Jazz didn’t laugh at him. She never did that. Instead, she gave him a sad smile. “Then maybe she knows you don’t need her anymore.”
“I do need her!” he wailed.
“Look at what you did all by yourself. You rescued not just me, but yourself too. You’re a young man now.”
Raphael wondered why all these years when he’d fought his tears everyone had seen him as a child, but now that he was openly crying in front of his sister, she was calling him a young man.
He sniffed back his tears and sat up in bed, reaching for his water, and gulping it down until his thirst was quenched. Tommy was snoring in the next bed, sleeping heavily with his mother by his side. How lucky he was to have her with him.
“Thank you,” he said.
“I didn’t bring you the water,” Jazz said. “That was the doctor.”
“Not for the water.” He smiled. “For taking care of me. I’ll make it up to you one day.”
“Raph, no. You don’t have anything to make up. I’d be lost without you. I’d have nobody left in all the world without you.” There was a sadness in her eyes that he hadn’t seen for a long time and it worried him. He’d almost gotten used to seeing her walking around in a sleep. But she was awake now. That had to be a good thing, even if it meant she could now feel sad.
“Can I ask you something?” Jazz lowered her voice and leaned closer.
He nodded.
“The elixir you made… could it… well, could it alter the way someone feels about you if you’re wearing it?”
An image flashed into Raphael’s mind of Prince Ari kissing Jazz. He pushed the image away, his head still hurting too much to try to process what that meant. Had it happened in the past or was he seeing something that would happen in the future?
“No,” he said, trying to focus on her question. “The elixir brings out your true self. It won’t change your feelings. It might just make you more aware of them.”
“Oh.” Jazz looked toward the closed curtains of the window as her hand fluttered to her lips, leaving Raphael wondering if the answer he’d given her had been the right one.
A woman entered the room and opened the curtains.
“Good morning,” she said. “My name’s Elsbeth. Doctor says to get you lot cleaned up. Says you’re not ‘fectious anymore.”
“Fectious?” asked Jazz. “Oh, infectious. No, everyone’s fine here.”
Tommy groaned from the next bed and his mother sat up and blinked at the light.
“Very well. We’ve run a hot bath for each of you and laid out some new clothes. Might not fit, but they have to be better than what you got.” Elsbeth looked directly at Jazz’s torn dress.
“A bath would be wonderful,” said Cass, getting up and stretching. “I feel positively filthy.”
“Look it too,” said Elsbeth.
Raphael wondered if all the servants were as rude as this. Although, it didn’t really matter how rude she was, the happy look she’d put on Jazz’s face made it worthwhile. He didn’t really care much for a bath for himself, but clearly, his sister was desperate for one.
“Hurry then, water’s getting cold.” Elsbeth clapped her hands and Raphael swung his legs out of the bed. Salts from the elixir that Jazz had rubbed into his chest, sprinkled to the floor. Perhaps a bath wasn’t such a bad idea. He was getting fairly pungent, as his mother would have said.
They followed Elsbeth out the door and down a corridor. Raphael had never felt so slow, his legs not used to this much movement. Tommy was no better. Elsbeth didn’t seem to care, forging off ahead of them, her large buttocks jiggling as she walked.
She stopped in front of them as if she’d forgotten something and pointed at Raphael. “Majesty wants to see this one when he’s done.”
“The King?” clarified Jazz.
“That’s the one,” said Elsbeth, rolling her eyes.
Raphael felt his stomach clench. Questions. He was going to be asked lots of questions. Some of which he didn’t have the answer to. Was that going to be good enough for the King?
“I’ll need to go with him,” said Jazz.
Raphael nodded and reached for Jazz’s hand.
“That will be up to Majesty. Right now, neither of you are seeing no-one. On you go then. Boys in this door and ladies in that one.”
Raphael didn’t want to be separated from Jazz, but nor did he want to bathe with her in the same room. A young man needed his privacy.
