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❅ Chapter Five ❅

On a rafter, high above the ballroom, sat a crow, who seemed to mirror a statue, sitting as still as it possibly could. He was half asleep, which contributed to him seeming like a stature. When he heard what was going on down below,  he thought, at first, it was rather boring but as time progressed it became interesting for him.

Unlike the run-of-the-mill gossip he hears from the other bugs and animals, this was between three humans. A con-artist, an orphan, and a former military sergeant, oh, and the cutest little dog ever. It wasn't hard to hear what was going on, the empty ballroom carried their voices, mirroring an amphitheater.

Then he jolted fully awake with wide eyes and an open beak when he heard what Vincent was hinting at. "Oh come on. He is an obvious con-artist, isn't he? So smooth with his words, we all know he would do anything for money." Hans mumbled to himself, having watched Vincent and Rolando for many years.

He continued on mumbling after ruffling his feathers. ' 'bout time Rolando set him straight. If I had to listen to that young guy go on and on about making money and being rich so much, I would want to free fall off this rafter onto the floor.' He thought as he yawned and stretched his wings over his head.

He stretched his legs out one by one out in front of him. 'Hey, wait a moment,' He paused and thought back to what had been said. 'She does seem similar to Clarissa, she would be roughly her age and you can't deny she looks a whole lot like Persia when she was her age.' He was going to agree with Rolando on this, it seemed so much like a coincidence, but it would be fate.

He wondered if he should tell Medusa about this. She had been, for eleven years, thinking she had successfully had them murdered and out of her life. 'What if she is the princess, now duchess, then that means there is a survivor! Oh my, what if they all happened to survive.' He flapped his wings a bit getting off the dust.

But then the excitement turned into worry that he now thought about it. 'That means the people Medusa paid off didn't fulfill their job. Oh dear, that is not going to go over very well with her.' If word somehow still hadn't gotten to her yet, he hated to be the bearer of bad news, but she should at least know the rumors.

He flew out of the palace through a broken window, met by the bitter cold. 'I should probably tell her my suspicions, maybe that way she can check it out for herself. Or I could be doing the opposite and sealing the girl's fate if she may not be or if she is her, having her life end when she has escaped.' He was torn on what to do.

He sighed heavily, battling the harsh wind he was flying into. 'Maybe she had a chance of heart after all this time? Perhaps she isn't bent on revenge anymore? She probably still thinks they are all dead by her hands. Ugh, what am I even doing?' He had no clue why he felt the urge to tell her. Perhaps there was a reason for it.

He shook his head as if he was trying to get all those thoughts out of his head. He needn't think about that. All he needed to do was relay what he had seen and perhaps she would get a good laugh about it. 'She does spend too much time stuck up the clock tower basking in her plan she had done. It is utterly annoying that she is so proud of what she had set in motion.' He was annoyed by his mistress, ever since her plan came to pass she had been gloating.

He shivered flying through between the buildings, which thankfully helped block out some of the wind. It was still cold and lightly snowing, but at least he wasn't battling the wind. He could see the window and he would see the soft glow from a fire. He was going to be happy being by that nice warm fire. It would warm him up a bit and make him feel alive.

He flew through an open window in the clock tower, then perched himself on his metal perch. He shook himself off of all the snow that had collected on his feathers. "Greetings Medusa, long time no see." He greeted her, smoothing down his head feathers with his wings. He hoped she would stay in this good mood because he hated seeing her mad.