crawling, ignoring the cobwebs that brushed against her arms and face. Good thing I'm not afraid of spiders. Of course, I had to kill them far too often for Lianne and Anastasia to be afraid of them.
At last the tunnel emerged into another tunnel, widening here to where two people could walk comfortably side by side, and they could stand upright. Bardic somehow ended up walking beside her, not that she objected. Emerald produced a lamp from somewhere and handed it up to Rella, who took it and lit it gratefully.
They made their way through the tunnels, which reminded Rella of a labyrinth more than anything else. There were so many twists and turns and forks and side passages that she lost count of them all. Emerald was leading them straight to the passage that led behind the walls in the Prince's room, and to the peephole built into the wall. How Emerald knew that the passages and peepholes existed, and how to get to them, Rella decided not to ask. It didn't really matter. What did matter was to make sure that the Prince got very little sleep tonight.
At last they came to a dead end in the passage, with a pair of holes perfectly the size and shape of a pair of eyes set in the wall. Rella stood on her tiptoes and looked into them, hearing a door open inside the Prince's room.
The Prince walked into his room, stretching and yawning. He looked just as devastatingly handsome and well-dressed as ever, and didn't seem to show any sign of caring that he had not too long ago raped a young 16-year-old girl, costing her her virginity and what little of her innocence and naivete still remained.
Rella felt a surge of anger, and clenched her hands into fists. He shouldn't be able to just stroll elegantly around the castle, as calm and collected as ever, not after what he had done, what she knew he had done before.
The Prince, humming to himself, yawned again and grabbed the nightclothes that lay spread over the back of a nearby chair. He began to strip, discarding his clothes lazily on the floor; Rella turned away, looking back at her companions. She had already seen far more of that naked body then she ever wanted to.
"He's getting ready to go to bed," she reported to the others in a whisper.
Bardic grinned at her. "Let's make sure he doesn't get a very restful sleep."
She grinned back and nodded. Turning back to the keyhole, she saw him climbing into bed. Turning, he blew out the candle on his dresser, then lay down in his bed and was immediately snoring.
"He's asleep," Rella whispered.
"What, already?" Emerald asked, surprised.
She nodded, then smiled. "Not for long."
The Prince sat straight up in bed, looking around him nervously. Bardic did his best not to laugh; apparently the faeries' imitation of ghost noises had woken him up. He gave them the thumbs up. The two became silent, then Rella grinned mischievously, threw her head back, and did her best imitation of a lupine howl--and Rella's wolf imitation was very good.
Emerald reached out with her magic, making the candle on the Prince's bedside table flare into life suddenly. The Prince looked about him wildly, wide-eyed. "Who's there?" he called out into the darkness, clutching at the blankets as though they would protect him.
"Nooo onee," Ruby moaned in a deep voice, making the Prince jump and look around him wildly. Bardic tried really hard not to laugh, and blow their cover.
"I know you're there!" the Prince's voice called out, squeaking a little.
Rella moaned, doing her best to imitate a ghost. "No...don't...stop!" she cried, letting out a loud whimper. "Please! It hurts...it hurts..." She sobbed quite loudly, then looked at Bardic and grinned, whispering, "I hope he recognizes my voice, too."
Bardic grinned back at her, then whispered, "He's really freaked out right now. What say we give him a chance to get back to sleep, at least for a little bit?"
Prince Thadindor walked into the grand hall, looking as handsome and well groomed as he always did for court. The only exception was that today he had large bags under his eyes, as though he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night.
"Trouble sleeping, or did you just rub soot under your eyes?" his father murmured out of the side of his mouth as the Prince took his seat upon the throne.
He winced. "Some of the kids were playing ghosts," he murmured back. "They kept waking me up."
His father merely rolled his eyes heavenward and then sat up straighter, apparently losing all interest in the conversation. After a moment, Thadindor saw why; a new visitor to court, one dressed in the scarlet tunic and overrobe of a Bard, was approaching the two.
"Sir Bard Bardic North," the herald announced loudly, nearly in Thadindor's ear. He winced, and glared at the offending herald, rubbing the side of his head.
"Greetings, Your Majesties, Your Highness," the man demurred, sweeping into an elegant bow. "If I could be permitted to entertain your court this fine day by playing some tunes...?"
"Certainly, certainly," his father said graciously, gesturing to the alcove nearby the thrones that were reserved for Bards, always visitors of high status. The man swept another bow and moved towards the alcove, taking his seat and unpacking a full-length harp from its case. Clearing his throat, he placed his hands upon the strings, smiled to his audience, and began to play.
