The Apothecary and the Cursed Prince

The supper was a feast, and rightly so. It was rare for Hugh to not come home exhausted after a long day at the farm, but the season's crop had finished harvesting the previous week and the sowing for the next crop was yet to commence.

These were the weeks, the post-harvest ones, that their whole family looked forward to. As it not only gave them more time to spend with each other — even if most of it was just repairing the tools and drying the grains together — it also gave Hugh the occasional opportunity to show off his exceptional culinary skills.

Eleonora dipped a piece of meat in soy and relished the tenderness cooked to perfection.

'How is it?' Hugh was sitting back in his chair, waiting for the three of them to taste the food first and compliment him.

'Incredible as always!' Mary declared. Eleonora and Margaret chimed in with the praises as well.

Hugh blushed with the complements and picked up a spoon to dig in himself. Eleonora smiled watching him like this — happy and at peace with life. It was a normal occurrence now, a regular activity to see him happy like this, to see him smile like that. But after spending a whole childhood watching him watch the world with sunken eyes and a stone face, sitting in a dark corner with only a bottle of ale to give him comfort, Eleonora relished that smile every time it appeared on his face. And the people that made it happen.

'How's Albert?' Hugh asked when he felt Eleonora's eyes on him.

'It seems someone poisoned the ale he drank. It will take some time for it to leave his body,' said Eleonora, looking at her unfinished food and wondering if she should go into more details or avoid them this time. Talking about the ill often made her lose her appetite.

'Let's not talk about that now, Dearheart. Else Eli will not be able to enjoy your prepared feast,' Margaret interjected, knowing her predicament better than her father.

'Ah, right! Of course.' Hugh threw his hands in the air, surrendering. 'Pardon my forgetfulness, my ladies. I blame it on age.'

'It's not the age, my love. It's your negligence to our children's wellbeing.' Margaret retorted.

Hugh frowned. Then looked at Eleonora with a raised brow. What did I do? he mouthed.

Eleonora shrugged and focused on the food. The bowl of soup shivered in her hands as she suppressed a laugh. She knew Margaret well enough to know her father was soon going to be put on the spot. The cause was obvious to her as well. But she had already played her part, and now it was time to stay silent and watch someone else take the heat.

'Why did you not stop Eli from going to the village alone?' Margaret's tone was softer, but one wrong answer would easily change it for the worse.

'The boy needed her, my love.'

'Then you could have accompanied her.'

'I insisted, but Eli didn't-'

'Let's not quarrel tonight, Mama.' Eleonora said, deflecting the conversation from turning back to herself. 'You all will be leaving in a few hours and the food is getting cold. Let's not waste it. Mary might not be able to eat anything as good for many years now.'

A soft thud from Mary's direction drew all of theirs' attention towards her. The chicken leg that must have been in her hands only moments before was now dropped on her plate, and her lips that had been parted for a generous bite were left open as she looked at Eleonora, shocked.

'You said you will be visiting me all the time,' Mary complained.

'Of course, we will, my dear. But Archanis Academy allows visitation only once every few months, so we all might not be able to get together as often,' Margaret placed a hand over Mary's for reassurance. It was a futile attempt, however. As no amount of consolation prepares a child to be away from their family for the first time in their life.

Archanis Academy of Sorcery and Human Sciences was the biggest University in all of the five kingdoms. Established by The Celestial Concord centuries ago in the HighLands, — the physical nexus of all five kingdoms — it was a symbol of peace and unity. Its prestige not only derived from its daunting history, but also from its rare balance of power, which enabled both the nobles and the common folks to learn, dine and reside within its walls together.

Mary had taken the entrance examination last summer, and after months of anxious waiting, the letter of acceptance had finally arrived last week.

'Don't worry, Mary. If Archanis Academy is anything like what we've heard of, then I doubt you will be missing us at all, let alone the food.' Eleonora winked at her little sister, making her smile with ease.

After dinner, when Margaret and Hugh busied themselves in cleaning the table and dishes before their departure, Eleonora helped Mary carry the packed bags to the rented cart waiting outside.

The cold pricked her skin like needles and the howling wind indemnified the sound of crickets resonating in the air. Eleonora heaved the bags on the top of the cart, then went to stand in front of Mary to fix her woolen scarf around her ears.

'Don't catch a cold. It's a long journey to the HighLands.'

Mary looked at her dreamily, her hazel eyes reflecting the stars shining above their heads. 'You should've come with us.'

Eleonora smiled. 'I need to look after Albert... and our house.'

It was a blatant lie. But Mary was only ten. No different in Eleonora's eyes than the infant she had held in her arms all those years ago. She wouldn't understand why the people would be screaming at them or throwing rocks in their direction if Eleonora accompanied them on that cart. She wouldn't understand the hate. She doesn't need to.

'I meant,' Mary crushed a little pebble under her feet. 'You should've taken the exam with me. I've seen you with your herbs and I've seen you preparing those tinctures and potions. You're so smart. You even taught me for my examination, it would have been easier for you. You should've come with me.'

Eleonora found herself at a loss of words. Not because there was nothing to say, but because there was so much to say that she didn't know where to start from. It was hard to find words to explain when you've been asking yourself the same question for years and years, knowing well the reason was never going to find its way to you.

'I like it here,' was all she could say.

Behind them, the cottage door opened, momentarily splashing yellow light in the darkness as their parents walked out. Hugh went to check the bags, while Margaret stopped by Eleonora to give her a hug.

'We'll be back as soon as Mary has settled there. It won't be long. Take care.' Margaret kissed her forehead, lovingly.

'I will, Mama. Be safe on your journey.'

'Your cousin Talia will be here by morning. Don't open the door until she gets here. And when you go to Albert's, take her with you.'

Eleonora laughed. 'Do not worry, I'll be fine, Mama. I'm not a child anymore.'

'You'll always be one for me.'

'Alright, alright. Step aside now, Mama. It's my turn,' Hugh declared.

Eleonora laughed heartily as he rushed to hug her tight. 'Be careful. We'll be back in no time. Don't cause much trouble, okay?'

'I won't, Papa. Now hurry or else you'll miss the ferry.'

'Of course. Of course.' Hugh broke the hug and helped Mary and Margaret onto the cart.

Just as the cart moved forward and she raised her hand to wave them goodbye, Eleonora felt the first hint of the charry smoke carried by the tumultuous wind filling up her nostrils. Her family waved back, happily, unaware. Owing to the lack of constant experimentation with medicines, unlike Eleonora, their senses were not as developed; and their cart was already on its way to be swallowed by the mist, making it disappear like a magician's trick.

Once the sound of the cart's wheel crackling the gravel died away, Eleonora rushed inside her cottage, worried they might have forgotten to put off the fire. The hearth was closed, the coal was shimmering with dying embers. There was no burning odour inside her house. But something was wrong, Eleonora could feel it.

She grabbed the oil lamp by the window and lit it with hurried fingers.

When she opened the door this time, the putrid smell of burning had become more prominent. She walked outside. It was still dark, the mist slowly fusing with the smoke arising somewhere from the west, the stars twinkling in the sky now shadowed by it, invisible.

But that was not what caught Eleonora's attention.

It was the western sky painted in red and orange that did. Behind the tall trees of the Spirit Forest, reaching up to sky, the flames not visible from afar, but the embers coloring the sky like a demonic canvas. Eleonora stood there stunned, with the oil lamp in her hand, the mist and smoke floating around her like ghosts, the darkness covering everything behind her, and something — a lot of things, a town? a whole village, perhaps? — burning before her eyes.