Renggi Nanta stared at the Prince's personal guard with her mouth wide open. She always thought the two looked somehow alike, but this time she really couldn't tell the difference. If he didn't say a single word, even Princess Ritoja wouldn't be able to know that this was not her son.
"All he has to do is show up at the feast, am I correct?" Maharahi's question brought the secretary back. "As long as he doesn't have to make a speech or sign a treaty of some kind, I say you've got your problem solved."
"How did you... Is it... Why..."
"Ever since King Prajanggaru the First's untimely death, I've been searching for a potion that can make the drinker takes the form of someone else," Maharahi explained without letting Renggi Nanta finished a whole sentence. She touched Jantra Kawa's armor. "The idea is to create a convincing body double should the king's life be in danger. And after decades of brewing, I finally found the perfect recipe. With a strand of the prince's hair and twelve other secret ingredients, I present you my masterpiece."
Renggi Nanta kept staring at Jantra Kawa. "Is he... entirely him? I mean, except the voice."
"Well, there are three things that my potion cannot perfectly duplicate," Maharahi pointed at the prince. "First, the eyes. King Prajanggaru the First, the Second and Prince Regent Basandaya all have a unique set of yellow eyes that only a handful of people in Ranundala share. We are in luck that Gaptin Jantra Kawa has the same colored eyes. If it was you or me who drink the potion, people will notice right away. Also, the Prince Regent looks hideous with brown eyes. Blegh.
"Second, the voice. This is probably the biggest flaw of my potion. But rest assured, my lady, if Gaptin Jantra Kawa just changes his pitch a little bit, only a few people will notice the difference. He can always say he has a cold or something.
"And the third, the finger print. I tried all that I could, but the finger print stays different."
"The finger print? I think it's the last thing we should worry about," Renggi Nanta stepped forward and circled the guard who was wearing the prince regent's face. "I have to say it's a remarkable work, Maharahi. But, er... I don't know how to say it. Umm... it's a bad idea."
"It's a great idea," argued Maharahi. "If someone's trying to harm him, Gaptin Jantra Kawa can just strike them with Divine Thunder and everything will be fine."
"But..."
"I really wish you'd approve this mission and send Gaptin Jantra Kawa on his way because the potion only lasts for three hours," cut Maharahi. "And it's been nine minutes. And it's getting late. And Kasurip is in another island."
Renggi Nanta checked the clock on her desk. The impact of this strategy if it backfired would be unbearable for the palace. A guard played dress up as the Prince Regent? King Prajanggaru II would stand up from his grave.
But, this could be the right moment to test out the potion. King Kertageni had never met Prince Basandaya. Even if there was something off, he wouldn't notice the way she would.
"Alright," Renggi Nanta relented. "We'll see if it works. But first, we have to put him into something more... princely."
"Oh, don't worry, I'm already two steps ahead," said Maharahi. She clapped her hands and shouted, "Saka Subarsang!"
Her apprentice came bearing a heavy chest. When opened, the entire ensemble of the prince's formal wear was waiting to be used.
"Um, alright," Renggi Nanta gawked at the content of the chest. "I need you to tell me how you managed to get your hands on all of this."
"I just asked," chirped Saka Subarsang.
"And they just gave it to you?!"
"Well, anytime I use Maharahi's name, I rarely get any refusal."
Maharahi just smirked when Renggi Nanta narrowed her eyes.
They let Jantra Kawa change his clothes in Renggi Nanta's office. A few minutes later, he stepped out completely as the prince regent.
He and Renggi Nanta rushed back to the front yard. They ended up only using one carriage to take them both to the island. On their way there, Renggi Nanta explained all the protocols and traditions that Jantra Kawa must do as the guest. He also worked on his best impression of Prince Basandaya's voice and manner.
Meanwhile, far in the center of the palace, the real Prince Basandaya was climbing the ladder in the dark palace library. His candelabra was placed on the desk under him, giving him enough light to search for a book that could explain his condition.
Once he found what he was looking for, he slid back to the floor and spread it on the desk. Pages turned in a hurry. His yellow eyes moved left to right to find anything that could convince him that he wasn't beyond salvation. Anything.
