The Minstrel's Tale Part 3

The room spun, the floor rushing up to strike him. The sword clattered and clanged, springing loose from his grip. A terrible, deafening shriek assaulted him, but he could not move his hands to cover his ears. He could see the legs of the woman he had raped begin to move. She rolled and then stood. He could see her now, towering above him. Drops of blood spashed on the floor from the spot where his sword had cut her. Her lips moved and light shone from her throat. She was the source of the sound, a terrible singing that cut right into his soul.

“Please,” he mouthed, but either he had lost his voice, or the words were simply lost to the shrieking of her voice. She bent over him, reached to touch him. Her hands passed right down and into him. She caught hold of something and pulled. He screamed without making a sound.

The pain and the sound suddenly vanished. For a moment, he believed it had been nothing more than a dream. Then, he began to realize that he could not move. He was looking out through another’s eyes. The memories began to filter through to him as he took in his surroundings. He was inside an inn not far from the castle gates. The girl sitting across from him was named Kayla. They had sneaked out of the castle to look for a bit of fun.

“I don’t believe it,” Kayla said. “Look over there.” Edwin’s head turned without his volition to look where his friend had pointed. The seated and playing cards was himself. He watched his own expression of interest and the body he inhabited turned away, giggling.

Suddenly, he knew. Reyna. This was the first time he had met her. A wave of dread swept over him. He was seeing it from inside Reyna’s body, or at least her memory. He could feel the girl’s apprehension as well as she glanced over her shoulder once more. This time, the prince gathered up his coins and rose from his seat. She looked away quickly and whispered to Kayla. “What’s he doing?”

“Oh! He’s coming over. Shh!” The last was to calm Reyna from her frightened squeak.

“Good evening, my ladies,” the prince said. “May I join you?”

Reyna’s heart pounded in her chest as she made room for him. He was so handsome, so dashing. She felt like a complete fool in his presence. “G-good evening, your majesty,” she stammered. Kayla laughed out loud and Reyna gave her a withering look.

The prince raised his hand. “Drinks for everyone,” he told the server. “What will you girls be having?”

“Just wine, please,” Reyna said, trying to sound cultured and sophisticated.

“Me too,” Kayla chimed in.

“I’d like the same,” the prince said.

The server gave a bow and hurried away.

“You two don’t look the type to hang around in places such as this,” the prince observed, arching an eyebrow at Reyna.

“We aren’t. I mean, we don’t. Not usually. I’m staying at the castle. I’m a guest of your father, the king.”

The prince nodded. “You know me, then. Sometimes I like to come here. I don’t tell anyone who I am. That makes it a bit harder to play cards.” He laughed, and the two girls laughed along with him.

The wine arrived and Reyna took a cautious sip of hers. It was strong but sweet.

The prince leaned forward and whispered to them. “You know why I came over to see you? Every time I come, I make it a point to buy a drink for the prettiest girl in here.”

Reyna and Kayla looked at each other and giggled. “You flatter me,” Reyna protested.

Over the next hour, the prince charmed and entertained them, ordering more drinks for them each time they finished a cup. Reyna began to feel more and more relaxed, more at ease with herself. She thought nothing of it when the prince put a hand on her thigh and kept it there. Suddenly, she started awake, realizing that she had started to drift off. Kayla was slumped over the table and laughing at every word the prince said.

“Come on, we need to get back,” she said, standing up. Her legs felt suddenly wobbly and weak. She fell back in her chair and felt herself go limp. Kayla’s hysterical laughter seemed to go on and on.

Her head felt heavy. Something was on top of her, pressing down. She felt the strangest sensation, a painful pressure and heat down between her thighs. The something on top of her was moving. She opened her eyes and saw the prince’s face looking down on her. Sweat soaked his shoulders. Slowly, awareness dawned as her mind began to grasp the sensations of her body. Edwin, locked within her mind, felt her horror and revulsion mixed with his own. “Stop, you’re hurting me,” Reyna’s voice said.

“Shh,” the prince whispered. “It will be over soon.” His cock burned every time it entered her, rubbing her more painful and raw each time he thrust in and out.

