A.N.- No, I have no clue who the family names are irl, or that they even
apply to anything real, I just thought they sounded neat =) Enjoy.
...........
Peeking into the opened wardrobe, Naetalia caught her breath when the bed covering crumpled along the bottom back corner moved away to reveal the face of the look-a-like.
"The guards are still waiting outside the door and probably won't be going anywhere soon. So I'm convinced, there're two of you. Who are you?"
He held her gaze and spoke firmly.
"My name is Kayell de Tormein, first and only son of King Rhomell and Queen Elyiana. The man who was just in here was my cousin, Victor de Lenaie, son of the Lady Caytaline, my aunt. We thought he had been killed in battle over three years ago, but apparently things were arranged so that we never knew what happened, or that he had returned," his warm brown eyes wandered down as his thoughts seemed to drift.
"They've been planning this for a while."
"How do you, I mean," the young woman concentrated briefly on how to get her question across. "How does he, I'm confused. How do you look like each other? How do I know that it really isn't the reverse of what you've told me?"
Kayell looked back at her, catching her gaze.
"He looks like me because my aunt seems to have been experimenting in the witch's crafts. Transformations specifically, although apparently poison has been on her list as well."
Impossible thoughts started to move through Naetalia's mind at the mention of transformations. Surely he couldn't mean.
Her eyes caught the movement of his slight shiver.
"Here, maybe talk near the fire instead of hidden in a clothing storage?" she offered with a slight smile.
He stood up and carefully moved some of the dresses to the side as he stepped out.
The brunette woman moved towards the fire, casually picking up some more wood and pushing it into the dying flames. They began to crackle louder and rise as she moved to sit on the closest couch.
"I'm, I'm sorry that I just showed up in your room like that," she heard him say.
Naetalia turned to look at the young man as he sat nearby. She brought her legs up close and wrapped a hand around her knee.
"If I had a choice, well, I didn't have a choice."
"How did you get in here?"
"My aunt and Victor wanted me dead. To replace me without questions, they couldn't have a body, at least not mine."
"But, you don't mean.."
"You brought me in here, but first, you stopped in the kitchens. That woman called you Tally. Do you like that better?"
Naetalia brought her hand in front of her lips her eyes wide with realization, yet still in disbelief. Tales were told of people being transformed into creatures, but those were only tales.
"You, you seemed so sad earlier, and I tried singing to you."
He looked at her eagerly, wanting a reaction, but not sure what type would come. Wouldn't it even be one he wanted? What kind did he want?
"I didn't think there was anything else I could do like that. And for the longest time, I couldn't remember anything. The memories started coming back slowly, and being here, seeing people, it started to bring them back."
He looked around the room with a slight smile.
"This room for instance, I was eight years old, and Victor and I were exploring for secret passageways. We had always heard that castles were full of them, but my parents had never shown us any."
Kayell stood up, gripping the covering around him, and moved near the open window. He looked out into the darkened sky.
"We would go room by room, at least along this floor. We tended to lose interest after a while," he smiled. "Victor would take one room, I would take the next. Apparently, we didn't have any in our castle."
"I suppose insignificant memories coming back is a good sign," Naetalia replied, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion.
Kayell chuckled to himself and pulled the shuttered closed, blocking prying eyes.
"Victor was down the hall, exploring one of the rooms. He found some old armor coats apparently, and some gold coins."
He moved down the room, stopping before a large landscape painting.
"This is a beautiful room. Did they assign it to you?"
"No, they offered me a room closer to the Prince's quarters. Well, Victor's, or yours, that's confusing. But I didn't feel that was appropriate, and honestly, I'd rather have been as far away as possible. So they let me choose my own. This one had a nice view, but with few who could view in as well."
The young man moved his hand down the wall decoration just under the painting. He crouched down, and placed his other hand near the first, and pushed in. The wall gave, revealing a crawl space nearly hidden in the wall's design.
Naetalia's eyes widened.
"You found one?"
Kayell put a finger to his lips and smiled. He motioned her to come closer.
She eased her legs down and got up, moving just behind him. The space was large enough to fit a grown man through if he were on hands and knees. The flooring was simple stone, scattered with dust.
"You never told him?"
Kayell smiled at her as she looked up into his eyes.
"Never, or anyone else. I made it a point to keep my secret places private."
The smile faded but the gaze never broke.
"Though, in this case, I think it's best you saw. Would you like to see inside? The walls are of solid stone, so no one can hear a word spoken inside. Here, there are a few ears that can listen."
He motioned to the double doors.
Naetalia felt slightly uneasy at the thought. No one would hear anything. He seemed to notice her concern.
