Wasn't Jakob clever thinking of using those rhymes? You know it really wasn't his fault he told a lie the the fairy queen, its just that with everything else going on, he didn't have time to think about how much he really cared for Katherine. What? Oh no, nothing happened to him because of the fairy bite, but he told me it did itch for quite a while afterward and he also told me his brother was very jealous of him and the pretty lady. Grumbled about it for years afterward as I recall. Oh my, speaking of Wilhelm and the others, I suppose I should tell you what was happening to them all this time shouldn't I? All right then, this is a part of the story that is rather sad I think and its called...
The Three Caged Hearts
Wilhelm awoke the next morning to the bright fall sun pouring in on his face. At least he thought it was the next morning. He had quite lost track of the days since he had fallen under the spell. Like all the others, he had fallen asleep where he had been sitting last and he noticed that his head seemed to be bobbing up and down slowly. He opened one eye and looked to see what could possibly be causing such a thing. In surprise he opened the other and stared down his nose. It seemed when he had fallen asleep; his head had lolled over onto the very ample bosom of one of the more hefty female courtiers. Definitely not one of the many beauties that had been swarming around him during the party, it seems they had scattered off elsewhere.
Slowly and carefully Will tried to sit up without disturbing the lady who was still sound asleep, but found that his face had become stuck to her dress. It seems he had drooled quite a bit in his sleep causing his cheek to stick to her like glue. Slowly he peeled his face away from her and rubbing his cheek, he worked his jaw back and forth to loosen it up. His neck also felt a bit stiff as well. Another drawback to falling asleep where one stands or in Will's case sits. There was a nasty row of dents in his cheek as well that he recognized as coming from the pearls that were sewn to the bodice of her dress. At this point it was also obvious he had one huge hell of a hangover. He leaned forward onto the banquet table before him with his head in his hands, his mouth felt like cotton and his head thumped. Will had no idea how long he'd been at this and he really just wanted it all to stop.
Looking up he caught sight of the open drawbridge and a few of the castle's inhabitants milled about taking in the fresh air. The urge to leave was too much to bear and he headed through the great hall in a hurry to get out of the castle quite forgetting he couldn't leave. He breezed past an older man who was standing in the hall lighting his pipe. He, as well as the others in the hall, seemed as if they couldn't care less about his leaving as apposed to the times before. He did notice, however, Will's speed at which he was approaching the open door.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you", he said casually as he puffed on his pipe.
Wilhelm paid him no heed at all and ran for the open door. He promptly ran into what seemed to be a glass wall and the impact threw him backward onto the floor. With a rather shocked look on his face Will stood up and touched the invisible wall in several places, wondering how on earth this could be happening. A refreshing, light breeze was blowing in the door, but try as he might, his hand couldn't pass through the other way.
As if fascinated by this discovery, he wondered if it applied to windows as well. Rushing past the smoking man again, he made for a rather large window.
"Already tried that as well", said the man flatly, blowing a couple of lazy smoke rings.
Will found that he couldn't even get close enough to touch the stained glass in the window with his hand let alone try to break it and make his escape. He turned and headed for the throne room to try various windows and doors there.
"Already tried that too" the man said matter-of-factly as he puffed away.
Will also found these blocked as well. He stood there rubbing his temples trying to think, but the headache wouldn't let him. The smoking man had followed him into the throne room and in an amused way was watching him fuss with the exits.
"Better get ready. It will be that time again soon", he said as if he was resigned to it all, "Don't worry yourself too much. After a couple more days, you'll get used to it."
The man wondered off the take a seat on the steps that led to the throne. Will didn't want to get used to it, he wanted out. However, he knew he had acted foolishly during his final attempt. Now he had little choice and he knew it. It then became apparent it had been more that just a few days he had been at this as a rather pungent smell reached his nose.
"Gah, I reek!" he said in a disgusted tone.
Seemed a little washing up was in order and having no room of his own Wilhelm went about finding one he could "borrow" for a bit. Wandering down the hallways he stopped at a door and politely knocked to see if anyone was there. The door opened and a man stood in the doorway. He was dressed in lace and silk and holding a lace handkerchief in the tips of his fingers. Will stared at him for apparently he had also rouged his cheeks and lips. The man smiled at him in a way that was almost flirty.