“No. Stop,” she pleaded. Suddenly, the prince shuddered and collapsed on top of her, murmuring about how good she felt. She could feel him still inside her. “Please, I’m going to be sick,” she said. She suffered another sharp pain as he pulled out of her. She rolled to the side and made a grab for the wash bowl, bringing it to her mouth only just in time. Using the corner of the sheets, she cleaned herself as well as she could, discovering as she did that she was completely naked.

She rolled onto her back once more, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. The ceiling was vaulted, with open beams running across. She must be in a room of the inn. She rolled her head to the side and saw Kayla lying there next to her. She was wearing no clothes, either, and was in a deep sleep. Reyna’s eyes closed. She pulled them open again. The prince was still there, standing over her bed. He was naked as well. Her eyes closed once more and this time would not open again. She felt a weight press down on the bed next to her, where Kayla lay.

In an instant, Edwin plunged from one nightmare to another, returning to the hellish singing and the feel of the woman’s ghostly hand buried inside his chest, her fingers wrapped around his soul. She abruptly released her grasp and stepped back. Her singing ceased. “So you did rape her,” she said, “and then raped her friend right after. How did you get her back into your bed?”

The prince looked over at his sword, just a few inches from his fingertips. The strength was slowly seeping back into him. “I saw her at the castle, some days later. She tried to run away when she saw me but I caught her. I held her close against me and told her I was sorry, that I thought that was what she wanted. She must have forgotten much of that night in her drunken state. The next time I seduced her, I was careful to make certain she wanted me enough to let me. The other girl never even realized what had happened to her.” He made a grab for the sword, drew it back and lunged towards her, aiming for her heart. The world exploded in a shower of light at the shriek of her terrible voice. He felt his body dropping away like a cast off skin.

He lay in darkness and damp, seemingly every muscle in his body sore. He opened and closed his hand, then moved his arm experimentally. It didn’t feel quite right. He felt along the wet ground and discovered a wall next to him. He pushed himself to a sitting position, somehow feeling lighter and weaker at the same time. It felt like the memory that the woman had made him relive, in fact. Only this time, he was in control of the body. He touched his face, felt the strange softness and smoothness of the skin. A frail, frightened sound escaped his lips, much too high in pitch. No, this couldn’t be. He placed his hand over his chest, felt the cleft beneath the clothing, the soft bulge on either side. His hand crept lower, pressing against the lacy fabric, pressed against his pelvis, and found…nothing.

“No-oo,” he said, his voice once more too high. He clambered to his feet and stumbled, unsteady in this strange new body. “She put me in her body,” he whispered, touching the feminine face and smooth neck with his small, thin hands. “I’m in Reyna’s body.” Reyna, who was set to be executed at dawn.

Torchlight danced along the walls as a dozen feet tromped along the passageway. Edwin ran to the bars. “Please,” he shouted. “Please listen to me. I’m the prince. I’m the prince, but I’ve been put in this body.”

Edwin shrank back suddenly. A man in a black hood stood outside the door, ringed by castle guards. “Reyna,” he said. “You are to be beheaded. Stay where you are while I open your cell.”

“But I’m not Reyna,” he said. “I’m your prince. I’m Edwin.”

“I believe she’s gone mad, sir,” a guard said. “Be careful of her.”

Edwin looked at the guards, strong, capable men, and then down at his own feeble body, so weak, so vulnerable. He began to weep as they led him away in shackles.

* * *

The woman let the song die away, though its sound still resonated through the room long after she had finished. She looked down at her handiwork, the body of the prince unconscious at her feet. The sword was still clutched in his fingers. She had been careless, to stand so close to him. His hatred had been too strong, giving him strength where other men would have lain broken by their guilt.

She sat down on the bed, acutely aware of the warmth growing within her. Her legs spread as her intimate parts swelled with arousal. She lay down and breathed deeply, letting the sensation build on itself, helpless before the feeling, longing for it with all her heart. It was her reward for carrying out her duty.

Her breathing began to change, coming faster, shallower. The warmth grew and spread, pushing her higher, higher, her body giving voice to her pleasure. She balanced on the edge, her whole body tensing. And then she gave a shuddering scream as the pleasure spread out from her loins, coursing through her veins like liquid fire. The waves of the orgasm rose and fell over and over. When they finally stopped, she lay weak and helpless on the bed, cradled in the glow of continuing pleasure.