"We don't have to go in, now or ever if you like. I'm sure there're still a lot of questions, and there really isn't much reason for you to trust me. But if you ever need it, it's here."
He started to pull the door closed, when he felt her hand on his bare shoulder.
"I don't want to go in there alone."
He gave her a confused look. Her hand didn't move.
"Well, not the first time at least."
She smiled covering the worry that wouldn't stay hidden. But he still knew. He closed the small door and it became as invisible as before he had touched it.
"Maybe I'll show you another time soon?"
Naetalia realized her hand was still holding him and quickly moved back a little.
"So, you were my little frog?" she remarked, changing the topic.
He smiled at the title.
"Yes," he said quietly. "Yes, I was your little frog."
Naetalia moved back over to the couch and sat down once more. The real Prince followed, and took his seat again.
"No wonder he was making such a fuss about finding a frog," she said quietly, almost just to herself. "He knows that you're alive."
She looked up into his eyes again.
"But, how did you change back? Wouldn't it have taken effort to change you, only to have you change back?"
Kayell's mind wandered trying to find an answer.
"Maybe they just expected me to be dead by now, maybe it just wore off? I don't know. I don't even know how they did it to begin with. I just know what I overheard my aunt talking about. There was a lot of time, and a lot of thought put into this."
His voice grew quieter as he continued deep in his thoughts. He looked up to see a wide yawn on the woman's face.
"You need some sleep, Angel. We can talk about this tomorrow perhaps? And other things?"
She smiled at the name.
"Angel?"
He smiled back.
"I would have died without you, so yes, I seem to have found an angel. I don't think there's a lot that we can do tonight," he looked down at the material he held around himself. "Maybe we can see about hunting a few clothes for me tomorrow? And find some plan, or something, there's so much that I need to fix."
He frowned as he thought of the remarks made about his parents.
"And they need to be done soon."
Naetalia nodded and stood up.
"I'll help you tomorrow. It's been a long day for the both of us. Will you be all right there? On the couch?"
Kayell tossed her a quick casual smile.
"I'm sure I'll be fine, though, I don't suppose you have a pillow?"
She moved to the bed and removed a large feather pillow and returned to give it to him. She blushed slightly.
"Goodnight, Kayell."
She quickly looked away and moved back over to the bed, crawling under the covers. She shuffled as she pulled away her outer garments and laid them beside the bed. Turning her back to the man in her room, she tried to pretend that he wasn't there. But in all reality, she was very much aware of his presence.
"Good night, Tally."
...........
Peeking into the opened wardrobe, Naetalia caught her breath when the bed covering crumpled along the bottom back corner moved away to reveal the face of the look-a-like.
"The guards are still waiting outside the door and probably won't be going anywhere soon. So I'm convinced, there're two of you. Who are you?"
He held her gaze and spoke firmly.
"My name is Kayell de Tormein, first and only son of King Rhomell and Queen Elyiana. The man who was just in here was my cousin, Victor de Lenaie, son of the Lady Caytaline, my aunt. We thought he had been killed in battle over three years ago, but apparently things were arranged so that we never knew what happened, or that he had returned," his warm brown eyes wandered down as his thoughts seemed to drift.
"They've been planning this for a while."
"How do you, I mean," the young woman concentrated briefly on how to get her question across. "How does he, I'm confused. How do you look like each other? How do I know that it really isn't the reverse of what you've told me?"
Kayell looked back at her, catching her gaze.
"He looks like me because my aunt seems to have been experimenting in the witch's crafts. Transformations specifically, although apparently poison has been on her list as well."
Impossible thoughts started to move through Naetalia's mind at the mention of transformations. Surely he couldn't mean.
Her eyes caught the movement of his slight shiver.
"Here, maybe talk near the fire instead of hidden in a clothing storage?" she offered with a slight smile.
He stood up and carefully moved some of the dresses to the side as he stepped out.
The brunette woman moved towards the fire, casually picking up some more wood and pushing it into the dying flames. They began to crackle louder and rise as she moved to sit on the closest couch.
"I'm, I'm sorry that I just showed up in your room like that," she heard him say.
Naetalia turned to look at the young man as he sat nearby. She brought her legs up close and wrapped a hand around her knee.
"If I had a choice, well, I didn't have a choice."
"How did you get in here?"
"My aunt and Victor wanted me dead. To replace me without questions, they couldn't have a body, at least not mine."
"But, you don't mean.."
"You brought me in here, but first, you stopped in the kitchens. That woman called you Tally. Do you like that better?"
Naetalia brought her hand in front of her lips her eyes wide with realization, yet still in disbelief. Tales were told of people being transformed into creatures, but those were only tales.
"You, you seemed so sad earlier, and I tried singing to you."