She smiled at him and let go of his hand. “I’ll be right across the hall. Just call out if you need me.”
Raphael and Tommy went into the washroom to find two steaming hot tubs of water with soap bubbling on the surface. It smelled like roses in here. He supposed if he was going to meet the King, it would be a good thing to smell like roses rather than like pungent. Could someone smell like pungent? He probably wasn’t using that word properly, but his mother wasn’t here to correct him.
Tommy didn’t hesitate and tore off his clothes and immersed himself in one of the tubs, his skinny pale bottom disappearing into the bubbles.
“Oh, it’s so good,” he said, holding his nose and ducking his head under the water.
Raphael needed no more encouragement than that. He peeled off his clothes, turning his body to obstruct Tommy’s view of his privates.
He climbed into the water and let out a sigh. Tommy was right. It was so good. He was alive. He was well. He was clean. And soon he would meet the King of Wintergreen. As strange as that should feel, it somehow felt right. Like everything was as it was meant to be.
As he rubbed some soap into his hair, he closed his eyes and tried to bring his mother to the front of his mind. She’d definitely gone. Instead, he was given an image of himself working in the apothecary back home. He was surrounded by glass vessels suspended over burners and the scent of oils in the air.
Raphael opened his eyes, certain that the scent must be in the room with him right now, but it vanished the moment his vision did.
That was when he realized what his mother had left with him as her parting gift. The strength of her visions. All the powers he knew she’d once possessed had been passed onto him. That’s why he was seeing everything so clearly now. It wasn’t the big sleep he’d just had, it was his mother’s gift.
His Evernow was close. So close he could smell it. But his mother had taught him that visions didn’t always come true. They were only one possible path into your future. The next steps he took would determine which direction his life headed in.
But before he took any steps, first he had to meet the King.
ARI
THE NOW
Ari sat beside his father in the royal drawing room, cradling a glass of wine in his hand.
Raphael had been called for. Doctor Abner had informed them that he’d been able to cure the two boys. Ari seriously doubted the doctor had had very much to do with the cure. It was far more likely that Jasmine’s idea had worked. Whatever the case, this was excellent news.
“He’s taking a long time,” said his father.
“Doctor Abner said he was getting cleaned up,” said Ari, putting down his wine.
The door opened, and Ari and his father sat up in their chairs, raising their eyebrows expectantly.
It was the Queen.
“I’d like to hear what the boy has to say.” She took a seat and folded her arms.
Ari hid a smile as he took in the annoyed expression his father was trying to hide from his face. He’d wanted to handle this alone, and first Ari had insisted on joining him and now his wife.
“Will his sister be with him?” Ari asked, trying to hide the excitement from his voice. It had only been one night since he’d seen Jasmine, but it had felt like an eternity. He needed to find out if the air she’d sought had cleared her head.
“I didn’t call for the sister,” his father said. “However, she may prove useful, I suppose.”
“We don’t need her here.” His mother crossed her arms.
“Raphael is young,�
� said Ari. “He’ll talk more freely with his sister here.”
“True,” his father said, nodding, a gesture that sent a scowl directly to his wife’s face.
The door opened again, and this time Raphael came through, only he looked like a completely different child since the last time Ari had seen him. His hair had been washed and combed and he wore clean pants and a shirt. He was like an innocent angel. Perhaps that’s exactly what he was.
Then Jasmine walked in behind him and Ari drew in a breath. She was exquisite. Her hair had been scooped back into a braid and she wore a green dress that made her eyes look like shimmering pools of liquid. He tried not to look too closely at the way the dress pulled in at her waist, accentuating the curve of her breasts. His eyes went to her lips instead. Soft and pink and he felt heat rush to his face at the thought of having attempted to kiss them.
He looked across at his mother, whose scowl had been replaced by a mild look of surprise. Her eyebrows were raised and her mouth was open slightly as she nodded at their guests.
