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“I suppose I’ll know soon enough,” Calliope muttered as she crept up to the heavy wooden door at the top of the stairs. She put her ear to the wood, but heard nothing, giving her no clue what might wait for her on the other side.
Slowly she turned the giant handle and the door swung easily open into the room. On the other side, Rosamund lay in her bed, surrounded by a yellow canopy with chiffon curtains that caught the sun and made the tower room glow with a warm, friendly light. The space was fragranced with jasmine and light music filled the air.
It was a peaceful place, a lovely place…except for the two men suspended from the ceiling, looking very near death.
Calliope gasped and brought a hand to her throat, as if doing so might somehow help the poor princes to breathe. The rope at their necks was tight, but not tight enough to kill them. Both struggled slightly, hands clawing at their necks, though the smaller one seemed more energetic about the fight than the larger.
Johann. It had to be Aaron’s brother.
The golden skin and dark eyes were the same, though Johann was smaller than the king, still possessing the thin frame of a boy not yet out of his teens. The other man was larger and older. Calliope thought she recognized him as Pater the Strong, the Barbarian prince from the lands beyond Kartolia, who had disappeared months before. She suspected he was the one who had killed the beast, which would explain how the smaller Johann was able to make it this far.
But Calliope had no clue why the princes were being held captive or by what. It was certainly not an aspect of her enchantment.
No, it is something I developed on my own.
Calliope yelped, spinning around to find the door behind her slamming closed, but no one else in the room. “Hello? Who’s there?”
No who, but what. The room. The room is in the room.
“I—I’m sorry. I don’t understand.” Calliope shivered as the dusty voice creaked through her mind.
With her history, she shouldn’t be troubled by a telepathic conversation. After all, she spoke to voices in her head all the time.
But this voice was something else, something foreign that made her skin crawl.
Don’t be afraid. You should be proud that your creation has taken on a life of its own. And proud of your power.
I am. What castle can claim such a reputation or legacy?
Dear Goddess… So it was the castle. The castle was speaking to her. And the castle had captured two princes and held them captive because it didn’t want the enchantment to end.
You are as clever as I’d hoped. I’ve been waiting for you to come.
“You have?” Calliope walked slowly toward where the princes hung, struggling to think of a way to free them without actually thinking it. The castle’s ability to read minds was no little problem.
I don’t want to be a problem. Please, creator. We should work together, you and I.
Johann made a gagging noise and Calliope’s lips pursed to one side. “I’m not sure that’s going to be possible.”
Of course it is. You want to free Rosamund, yes?
“And the rest of her court, and the men who came to rescue her,” Calliope added, sensing that semantics were going to be important in this transaction. The castle clearly wanted something from her, and she doubted it would be any small favor. She had to make certain that she got what she wanted in return.
You will get everything in return, creator. Haven’t you wanted to live in a world where your sweetest dreams came true?
“I don’t know. I haven’t had many sweet dreams.”
Poor thing. I think you, of all people, deserve to live inside beautiful dreams. As she has.
The light surrounding Rosamund glowed brighter, making the bed where she lay seem like a little piece of heaven on earth.
Calliope’s lips curved in a grim smile. That was what the castle wanted, was it? Another to take Rosamund’s place?
So the enchantment never has to end.
“Except for Rosamund and her people, and these men,” Calliope corrected, walking toward the bed. “It ends for them.”
What did she have to lose by taking Rosamund’s place? A life spent on the farm, lonely but for the animals she tended, slowly growing old and vulnerable to human diseases? The man she loved didn’t love her back and she had few friends and fewer prospects.
