"That's a lot of hair."
Alfred could only nod in agreement to what Ivan just said. The three of them stood at the base of a tower, about seventy feet high, at the base of the Tailian Mountains. From the balcony window at the top of the tower, a long rope made of hair appeared to be tied to a hook, and the braided hair swayed heavily in the wind as it stretched down to ground level.
"It is definitely the same shade as ours," Katerina observed, "Could it be our sister's hair?"
"She must have had a long time to grow it out," Alfred guessed, "Did she use it to climb out of the tower and down to the ground?"
"Only one way to find out," Katerina determined, "Find a way in."
"This long hair should've taken years to grow," Ivan judged, "There must be another entrance to the tower, here at ground level, probably around the other side."
The three of them finally stepped forward, Alfred and Katerina following as Ivan led the way around the base of the tower.
"What do you think, Alfred?" Katerina queried, "Does this match the description for where your true love should be?"
"The location matches what I remember Arthur showing me," Alfred scrutinized, "The long hair hanging from the tower is a surprise though."
As they made the turn around the tower, Ivan closely inspected the walls to make sure there were no hidden openings in the stone wall. After a full loop around the base of the tower with no door to be found, Ivan pulled a small pouch out of his pocket, poured some powder into his hand, and started tossing it at segments of the stone on the second loop around the base.
Finally, at one spot, the stone glowed green as the powder made contact.
"There's a magical glamour on the door," Katerina figured out.
Ivan filled his hand with more powder and spread it around the section of stone, stenciling out the door's frame.
"What is that powder?" Alfred asked.
"That is faerie dust, Tolys gave it to us," Katerina described, "It has many magical properties, allowing us to counter magical wards and contact Erzsébet in mirrors whenever necessary."
As soon as Katerina finished talking, Ivan pushed with all his might on the door and forced it to open with no resistance from locks or bolts. Alfred and Katerina quickly followed him into the tower, where a cart sat at the bottom of a staircase with several bags stashed on it.
"There's fresh food and supplies in here," Ivan reported as he inspected the contents of the bags, "This must have all been dropped off in the last couple days."
"So someone has been here then," Alfred interpreted, "That hair looked like it had been hanging there for a while, perhaps we're not the first to find it there?"
"Possibly," Katerina studied, "Or their plans were interrupted, and something has happened upstairs."
Ivan left the cart and made for the stairs to start their ascension, and Alfred followed with Katerina behind them both. As they climbed what must have been a hundred steps, he couldn't help but imagine what, or who, they might find at the top. This tower looked just like the one from Arthur's vision, but the signs were pointing to there being more surprises upstairs.
At the top of the staircase, they found a platform below a trapdoor, where the trapdoor was hanging loose and wide open. Ivan quickly climbed through first, before offering Alfred a hand up. Once he was in the room above, Alfred took a look around while Ivan helped Katerina up.
The room was lightly furnished, with only the essentials for furniture. There was a small fireplace along one wall, with pots and pans and utensils hanging on hooks from the wall above. A large table had scissors, scraps of fabric, and even more strands of hair scattered on it. The bed looked hardly big enough for two people, and appeared to be well used, while candles were spread throughout the room. A small alcove in the corner had its curtain open, revealing itself to be a washroom of sorts.
The only outside light in the place came from a large balcony window facing south, from which a large hook was fixed into the ceiling where that seventy feet length of hair had been fastened.
"It's the balcony from the vision," Alfred realized, "I'm certain of it."
"There's nobody here," Katerina investigated, "And it looks like a young lady might have been living here until just recently. Did she cut off her own hair and climb down the tower?"
"It sure looks like it," Ivan agreed as he picked up some hair from the table, "And this hair looks just like ours."
"Should we summon Tolys then?" Katerina suggested.
"Yes, I think it's time," Ivan settled.
"I'll tell Arthur to get ready to join us too," Alfred offered.
While Katerina pulled a green gemstone out of her pocket to summon their Seelie fae friend, Alfred copied her action and pulled out his own white gemstone to send Arthur a message.
I found an abandoned tower, she might have been here. I'll have you come here shortly.
Alfred lightly tossed his gemstone in the air and caught it again, just in time for an inhuman visitor to enter the room. The Seelie fae had shaggy brown hair, and wore simple linen clothes. His brown wings, which matched his hair as it does for all fae, were fully relaxed and nearly translucent behind him.
"Hello there," Tolys greeted, "You are Alfred, yes?"
"Yes, that's me," Alfred affirmed, "They told you I was here?"
"They sent me a message the night they met you," Tolys remarked, "So, this is the tower, is it?"
"It sure is," Ivan confirmed as he handed Tolys some hair, "Can you check if this was her hair?"
"Sure, let's see."
Tolys took the hair from Ivan, and summoned some forest green magic to his fingertips that dissolved the hair in a small ball of fire.
"It is indeed your sister," Tolys declared, "This hair was cut from her head about eleven days ago."
"There's more of it hanging from the window there," Katerina indicated, "We think she used her own very long hair to climb down the tower and escape."
