My father's study is a room central to the castle. The room's grey stone walls are carved in a symmetrical pattern. On the left side of the room, are shelves with documents and knick-knacks. A family portrait hangs on the wall behind my father's desk, it was painted shortly after Keisha was born. Captain Basin stands to the left of it, his face looks stern, and his arms are folded behind his back. The dark wooden oak table, I am sitting by, shines in the light from the windows. Zora is sitting on my right side.

On the other side, our father sits with his elbows on the table. His hands are flat like a prayer and hold between his eyes, His nose and mouth are covered by them. "Zora, I am greatly disappointed in you sneaking out. This is no behaviour for a Princess. But Valor, I thought you were beyond the age for such immature behaviour, and if that wasn't enough, you were in an inn. What were you two doing there?" Although my father had started speaking in a calm voice, the last sentence was harsh and did not hide his anger.

"This is all my fault, I wanted to sneak out and guilted Valor into coming with me," Zora explains.

"Is this true Valor?" Father asks.

I nod slightly in response. "You have not only put your sister in danger. You allowed her to manipulate you. This is a repugnant way for a crown Prince to behave!"

Father's angry yell makes it hard not to cry. Even though my throat hurts and my eyes burn, I need to hold back the tears. These tears are not my only struggle. The voices are coming with vile ideas, to grab my father's head and bang it onto the table. If I explain to Father why we were at the inn, it might lessen his anger. "Father, sneaking out was stupid, and we can not excuse it. But we had a good reason to be at the inn," I said quavering and gulping.

"Nothing can excuse this Valor! You could have been kidnapped, or killed, and you did not even have the foresight to bring a weapon to protect yourself. Do you have no regard for your safety?" My father's yelling puts a fear in me, and the way he stand is threatening, with his arms lifted and his hands in fists.

I put my hands up in defence prepared to shield myself from a hit. But it didn't come. Putting them down, I hear my father muttering, "You are a disgrace to your crown." My breathing is unsteady. Zora puts a hand on my shoulder to reassure me, and she then says, "Father, please listen to him, this is important."

There is silence for a moment, the only sound is my unsteady breathing. "Speak boy," Father says. "We went to the inn to speak with someone...about my problem." A moment of confusion is on my father's face "Your problem?" Being aware of having to keep the voices secret, I'm not too keen on just saying it, not even in front of a loyal guard.

"Maybe we should speak about this in private?" gesturing to Basin. "If you are referring to the curse, do not fret, young Prince, I was there when the enchantress cast it." Captain Basin voiced.

Enchantress? I never heard her referred to as such, a title too good for the woman who cursed me. "Explain to me how being at an inn can have anything to do with the curse." 

To not make our Father more angry, it would be best to pretend everything happened today. "What happened was that at the market, the voices had gotten strong, but we could not find any street performers. That is, until I heard this woman sing, she made the voices disappear."

My father is unimpressed, "I was under the assumption all music did that."

"Yes, but not only did they stop, even after she stopped singing they were still silent. It was unfortunately not permanent as I hear them now, but the effect she had on me lasted for hours."

"That is remarkable. Does this mean you were at the Inn because of her? What did you learn from her?" Father asked.

I scratch my neck. "She, unfortunately, did not have much to tell, she is an orphan and does not know where her powers came from."

My father seemed to think over this for a moment. "This girl, where is she?"

"I do not know. She left the inn shortly before us. When we came out, that is when we ran into the royal guards," I tell.

"Your Highness, if I may, I worry I know the woman you met, was she tall with light brown hair and a fresh scar under her eye, and might have been in fellowship with a man and woman with foreign ethnicity." The Captain asks.

"Yes, yes she had. How do you know them?" I almost yelled. A small glimmer of hope that he could bring her to me has sparked in my heart, but with the next thing he said, the spark died. "Sadly, I have to inform you that this woman is Lorelei, whom we were there to apprehend, together with the twins, but we got into a fight, and they managed to escape."

