Ridley

“Hey, Ridley, whatcha doing?” I nearly toppled over at the sound of Percival’s voice behind me. “You know, I just gotta ask...why are you crouching down with half a piece of fish in the middle of the palace garden?”

I straightened, completely forgetting that I was still holding the fish in one hand. “There’s a family of kittens and their mother that I’ve seen around here the past few days. I brought this as a snack for them.”

Percival let out a low chuckle. “You sure love animals, don’t you?”

“I do...well...most of them.”

“Most of them?” Percival asked, arching a dark brow.

I tried to push out any and all horrible memories of a certain raven. “Uh...just forget it.”

“Percival! Ridley!” We both looked to the sound of a third voice. Coming towards us through the garden was Prince Stefan. It had been wonderful having him around these last couple weeks. I had forgotten how much I had missed my old childhood friend. The last few weeks had been filled with interesting stories from him about his travels and studies. Stefan had always had a knack for making even the most mundane thing seem exciting.

As he approached us now, he wrinkled his nose. “Gods...what’s that smell?” His gaze fell to the fish in my hand. “I’m not even going to ask.”

Percival grinned at him. “You out for a walk in the garden too?”

Stefan shook his head. “Actually, I came out here to find you, Ridley. My father wants to talk to you.”

I blinked, slightly confused. “Why didn’t he send a messenger?”

Stefan smiled, lowering his voice. “It’s for a top secret mission. My father couldn’t even trust a messenger to tell you in case they overheard what the meeting was about. I don’t mean to rush you with whatever you were…” his gaze fell back to the fish, “err...in the middle of. But this is pretty urgent.”

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Stefan turned to leave and Percival and I started after him.

Stefan suddenly stopped, his gaze falling to Percival. “I’m sorry, Percy. But I just need Ridley...not you. I’m sure you understand.”

Percival smiled thinly. “Yeah...yeah, I get it.”

My eyes widened. “Oh! Since you’re staying behind, do you think you could feed the cats for me?”

“Wha...uh, Ridley, I don’t know…”

“It would seriously mean a lot to me!”

Percival sighed heavily. “Yeah...sure, fine.”

I handed him the fish, giving him a pat on the back. “You’re the best.”

----------

I made my way to the throne room which was surprisingly empty. The King was sitting on his throne and stood up when Stefan and I came in.

I gave him a deep bow. “Your Majesty….I’m not sure what this meeting is about, but I’ll be happy to help with whatever I can.”

The King nodded. “Sir Ridley, have you ever heard of Corisathium?”

I shook my head. “No, Your Majesty.”

The King gestured to his son. “Would you care to explain it, Stefan?”

Stefan gave a stiff nod. “Well...to put it mildly, it’s an extremely dangerous drug of sorts.”

I furrowed my brow. “A drug?”

“In a way. It’s laced with blood magic. Now, as I’m sure you know, due to the unethical aspects of blood magic it has been banned in practically every kingdom for thousands of years. Even the demons decided against it. Corisathium had been long forgotten...or so we thought.”

I raised my hand.

Stefan’s eyes narrowed. “Is something wrong?”

“I, uh...just had a question.”

“Ridley, you’re a knight. You don’t need to raise your hand like a school boy.”

“Oh...err...right.”

There was an awkward beat of silence.

Finally, Stefan let out a heavy sigh. “What was your question, Ridley?”

“What exactly does Corisathium do?”

Stefan’s gaze darkened. “Most of the time, it makes people do horrible things against their own will.”

“What does that mean?”

“Whoever has the Corisathium just adds a drop of their blood to it. Once someone else drinks it, their body will be completely under the first person's control. The first person practically becomes their puppet master. The recipient can't fight back, they have to do whatever their new ‘master’ tells them. As you can probably guess, it’s been used to do some pretty terrible things. It’s rumored that back in the day, entire dynasties were overthrown by Corisathium.”

My eyes widened, horrified at even the idea of this terrible liquid.

"We thought that Corisathium had been lost," Stefan continued, "nothing more than a myth. But my father has received word that it’s made a reappearance.”

“Really?” I stammered. “Where?”

“A town not far from here. They’re having a festival today and we’ve heard it said that a merchant will be arriving with a case of it to sell. It could be just a rumor, but we can’t take the chance. Corisathium, in the wrong hands, is an extremely dangerous thing...especially if the demons get their hands on it. We’re trying to keep word of this as quiet as we can, and we need to make sure whoever we send to retrieve it won’t try to take it for themselves. That’s why we want you to do it. Will you accept this mission, Sir Ridley? Will you find the Corisathium so it can be brought back here and destroyed like it should have been thousands of years ago?”

I nodded slowly. “Of course I accept.”

----------

The village was so crowded when I arrived that I practically had to push my way through it. Stefan had talked me through what Corisathium looked like and what I should be searching for. I was fairly confident that if I saw it, I would recognize it. Then again...it most likely wasn’t out in the open. My current strategy was to look in any place possible. Hell, I was even willing to lift up a chicken or two and see if the Corisathium was somehow hidden beneath them.

I definitely had my work cut out for me. Every corner of the town seemed to be filled with people buying and selling things. Large, multicolored poles had been set up throughout the town with banners connecting them and flowers winding their way up them. Merchants lined the streets selling wares, women danced with bells attached to their ankles, and men stood beside them playing drums and lyres. If I didn’t have such a dire mission, I would most likely have found it difficult to not get whisked away into the jovial merriment of the town.

A small girl suddenly approached me. She carried a basket of garlands and crowns made of flowers.

She smiled up at me warmly. “Hello, sir...may I interest you in a flower crown?”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry...I actually am in a bit of a rush because…”

Her lower lip trembled. “Please, sir...it’s only one copper. I’ve hardly sold anything and I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t…”

I quickly grabbed for my purse and pressed a gold coin into her hand. “Uh, here...is that alright?”

Her little eyes widened. “Oh my goodness! This will feed my family for a week!” She looked about ready to cry. “Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!” She pulled me into a hug. “I’ll never forget your kindness.”

I smiled at her. “It was nothing, really.”

She fumbled through her basket, pulling out a flower crown made of bright yellow and pink roses.

“Here,” she said, arms extending as she pushed herself onto her tip-toes to reach me. “This is the best one I have.” She placed it gently in my hair. “You look perfect.”

I gave her a little bow. “Thank you for the flower crown, miss.”

She giggled, giving me a little curtsy before dashing off to someone else. A hooded figure had appeared and she was making her way to him. My eyes narrowed. There was something suspicious about this person...something which made my gut tell me I should keep an eye on him.

She approached him, smiling brightly. “Can I interest you in a flower crown, sir?”

“Nope, they’re super ugly.”

Wait...that voice? It couldn’t be...oh no.

“Are you sure, sir?”

“Very.” The figure turned around quickly, his hood falling down in the process. Our gazes met.

There he was, none other than Prince Vandel himself.

I stared at him and he stared back at me. Finally he sighed heavily. “Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.”