The Raven

Six

With determination fueling every step he takes, Henry hurries back into the castle in search of his mother. Surely she could give him the answers he craves; as the queen, she likely knows all the goings on that happen within the palace walls. His feet guide him while his mind remains distracted, his thoughts wholly and intently focused on the enchanting scarlet orbs.

He bursts through the large double doors of the sitting room ungracefully, uncaring, and truthfully, blinded to his inappropriate and utterly unacceptable lack of manners or etiquette. "Mother!" he exclaims, his chest heaving slightly from the exertion of running through the expansive castle halls.

Without bothering to glance up from the list in her hand, his mother annoyedly responds, "Good. Henry, are you ready to proceed now?" The fury she possesses for her son's dismal propriety and outlandish behavior twitches in her left eye; however, she refrains from lecturing him at this moment. If she can simply redirect him from whatever his current dilemma is, they can return to the task at hand, and she will finally succeed in convincing Henry to choose a bride. While the urge to scold her son for his improper actions sizzles hotly beneath her skin, the sacrifice is well worth it, in her opinion, if it allows her such consolation.

"No, Mother," Henry replies, taking long strides across the room until he is standing directly before her. "I am not here to discuss any marriage details; I am here for an entirely different matter," he explains. He pauses momentarily, the tension further mounting within him as he awaits the acknowledgment of his mother. Slowly, she raises her eyes to meet his, a single eyebrow lifting in question, signaling him to proceed. "I would like to know what is in the West Wing."

"The West Wing?" the queen asks, her voice wrought with a combination of unhidden surprise and clearly displayed dismay. "There is nothing in the West Wing," she answers carefully, maintaining a levelness to her tone that signifies the sheer unimportance of the matter. "Nothing significant, anyway. I believe it is currently being used as storage," she continues. After a short pause, she queries, "Why the sudden interest?"

Henry finds his mother's tepid response to be wholly unbelievable and strangely suspicious. Storage, hmm? That certainly does not explain what Henry saw in the tower window. He resigns himself, reigning in his overbearing curiosity and arousing need to know precisely what he is missing out on in that tower. There is some strange force pulling him toward it; he can feel it almost physically. It is almost as if there is a thread wrapped around his heart, yanking him forward, urging him closer to whatever is hiding up there. The prince supposes he will have to do some digging when he has the chance to snoop around unexposed. Some exploring, even. Taking a deep breath, Prince Henry collects himself to the best of his ability. "No reason, Mother. I was just curious, I suppose," he easily lies, not even slightly interested in explaining himself to his mother. Exiting the room as quickly as he had entered it, he swiftly proceeds to somewhere he can be alone for a moment and think.

The queen's response to his question intrigued him, for why would his parents use an entire wing of the castle for storage? What could they possibly be storing there? And... what was the cause of those mesmerizing red orbs? Henry would like nothing more than to take a closer look at them, to allow himself to get lost within them. Perhaps those beautiful rubies are precisely the distraction he needs. He absolutely has to find the source of that red light. Something in that room is drawing him in like it is calling to him, singing his name, luring him like a siren. His heart quivers at the thought, and the urge to discover and be close to whatever is hiding in that tower grows overwhelming as the beating organ in his chest pleads with him to do exactly that.

Henry has never been to the West Wing before, in all of his eighteen years; he does not know much about the place, if he is honest. While it is likely that the wing is guarded, if it is genuinely solely used for storage, there should not be many guards present. This little adventure is going to take some careful planning if Henry wants it to go off without a hitch, and that is not the only thing he wants. No, Prince Henry wants to finally satisfy the gaping hole in his heart, to fill the void of whatever unknown thing has been missing his entire life. Whatever it is, it is there; he will find it at the top of the tower. He is sure of it.

Decided that sneaking into the West Wing will be a sufficient distraction from wedding planning and the arrangement of unwanted marriages, possibly even a way to avoid his mother altogether, Henry feels a small swell of relief. It is unfortunate that it will last forever. Once he has gained access to and discovered the secrets hiding within the walls of the tower, he undoubtedly will have to go back to his mother's incessant and incredibly irritating lectures about tradition and royal duties. He will likely have to sign away his life, freedom, and any chance at love to a woman he could never be entirely content with simply because it is "tradition."

Perhaps it would not be such a terrible thing to hold onto a small shred of hope. Whatever he finds in that tower could possibly change life as he knows it; Henry desperately wants to believe it to be true. How marvelous that would be to suddenly find everything he has ever wanted and know that it was right under his nose the whole time.

Actually, that last bit sounds rather depressing. If the secret to his unbridled happiness had been present Henry's entire life and yet intentionally kept away from him... well, Henry is not sure he could ever forgive whoever could do such a despicable thing.

Regardless, Henry's lust to find out if the impossible dream could become a reality is breathtaking, stealing the air directly from his lungs in the most thrilling way and setting his chest aflutter with a flight of butterflies previously unknown to him. It is incredible, an indescribable feeling that he cannot seem to put into words; however, he would not mind if it would continue indefinitely. Resolutely, Henry takes a deep breath, sure of his next steps; it is the only thing that can appease the desire within him, the only way to finally heal the gaping wound in his heart. He is going to the West Wing. Henry will find a way into that tower. He will finally receive the answers he seeks if it is the last thing he will do.