The Raven

Thirty-Four

"The two boys are currently together in the tower, Your Majesty," Delilah informs the king, bowing slightly as she enters the room. "I escorted them there personally and cast a spell upon the room to ensure no one can enter without my permission."

"I despise being ignorant to what is happening in my own castle," the king grumbles, a deep sigh following his words. "Enlighten me on what happened earlier."

"Well, Your Majesty, I apologize; I am sure you will not be pleased," the witch replies, her arms crossing over her chest. "The commotion began when the queen announced an engagement ball for Prince Henry and Princess Elaina without the prince's consent."

Closing his eyes and leaning his head back, the king lets out a loud groan. Of course, his wife was the perpetrator behind this mess. She is always causing trouble, that one. It is as if "drama" were her middle name or something! On days like this one, the king surely cannot understand why he ever agreed to marry her in the first place. "Continue," he says, motioning at Delilah with his hand, hoping to speed up the conversation and figure out a way to finally sort out the damage caused by his meddling wife.

"Prince Henry obviously did not like that idea, so he and the raven met in the garden. While there, they had Earl, the servant, marry them," continues the witch. "The queen saw what they were doing and ordered that the raven be locked in the dungeon in order to protect the arrangement between the prince and Princess Elaina."

"Why must that blasted woman always insist on ruining my plans?" His Majesty mumbles to himself. He rubs his palm over his face, hoping to soothe the frazzled nerves caused by the news of his wife's inherent incompetence. "You said both boys are safe now?" he asks.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she responds dutifully, "I have made sure of it."

"Not if I have something to do with it," the queen's voice sounds from behind them, drawing their attention toward the doorway. "Tell me, witch. Why is it that every time I go searching for my dear husband, I seem to always stumble upon the two of you together?" she asks, her voice dripping with venom. Delilah smiles wickedly, not missing the hint of jealousy hidden in Her Majesty's tone.

The king, irritated by the queen's presence in general but also at her recent offensive and obstructive behaviors, angrily says, "Well, now that you are here, care to explain what the hell you are doing?"

"I was trying to protect our son!" Her Majesty shouts at her husband. "I was simply doing my job to protect him and simultaneously trying to protect our kingdom!"

Crossing the room and closing the distance between them, the tone of the king's voice rises drastically. "You cannot do both!" he yells, his chest heaving with the sheer force of his rising fury. "The prophecy was clear, Felicia! If not the raven, then some other boy!"

"No! I do not believe it!" the queen protests. "If Henry would just settle down with the Princess instead--"

The king interrupts her, his voice booming even louder this time, "Enough! The prophecy states he will marry a man. It clearly details that there will be an uprising within the kingdom as the word spreads, and our entire country will be left in shambles. If we do things your way, we will lose them both, Felicia! That is why I had Delilah create the raven, so our son would fall in love with him. I did it so he could experience true love before his death because that is all I could give him! We cannot save both our son and the kingdom. I had to make a decision, and I chose our people. But I can, at the very least, ensure that the life he lives before his untimely death is one filled with the ultimate love. Why will you not let me do that for him, Felica? Why are you so dead set against our son's happiness?"

As the shouting continues, the boys are stopped in their tracks, frozen in place in the corridor just outside of the room; unfortunately, they had heard every word of the confessions so carelessly being revealed at a volume extreme enough for the entire castle to overhear. Prince Henry's mind stops short, practically short-circuiting as he tries to understand what his parents are arguing about. What is this about a prophecy? His parents knew that he would someday fall in love with another man? And his father was not opposed to this idea? And his mother... She has been trying so hard to arrange his marriage to a woman in order to what? Protect him from being gay? To stop a war from brewing among their people? Henry suddenly thinks that he does not really know his parents at all.

And the kingdom... would they really be so against him that it would lead to such drastic measures? Would they willingly put their lives at risk and murder other innocent civilians just because their future king is in love with another man? Surely, they would not stoop to such barbaric actions over something so... Well, in Henry's opinion, something entirely normal.

Also, if what his father said is true, that means that Caleb is his perfect match. He was explicitly engineered especially for him; like two halves to a whole, two pieces of the same soul, they are made to complement each other perfectly. They are made to fit together effortlessly, flawlessly; they belong together, just as he had thought.

Meanwhile, Caleb's existential crisis drowns out the sounds of the ongoing argument. The roaring thoughts in his head are so loud that they are almost deafening. He was created specifically for Henry to fall in love with? Their instantaneous bond, the undeniable connection, the profound love they share... it was his mother's plan all along? None of it was real? It was simply... magic. He had heard the king's words loud and clear; if it were not for him, Henry would have fallen for some other boy. Does... Does that mean that Henry was never truly his, to begin with? Has Caleb somehow stolen someone else's destiny simply by existing? How... How could his mother and the king manipulate people's lives in such a way?

And, just as he feared, an uprising has been predicted. His love for Henry will be the cause of the kingdom's downfall, the reason so many people will undoubtedly lose their lives as they fight against each other for what they believe is right.

The raven shudders at the thought of all the harm that had likely been caused simply by his creation. He aches for the lives that could now be ruined because someone decided to take fate into their own hands. His heart shatters in his chest, crumbling to pieces as he incessantly worries about the inevitable consequences such actions will inflict upon the undeserving people whose destinies have been tampered with. He worries about... Henry...

Caleb's eyes widen in horrified realization. In his clouded state, while he had been focusing on whether or not Henry would still love him without the magical intentions behind his creation, he had entirely neglected to process the fact that Henry's life is quite literally on the line. The king had mentioned something about Henry's death. The raven's heart beats erratically in his chest as he draws himself back to the screaming match happening just within earshot; he needs to collect all the details in order to protect Henry from whatever demise they are speaking about.

"You imbecile!" the queen sobs hysterically, her words hardly intelligible through her panting breaths. "I could have saved them both if you had given me a chance! I could have saved him, and you ruined it! I could have saved him!"

Her Majesty's pained cries and wails fill the room as no one speaks for several minutes. The tension in the air is thick and palpable; one could likely cut it with a knife, should they try. It is not long before Delilah grows tired of the queen's obsessive and utterly pathetic crying. Breaking the silence, she says, "If we kill him now, we can prevent the war from occurring in the first place. If we do not--"

"If you want to kill Henry, you will have to go through me first," Caleb says, stepping into the room behind the queen, his prince at his side.