Duck had to admit, she was surprised.
She had known for some time that Fakir was the Knight reborn, of course, but it never occurred to her that he might look like Sir Lohengrin. There was no mistaking the reaction of the Knight's family. The woman Duck saw before in the courtyard clutches her hand to her gasping mouth, her shock renewed at seeing the pair again, and her husband's eyes grow wide and almost shaking with disbelief.
But even more surprising was Fakir's reaction mirroring theirs. She feels a tremble through the arm otherwise securely holding her and hears him gulp with restrained distress.
"You," the father begins. "You are Prince Siegfried's guests?"
Fakir moves his head just enough to be perceived as a nod.
The older knight goes to comfort his wife, taking her by the waist and her free hand, before continuing, "You'll have to bear with my wife and me, I'm afraid. Through no fault of your own you-" He laughs a little with a small shake of his head. "You look like our son."
"No, I understand," Fakir gets out, strained. "The two of you... You look...you look like my parents."
"Oh dear," the Knight's mother softly sighs. She moves in her husband's hold, as if wanting to go and comfort Fakir, but his hands hold her all the tighter so she doesn't lose herself in grief.
"We understand if you'd rather not stay with us," the Knight's father tells the young man and the duck. "My wife had made the suggestion but..."
"It's..." Fakir starts, though he's unsure how to continue. He wants to say it's fine but is it really? "We'll have to see you at the wedding anyway," he switches. "It's probably for the best for us to get used to each other now."
The Knight's father hesitates a moment before nodding. "I am Parsifal," he introduces. "And my wife, Blanchefleur."
Duck quacks and gestures with her wing.
"Fakir," he replies. "And this is Duck."
"What was Tutu like?" Fakir asks.
Parsifal laughs and shakes his head a little as he continues his morning's work sharpening his arrowheads. "Tutu was a strange change, initially unwelcome and unexpected but not unappreciated. I remember Lohengrin's reaction when he learned she was visiting. 'I don't see why we have to put up with that inconsequential bit of nonsense.'"
Duck gives the Knight's words a quack-like huff while Fakir suppresses a laugh.
"Did he always think that way about her?"
"Oh no. It was a slow change but eventually he warmed up to the Princess. He even fell in love with her."
Now it was Duck's turn to laugh at Fakir's strange fidgeting.
"Is that so funny, little one?" Parsifal asks, tickling Duck under her beak.
"Hn. Can't imagine Tutu or Siegfried taking that well," Fakir says, trying not to scowl too much.
"Believe it or not, the three were inseparable. I asked Lohengrin if it ever bothered him and he was just- Well, he said that saying it never bothered him would be a lie but that it didn't bother him as much as I might think. For the most part, he was just glad that Tutu loved him at all, even if it wasn't romantic. And that was certainly true; Tutu always accepted Lohengrin, never belittling him or his feelings for her. It was a relationship the likes of which I'll probably never see again."
Parsifal gives out a small, quiet sigh over his arrows.
"Did she ever tell him about her curse?" the young writer questions.
"Some, at least, but I don't know everything Lohengrin knew."
"Do you know what happened to the duckling?"
The older knight nods. "I found her and brought her here. She stayed by the house for the rest of her days."
Fakir holds his tongue despite his curiosity about Princess Tutu's end. Did she die of natural causes or did something else happen? But he's aware of Duck in his arms and his hold on her tightens ever so slightly.