Over the short carriage ride, Prin was lulled by the motion of the horses and the soft murmured conversation between Captain Thompson and Aster into a doze. The steady even breathing of Valor beside him syncing with his own.

When the carriage arrived, the prince was tempted to think that the entirety of the night’s events had been a dream. How nice if it had been.

Elwin opened the door to the carriage and reached up to help Prin down.

“Would the two of you mind taking care of Valor?” The captain asked. “I’d like to see Rose safely home.”

“Of course we will.” Elwin said. After helping Prin down and giving him a brief hug, he went around to the other side and guided Valor, still three quarters asleep, out of his seat and safely onto the pavement.

Valor shivered and blinked drowsily, clearly confused about where he even was and what was happening.

“Goodnight!” Aster called, waving to them as the carriage departed again.

“Ugh, father is going back to the whorehouse? He’s not had enough excitement for one night?” Wrena looked miserable and determined to make everyone else join her. In other words, about the same as usual.

“Don’t blame him.” Dru said mildly. “Probably just trying to get his money’s worth.”

“You would say that!” Wrena stomped around the back of the house to enter through the kitchen door.

“Hey! I don’t have to pay for it.” Dru followed her around and into the house. “Never in my life!”

“So noisy.” Valor complained pushing his glassed up to rub at his sleepy eyes.

“Let’s get you to bed.” Elwin said gently. He walked around and into the house with his arm around Valor, guiding him. “Do you want a bath first?”

“Are you trying to drown me?” Valor asked.

“What a thing to say.” Elwin said. “I take that as a no?”

Prin trailed behind them, his eyelids drooping shut and being startled awake multiple times as they walked. Selfishly he wished he had Elwin to himself, taking care of him, instead of the younger boy. Interloper. The strange word, a bit foreign to his own vocabulary, though he knew what it meant, pried his eyes open wider for a moment.

Sometimes it was like someone else’s thoughts and memories were rising in him. Floating to the surface like something buoyant in the water. Speaking of interlopers.

They walked Valor to his room, past the tut tutting Mrs. Frances, who would have to wait until tomorrow to hear how the evening went.

“You can go on to bed if you want.” Elwin told Prin. “This won’t take long.”

“No, no. It’s alright.” Prin yawned. He shook himself awake and went in ahead of them.

The two cats were curled up on a white bed pillow, like strokes of midnight, like holes in milk. One opened glowing eyes, just a slit, and wagged it’s tail in appreciation at the return of their master.

Prin turned down the bed covers and got a fresh night shirt out for Valor, while Elwin took off his shoes and helped him undress.

“Should I hang this up?” Elwin smoothed the suit jacket.

“Doesn’t matter.” Valor mumbled. “I’ll never wear it again.”

“O-oh, look at you. Too good to wear the same suit to two different parties.” Elwin teased. He split the difference and draped the suit nicely over a chair.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“No, I mean . . .” Valor trailed. He raised his arms and allowed Prin to put his night shirt on him.

“I know what you mean.” Elwin said gently. “I’m just giving you a hard time. After tonight’s success don’t you think you’ll go to more parties?”

“I doubt it.” Valor said, yawning.

Prin flopped down on Valor’s bed, feeling the heavy pull of sleep on all four limbs. Like quicksand.

Elwin guided Valor into the bed and pulled the covers up over him, tucking him in.

“Well, I think you did pretty good tonight.” Elwin told him. “You didn’t let anything upset you.”

“Nothing happened to upset me.” Valor said. He patted the two cats on one side of him, and Prin on the other, as though he were just a third cat familiar. “The ceiling didn’t cave in. And no one tripped and spilled an entire punch bowl over my head.”

“You didn’t have an allergic reaction, or be attacked by some rich lady’s purse dog.” Elwin added.

“There was no earthquake that split the building in two and dropped us into the center of the earth to live among the dinosaurs.” Valor said. His hand felt nice scritch scratching the top of Prin’s head. Prin realized he was still wearing the flower crown and it was getting itchy.

