Chapter One

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The street was empty save for a single figure walking silently along the footpath, her dark clothes obscuring her almost completely in the night. She cast her eyes downwards and watched the sleeping child cradled in her arms. His face was peaceful; one would think him dead if not for the small rising and falling of his chest. She strode on in the dark, only stopping once under a lamp post at the end of a paved driveway. The door was open before she had even reached within a metre of it and Caligo let herself in. A 20 year old woman, nervously wringing her hands at the door, closed it behind her before following Caligo into the small lounge room. A man stalked into the room soon afterwards, and joined his partner on the couch opposite Caligo. The woman of the house was the first to speak.

"May we see him?" Caligo nodded and silently obliged.

The young couple were completely enthralled by the boy the moment he was in their arms. The young woman rocked him and the man looked at the Prince as though he was his own pride and joy; completely absorbed. Caligo watched the two for a moment more before speaking.

"His name is Aldric. For safety purposes however, I suggest calling him something else." The couple nodded and looked back at the small child.

"Derek. I like Derek." The woman spoke, brushing her fingers softly over the baby's forehead. "What do you think?" She turned her face up to her partner for confirmation.

Caligo watched the entire exchange with dull disinterest.

16 years of this. She thought to herself.

16 years of watching these two play happy family with the crown Prince.

Aldric, or rather Derek now, watched as the new parents cooed over him. Caligo continued to observe the young couple interact with the Prince silently.

16 years of watching over a child who may one day cause me trouble as a King.

The couple seemed to have forgotten about Caligo's existence in the room, so with that she stood, redirecting their attention.

"For the first several weeks I will visit daily to check up on the Prince's progress, along with yours. Once I have deemed it suitable, I will visit once a week." Caligo turned and made her way towards the door. "Until tomorrow."

*

Her new house was small and paled in comparison to her grand castle back at home, but at least it was empty. Every wall was white, as were the tiles, and the curtains a shade of brown.

16 years... 16 measly years has never seemed so torturous before.

*

The weeks that followed consisted of the same routine. Caligo would see the couple -who for the first few visits would welcomed her nervously- and spend the day observing them from a distance. At first they, Sarah and Adam, found the whole thing to be a little awkward, but they became used to Caligo's presence in the house by the third week. And by the fourth week, Sarah had mustered up enough courage to attempt a conversation with the Queen.

Caligo stood in the kitchen, a mug between her hands, leaning her elbows on the counter-top. Her eyes focused on Adam cheerfully throwing Derek up into the air, before catching him again. Magic itched at her finger tips at the thought of Adam dropping the Prince.

"Adam won't drop him." Sarah said carefully after noticing Caligo's intense stare and stood next to her. Caligo's dark eyes quickly glanced at Sarah before locking back onto the Prince.

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