Raven sat in his
room, staring blankly outside the castle. It was such a peaceful day. He almost
smiled when a blue bird flew into his room, chirping at him, before he heard
his name was called.
“Raven, Raven Black! Are you there dear? Open up
the door!” The queen demanded. The prince frowned. If only that hag would stop being such a witch. Moodily he went
toward the door, and opened it harshly. That startled the queen a little. “What?” He grunted.
Regaining her
composure, the queen raised her head haughtily. “His Highness the King, your
father’s birthday is coming soon, so here.”
She handed a list to him. Bewildered, Raven stared confusingly at his
stepmother. ‘What in the world?’ His
eyes asked. “The list of things needed for the king’s birthday present, of
course! What else?” She said.
Raven rolled his
eyes, exasperated. “I mean, what in the world is this?” He flapped the list in front of her. “Why are you giving
this list to me?” He asked
menacingly. If eyes could kill, there would be no people living in the castle left
right now because of the black prince’s glare. But the queen was just as
wicked, because she was the mother of the prince even only through marriage.
She was not surprised of his reaction.
“Of course,” She
snorted, before continuing; “I want you to go and fetch the things on the list
I gave you.” Raven stared unbelievingly at his stepmother. This old hag…! “…And for what
reason is it that it has to be me who
have to get these things? Can’t you just order the servants to do this job?” He looked at the list. Most of them were
impossible to obtain, or nonexistent at all. Witch. Raven cursed. This hag just would not stop being so
troublesome!
“No way, I’m
telling you to go. Don’t you want to
give the best of bests present for
your dearest father? After all, it’s his birthday present. Huh? Prince?” The queen snickered. “Like I’d give a damn about that.” Raven
answered bluntly. “I’d rather give him salt
than these nonsense you wrote here,”
He crumpled the paper and tossed it directly to the queen’s face. Her bomb
finally ticked. To be so rude to someone like her…!
“I don’t care what you said! You must
find all of the things in that list
or just die in the forest and be
eaten by the animals! And as long as you didn’t do what I ordered you to do,
don’t bother coming back to the castle at
all!” She shouted as she tossed the prince outside the castle angrily. A
man was already waiting outside the castle, looking helplessly toward the
prince. “Besides, you’re not even a girl. Don’t
ever mention the ‘Goose-girl’ story in front of me!” She spat before she
closed the castle gate in front of the prince and the man.
“What did you say, hag? Just admit that
you’re jealous of my looks, damn it!” Raven shouted at the lifeless
gate angrily. From a distance, the queen was laughing evilly before retorting “I’m not jealous!” angrily at Raven
Black. The man waiting for the prince was speechless. Raven Black was nothing
he imagined when the queen hired him to assassinate the prince. Like his name,
his heart might actually be black. It scared the man.
Finally Raven
Black realized he was not alone when he turned his face and saw the cowering
man behind him. “…Who are you?” He asked moodily. Surprised by the sudden
question, the man stuttered a little. “M-m-me,
Your Highness? I-I’m the huntsman,” He answered. “Y-ye-yeah, wh-what are you
d-doing he-here for?” The prince
imitated him, annoyed. A huntsman who acted like a chicken? Fail.
“To assassinate
you,” The huntsman unconsciously answered. The prince blinked. ‘What?’ He stared at the huntsman.
Realizing his mistake, the huntsman hastily covered his mouth with his hands.
The prince was glowering at him. ‘I’m
going to get killed for this…!!!’ The huntsman almost cried. He was too
scared to face the prince’s wrath, and especially
scared to face the queen’s wrath, but ferociously afraid to face the king’s
wrath. He really was a chicken. So he
just cried helplessly.
“Well, I guessed
as much. That witch is really living up her name as the evil queen,” Raven
Black said, not even an ounce of fear in his tone. “But this is too much, going
as far as sending this wussy to
assassinate me. Who does she think I am, Snow
White?” He mumbled alone for a while, and the huntsman stared unbelievingly
at the prince. Then, the prince suddenly pointed at the huntsman and said;
“You, go back. There’s nothing you
can do to me with that cowardly attitude of yours.”
“E-even if I go
back, what about the queen? She’ll kill me if I didn’t kill you!” The huntsman
was shaking as he said the word ‘kill’. Raven stood silent for a while,
thinking. Then, “Did she asked for any evidence?” he asked. The huntsman
nodded, confused by the sudden question. “She said that since your heart is too
black and your head will only annoy her, she only wanted your blood on the
blade I used to kill you instead,”
“Then that’s easy,” Raven said, as he pulled the
huntsman sword out from its scabbard and swung the blade swiftly to his left
am. Swish. The blade sailed smoothly,
and blood started to gush out from the prince’s arm. “Prince!” The huntsman was aghast. Why in the world did the prince do that for? Does he have any
grudge at me? I’ll still be killed if this was known by the king! The huntsman
asked himself again and again as he fumbled through his belongings to find some
water and clothes for the prince.
“Here, now go back.” Raven handed the
blood stained sword to the huntsman, his face expressionless. But right now,
the huntsman was more worried about the prince than the blade. He immediately
poured water on the wound to wash the blood away and expertly bandaged the
prince’s arm with clothes. “…You’re unexpectedly good,” Raven said as he looked
at his bandaged arm. The huntsman just smiled sheepishly at him, surprised by
the sudden praise.
“Well, all people
in Medizin at least know how to treat injured people.” The huntsman said as he
packed his bag again. The sword was already put into its scabbard. “You’re a
wussy, a foreigner and yet an assassin? You really should think properly before you accept any job,” That hit right at the
huntsman’s heart. He almost cried again at the cruel words the prince threw at
him. “Now why are you still here? I
told you to go back to the castle!”
“But your
injury-!” The glare from the prince stopped the huntsman from saying anything
anymore. “…B-but what about the queen? If she knew I didn’t really kill you,
she’ll torture me, hang me and then
kill me! It’s the same wherever I
go!” Raven was annoyed. ‘That’s why you
should choose your job wisely, duh!’ he stared angrily at the huntsman.
Then he sighed, before he lifted his uninjured hand at the huntsman. “Give me
pen and paper. I’ll write you something so that that witch wouldn’t be able to
do whatever you said just now to you,”
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