Suddenly, the door opened. It was too late for him to blow out his candles. Besides, it's not like he's forbidden for coming to the library.
"Who's there?" Princess Ritoja's voice was muffled behind the enormous shelves. "I saw your candle from under the doors."
"It's alright, Mother," Prince Basandaya answered. "It's only me."
"Bas?" the king's widow emerged from behind the shelves. In this darkness, she appeared even taller than usual. She was a tall woman, taller than Prince Grahuri who had always been the tallest man in the room. Her white and transparent loose shawl followed behind like a ghost tail. Her ladies-in-waiting must have been told to go somewhere else for she strolled in all alone.
She remembered something, "I thought you went to Kasurip."
"I can't," answered Prince Basandaya shamefully.
"What do you mean you can't?" the Dowager Princess leaned on the desk in front of her son.
"This book says I'm having anxiety caused by a traumatic experience," Prince Basandaya pointed at the book. "Triggers can bring back memories of the trauma accompanied by intense emotional and physical reaction."
"And what is your trigger?" Princess Ritoja pulled the book and read it herself.
"The carriage, I suppose," answered Prince Basandaya.
"Oh, Bas," Princess Ritoja put the book back on the desk. "I know it's very exciting to be a king, even only for eleven months."
"Mother..."
"But look at what you've done to yourself," she ignored his call. "Making enemies with the council? The people? And when they fight back, you're... We almost lost you. And now you've been rendered helpless."
"I chose the right decision, not the easy one."
"Oh, sweetheart, how do you know that it's the right decision?" Princess Ritoja brushed his swept back wavy hair. "You were never trained and raised to be the king. You should've just declined this position and left it to your uncle."
Prince Basandaya could only tighten his lips. His brain was struggling to break free, trying to give her a piece of his mind. However, his heart got a hold of his body, sealing it shut before he hurt his own mother. She had been through a lot and she didn't need any more trouble from her only son.
A long time ago, there had been a crisis in the Kingdom of Tenrana. Three of its closest neighbors had conspired together to attack it. Knowing Ranundala had been eyeing the opportunity to set up shop to sell their goods in their ports, they had offered it in exchange of military support to crush their enemy. To sweeten the deal, they had thrown in Princess Ritoja into the negotiation.
At the time, King Prajanggaru I had been worried about the line of succession. Maharahi had warned him, long before Crown Prince Danabrumi's betrothal with Ayyali Asmaris, that all his six children had fertility problem. When Princess Ritoja had been offered to them, Crown Prince Danabrumi had still been childless despite being married to Ayyali Asmaris, then titled Princess Narasitta, for nine years. Although his rebelling brother had been shot dead a month before the negotiation, the King had still yearned to secure the future of Ranundala.
Meanwhile, Prince Ingarsu, his second son, had died in the civil war. Adding to the pressure, the newly wedded Prince Grahuri had just been blessed with a daughter. Naturally, his wife had deserved something much better than a new wife for her husband.
Thus, King Prajanggaru I had decided that the Tenranese princess must marry Crown Prince Danabrumi, even though the Prince had vowed to follow his father's footsteps to only have one wife in a lifetime.
After a hard fought resistance, finally Princess Narasitta had agreed to let him marry Princess Ritoja under one condition: if she finally gave birth to a child, then that child would automatically become the heir to the throne. King Prajanggaru I had seen this as an extortion, because she had only been the daughter of a Pram, meanwhile Princess Ritoja was the daughter of a king. It had been more fitting if Princess Ritoja's child became the priority. However, the Tenranese royal family had agreed on that condition. Therefore, Crown Prince Danabrumi had married Princess Ritoja and made her his second wife.
Soon, the soldiers of Tenrana and Ranundala had spectacularly triumphed. The three kingdoms had even integrated into Tenrana and made it an even greater kingdom. A year later, Prince Basandaya had been born.
Crown Prince Danabrumi had assumed the throne following the death of his father and become King Prajanggaru II. Even at this point, Prince Basandaya had still been the only heir he'd had. Four years later, a miracle had happened. The Queen had given birth to three babies at the same time, Prince Tapriyasta, Princess Tistara and Princess Tastri. Due to that condition, Prince Basandaya was no longer the heir to the crown. He became the fourth in the line of succession and had his responsibilities and privileges shifted aside.