Dismissing the Bard as of no more importance now than background music, Thadindor rose from his throne and went to go mingle with the other denizens of his court. Lady Iliena approached him almost immediately; smiling indulgently, he let himself be swept off to be her partner for the dance the people of the court were forming in response to the Bard's music. The Lady Iliena was very beautiful, and very empty-headed--not that that was all bad in a woman. He might even have considered her for a wife at his ball--after all, not only was she beautiful and empty-headed, but he already had plenty of experience with her excellent skills in bed. He might have, however, had that beautiful auburn-haired bitch not shown up.
He barely managed to refrain from snarling at the memory of the little bitch, the one that had actually dared to run from him when he tried to marry her. How dare she! Half of the women out there would have gladly sold their souls to marry him, or even to be permitted merely to warm his bed for a while. And she was the one he offered the privilege to--and she insulted him and then ran!
He just had to chase after the bitch. He hadn't really intended to rape her, at first, only make her pay for having mortally insulted him so. But oh well; the bitch had deserved what she got, never mind the fact that it had been quite pleasant for him. There was something about a shrinking, frightened virgin that not even experienced women like the Lady Iliena could match.
The dance ended, he bowed politely to the Lady Iliena and tried to make his escape, but she insisted on tailing him, chattering constantly. Realizing he wasn't going to get rid of her, he let her dance with him for the next dance as well, but pleaded lack of energy after that. She had simply given him a look that said plain as day, "You never run out of energy, and I know it," but had left him alone afterwards.
Helping himself to some of the stronger wine on the table, he sipped at it, enjoying the sweet taste of the drink from the best brewery in the entire kingdom. It was then that he recognized the next tune the Bard was beginning to play, and nearly choked on his wine.
The tune was "The Ballad of Aerowyn," an old ballad concerning an alleged woman named Aerowyn whom had been kidnapped and raped by her psychopathic uncle. She had then joined together with her lover and proceeded to get revenge upon her uncle; the original text of the ballad was probably truer, and said she got revenge upon the man by gelding him. The newer, more polite version just left the form of revenge up to the listener's imagination.
That wasn't all. Aerowyn was described quite vividly in the ballad, as an auburn-haired, green-eyed lass, tall and skinny, with modest curves and slightly tan skin. That description sounded quite familiar to Thadindor...
And she gets raped and-- Blinking, he stared at the Bard incredulously, only to see the young man looking straight at him, giving him a quite sardonic smile. He made himself swallow his sip of wine and set the glass down on the table, returning to mingle in the crowd, although his heart wasn't in it.
He knew. Somehow, the Bard knew, knew how he had entertained himself not too long ago with that pretty auburn-haired bitch. It was impossible, it made no sense, but somehow, he knew. He had to; the ballad wasn't a very popular song, even when it had first been made, century ago. There was no reason he should have played it--unless he somehow knew that the Prince's favored choice of nighttime entertainment was a nice, frightened virgin.
He couldn't know, he told himself. He couldn't. There's no possible way. Unless-- Recalling the part of the ballad in which Aerowyn's lover had returned with her to exact their revenge, he took a closer look at the young man. Could--could he maybe be that little bitch's lover?
No, she probably doesn't even have a lover, especially not someone like a Bard. After all, she as much as admitted she wasn't really a noble, she was just in disguise. I told her true when I said I wouldn't care if she were a scullery maid, too--I've bedded the castle maids plenty of times. And after all--he hid a snigger--the only reason most anyone would be her age and still a virgin would be if they couldn't get anyone to warm their bed.
No, he's not her lover, and he didn't pick that ballad just to freak me out. It's all just a big coincidence. Having thoroughly convinced himself, he headed off to continue mingling with the rest of the court.
Rella watched from her hiding point inside the castle stables, gazing down from the hayloft as Prince Thadindor walked inside, darkly muttering curses under his breath. He calmly ordered two of the stablehands to prepare his horse for riding, and they rushed to do as he said. A few moments later, he rode out of the stable, on his way to a nice, long trail ride.
Rella grinned. Now was her chance. Reaching out, she thought carefully, Excuse me, Mr. horse?
Hello! the answer came back at once. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't call me Mr. Horse, though. My name is Starlight. I wanted to talk to you all the time I was in the stable, but I saw you were hiding and I supposed you had a reason, so I kept quiet. But now you are the one talking to me, so I suppose everything is alright.
