Elwin’s mind went blank with panic. His whole body froze.

When he had recovered enough to try and make sense of things, he looked hurriedly beside him. His prince was sleeping like an angel, settled into the pillows, blanket tucked around him. Just as he had left him the night before. But somehow, somehow . . . he must have been up in the middle of the night without Elwin noticing.

He must have been up in the middle of the night eating. And this mess meant more then a midnight snack. Someone in Captain Thompson’s house would be dead. Not much to show for themselves besides red bones. Elwin shuddered.

Elwin folded back the covers, still careful not to wake him, although he wasn’t even sure why. Prin’s night shirt was clean, as well as his face. Elwin leaned in closer, his breath tickling Prin and causing his nose to twitch and a little smile to grace his sweet mouth. There, was that a little dark smudge near his ear? He lifted one of Prin’s hands. It was clean, except for maybe a smear on his forearm that could be dirt, chocolate, or anything. If it was blood it was long dry.

Elwin was perplexed, the shock lifted a little and he had to think, how was this in any way logical? He had to try and put the sequence together in a way that made sense.

They arrived at their room, Elwin helped him change clothes, he put his suit from the party back on, ate someone in the house, took his suit back off and draped it across the bed exactly where Elwin had placed it himself? Then, washed up, put his night shirt back on, and climbed back into the bed. All without Elwin noticing a thing. He had been tired but not that tired.

Maybe someone else had taken the suit and doused it in animal blood before returning it? As some kind of threat? Still, all without waking either of them up? And the door had been locked before they went to bed . . . Elwin had seen to that himself. It was farfetched anyway.

Elwin lifted the soiled suit jacket closer to his face to make sure he was right about what the stains were. Although . . . what else could it be?

How could he ascertain that everyone in the house was present and accounted for, or in fact, who wasn’t?

“It’s early.” Prin mumbled. He put a hand over his eyes to shield them from the invading sun.

“Yes.” Elwin said. “I mean, not really. I just don’t understand. Help me understand this, I am lost here.” He knew when he was stumped, and this right here was a pisser.

Prin opened one eye and peeked through his fingers. “Well . . . sun come up, light come in. Which part is confusing?” He laughed. “Lay back down, El.”

“Prin, were you in bed all night?” Elwin asked. “You didn’t get up at any point, to go pee or anything? Or find yourself in the hallway unexpectedly?”

Prin sat up, the smile drifting from his face to reveal a look of concern, as he began to pick up that Elwin’s fear and confusion were real. “No, I don’t think so. I never really do. Why?”

Elwin, not knowing how to properly explain himself, picked up the heavily stained suit jacket slowly from where it lay, now crumpled on the foot of the bed.

“Is that my suit!?” Prin’s mouth fell open. “I- oh no. What happened?” His tone held the dismay of someone who has ruined an outfit with a big pot of soup, or something of that unsinister nature. He put his hand on Elwin’s arm. “It’s a shame but, it’s okay, the party was probably a one time thing anyway. And maybe the tailors – Or maybe Aster, knows how to fix it?”

Elwin felt his eyes squint, incredulous. “Do you think I did something to this jacket?”

“Not on purpose . . .” Prin said. “Wait, isn’t that what you’re trying to tell me?”

“ . . .no . . .” Elwin snorted out a quick laugh, which broke the tension significantly. Whatever happened, Prin was still his own Prin, and at least that was good to know.

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“Oh, it’s – I forgot about last night. I can’t believe I managed to sleep like that after what happened. But I was so exhausted. I’m sorry Elwin.” The prince gave him a plaintive look. With his wide eyes, black curls tousled to an ungovernable state, and lower lip trembling, he looked like a black lamb. Like a children’s book illustration of a black lamb, even.

“What are you sorry about?” Elwin put his arms around Prin and pulled him close. He was too cute, Elwin couldn’t look him straight in the eyes and still concentrated on what was going on. Whatever it was that was going on. Which he still couldn’t figure out.