"Remember, if you take a step too high, you can fall right on your face," added his mother. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
But he's hurt already. And the pain would remain, longer than he thought it would.
"I'm going to bed," the Dowager Princess stood up and meandered toward the doors.
"Good night, Mother," said Prince Basandaya.
"Good night," she closed the door.
Prince Basandaya gazed at the book on the desk. Would he let this pressure defeat him? No. He still had so much to do. So much before it's too late.
He closed the book and put it back on the shelves. Then, he blew out the candles before slipping outside the palace to visit Maharahi's pavillion.
Under the two moons, the guards and the caretakers were still roaming at this hour, switching posts, lighting the candles and torches, carrying things back to their places. A few of Prince Tapriyasta's friends greeted and bowed at him before they returned home. The Prince Regent took a detour to enter Patyasana Hall, the building where Maharahi lived and practiced. The south gate was his preferred way to get in.
Just like every other building in the palace, the doors to Patyasana Hall were made of carefully carved wood. Its doorknobs were in the shape of a snake for snake's limbs were often used as medicine. With a gentle push, Prince Basandaya entered the hall and found himself traversing among the plants and herbs in Maharahi's private greenhouse. It had the most fascinating greenery with equally unique names such as faerie sapling, blue pepper and Halaberu weed.
Behind the greenhouse, another door with snake-shaped doorknobs led him to the lounge where Maharahi used to treat her patients. But at this hour, she could only be found in her laboratory. Prince Basandaya turned right and found the physician herself stood behind a desk full of pots, pans, kettles and bottles. She was grinding something with a big white stone grinder.
Maharahi checked the hourglass that was nearly empty. "Huh, you're early," she said. "Where's Renggi Nanta?"
"Home, most likely," replied Prince Basandaya. "I'm sure she had no reason to stay in the palace after the disastrous reaction I've had earlier."
Maharahi blinked.
"Oh, Your Highness," she stopped grinding. Even she didn't realize that this was the real Prince Basandaya. Now that she gave him her full attention, it was rather obvious how gloomy he was.
"I do apologize for inviting myself in while you clearly have things to do," he came closer. "But I am desperately in need of your help."
Maharahi looked down to the grinder, "Your Highness..."
"Please don't turn me away."
She looked back up again. It was such a strange thing to say to her, but then she stared at his eyes. Those yellow eyes seemed unfamiliar to her. And that voice too. As if she had missed the years where they had grown.
The royal physician put down the grinder and cleaned her hands with a piece of cloth. She nodded, "I saw what happened with the carriage earlier."
"Do you have any clue as to why it happened?" Prince Basandaya turned around. He was so ashamed of how weak he was that he couldn't see her in the eyes.
"Your father had the same trauma after he found your grandfather bleeding to death in Tableless Chamber. It took years for him to be able to step into Tableless Chamber again."
"Maharahi, you know I don't have years to conquer this trauma. I must be able to get back into the carriage immediately. Surely you must have some magical potion that can make me forget about the accident."
"Your Highness," Maharahi suddenly appeared right beside him. "Accident, heartbreak, grief are part of the experience so unique that makes you who you are. Forgetting it may solve your problem, but it will not let you grow."
"So you don't have a magical potion to cure my condition?"
"The mind is still an enigma, even for magic practitioner like me," explained Maharahi. "There's no concrete evidence of what it stores and no guarantee of its full potential. We cannot measure memories, dreams and imaginations. The physical aspect of a human being is easily altered, because we can see it, touch it, taste it, smell it, hear it. But the mind? If a magical potion is what you really want, I can start my research on that. In the mean time, we must try another way."
"Alright, then I'll force Jantra Kawa to knock me unconscious every time I need to get into the carriage."
"You'll become an imbecile in a week."
"What would you have me do?" Prince Basandaya moaned. "I need to get over this. I have so much to do. My government works best when I'm able to go on those field researches and hands-on operations. I don't have time to fear the sight of a carriage to fulfill my duty."
The last grain of sand landed on the bottom part of the hourglass. Maharahi smiled. "What if I told you that I have found a solution to your problem?"
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