Impact

"Is there a problem here?"

Still blinking tears out of her eyes, Lorelei turned to see the crown prince approaching. His colorful friend didn't seem to be with him. What did that matter? It wasn't like either of them remembered her.

My time here meant nothing.

"I asked you a question," Prince Akira said sharply. "I expect an answer."

"Witchcraft," Sakura whispered.

The prince raised a regal brow. "You and I both know such things are only myths."

He turned to Lorelei. "What happened?"

"They don't remember me," Lorelei replied, empty. "I'm nothing but an insane stranger to them."

Frowning, Akira turned to look at the nobles. They had a variety of expressions on their face, from caution to fear to pity. At the very least, the muttering had stopped when the prince arrived.

"Is this true?" Akira asked slowly, a hint of curiosity in his tone. "None of you remember Lady Lorelei?"

Lady Lorelei.

Lorelei's eyes snapped to the prince. "You remember me?"

"Of course, Countess," Prince Akira responded casually. "You work with the man who makes my furniture, not to mention my favorite art piece. Why would I forget you?"

Suddenly, Lorelei heard the sound of wings flapping. Soon after, the prince's spirit glided into the ballroom. The translucent quality of his indigo color made him appear ethereal. He landed on the prince's shoulder, a slight stirring of the air his greeting.

"Mental fortitude," Sakura said, awe lacing her voice.

"Correct," Akira said approvingly. "Beau's kind, known for their wisdom, developed a certain resistance to the influence of others on the mind. He has merely lent me that ability."

The crowd burst into gasps of shock. This was the first time the prince had spoken of his ability, let alone used it. The crown prince of their country had been able to secure such a valuable gift? Perhaps this was why some called him Wisdom's Portrayal. 

Akira sighed. "Perhaps we should move this to another room. Beau, you would not mind entertaining our guests for a little bit, would you?"

He spoke to the bird for a bit, nodding along to whatever he was saying. "Yes, I understand. Of course, I will have them send your favorite snack."

The prince looked away. "No matter how disgustingly unhealthy it is."

He led their group out of the ballroom, ignoring the stares of the nobles. The room he led them to was fancier than the one Lorelei had met with her brothers in. Though the colors were the same, everything seemed just a little bit brighter, as though it had just been cleaned. Yasmine immediately made herself comfortable in a nearby seat.

"So does this mean you were in the ballroom when this happened?" Yasmine asked. She looked around the room. "Whatever this is?"

"I have a suspicion," Akira said. "I can act on it but, without solid proof, it may be hard to ensure that justice is served."

Yasmine put her hands on her hips. "That's stupid."

"Then I suppose it is a good thing we have evidence, then."

Lorelei had never felt so happy to see her husband. His eyes glimmered with that youthful mischief he kept hidden. His smile was just as friendly towards her as it had been before. There were twigs on his pants, though. Why did he have twigs on his pants?

"Jason," Lorelei said cautiously. "You remember who I am. . . don't you?"

Please remember me.

Jason looked at her. "I mean, yes. Why else would I be talking about evidence if I didn't know what was going on?"

Lorelei sighed in relief, relaxing muscles she hadn't known she was tensing up. As she did, it all hit her at once. This wasn't some wicked dream. Lorelei now lived in a world where almost no noble knew her name.

Overwhelmed, Lorelei's arms began to shake. She sagged against her best friend's chest, finally releasing the tears she had kept under lock and key. Jason held her as he cried, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

Finally, Lorelei pulled back, wiping her eyes. "At the very least, this will make my leave easier."

Chuckling, Jason stared at their small audience. "Good evening."

"Jason," Prince Akira said. "Earlier, you made it seem as though you had evidence."

"Oh, that's because I do." Jason pulled some documents out, handing them to Akira.

He turned to Yasmine, who was still lounging on the couch, and Sakura, who was sitting awkwardly next to her. "I hope you do not mind my use of the contractions."

"No, you're good," Yasmine said. "It's kind of refreshing to not have to worry about it." Sakura nodded her agreement.

"Jason," Akira said, now all-business. "Explain to me what this all means.

"Well," Jason began. "I recently told a story of Lorelei's to a friend. She asked me where an item had ended up, since I hadn't brought it up in the story."

"What was the item?" Akira asked.

"Seeds," Jason said. "Seeds of the Atriblanc flower."