Jasmine dipped to a wobbling curtsy and Raphael bowed, bending over far more than was custom. Ari had to suppress a laugh. He supposed they hadn’t had much call to greet royalty like this before. If things worked out the way he wanted, one day people would be curtsying to Jasmine, not the other way around.
“Good afternoon,” his father said in a gentle voice and smiled.
Jasmine returned his smile. “I’m Jasmine and this is my brother, Raphael.”
“Please take a seat,” his father said, waving toward two vacant chairs, seeing no need to introduce himself. Everybody knew who he was.
“Lovely to see you again, Your Majesty. And you too, Your Majesty,” said Jasmine, looking at his mother. Her voice was quiet and uncertain.
Ari’s mother smiled at Jasmine with narrowed eyes. It seemed it would take a little more than a clean face and a pretty dress to win her over. But her smile was an improvement on the scowl she’d given her in the perfumery.
In his mother’s hand was Ana’s necklace. She seemed to prefer holding it where she could see it than to put it around her slender neck. It was like a piece of her daughter had come home and she was never going to let it go.
Ari’s father cleared his throat and nodded at Raphael, who was sitting pressed up against the edge of his chair as close to Jasmine as possible. His hands were shaking in his lap. It was always a surprise to see how people reacted to Ari’s parents. They were just… his parents. Although, he supposed they really weren’t ‘just’ anything. They were the King and Queen of Wintergreen.
“My son here tells me that he found you with the necklace my wife is holding,” Ari’s father said.
His mother dangled the pendant from her hand, holding it tightly. She wouldn’t be handing it over to anyone today. Or perhaps ever.
Raphael nodded, but his lips remained sealed.
“Father, may I begin the story?” Ari asked, hoping this may give Raphael time to relax enough to find his voice.
His father nodded.
“As you know, I went to Cypress in search of the Alchemist and his wife,” he said. “The Alchemist was busy at the apothecary, so Raphael very kindly offered to take me to see his wife in her home.”
The King nodded patiently, having already heard this part of the story.
“What I didn’t tell you earlier, was that when we got there, she wasn’t answering the door, although we were certain that she must be there. So, Raphael, at great personal risk to himself, but determined to assist me, climbed through an open window. He was extremely brave.”
Raphael sat up a little straighter and blinked.
The King nodded. “Go on.”
“As soon as Raphael entered the house, the Alchemist came home. I listened from outside and heard Raphael scream. I went immediately to fetch Jasmine, as per Raphael’s wishes.”
Raphael was listening with wide eyes. His shaking had stopped and Ari hoped he’d relaxed enough to fill them all in on what exactly had taken place inside the house while Ari had gone for help.
“Raphael,” Ari said, keeping his voice gentle. “Do you think you could tell us what happened while you were inside the house?”
Jasmine’s back stiffened and she put a protective arm around the back of her brother’s chair. “Tell them,” she whispered.
“It was horrible,” said Raphael, his eyes watering. “She was there… on the bed. She… was…”
“What was she?” asked Ari’s mother, sitting forward in her chair.
“She was dead.” Raphael turned and buried his face in Jasmine’s shoulder.
Ari’s parents gasped and he found himself clutching at his chest, not having expected to hear that.
“We don’t know if it was her,” Ari said, reminding himself, as much as everyone else in the room. “Tell us, Raphael, please, it’s very important. What did she look like?”
Raphael lifted his head and looked at Ari, blinking slowly. “She was lying on the bed. She was skinny and didn’t smell good.” His hand went to his nose at the memory of it. “She had long dark hair and was wearing that necklace. I knew you were looking for that necklace. You told me it was important. So, I… so I thought I’d take it for you. I didn’t want to. I mean, I’ve never stolen anything before and if you’re going to put me in the dungeon for it, then please don’t hurt my sister. Just punish me. Please!”
Tears spilled from his eyes and Jasmine’s grip on his chair tightened. “Oh Raph, it’s okay. You’re okay. Nobody’s putting you in a dungeon…” She turned to look at Ari. “Are you?”