"They were behind that bloodbath? But how? We were at most a couple of minutes behind them-" Zora exclaims. "Are you saying the royal knights got defeated in less than a minute?" She is looking at Basin with an accusatory glare.

The shame was written on the Captain's face. "We were unprepared, they spotted us before we had a chance to lay a plan. Their attack was swift, and before we had time to drag our weapons, they had killed one guard, and severely wounded another. We failed."

My father's face is sullen, his forehead wrinkling. "These people, they are the deserters, aren't they, Captain?" The last word was spoken as if an insult, an allusion to his displeasure with the guards.

"Deserters? They are royal guards?" I ask shocked. "Why would they desert?" Zora adds. 

"Basin, what are you able to tell us about them?" My father asks. 

"Quite a lot as I were Lorelei and the twin's ward. It has been 3 years since they deserted, at that time, Lorelei had already been a guard for a few years. She was actually one of Zora’s personal guards. As for the twins, Narin had just taken his oath as a royal guard. But because of Neary's lack of speech, she was to be sent to Daingneach."  Basin started to explain.

She can't speak? That's why she was silent through the whole thing. "Why was a mute even allowed to take the education as a guard?" My father asked. 

"Narin was a strong young boy, I decided to take him as my foundling, but the young boy refused to go without his sister. So I made the decision to take both on. Which at the time seemed like the best decision. But unfortunately, the same fear of separation is the reason they chose to run off."

The twins wanted to stay together, which makes sense. But what about her? Why would Lorelei go with them? "How come Lorelei went with them?" I ask.

"I do not know. She was one of the best, not just among women. But between men, she measured up to or even surpassed many of the other guards. I do not know why she would desert her duty. But after she did, I never thought she would return. Not before she broke into Pupillus last night." Basin spoke with some pride in his voice until he mentioned the break-in, the proud tone changed to one of disappointment.

"There was a break-in last night?!?" Zora screams. There has never been a break-in at Pupillus. Never. There's nothing to gain there besides trouble. "Yes, and you would have known that. If you two hadn't sneaked off to loitering in the market-."Father scolds us. Turning to Basin, he continues. "Captain, you told me they were in the archive. What were they searching for?"

"Their records, we found them in the room they had rented in the inn. They hoped to find information about their past."

"What else did you find in the room?" I ask.

"Nothing noteworthy, some bags to carry stuff, a few weapons, extra clothes, coins, some of ours and some from Vouri"

Zora asked the next question, "What about the files, what did it say about their parents?"

"It's rare that there is any information on parents in any files, which is the case here. The twin's mother died, with no knowledge of their father. As for Lorelei, there is nothing. Her original file had bad water damage. The information I was able to gather was limited. She could not provide any either. It was as though she couldn't remember anything. She didn't even know her name at the time we met." Basin says.

"How could she be unaware of her own name?" I ask.

Basin takes a breath before replying, "Many people bury the memory of pain deep down where it will be forgotten." His voice was soft, almost fragile.

"If it may interest you. I can make sure the files get brought, so you may read them.”

I perk up at the Captain's offer. "I would very much like to read them."

"I will see to it, Prince Valor," the Captain replies.

My father stands up "I think this is enough information for now. Valor, how much does she know about the curse, does she know who you are?"

"I told her I was cursed, but not that I am the Prince. She did not seem to recognise me either," I say.

" Let it stay that way. Basin I want you to put in all effort to find her. Make sure she is captured alive. This girl is a deserter, which is a crime punished by execution. That should make her willing to work with us."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

When the guards find her, it means I can be free from the voices...the voices, they are still a pain at the moment. "If we are finished, I am going to the music room." I say while standing up, Zora too stands up. "And I will get a maid to draw me a bath," she says.

"Sit down, you two, we haven't spoken about your punishment yet," my father sneered. "Punishment!?!" Zora gasp.  

A week without wifi created this cover. It doesn't relate to the story's plot, I just had an idea for a pose and a dress. Background is a copyright free one I found.