Rella tried her hardest not to laugh at how dignified Starlight could manage to sound while still being incredibly talkative. Yes, you can talk to me now, she thought back at him. And Starlight is simply a lovely name, and if you were still here I'd give you a sugar cube. But tell me, what do you think of your master, the one who is riding you now?
Well, Starlight said, sounding thoughtful. He is very nice to me; he takes good care of me, and never uses painful bits, or spurs, or the whip. But he scares an awful lot of female twolegs, almost as if he makes up for not using the bits, or spurs, or whips on me by causing them pain instead. And yet they still flock around him when he is at home. I don't understand it.
She shook her head, sighing; this only confirmed her suspicions that she wasn't the first one the Prince had done this to. So you don't like him very much?
No, not really, miss. The females he scares are always very nice, like you. He shouldn't be so mean to them. I am always very nice to my mares when I breed with them, but he is not with his.
I know, Starlight. Trust me, I know. But since you don't like him very much, could you do me a favor?
Certainly, lady! I would be pleased! What is it I can do for you? Oh, just as long as it won't get me in trouble with my master and make him start using whips and spurs on me. That would be just horrible, really it would.
Don't worry, she thought, trying to sound comforting. What I want you to do is, while he's riding you, see if you can buck or rear or some such and get him to fall off. After he falls off, step on him or something, and then run away.
Hmm, Starlight said eloquently, sounding both thoughtful and intrigued. But he is a very good rider, lady, although not a very good herd leader. I do not know if I will be able to get him to fall off. And where will I go once I run?
I'm sure a clever horse like you can find a way to make him fall off. Maybe if you catch him by surprise, it will help; wait for him to be concentrating on something else, then rear, and he'll probably slide right off.
The horse chuckled. True, lady; he is not concentrating on me even now. But what about where I will go? I certainly can't go back home, or he will be mad at me and beat me with a whip, I am sure of it. Then he will start using spurs and painful bits on me. That would be very, very horrible.
Yes, it would be, she agreed with him, and I certainly don't want you to get in trouble with as mean a master as he. Tell you what. Do you know where the forest nearby the castle is?
Yes, indeed I do, lady. He hesitated for a moment, then added, Miss, are you one of the ones my master has scared in that way he does?
Hush, Starlight, she demanded. It's something only we twolegs should have to worry about, you don't need to know. But when you run, go into that forest. There is another horse in there, a pony named Cloud. She's a perfectly lovely darling, and as sweet as sugar.
As sweet as sugar? I like sugar. I like mares, too. How shall I find her?
You can just call for her, and she will answer. She's very curious; she won't be able to help herself. Just don't be mean to her, okay? She's a perfect darling, but the other horses tease her for being short. She's very sensitive about it, so don't mention it.
I promise you I will not be mean to her, lady, and I won't even dare mention that she is shorter than I am. I am very kind to mares, miss, I promise you.
She smiled. Very well then, Starlight. Now that you know what to do, I have to go, but hopefully I will see you again. Actually, I know I will; I'll be returning to that same clearing that you are going to, the one with Cloud in it. She belongs to a dear friend of mine.
Alright, lady. There is no sense in saying good-byes, then, since we will see each other again. I have always thought good-byes were a silly twolegs tradition. I shall see you later, when you return to this clearing with this Cloud.
Smiling, she bade him farewell--despite his having said that good-byes were a silly twolegs tradition--and looked around carefully for servants before climbing down out of the hayloft. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe Bardic was going to end up with a foal on his hands due to Cloud's encounter with Starlight, and smiled at the thought.
Returning back into the secret tunnels within the castle walls, she sat, to wait for the others to return so they could resume their haunting of the Prince's bedchamber.
"We could use your help," Rella said, deciding that maybe being blunt was the best way to deal with the small street rat.
"What for?" Shark asked, tapping his foot impatiently, arms crossed over his chest.
"We're trying to make Prince Thadindor think the castle is haunted by vengeful ghosts that are out to get him. We were thinking maybe you could help us out; you know, make a few of his things disappear mysteriously. After all, you still owe me one. Two gold coins is more than enough to pay for a plain old shirt and breeches."
He frowned, considering this, then grinned. "Hell yeah, I help ya, lady! Tha' Prince, he raped me big sister las' year, n'got 'er preg', too. She done up an' died, though, havin' lil' baby girl, an' she die too. I help ya get r'venge."
Rella grinned back at him. "Thanks, kid. I'm trying to keep him from doin'"--she shook her head; apparently the street rat's atrocious accent was catching--"from doing to anyone else what he did to me, and to your sister."