Part the Fifth: Robbers

True to their words, the following day the two princes gifted Arthur with new clothes – gloves, and breeches, and stockings to keep his legs warm, and a fur coat, and a thick scarf, and brand new shoes which squeaked against the ground – and they gave him provisions, too; food and drink, and a small carriage, pulled by two white horses, and they sent a man to drive the carriage, too, and Arthur was most grateful, even to Francis, though he would not admit that.

Then Prince Matthew embraced him and wished him good luck, and told him to follow the roads; and Prince Francis told him to follow his heart, and then Arthur stepped into the carriage, and pulled the door shut, and closed his fine new coat around him, and off they sped.

He caught a glimpse of Kumajirou as they passed through the gates to the palace, lurking around a corner, and waved – and then the bear was out of sight, and so he sat back against his seat with a sigh.

They journeyed all day and into the night, and as they passed into a forest, and the sun finally vanished beyond the horizon, Arthur very suddenly felt tired indeed.

"Sir!" he called out to the driver. "We should stop soon."

"I am afraid you must wait, Master Arthur," the driver called back. "For this part of these woods is most treacherous when the sun goes down. We shall stop as soon as we are away from here."

Arthur was about to ask the man what he meant by "treacherous," when all of a sudden, the carriage screeched to a halt. Outside, loud voices were shouting and the horses were whinnying, and he heard the driver call out in fear. Quickly, Arthur reached for the door – but before he could make his escape, somebody else threw it open, and he was grabbed, and dragged outside.

"Unhand me!" Arthur fumed. "What is the meaning of this? Let go at once!"

"Keep still," said a surprisingly calm, smooth voice at his ear, "and don't make a sound, or I'll slit your lovely white throat as many times as it takes to turn our shoes red."

Arthur's heart pounded, and he struggled to remain motionless.

"Now," said that soft voice again, "You look rather well off to me...hmmm...how about you let me know where your money is hidden inside this handsome carriage of yours, and perhaps I'll think about letting you live..."

"D-don't have – any money," Arthur wheezed, as his assailant's arms tightened around his body. "L-let go...you're bloody well going to regret this –"

"Norge!" said another voice – the louder one that Arthur had heard earlier, he thought. "Norge! There's nothing in here!"

The one called Norge growled softly, close to Arthur's ear. "Keep looking, idiot."

"Don't – have –anything," Arthur managed to gasp; it was getting rather difficult to breathe.

"Did he say he doesn't have anything?"

"Den..." came Norge's voice, low and rumbling and threatening.

"Oh, wow, hey..." A man with wild, spiky hair appeared somewhere in front of Arthur, swirling in the stars that were beginning to form before his eyes. "Norge, sugar, you know how that temper of yours gets me going, but you're going to end up strangling this man!"

Norge made an angry sound. "You killed the driver not two minutes ago!"

Arthur's head was horribly light.

Den was looking very serious. "Yes," he said, "but I'm allowed to do that, remember? We already discussed this. If we end up getting caught, I can take all the blame...I don't want my babycakes to get in trouble, do I?"

"One of these days, Den," Norge said, and at last released his grip on Arthur somewhat. "One of these days, I'll stick my knife so far up your –"

"There's my honey bun!" Den said, happily. "Good boy! Now, as for you –" he turned towards Arthur, who glared at him furiously, "– if you won't tell us where your money is, we're taking your carriage, and we'll take you back to our castle, and we'll send out a ransom note! And your father or your wife or your husband or whoever will send us all their money, and then we'll be rich! Haha!"

"Are you deaf as well as stupid?" Arthur said. "I have no –"

"Wrong answer!" Den cried, cheerfully. And he pushed Arthur back into the carriage, and climbed in after him – and a moment later, there was a bump as the other robber climbed up front, and took the reins – and then they were off, speeding further and further into the deep, dark forest.

They travelled a short distance, between pine trees and up and down steep banks, and over big branches, until, finally, they stopped. Arthur looked cautiously outside, and his eyes fell upon a great, crumbling, grey castle hewn into the rock of the cliffs he now saw they were surrounded by.

Norge appeared at the door. He was smaller than Den; with a pale, serious face, and pale, serious hair that was clipped back behind his ear.

"Out," he said shortly, and both Arthur and Den followed him across the leafy forest floor to a plateau of rock, and then down, down some old half-broken steps, onto a balcony overgrown with ivy leaves, and into the castle itself.

