6 The Sleeping Prince

"The prince is not dead! Watch! He's just sleeping!" Alexa exclaimed loud and clear. Even in light of the growing buzz of the court, the content of her words ran fast as the Greek fire's fuse.

It was inconceivable!

Prince Klaus went to his younger brother, impassively lying among hundreds of people. He even raised his hand to touch Alexander's body.

But the Sovereign Prince's explicit command was laconic and firm:

"Don't."

Alexa was standing next to the Supposedly Dead Prince, in a great state of excitement! Two surprising revelations at once!

The Prince was not dead. And she and he were so alike they could be twins!

For this brief moment, the second fact did not bother the maiden, but the first one did! The court doctors didn't have the knowledge to identify a rare case of someone whose soul cannot return from the trauma that struck him.

However, Alexa had a problem. One of many.

How could she explain this without being put on a firepit once they had enough dry wood? Even for her self-preservation, she couldn't let Prince Alexander be buried as dead, could she?

Prince Gutard's huge figure stood in front of her.

Alexa stared at the laces on the chest of his regal clothing. She raised her violet eyes to him and met the open, cold, intimidating scrutiny of his greenish eyes. Alexa was sure the huge man had already killed many people in person.

His eyes changed, touched by the shock of the similarity between Alexa and his second child. He raised his hand to touch Alexa's head, but the maiden couldn't stand the idea and stepped back a little. Even if he was the Prince, King, or Emperor, stroking an unknown maiden in front of a broad audience was too much, right?

In the midst of this strange moment, she took the opportunity to look into the Sovereign's eyes and say, with the best of her expressions:

"Your Majesty, your son is alive! He breathes! Look! Do not condemn him to a tragic end. Your son is not dead!"

"Who are you?" he asked softly through his teeth. Alexa realized that he wanted to believe her, but now the maiden also understood that the physical resemblance between her and the king's son could be a big problem.

"Alexa of House Saskia, from Byzantium, Your Majesty. I'm just a guest invited by Lady Cor…"

Whispered comments ensued:

"Who is she?!"

"Who is?!"

"Is this a joke??"

"Is Prince Alexander playing with us?!"

"Is he really dressed in…"

Alexa heard the murmurs, getting louder and louder, until Prince Gutard shouted angrily, silencing the mob:

"Royal Physicians?! Where are you?! What scheisser is this?! Does this foreigner tell the truth? If she's not, she will soon sway to…"

"No matter what they say, Majesty. Don't bury him. You'll see that he's alive because nothing will happen to his body," Alexa cautioned with conviction, just to him.

As they faced each other, she and the greatest authority of those lands, she realized that a group, probably the physicians, gathered next to them. The Sovereign Prince turned, his eyes bloodshot with hatred, toward them,

"Doctors or monkeys, what are you? Is my son alive or not?"

"Why, Your Majesty, when we saw him, he was…"

"So what should I do if my son doesn't rot like all dead things? What should I do if he rises? Is it the work of God, the Devil, or Nature? What about you doctors?!" he spat the words out literally, and Alexa pulled back a little, immediately feeling Prince Klaus's heavy hand on her shoulder.

But the Sovereign Prince pointed at her, his index finger reaching the tip of the damsel's nose, which drew back, a little cross-eyed,

"If she's right, you will all die for treason. You would make me murder a son!"

The maiden looked at them; her eyes narrowed with suspicion and justice. 'Incompetent madmen! Charlatans are what you are!' her thoughts stamped on her face.

"If she's an ignorant freak, she's the one who will be hanged for mocking this house and this court!"

Alexa widened her eyes, not expecting this second part. The court seemed able to agree, however.

'Wait, wait!' said the maiden, lightly touching the sleeve of the Sovereign Prince's clothing. He turned to her.

Alexa, however, sensed she had a slight advantage there. Her resemblance to Alexander seemed to, somehow, disturb and move Kielstadt's ruler.

"Majesty, before they touch him, let me show you. Allow me."

The Sovereign Prince nodded, and they both moved closer to the bier where Alexander rested.

Once again, looking at that serene face, Alexa was impressed when comparing her self-image to what she was seeing. It was just like looking at herself from the outside.

'If I am like that, now I understand a lot,' the thought came to her mind, and the maiden knew she would still have time to better reflect on this, and also on this strange coincidence.

Alexa freed her hands from the bandages.

The expectation in the great hall was so thick and intense it could be cut in the air. The breath caught in everyone's breasts, waiting in anticipation, made the suspense unbearable.

"Your Majesty, hold your son's hand."

Still a little puzzled, but hopeful, the stern-looking man grasped the boy's delicate hand.

Alexa carefully touched Alexander's forehead with her bare hand. Nothing on his face moved, not a microexpression, just the slightest breath, "But he's dying, Your Majesty. He needs to breathe."

Alexa couldn't see anything with the eyes of her soul. Alexander's soul wasn't close to his body; he just wasn't there at all.

It was like a dead body. But the young Prince was just slept without being able to wake up. There were no clues; there was no history… Just like that other time… But this thought also led the maiden to wonder about the cause of this prince's peculiar state… She was dragged back from her thoughts by Prince Gutard's watchful gaze upon herself.

"If you want him to live, Your Majesty, you need to blow your breath into him!"

"But..." he exclaimed in confusion.

Surely the concept wasn't so simple to figure out if it had never been seen before. Rushing over, Alexa leaned over the presumed dead Prince, and resting her lips on his cold lips, blew air into them.

They were a mirrored and inverted image of each other at that moment.

Only when the maiden felt his breath resuming, a little stronger than before, she considered it a success.

She lifted her face, relieved and grinning,

"It worked, Majesty! His breathing is returning! He will survive, even if it takes him some time to wake up!"

Everyone around her stared at her with some indistinct expressions in which the shock inevitably stood out.

"Take her to the interrogation room!" the Sovereign Prince ordered.

"Uh?!"