"Why hello there", the man cooed at him and then moved aside to let Will enter.
"Oh sorry. Beg you pardon, never mind", stuttered Will as he quickly backed away from the door.
The man shrugged and closed the door as Will stumbled down the hall, turning to look back once and feeling a bit disturbed by the whole meeting. Being distracted he simply opened the next door he came to, without knocking this time, with disastrous results. A woman was standing there in her under clothes as a lady-in-waiting was helping her undress. The woman screamed at the sight of Will standing in the doorway staring at her and it gave him such a fright that he screamed back at her sounding even more girlish than she did. He quickly shut the door feeling even more disturbed than before.
"Scheiße!" he swore under his breath, "Sorry, wrong room!" he shouted through the door and made his way further down the hall.
At the third door he tapped lightly and backed away not sure what he would find this time, but no one answered, so he slowly opened the door and happily found this one empty. 'Ah, just right', he thought. Stripping off his shirt he began to wash up and after he had finished he was pleased to find some fresh clothes in the armoire that fit him rather well. He supposed the owner would never notice them missing given their circumstances. He stuffed his old clothes under the bed and prepared to leave. Just as he reached for the doorknob the door flew open and the owner of the room stepped in backing Wilhelm up a few steps. It was the young man that had welcomed him to banquet the first day. He wasn't so friendly now and he frowned at finding Will in his chambers uninvited and wearing his clothes no less.
"What are you doing here?" the man shouted, "Coming in here uninvited, using my washstand?" He looked Will up and down, "and stealing my clothes!"
The young, blond courtier made a move to throw Will out, but he was way ahead of him. He put his hands up in a weak defensive gesture and skirted around to the man's left. As the man made a swipe for him, Will ducked, bolted out the door and ran down the hall back to the throne room. The man didn't bother to follow, so Will sat down at one of the tables with a sigh, propping his head up with one of his hands. His head still felt a bit fuzzy, so he found a cup and poured a bit of wine in it. He took a sip hoping that some of the "hair of the dog that bit him" might make him feel a little better and at the very least help him not care so much about it all.
As the bells began to toll in the noon hour once again, Will sat at the table with his head in his hands feeling frustrated. By the time the bells had finished he no longer remembered what had happened earlier and had begun to dance with the sweet young girl with the red curls. At that point as long as the party kept going, nothing else really mattered.
************
A cold wind blew the dry, dead leaves across the barren, cold ground as the trio approached the small castle. The figure in front moved quickly and purposely, but the two following moved as if they were in a trance, their eyes focused on the figure in front of them like dogs following their master.
The door opened before them of its own accord and they entered the castle's tiny entrance hall. The lead figure pushed back the hood of the cloak she wore and turned to face the others. The old witch had returned to her guise of the beautiful enchantress to help maintain the spell she had put over them. Katherine and Frederick just smiled at her stupidly.
"Now here we are", she cooed, "let's get settled in shall we and then we can get to that meal I promised both of you earlier,"
"Oh, that would be very nice", replied Frederick, "Not meaning to sound rude, but I am rather hungry."
"Oh not at all", she laughed, "come, follow me."
She led them through the castle and into the kitchen and proceeded to shackle Fred to the wall next to the stove. He obediently sat down on a pile of straw she had left for him. Kate just stood there smiling at him not even realizing what was going on. The witch brought out a tray laden with rich foods and placed it on the floor before Frederick. Like a man who hadn't eaten in days, Fred began gobbling down the food without hesitation.
"That's it, eat all you want", the old witch cooed, "We need you to be nice and fat for our Equinox feast, now don't we."
While Fred stuffed himself, she led Kate away through a side door and upstairs to the tower. As Frederick ate hungrily, pushing food into his mouth with his hands, the feeling that something wasn't quite right came over him. He stopped and looked at the piece of roast meat in his hands, then to the shackles on his wrists and it suddenly hit him. He had been captured by the witch and was now a prisoner in her kitchen! Dropping the meat back onto the tray and spitting out the piece that was in his mouth in disgust, he looked around helplessly.
"Kate?" he called out hoping for an answer, "Jakob?"
