by Kristal Lim
Somewhere, a bird was singing, and the soft glow of the sun shone down on Aline as she sat by the clearing while Raven's last few words faded away in the wind. But she felt as if she was surrounded by cold and dark waters, drowning in the memories of someone who was once herself. She had to struggle through layers of colors and sounds before she could become fully aware of who she was now. For a moment, she became afraid that she had become lost but, finally, everything seemed to slip back into their proper places and she looked up at Raven. His image was blurry, and it took her a few seconds to realize that she was crying.
"That was the truth?" she asked, her voice scratchy. "That was what happened?"
He nodded. "Yes, I swear it."
"Did I–did I die?"
"No," he shook his head. "The waves bore you to the shore where your sisters and the soldier pulled you to safety and took you back to your home. Afterwards, I broke the enchantment because it had caused too much trouble for everyone by then. The Prince would have followed you, but he was severely weakened by the witch's spell, so it was not until three nights had passed that he left the Strangelands to find you. I came with him, and when we reached your father's castle, we saw that you had recovered in body but your memories were gone. For all intents and purposes, you were no longer Rosamund. She had been lost to the waters of oblivion, and thus the witch's spell could no longer threaten the Prince's life."
"So she did save him in the end," she said, glad that Rosamund had been able to accomplish that much at least through her sacrifice.
"Yes, but at the cost of her love for him." Raven wasn't done with his story yet, and Aline gestured for him to continue. "The Prince was furious with your father and the witch, as well as whoever had taught the witch that particular killing spell. He wished to curse them all, but your intrepid young soldier managed to prevent that and save their lives, which is another story that I will not bore you with. Benwyr also failed to discover who had helped the witch with the working that almost ended his life. He then tried to cast an enchantment similar to mine so he could call Rosamund back to the Strangelands, but she was too well-protected by the witch’s magic by then, and so were her sisters. He never stopped searching for another way though, even when Rosamund ended up marrying the soldier and living a full mortal life, and then dying of old age."
"But why is all of this happening now?" Aline asked, because she still didn’t quite understand everything. "It already ended really badly before, so why are we all going through it again?"
He shrugged. "The Prince eventually found another way to get Rosamund back, even from death. Human souls, you see, have this tendency to stay bound to your world and be reborn every once in a while. He then worked the enchantment you are under in now because he believes that he would be able to reawaken Rosamund's love within you. He has waited for centuries, studied prophecy after prophecy, spell after spell, until the stars and the worlds moved into the right alignments. He thinks that it will be different for the two of you this time, that you will finally be together and you will stay in the Strangelands with him forever. I believe he has gone quite mad from his maudlin romanticism." For a moment, this thought darkened his face, but he quickly shook it off with a careless little laugh.
Aline scowled at him. "Well, what about the rest? How come my friends don't seem to realize that they're all being enchanted? And weren't there supposed to be twelve of us? It's just me now, so the people I know shouldn't really be involved in this."
"What part of 'The Prince has waited for centuries until the stars and the worlds moved into the right alignments' don't you understand, Your Highness?" Raven looked quite peeved. "He has made sure that conditions are as similar as possible to the last time you fell in love with him so he would have a greater chance of success. That means you're not the only reborn soul wandering around in these parts, though he wasn't able to secure everyone he needed, of course. Some of your sisters have long moved on to other worlds, for instance, but the others are still with you in the forms of your dearest friends. And as for everyone else not realizing they are under an enchantment, well, that was my suggestion in order to lessen the possibility of a meddling witch showing up. And I am quite positive that we have been able to shut her out of the spell. Though, for some reason, you seem to be resisting the power of the enchantment, which is quite aggravating of you, by the way. But no matter. You’ll succumb to it in the end, I’m sure."
Raven then stood up, and the boulder he had sat on sank back down into the ground. "Well, I've told you the story you wished to know. Now, it's time for you to fulfill your part of the bargain and find a way to free me from the Prince's service."
"Whoa! Wait a freaking minute here!" she exclaimed. "Exactly how am I supposed to do that? You want me to just waltz up to your Prince and ask him to free you?"
He was thoughtful for a second, and then he nodded. "I suppose that would work. Or you might ask him to free me as a wedding present."
"What? Huh?" She was confused. "What wedding present? Why are you talking about wedding presents?"