Everything Prin could think of to add was very dark, too dark for right before bedtime. So, he blurted out the first acceptable thing that came to mind, no matter how absurd. “You didn’t get lured into the woods by forest spirits.”

“There wasn’t even a tornado.” Valor said.

“Or an indoor thunderstorm.” Prin said dreamily.

“So I guess it was a success after all.” Elwin said.

“Yeah.” Valor agreed softly.

“Goodnight.” Elwin said at last. He reached out for Prin’s hands and pulled him into a, (floppily) standing position. “Hup we go.”

“G’night.” Prin said. “Little man.”

“I’m not little.” Valor grumped, but his heart wasn’t in it, he was too sleepy. “Goodnight.”

When Elwin and Prin were about to step through the door and into the hallway, they heard a barely audible. “Thank you.”

“Would it be crazy to say, I think we’re good for him?” Elwin mused when they were back in their room.

Prin lay down on the bed. “You would almost think.”

“Alright, lets get you undressed before you fall asleep in your suit.” Elwin said.

“I don’t care.” Prin admitted.

Elwin took off Prin’s shoes and flower crown, and unfastened the necklace. “Are we supposed to give this back to the captain?”

“I would say so.” Prin said.

Elwin placed it carefully on the side table. “What’s this?” He was examining Prin’s hand. On the other hand from the rings he already had, was a third ring. It was a pinkish rosy-gold color with three emerald stones across it. “Where’d you get it? . . . Is it Freya’s? Did she give it to you?”

“I don’t know.” Prin pulled his hand away and threw his arm up over his face. “I don’t know what happened.” He could feel tears prickle his eyes but was almost too tired to cry them. “I think I killed her.” He whispered.

Elwin, who was helping him out of his suit pants, paused with one leg on and one leg off. “You what? I did not see that coming.”

“You know . . . I don’t know . . . She started freaking out at me. Called me something, Spider boy? . . . Something . . . She was yelling, and she wouldn’t listen! And then she threw something. I think? Like a smoke bomb? Or maybe it was a bit of magic. And it knocked me out, or rather, it made me go away inside of myself? I can’t explain it. But when I woke up . . .”

Elwin resumed taking the clothes off of Prin gently, slowly, as though afraid of startling him with sudden movements. “You had eaten her?”

“No. Yes. Yes, but, she was gone. . . There was no body. And but . . . before that, Valor was there?” Prin let out a sobbing breath. “He said he would help me, only it wasn’t me.”

“A dream. Only a dream.” Elwin said. He kissed Prin’s forehead.

“It can’t be a dream because she was gone and there was a giant red stain on the floor. . . Oh what will I tell people? Everyone will ask.”

“Maybe we should get some sleep now and think more clearly in the morning.” Elwin suggested. “Maybe you didn’t even kill her at all, but it was all part of some hallucination?”

Prin put his head in his hands. “No-oo, that’s not, that’s not even possible.”

Elwin slipped Prin’s night shirt over his head. “I believe you. You’re just so tired. I think we both need to rest. Okay? Is that okay?”

“I guess.” Prin said. He snuggled into the pillows.

Elwin settled in beside Prin and wrapped his arms around him. “We’ll figure it out.”

“I know.” Prin couldn’t believe he could still sleep after everything, but it came over him like a heavy curtain after a show. Deep velvet and final.

*

The next morning, Elwin woke up to the sound of bird song out the window and a beam of sunlight hitting him in the face. Looked like an unseasonably beautiful day was brewing. He would have to get some coffee to go with that.

Elwin stretched his hands up over his head, luxuriantly. Of course, he had slept in his suit. After helping two other people get out of theirs. He could either laugh or cry about it.

He took off his suit jacket and went to toss it away from him over the foot of the bed where he had draped Prin’s when he noticed something strange.

The once gold suit was covered in thick cloying stains of red and brown.

Prin’s suit was full of blood.