“I ate the witch.” Prin said miserably. “And I didn’t even get to ask her my questions first.” He buried his face in Elwin’s shoulder, adding in a muffled voice. “Which is worse? That I didn’t get my answers, or that I am still worried about it now that a woman is dead? . . . Another one.”

“No, no, no.” Elwin shook his head. “The blood wasn’t there last night. Don’t you think someone would have said something? I mean, my gods, that’s a lot of blood. Everyone would have noticed, how could anyone not? I was half convinced – No, I let myself believe that somehow you were mistaken. That you hit your head or fainted or something and the whole thing was a dream. Since some of what you were saying didn’t make any sense. But even if it was all true . . . None of this still makes any sense.” He sighed. “What if it is all true? What then? Okay, the blood disappeared!? And reappeared like magic ink?”

Prin gasped. “That’s the only thing that it could be! You’re a genius.” He pulled away from Elwin’s arms and sat up straight.

“No, impossible. Not possible. I was just saying something absurd. Disappearing and reappearing blood isn’t a thing.” Elwin said firmly. What kind of world had he woken up in? Or had it started back then, with the curse . . . And it snuck up on him stranger and stranger ever since. He shook his head to snap himself out of it. This was no time to get all dreamy.

“Oh my goddess! That explains where the body went! It disappeared!” Prin said. “Elwin, don’t you see? It was there all along, I just couldn’t see it. And now it’s probably back!” His eyes were even bigger then before, dinner plates. Big enough to suck in any visual information that happened to be floating by. Like those giant whales that opened their big enormous mouths and just let the tiny creatures swim themselves inside to be eaten.

“All of this from a messy suit jacket? I don’t know.” Elwin said. He couldn’t control his skepticism. Though his world had changed he was still by and large the same sensible Elwin he had always been. For now. Change is a lot harder for a person, then for a world. Apparently.

Prin hopped out of bed in one sudden movement, like a scalded frog. “Valor was there. Was that part real too?” He headed quickly to the door and began fumbling with the lock.

“Hold on a second. Don’t you want to get dressed first?” Elwin asked. He stumbled trying to get out from under the blankets, hurrying to catch up.

Prin ignored Elwin and hurried to Valor’s room. Without knocking he threw open the door and went inside.

Elwin did his best to keep up and closed the door quietly behind them.

Prin hurried to the bed and stood over the sleeping boy.

The black cats had moved to lay across his chest like a pair of discarded fur collars, floppy, limp, and decorative.

Valor was stark white in contrast to their darkness. He almost blended into the sheets. He was still enough that his corpse like appearance drew a little whimper of fear from the overwrought Prin.

“He’s fine.” Elwin said gently, softly, trying not to wake the young master. “He always looks like an icicle.”

Prin put his hand near the boy’s nose, feeling his breath. For a long moment he watched the cats go up and down as Valor breathed deeply beneath them. “You’re right. He’s okay.”

Elwin picked up the suit jacket from the chair where he had draped it the night before. Smudges of blood decorated the front of the jacket, nothing like the other one, but a most probably ruining amount of the stuff. “Prin, look.” Elwin said quietly, the gears in his brain chugging along.

“He was there.” Prin said in awe. “He-He was in the room and he knows about what I did.”

“No, no, it can’t be.” Elwin insisted. “Valor was with me almost the whole time you were gone. There has to be another—”

“The blood. Blood can disappear, I guess . . . but it doesn’t lie!” Prin said desperately.

“You hugged him.” Elwin said suddenly. “You hugged him with the wet blood on your suit, the blood we couldn’t see, but now we can.”

“But I hugged you too!” Prin said.

“And my jacket must have blood on it too.” Elwin had left it in their room so he couldn’t prove his assertion. “Keep in mind, though, it’s black. Not pale like this one. So it might not be as noticeable.”

“Ahh, so he really wasn’t there. That part was a dream after all.” Prin said, relief in his voice.

“This is your curse, isn’t it.” A familiarly imperious voice from behind them spoke up.

Prin and Elwin turned around to see Valor staring into and through them with his sightless eyes. Impaled as they were, they had no choice but to stay in one spot, stunned into silence while he spoke.

Valor leaned forward. “Tell me everything.”