"Let me check," Tolys said as he ran up to the balcony window to inspect the hair tied there.
Alfred felt a pulse from the gemstone in his hand, and heard a message as it was received.
I am ready to come when you call me.
"Eleven days as well," Tolys declared, using magic in his hand to test that hair as well, "You said the compass pointed you south, yes?"
"That's where we'll head next," Katerina relayed, "We wanted to find any clues here first, as well as perhaps help Alfred find his mystery damsel in a tower."
"I just got a message from my cousin," Alfred announced, "He's ready to join us."
"Go ahead," Ivan approved, "We have our answers, now you can get yours."
"You said his cousin is also a Seelie fae, right?"
As Tolys spoke to the others, Alfred used his gemstone to send Arthur a message.
Okay, I'm ready for you to join me. I have company, but they are allies. I haven't told them who I am.
"Yes, that's who sent him on this quest," Katerina confirmed.
"I just called on Arthur to join us," Alfred reported as he approached the table, "He'll want to test this hair as well, I bet."
Alfred removed some hair from the table, and turned to face the others, just in time for Arthur to suddenly appear where he had been standing moments prior.
"Hello everyone," Arthur addressed, "Alfred tells me you are allies, but perhaps a round of introductions would be best to start?"
"You're a Kirkland," Tolys identified, his brown wings suddenly on alert and turned opaque, "Aren't you?"
"Yes, I am," Arthur confirmed, "And what of you?"
"Tolys Laurinaitis is my name," he said, "I am from the woodlands, north of Sovalon."
"The woodlands, yes," Arthur recalled, "The loveliest forests in Yuvalon, and the fae there are known for their use of nature magic."
"Alfred says you're his cousin?" Tolys challenged, "But I thought I heard the only human relatives the Kirkland family had was the Royal Family of Aegaimore?"
"Sorry, what?" Ivan gasped.
"Those rumours are correct," Arthur verified, "It seems that Alfred has successfully kept his mouth shut this entire time."
"Excuse me?" Katerina interrupted, "Alfred, are you royalty?"
"Yes I am," Alfred confessed, "I'm not just any traveller, I'm the Prince of Aegaimore."
"And what about this damsel you are looking for?" Ivan interrogated, "The one trapped in a tower?"
"She will be my future wife and queen," Alfred revealed, "That is, if I can find her and convince her to marry me."
"Now that you know who Alfred is," Arthur redirected, "Perhaps the two of you can tell me who you are?"
"Their names are Katerina and Ivan," Tolys summarized, "They've been searching for their long-lost little sister that they've never met. The lady who lived in this tower cut all her hair off about eleven days ago, it seems she used it to climb down the outside of the tower and escape. I just tested some of it, it was definitely their little sister."
"And now I'm hoping you can check it too," Alfred took over as he offered the hair in his hands to Arthur, "Does this hair belong to the damsel you sent me to rescue?"
Arthur silently took the hair from Alfred and, like Tolys before, cast some emerald green magic in his hands to inspect the hair.
"It's definitely her hair," Arthur certified, "She's the one I sent you to find."
"So it's true then?" Alfred checked, "Their little sister is supposed to be my true love?"
"Our little sister is the future Queen of Aegaimore?" Katerina amended.
"It's all true," Arthur ratified, "How fortuitous that Alfred partnered up with the two of you to find this tower. But the lady escaped the tower, you said?"
"She's gone south since then, we know that for sure," Ivan detailed, "Tolys's cousin Erzsébet is a witch, she made us a compass that has been able to tell us in what direction to find our sister. We checked the bearings when we met Alfred the other night, and it pointed straight south."
"I suppose it's time to find her again, is it?" Arthur determined as he glanced across the room, "Is that a mirror on the wall over there?"
"I do not mean to offend, but can your soothsaying be trusted?" Tolys asserted as Arthur marched over to the mirror, "You did just send Alfred to find a maiden in a tower, only for the tower to be empty."
"She was still here just over two weeks ago, when I did that soothsaying," Arthur justified as he began casting his magic on the mirror, "This hair here was only cut from her head eleven days ago."
"So she escaped while I was already on the way here," Alfred put together as Arthur started casting magic that allowed them to see images.
"I suppose that makes sense," Tolys conceded, "Can you see where she is now?"
The mirror's reflection was overtaken by the magic, and morphed to show the image of a young lady standing against a stone wall, looking out to the sea. The woman turned to look towards them, and Alfred immediately recognized her.
"Natalya," Alfred sighed in exasperation.
"Natalya?" Katerina repeated, "How do you know her name already?"
"We crossed paths on my way here, she was heading south to Niba," Alfred explained, "She looked so much like what I saw in Arthur's vision back in Thagia, but I dismissed that as a coincidence."
"It looks like she's talking to someone," Tolys pointed out, "Can you show us who?"
Arthur touched the mirror again and willed it to zoom out some more, revealing who Natalya was talking to.
"I could swear I've seen that fellow before," Arthur muttered.
"You definitely have," Alfred groaned, "That is Prince Lovino of Solyra."