He realized he was alone with no one to help him. Despondently he leaned against the cold stone wall and hugged himself tightly as tears filled his eyes. If he were alone it could only mean one thing.
"They're dead, I know they are", he sobbed, "and it's all my fault! Why did I have to be so selfish as to have to see the Princess one last time? Why did I have to insist on going with Jake and why, oh why did I let Kate come with us? Why? Oh, this is horrible, just horrible! I'm so sorry Jakob, you're dead and now your brother will be too. All because of my foolish pining heart! Dear sister, you were ever so right. You always are. I should have listened to you, but no. I couldn't do that and now you're dead too! I'm so sorry Kate, I'm so sorry!"
He pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, swallowing hard and breathing deeply to keep his tears in check. He could hear the birds cooing coming from the tower above and a faint glimmer of hope came to him. 'The birds, yes!' he thought. His sister could still be alive, turned into one of the witch's birds and of course this meant that Jakob would just have to come and rescue her in short order. 'Of course Jakob would never allow my sister to remain captive', he thought, 'He's very clever and he had to have survived. He'll come and rescues us, I know he will!'
There was nothing he could do but hold on to that faint glimmer of hope. He was still sure this whole mess was his fault entirely even though in reality most of it wasn't. Still feeling immensely guilty over the whole thing, he buried his face in his knees and rocked back and forth on the pile of straw.
"I am an idiot! I am such an idiot; I'm the king of idiots! I am. I am. I am!"
************
The witch led Katherine up the stairs and into the large, round tower room. Kate's eyes stared blankly around the room taking in surroundings. Past the windows that were spaced out around the room, past all the golden cages that hung from the ceiling, each containing a white dove with blue wingtips. All save one.
The witch stopped in front of that cage and taking Kate by the shoulders, turned her to face it and opened the tiny golden door.
"Now all that remains is to place you in your cage my dear and my plan shall be complete!" said the witch as she slowly walked around Katherine as if inspecting her. "Then with the coming of the Equinox I shall rule this land with an iron hand and everything in it will be mine for the taking!"
Slowly Kate was becoming aware of what was going on around her. She heard her brother's voice calling to her and she wanted to cry out, but she found she could not move from where she stood. She heard him call for Jake and she knew he wasn't there, 'At least he's safe', she thought, 'He'll come for us, I know he will!' Although she was frightened, she tried to be as brave as she could and refused to cry. Considering all she had been through up to now, she couldn't give in now. Except for one thing, this time she was alone.
"Yes, you are alone aren't you?" taunted the old witch as she read the fear in her eyes, "No brother around to save you and especially not your precious Jakob! Trust me my dear, that troublemaker has left this world. Oh yes, I've seen to it personally. Your knight in shining armor now lies rusting at the bottom of a well, quite dead!"
Throwing her head back she laughed wickedly, pleased at her self for making her plan come together and if someone had to die to make it happen well, then all the better.
"Let's see to getting you settled in, shall we?"
Stepping back away from Kate, the witch took a small bottle containing a blue liquid out of the pocket of her skirt. It was all that Katherine could do now not to cry upon hearing the news about Jakob. She felt as if her heart had broken into a million tiny pieces and she could scarcely breathe. It would have hurt much less if the old witch had thrust a sword through her heart.
Tossing the bottle at Kate, the witch cast her spell over her. She never heard the words she spoke for a thick blue and white mist engulfed her where she stood. When it finally cleared away a white dove with blue wingtips sat in the once empty cage. However this one differed from the others. A small purple mark stood in the center of its chest where Kate's broken heart once was.
The old witch closed the cage door, not noticing the mark and poured birdseed into the tiny gold cup inside the cage.
"That should hold you", she said gleefully as she turned and walked away.
The little Kate-dove cooed mournfully in her golden cage as she stared out the window towards the setting sun.
I wrote this little chapter to get everyone up to speed as to where everyone was in the story. Jakob is now very close to the witch's castle and now the final chapters can begin. It's not over by a long shot and Jake still has quite a bit of work ahead of him the make things right, that is, if he can. Hope you are enjoying this so far and as always, reviews are quite welcome. Thanks for reading.