I tried not to focus on the music but it felt like it was calling forth my terrors and fears. There were moving trees and darting shadows all around me as I lost the urge to continue running. I stopped and fell to my knees. I felt something moving up my body and looked down. My body froze as I watched bugs crawl up my legs. There was sharp pain as some of the larger bugs started to dig into my skin. I cried out in pain as they moved under my skin.

“Why did you run? I gave you a home to keep you happy.” His voice had the echo of the melody within his words. “Come with me right now and I will only give you a small punishment.”

He was standing nearby me with his hand outstretched towards me. My hand moved toward him against my will. He changed the melody to a softer one and all of the terrible images and pain disappeared. He was still singing the song as he pulled me to his chest. His thumb was caressing my cheek to wipe away my tears.

“Prince Bastion, duck!” A sharp voice snapped me out of the music.

I pushed away from him as an arrow came out of his chest, right where his heart would be. Edwin looked at his chest with shock before falling forward. I was frozen on the ground because I was still trying to gain full control of my body. I heard something drop before someone came running up to me. I was surprised that Dirk came to save me.

“I have been looking for you for years and now I finally found you.”

He pulled me into a hug before he helped me up. We walked around Edwin’s corpse and I thought that he might jump up at any moment to destroy this dream of freedom.

“How did you find me? I don’t even remember coming here.” I told him after he picked up his bow.

“I heard rumors of him visiting different nearby towns while bringing a mixture of hope and destruction.”

He helped me onto his horse and then he climbed on behind me.

“I thought that I was only gone for a few months with him.”

He gave me a shocked look as we continued on.

“No, it has been five years since you left the kingdom. King Felix became our ruler barely a year after the piper came to our kingdom. The piper killed your father by sneaking in and poisoning him.”

I hated my father but I was hoping for him to die of old age. Felix is now the ruler at only fifteen years old. We continued moving until we got to the edge of the forest.

“Thank you for finding me.” He gave me a smile after I spoke.

He helped me down from the horse before he started on setting up the camp. I used the time to see how I looked after all these years. My nails and hair were longer but I could smell that I did bathe during the five years. After a small meal of hot rabbit stew, he helped me get covered up for the night with a few blankets.

As soon as I fell asleep, I heard the haunting melody again. Then, I felt something crawling up my arm and legs. A heavy weight was pushing me down into the ground.

“You are my prize, so you cannot escape me.” Edwin whispered in my ear while keeping the tune.

I felt something sharp push against my chest and it woke me into a nightmare. Edwin was covered in blood and the arrowhead was digging into me. I started screaming while trying to push him off. He continued to sing the melody as he fought me. Dirk kicked him off of me before stabbing his neck, his music stopped with a gargle. Dirk helped me onto the horse before getting on behind me again.

We barely stopped until we reached the castle. On the way there, I still had nightmares every night. Dirk would curl up next to me to become an anchor of reality at night. When we entered the castle, he quickly took me to my old room to clean up. I received hugs from all of the servants after I changed clothes. Then, Dirk took me to the throne room to see Felix.

“Bastion, you are finally home. Everyone has missed you.” Gone was the young –baby-faced ten year old. He reminded me of our father before our mother died. “You always hated when father would talk to you from up here, so I will come down to hug you.”

He got up from the throne and walked down to hug me. We were both crying during the hug.

“I am sorry that you had to take the throne at such a young age. But, you are better suited for the throne than I would ever be.”

“I was slightly worried that you would take over.” He gave me a wide smile before continuing. “If you want, you can still hold the title of prince and you can find a job outside of here. Try talking to Doc, the whole hospital misses you.”

Even though he looks like our father, he took on my helpful personality. Dirk walked over and started whispering in my brother’s ear. He walked over to me as Felix playfully waved us off.

“What did you ask Felix?”

“I live nearby the hospital so I was asking for his permission to ask you.” He scratched the back of his head before continuing. “Would you like to live with me?”

I do not think that I could live alone in my room here would be a good idea. At least, no one would like me anymore from the nightmares.

“I would like to.” He pulled me into a loving, gentle hug at my answer.

Later that year, I became the head assistant to Doc, and when they retired, I became the head doctor. Felix married a sweet princess from a neighboring kingdom and they had twin boys and a girl. Dirk became Head Guard at the castle after his father retired.

I still have nightmares about Edwin finding me and making me his doll. Dirk was the only one to snap me out of the screaming fits. I could never listen to any form of music without the memories coming back. He became the legend of the mesmerizing piper because he taught people to pay the price for any task or face the wrath of someone being cheated out of their prize.

It turns out that Dirk was the only person searching for me during the five years that I was gone. He begged Felix to let him go as soon as my brother became king. He asked me out at the year. He did not care about any of my faults so I told him yes.

Ever since the incident with the rats, Felix learned always to pay for all services that he asks. I still never figured out if I truly loved Edwin or not but I love my life now.