“Of course not,” the King said. “Please relax, child. We just want to know what happened. You did the right thing helping my son. Nobody’s going to any dungeon.”
Raphael wiped his cheeks and nodded.
“Can you tell us a little bit more?” asked Ari, trying to divert the boy’s attention back to him, rather than his father. Raphael trusted him. He could feel it.
“I couldn’t get the necklace off. It was tangled in her hair. I kept trying, but then I heard a knocking and a bang, and I thought it was you, Ari, so I went to go to the front door to let you in, only I walked straight into the Murderer.”
“Murderer?” asked Ari’s father.
“That’s what he calls the Alchemist,” Ari explained.
“Oh, Raph.” Jasmine rubbed his back, tears of her own pouring down her cheeks.
“He grabbed me,” continued Raphael, seeming keen to get the story out now. “I don’t remember screaming, but I must have. I was so frightened. He threw me back into the room with the woman. He left me there alone with her.”
“Did you try to take the necklace again?” asked Ari, trying to keep him on track with what was obviously a traumatic story.
“Yes, but I shouldn’t have taken it,” said Raphael. “It was wrong. Something bad happened. I wish I never touched her.”
“What happened?” It was Jasmine who asked this time. Clearly, they hadn’t had a chance to have this conversation earlier.
“When I untangled the chain and slid it over her head… her hair fell off.”
Ari’s mother let out a small scream and jumped out of her chair, going to the window where she fanned her face with her hand and refused to look back at them.
“Then the Murderer boarded up the shutters from the outside and I couldn’t see anything. It was so dark in there. He returned and picked up his wife’s body and carried her from the room. I should have run out of the room then, but I was too scared to move so I stayed in the corner. Then there was more banging and hammering coming from somewhere inside the house. He returned again and tried to get me to tell him what Ari was doing at the apothecary.”
“Did he call me by name?” Ari asked. “Or did he ask for Doctor Abner?”
Raphael nodded. “No, he knew your name. Your real name.”
Ari still thought the Alchemist had looked familiar. Either he’d met him before or he really was the Alchemist from the palace an
d had managed to alter his appearance fairly significantly.
“And he knew that I knew you had the other half to the necklace,” said Raphael. “I shouldn’t have told him that. But don’t worry, I didn’t tell him anything else. I refused to talk. That made him angry…”
“What did he do?” asked Jasmine, her voice little more than a whisper.
“He said if I wasn’t going to talk, then I was no use to him. So, he held me down and pressed something over my nose. I struggled, but he was too strong.”
“What did it smell like?” asked Jasmine, her eyes filling with tears.
“Like your smelling salts, the ones the women at the apothecary wear, only it had the Murderer’s perfume mixed in with it. It was like smelling a thousand sachets of the elixir at once. I’ve never been affected by the salts before, but this time… this time it got me real good. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t even fight. The next thing I remember is waking up here.”
“Well,” said Ari’s father, scratching his chin as he tried to make sense of this strange story. Ari was pleased to see that he wasn’t the only one confused.
“There’s more,” said Jasmine, looking to the floor. “If I may…”
“Of course,” said Ari’s father.
“Just before this happened, my brother made an elixir of his own. An elixir that I believe is the cure for the plague. I used it to cure him in the infirmary. And the other boy in there. They’re both alive and well with thanks to Raphael’s discovery. If you’d be so kind as to let us stay on at the palace for a time, I believe that Raphael and I could produce enough of his elixir to cure Wintergreen of the blue plague for good.”
Ari saw his father’s eyebrows shoot up. His mother was yet to return from the window, still clutching Ana’s necklace and thinking about what she’d just been told. She didn’t care about curing her kingdom of the plague if it meant her daughter was still dead.
Ari held his breath, waiting for his father’s answer, not wanting to seem too keen for them to stay, even though he wanted nothing else more than that. His foot jiggled of its own accord and he clasped his hands in his lap, trying to steady himself.
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 36