He looked at her eagerly, wanting a reaction, but not sure what type would come. Wouldn't it even be one he wanted? What kind did he want?
"I didn't think there was anything else I could do like that. And for the longest time, I couldn't remember anything. The memories started coming back slowly, and being here, seeing people, it started to bring them back."
He looked around the room with a slight smile.
"This room for instance, I was eight years old, and Victor and I were exploring for secret passageways. We had always heard that castles were full of them, but my parents had never shown us any."
Kayell stood up, gripping the covering around him, and moved near the open window. He looked out into the darkened sky.
"We would go room by room, at least along this floor. We tended to lose interest after a while," he smiled. "Victor would take one room, I would take the next. Apparently, we didn't have any in our castle."
"I suppose insignificant memories coming back is a good sign," Naetalia replied, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion.
Kayell chuckled to himself and pulled the shuttered closed, blocking prying eyes.
"Victor was down the hall, exploring one of the rooms. He found some old armor coats apparently, and some gold coins."
He moved down the room, stopping before a large landscape painting.
"This is a beautiful room. Did they assign it to you?"
"No, they offered me a room closer to the Prince's quarters. Well, Victor's, or yours, that's confusing. But I didn't feel that was appropriate, and honestly, I'd rather have been as far away as possible. So they let me choose my own. This one had a nice view, but with few who could view in as well."
The young man moved his hand down the wall decoration just under the painting. He crouched down, and placed his other hand near the first, and pushed in. The wall gave, revealing a crawl space nearly hidden in the wall's design.
Naetalia's eyes widened.
"You found one?"
Kayell put a finger to his lips and smiled. He motioned her to come closer.
She eased her legs down and got up, moving just behind him. The space was large enough to fit a grown man through if he were on hands and knees. The flooring was simple stone, scattered with dust.
"You never told him?"
Kayell smiled at her as she looked up into his eyes.
"Never, or anyone else. I made it a point to keep my secret places private."
The smile faded but the gaze never broke.
"Though, in this case, I think it's best you saw. Would you like to see inside? The walls are of solid stone, so no one can hear a word spoken inside. Here, there are a few ears that can listen."
He motioned to the double doors.
Naetalia felt slightly uneasy at the thought. No one would hear anything. He seemed to notice her concern.
"We don't have to go in, now or ever if you like. I'm sure there're still a lot of questions, and there really isn't much reason for you to trust me. But if you ever need it, it's here."
He started to pull the door closed, when he felt her hand on his bare shoulder.
"I don't want to go in there alone."
He gave her a confused look. Her hand didn't move.
"Well, not the first time at least."
She smiled covering the worry that wouldn't stay hidden. But he still knew. He closed the small door and it became as invisible as before he had touched it.
"Maybe I'll show you another time soon?"
Naetalia realized her hand was still holding him and quickly moved back a little.
"So, you were my little frog?" she remarked, changing the topic.
He smiled at the title.
"Yes," he said quietly. "Yes, I was your little frog."
Naetalia moved back over to the couch and sat down once more. The real Prince followed, and took his seat again.
"No wonder he was making such a fuss about finding a frog," she said quietly, almost just to herself. "He knows that you're alive."
She looked up into his eyes again.
"But, how did you change back? Wouldn't it have taken effort to change you, only to have you change back?"
Kayell's mind wandered trying to find an answer.
"Maybe they just expected me to be dead by now, maybe it just wore off? I don't know. I don't even know how they did it to begin with. I just know what I overheard my aunt talking about. There was a lot of time, and a lot of thought put into this."
His voice grew quieter as he continued deep in his thoughts. He looked up to see a wide yawn on the woman's face.
"You need some sleep, Angel. We can talk about this tomorrow perhaps? And other things?"
She smiled at the name.
"Angel?"
He smiled back.
"I would have died without you, so yes, I seem to have found an angel. I don't think there's a lot that we can do tonight," he looked down at the material he held around himself. "Maybe we can see about hunting a few clothes for me tomorrow? And find some plan, or something, there's so much that I need to fix."
He frowned as he thought of the remarks made about his parents.
"And they need to be done soon."
Naetalia nodded and stood up.
"I'll help you tomorrow. It's been a long day for the both of us. Will you be all right there? On the couch?"
Kayell tossed her a quick casual smile.
"I'm sure I'll be fine, though, I don't suppose you have a pillow?"
She moved to the bed and removed a large feather pillow and returned to give it to him. She blushed slightly.
"Goodnight, Kayell."
She quickly looked away and moved back over to the bed, crawling under the covers. She shuffled as she pulled away her outer garments and laid them beside the bed. Turning her back to the man in her room, she tried to pretend that he wasn't there. But in all reality, she was very much aware of his presence.
"Good night, Tally."