He let out a long-suffering sigh that clearly told her he thought she was too slow to live. "The terms of my service to the Prince clearly state that I would only be freed once he has gained the heart of his true love, or until he has deemed I have rendered a service of equivalent import. He bound me to those conditions after your first lifetime when he made me start searching for your reborn essence everywhere in the world. I have to admit I was quite a fool for agreeing to be bound like that, and that is absolutely the last time I do something for someone out of a misguided sense of responsibility. Quite frankly, I believe I have sufficiently fulfilled the spirit of those terms and, now, I wish to be released from all my obligations to his Court so I may live without any duties for a century or two at least." He scowled down at Aline. "And, while I am endeavoring to be scrupulously honest with you, I must also express my great desire to be rid of all this romantic melodrama about lost loves and second chances. You'll never see me acting like a besotted fool over a silly mortal girl, of that you can be sure."
"Hey, you just wait another minute!" she snapped. "Your story doesn't really help me at all! Yeah, I now know how the first enchantment ended, but I still don't know how I can break this new one. I can't channel Rosamund so that the witch's spell would reactivate and threaten the Prince again, and I certainly don't wish to stay with him forever so he'll release everyone else. Isn't there any other option?"
Raven huffed. "I never said that knowing the story would help you find a way out of your predicament. If I may make a suggestion, emulate the example of your previous incarnation and sacrifice yourself for the freedom of your friends." He then gave her a little bow. "Until next we see each other again, Your Highness." With a flourish of his coat, he transformed back into a bird and flew off in an eye blink.
"Hey, wait! You–" She shook her fist at his back, feeling totally frustrated. "You jerk!"
"Aline, thank God!"
She heard a crashing noise and Trevor's lanky form stumbled into the clearing. She blinked and the green-gold haze that permeated the atmosphere during her conversation with Raven immediately disappeared and ordinary afternoon sunlight washed over her. She looked at Trevor with a bit of alarm. His hair was a mess that stuck up in all directions, there were scratches on his face and dirt stains on his clothes, and the expression in his eyes was, to put it mildly, wild with worry.
"I can't believe you're just sitting here!" he exclaimed as he pulled her to her feet and gave her a fierce hug. "I passed by this place like three times, but I never saw you. I've been going round and round for hours. I was going crazy thinking of all the stuff that could have happened to you." He peered into her face intently. "Are you okay? Did you catch up with that bird?"
"I'm fine," she told him. "I was talking to Raven. He told me so many things and–wait. You've been searching for me for hours?"
"Yeah. I was getting really worried."
She groaned when she realized what must have
happened. "He did something with the time. It didn't even feel like we had talked for an hour, but now it's afternoon. That jerk!" Mentally, she placed a violent curse on Raven that would have horrified Trevor if she had said it out loud. "Now we've got just a few hours left before it's night and the spell acts up again. And we don't even have the silver leaf anymore!" A fear she could not begin to describe swept over her. Tonight, she would be called to the Prince's Court once more, and she had no idea if she would have the strength to keep her head and continue to resist the temptation to surrender to the spell. And Trevor would most likely be prevented from helping her. She'd be alone.
He must have guessed her thoughts because he held her tighter and kissed her. "I'll find a way to get to you," he swore. "No matter what it takes, I'll find you and I'll get you away from him."
She knew he meant it. She knew that if there was a way to save her, Trevor would find it and he would do everything he could to help her. For hadn't he always done that, even before they met again in this life?
However, one question haunted Aline and made her doubt her own faith in her feelings for him: what if he did find a way to save her from the Prince, but she didn't want to be saved? She didn't even want to consider the thought that she might actually end up being trapped in this enchantment forever. A vision came to her then of the years yet to come. She'd continue to grow old, but she'd never have a real life of her own because of the spell that would snatch her away every night and force her to dance and dance with creatures who would stay young forever. And what if she eventually chose to surrender to all of it, like Gracelyn had? Would she just be found lifeless in her bed one morning without anyone knowing what had really happened to her?
No. She could not let that happen. There had to be a way for her to free herself from the Prince's magic. And she had to do everything she could to free the people she knew as well. None of them could go on like this.
"Let's get out of here," she told Trevor.
He nodded and, hand in hand, they walked until they found the path that led them out of the woods. They didn't speak much, but they both gazed at the sun worriedly when they finally came upon a dirt road that wound its way back to town. In a few hours, day would be coming to an end and the magic would take hold again. They knew what the night would bring, and they were both frightened of it.
~~~
Chapter 13