Lorelei gasped. "Sophia did this?!"

"What? How?" Yasmine asked. "What does the Atriblanc have to do with this?"

"It is based on the Belladonna plant." When Jason received no recognition, he went on, "I learned, during my research, that the deadly nightshade, as it is sometimes called, can cause a variety of ailments if consumed. One of these issues is memory loss. It would seem like that is the power that the Atriblanc granted Sophia."

The prince flipped to the next pages. "And what is this?"

"Those are the cases of her work," Jason said. "Every time something goes wrong for Sophia, the people who were in the room with her don't remember her misdeeds."

"I have a variety of examples," Jason continued. "The day my wife got her dress for this ball, the staff failed to remember that she and Sophia had even crossed paths. When my wife and I went to dinner, no one remembered when my wife completely embarrassed her. In fact, the server forgot she had placed us outside after the incident, and even that we were there."

Oh, I remember that," Yasmine said. "I scolded Grace hard for that."

Jason nodded. "And they all had one thing in common."

Akira raised a regal brow. "And what was that?"

"Their headaches," Jason said. "Upon investigation, many people reported sudden headaches, though they went away rather quickly."

"I suspect that, with the power of the Atriblanc coupled with the resources Sophia had at her disposal, she felt confident today." Jason looked at Lorelei. "It would seem that the Dance of Spirits incident bothered her more than you originally thought."

"That is good enough for me," Akira said. "Thank you for this, Jason. It makes my job that much easier."

"Wait, that's it?!" Yasmine asked. "You just believe him like that? You?!"

Akira rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Minnie. Besides, I witnessed Lady Sophia doing it."

"You did?!"

"But Jason," Akira continued, ignoring Yasmine. "This still doesn't explain why your trousers are dirty."

Jason looked down. "Oh, that was from hiding from Sophia."

Akira laughed. "Why were you hiding from her, exactly?"

"She never goes to my area of the gardens," Jason explained. "If she was there, she probably wasn't there for anything good."

"And what of the other nobles?"

"I had them all gathered away from Sophia," Jason said. "I thought that, if she had resorted to the gardens, leaving them at her mercy was likely a bad decision."

With that, the prince closed the file. Calling for the guards, he made them search for Sophia, with the express orders to not listen to a word she had to say. Once that was attended to, he turned back to them.

"Well, this has certainly been an interesting evening." He turned to Lorelei. "Now that you are in this position, what do you intend to do?"

"I am not sure," Lorelei said. "I know where I wish to go, but not yet how to get there."

Akira considered her for a moment. "I hope you find your way there, wherever that is."

"In the meantime." He smiled at her as only a prince can. "Follow me. I'm sure you won't want to miss this."

The dungeons of Dandor palace were surprisingly clean, though very dark. The walls were made of rock, as if the prison had been carved straight from the ground. As Lorelei walked down the stone steps, she began to hear the sound of muffled yelling.

Turning a corner, she saw Lady Sophia Fikhan, gagged and angry. Her glittering silver dress was torn, as though she had put up a fight, which she likely had upon learning what was happening. It was a shame to see the dirt that covered the dress, likely from the floor below her. Although, considering who was wearing the dress, perhaps the dirt was an improvement.

"Lady Sophia Fikhan," said Crown Prince Akira Dandor. "I am sure you are curious why you are here."

"Due to recent events, you are now under investigation," the prince continued, walking around the front of her cell. "You are suspected with tampering with the minds of nobles, attempting to fool a prince, and one other thing." He looked at Sophia then, his sharp eyes cutting into hers.

"You are charged with the murder of Sabine Ravenwood."

Eyes widened, Sophia froze in shock, and Lorelei did the same. After all this time, someone had finally made Sophia pay. Frankly, Lorelei was rather tempted to believe she was dreaming. What a dream it would have been, with tremendous highs and dreadful lows.

Lorelei bowed to the prince, a true smile on her lips. "Thank you, your highness."

"Don't thank me for giving you justice," he told her. "Thank you for waiting this long."

Jason came up to Lorelei's side. "Ready to go home?"

"Oh, Spirits, yes."

The two of them took the long carriage route home. On the way, they talked more than they had since they were children. They shared jokes, recalled memories, and generally bonded as friends. What had been so hard before now came so easy.

Lorelei's shackles were finally off.