It was cold, and shadowy, and full of cobwebs; but there was a fire burning in the fireplace of one of the larger rooms, and blankets spread out upon the floor.

"You will sleep here tonight, where we can keep an eye on you," said Norge, turning and glaring at Arthur. "And then tomorrow Den will send out his ridiculous ransom note, or whatever the hell it is, and you'd better not annoy me, or else..." He glared, and flopped down in front of the fire, staring into the flames.

"Aw, sweetie pie," Den cooed, and immediately nestled down beside the smaller man. "Hey kid, sit. If I'm going to send out this ransom note –"

"You won't have any replies," Arthur said, and suddenly he was very sad – because he didn't know how long it had been since Alfred had disappeared, and since he had left home, and how long it had been since he was in Ivan's house, and he realised, all at once, that he didn't even know how old he was. He wondered if his brothers had searched for him the way they had searched for Alfred.

Den and Norge were regarding him with curiosity, and so Arthur sat down, tiredly, and recounted his tale, yet again, about how Alfred had disappeared, and how he had fallen into the river at home, and Ivan had saved him, and he told them of the sunflowers, and how he did not know for how long he had stayed there in that little house with the garden; and he described escaping, running away; and how he had come upon Kumajirou, who had taken him to Prince Francis and Prince Matthew; and how they had been the ones to give him the carriage, and the fine, new clothes, and the food...and how all he wanted, all he wanted now was to find poor Alfred, and, in the name of all the gods, he would find him; he hadn't come this bloody far to lose the most important person in his life –

He stopped. Perhaps he had said too much.

Then Den sighed dramatically, and said how wonderful love was, how strong, and he swore upon the very blood pumping through his veins that should his beloved Norge ever vanish like that, he would move heaven and earth to bring him home safely.

Norge cast the taller man a disparaging look, then, turning back to Arthur, said: "Do you have any idea what may have happened to your friend?"

"None," said Arthur, and he was very tired, quite suddenly. "All I know is that he vanished into the snow one day, and never came back. The stupid fool –"

"The snowflakes?" said Norge darkly, and added, "And what does your Alfred look like? Come, tell me now."

"He is tall," said Arthur, "taller than me – and he has hair the colour of gold, and bright blue eyes, and he wears a pair of spectacles. And he had a small sledge with him when he went missing."

"Why," Norge replied, "I believe I did see your Alfred, a long time ago. Yes, several winters back it was. He was still a child."

"You – you saw him?" Arthur could barely believe it. After the disappointment of Matthew looking so very similar to Alfred, he didn't think his heart could take another breaking.

"Indeed," said Norge. "He was carried away by General Winter, who lords over all the snowflakes, to his ice palace some miles north from here, where snow lies on the ground all year long."

"General Winter?" Arthur exclaimed, and he remembered Grandmano's story, and how very silly he'd thought it all was at the time; and how Alfred had sworn to place the general on the stove if he dared set foot near his family, or near Arthur. "Oh – Alfred! The bloody useless pillock! I must go there, I must rescue him!"

"It is late," said Norge, "you should wait until morning."

"I have waited too long," cried Arthur, and stood. "I have waited for years! I will not remain here a moment longer! Take the carriage, and the horses, and the food, and the furs if you must. I have no need for them! Don't you dare try to stop me!" And he started towards the balcony by which they had entered the castle.

"Wait!" called Den, and his feet echoed against the stone flags as he ran towards Arthur. "Wait! You'll never find your way to the palace alone."

"I wi–"

And suddenly Den whistled, shrilly, sharply, and for a long moment, nothing happened. Then the bushes beyond the steps which led back to the cliffs and the woods rustled, and a small, white dog appeared with a happy yap, and Arthur saw a long, blue leash trailing from the creature's collar.

"Hold onto her leash," Den instructed, "and she will take you where you need to go."

"I don't see how –"

"Trust my awesomeness!" Den said, and beamed widely.

Arthur narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but he hopped onto the steps, and hurried up towards the dog, and took up her leash. And at once, before he even had time to think, the little animal spun around, and set off, jerking him along with her, and though he moved his legs as if to run, it seemed to him that his feet did not touch the ground once.

And so they sped on, through the thick, dark night, northwards into the cold.