Slowly, she returned to herself and opened her eyes. The candles had burned themselves out and the room was now lit with a dim glow as dawn approached. Time for her to be going. She looked down at the sleeping body of the prince once more, and felt pity tugging at her heart. She couldn’t just leave him like that. "Just this once,” she promised herself aloud, and bent to wake him.

The prince’s eyes blinked slowly open. He drew a breath and groaned. “Where am I?” he asked.

“In the prince’s chambers. Try to stand up.”

He stood, unsteadily. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with my voice?” His tone was becoming more anxious by the moment.

“Maybe you’d better sit down,” she suggested.

He sat on the bed, then looked down at the naked half of his body and screamed. “N-no, this can’t be,” he said. “This is a dream. That’s impossible.”

The woman took his big hands in hers. “Listen, this is going to be very hard for you to accept. Maybe I should tell you a bit about myself. I was once a bit like the prince, winning the favor of women when I could, taking what I wanted when I couldn’t. One day, I raped a young girl not much older than yourself. I didn’t know that her mother was a powerful sorceress. She put a curse upon me. I would experience her anguish a thousand times over. I would know no pleasure during lovemaking, nor find comfort in the arms of a lover. I would be raped a thousand times so that I might bring vengeance to men who have raped others. Only then, she said, would I understand love. I don’t really know what that part means.”

“But that’s crazy,” the prince protested. “You’re a woman. You couldn’t have raped anyone.”

She looked at the eastern sky. “The sunrise is almost here,” she said. “Watch.”

As the first rays of the sun entered the room, the woman began to change. Her features melted and ran like water. In the next instant, a man stood in her place. “Alban?” the prince asked.

“Yes, Reyna. It is me. The curse compels to seek out those who have done rape. At night, I become whatever they most desire. The sorceress recognized my gift of music. She changed it, added to it. Now, when I receive the seed of a man that has raped me, I gain power over him, immense power. I used it once to look back into the past and witness your rape. I used it again to cause your souls to switch places.”

Reyna shook his head and stared down at the unfamiliar body. “Am I stuck this way forever?”

Instead of answering, Alban said, “Come to the window if you wish to know the truth, but I warn you, what you see might shock you.”

The window looked down into the courtyard, where a platform had been placed. A kind of low table sat on it and a man in a black hood stood nearby, holding a long-handled axe. Reyna gasped. “That’s me down there. I mean, my body.”

Faintly, they could hear the girl’s screams, telling them to stop, that she was their prince, their king. She was led, struggling, up to the block. Two men held her down and tied loops around her wrists, securing her. A herald stepped forward, announcing her crimes and then giving her sentence. The headsman took his place and hefted the axe. One final, ear-shattering scream came from the woman and was abruptly silenced.

“There is no going back,” Alban said, steadying Reyna when his knees suddenly threatened to give out. “What I did represents the limits of my power. I could not save your body, but I could save you.”

“Hold a moment,” Reyna said. Panic rose within him, threatening to overwhelm his senses. “Everyone is going to think I’m the prince. Today I’m going to be crowned as king. This is too much for me. No, I can't. I can’t do it.”

“You can,” Alban assured him. “You will. You have a gentle heart but a strong sense of duty. Your soul is younger than this body, but you will have time to learn and grow. You will have advisors to ensure that you do not step wrong, if you heed their wisdom. Edwin would have brought ruin to this kingdom. You will bring peace and prosperity.”

“What of my father, then?”

Alban shrugged. “Sadly, the damage is already done. It is not likely Lord Glaston will forgive you as the prince, and less likely he will believe that you are really his daughter. It is a grief you will have to learn to live with.”

Reyna looked down at the crowd, dispersing from the scene of her own execution. “I’m scared,” she said.

“You are human,” Alban countered. He patted Reyna’s back affectionately. “It is time for me to go now. Goodbye.” He began to sing softly and a profound sense of peace swept over Reyna. All of the problems came into focus, became separate, manageable. Reyna could see that they were only temporary obstacles. There was even a sense of hope that Reyna’s father might one day understand. The song faded to silence, and when he turned to say goodbye, the minstrel was gone.

The eunuch’s body was found the next morning, hung from a balcony, with a suicide note scrawled in his handwriting. Everyone agreed what a sad, lonely man he had been.