They had very little to do as the witch, Geoff, finished the potion. After days inside, Max had finally convinced Fantasy to join him outside so they could enjoy the calm weather. She did, after much begging on his part. Now they sat in his own private gardens.

The court had heard of the mysterious woman that the princes were often seen with. They were curious as to who this woman was and why the princes followed her around. That’s why he had chosen his personal garden. But he knew that word of this would reach all the courtiers. Some of whom had close ties to the kingdom of Dracos Vos. They could not be trusted, ever. 

Fantasy was playing with puppies that one of his hunting dogs had birthed. “I didn’t you kept your puppies here, Max. If I had known, I would have come earlier.” She said delightedly. One of the puppies sat on her, tail wiggling as it tried to lick her face.

“I don’t normally, but I thought it’d be good for you to play with them. They don’t get to play much anyway because I’ve been so busy recently. If you want, you can just ask Neala to bring you to them.” He sat beside her, the puppies already hounding him.

“You were right,” She smiled at him. He swore he felt his heart constricting. “I did need to get out. It was all getting too much for me honestly.”

“Don’t be afraid to tell me when you feel too overwhelmed, Fantasy.” Max met her eyes. “You need to remain in good health too. We need you now.”

“Of course I’ll tell you, Max.” She giggled as the puppy licked her hand. “I know you well. You are different from the others. I know it well, indeed.”

------

Valentine grunted as another wave of pain went through his body. As soon as the sound left his mouth, Fantasy was right by his side, holding his hand. “Soon, Val. Just wait a little longer.”

He squeezed her hand as the pain slowly died down. The pain seemed less whenever someone was there to hold him through it. But the pain never went away, every day, it would hurt just a little bit more than the day before. “I hope this Geoff is done with the potion quickly.”

“So do I.” She brushed his damp hair back from his face. 

She was so gentle with him. Val set back on the pillows as she wiped the sweat from his brows with a cool damp cloth. Every day she came to visit him and talk to him. Val loved it, he was so lonely most of the time but now he had someone to spend time with.  It helped to have someone to talk to. Fantasy listened to him, all his endless stories and worries and thoughts.

“What are you thinking about, Val?” She sat beside him. 

“My lover.” He whispered softly. “Whenever I see you, sometimes I think of her.”

“Do I look like her?”

“Not at all. It’s just- I don’t know. I just think of her.” He sighed. “Her name was Rosemary. Spirits, it hurts to even say her name. I feel ashamed and guilty.” He couldn’t even stop the words coming out of his mouth. “Because I forgot what her face looks like. I forgot what her caresses felt like. I remember them sometimes, but they are gone as soon as they come.”

She held his hand. “It’s alright. You didn’t know what Cythia was going to do. You couldn’t have done anything to stop it. And as to forgetting her, you’ll never forget her. It’s hard to forget. You might not remember her face or her touches, but in your lowest and happiest moments, it’s her you’ll think off. Trust me.”

“I should have told Tarquin that I don’t want to go. I shouldn’t have taken her with me. I should have told him I want nothing to do with Dracos Vos as Caspian did. He was the one who was supposed to go, you know that? It wasn’t supposed to be me.” Val wanted to scream. He had said he wanted to go instead of Caspian, so Tarquin didn’t force him. 

“I know. Caspian was going to go.” Her eyes seemed to change. “Both of you were going to go together.”

“I didn’t want to disappoint Tarquin. He was already so stressed, I didn’t want to add to it. Maybe I shouldn’t be cured.” He said quietly, head hung low. 

“What are you talking about, Val?” Fantasy asked him.

“Maybe this is my punishment for taking Rosemary to her painful death. I deserve this.” He shook his head. “I was a coward. I didn’t want to disappoint Tarquin and it all led to this mess. I can’t do anything right!”

“Listen to me well, Valentine Auberjonis.” He looked up at her when he heard her tone. “Cythia wanted to hurt your family in any way she could. She made them host the party for this reason alone. She wanted to hurt you. She wants Jonis, so she wanted to weaken your brothers by hurting any of you. You have no fault in this, all this was planned well before you arrived at that party. It was just unfortunate that it was you and Rosemary.”

-------------

Geoff looked over the list of ingredients again, and again, just to make sure he had everything he needed for this potion. All of the things had been fairly to easy to get his hands on. It was a fairly easy spell, he had realized. It wasn’t even a spell, it was a potion. It might have been called a spell centuries ago. But he had never thought of mixing some of these ingredients together. This was olden magic, the kind of magic used by the first generations of Etheri. This was impure magic. 

He still didn’t understand why the king had picked him of all people, he was a random witch at the academy. He wasn’t particularly famous or anything. He was a nobody, a back alley witch. Though he didn’t question the good fortune the spirits blessed him with. The king has promised him jewels and a manor, more than he would ever gain as a mere witch. What more could he ever ask for?

Of course, he knew whatever this was, it was dangerous. Kellice had died the same day the king, the princes, and that mysterious lady had gone to see her. Word has spread like wildfire and it had scared off the more experienced witches. 

There were suspicious things going on. Even a weak witch like him felt the huge boom of magical disturbances about a few months ago. It wasn’t regular magic, it had to be an ancient summoning spell, ones used to summon spirits and things like that.

There were rumors of Cythia killing every witch anywhere near the perimeter of Agar, the forest between Jonis and Dracos Vos. But King Tarquin would protect him. After all, everyone knew about what Cythia did to Prince Valentine but no one was quite sure what it was. No one informed him of it either. Geoff had yet to figure out who the mysterious lady was who explained the potion to him. 

He had so many questions, yet no one answered them and he was too scared to ask. Maybe it was better if he didn’t know all of it. He didn’t think it was good for him to know so many royal secrets. It was better this way if he dared not to question things he had no business knowing in the first.