The Cursed Prince

Mars realized Edgar must need rest after undertaking such an arduous journey from Summeria. He asked the man to go back to his home and get some rest. He will go to the ice cave and see his mother, to see if the scarf really worked or not.

"No, Your Majesty, please allow me to go with you. I have to see this through because Lady Emmelyn entrusted me with this task. So, I want to know as well if Queen Elara could be revived or not," Edgar said.

Mars understood Edgar was a dedicated man and he wanted to do his job until it's completed. So, he nodded. "Very well. You can come with me."

"Thank you. Uhm, can we please go after I brought Sand to my family's estate?" Edgar asked. "I owe it to King Loriel to make sure he is well taken care of."

Mars thought about it and replied, "Why don't we let the dragon rest near the palace compound? I will have John prepare food and a place for him to rest. We have that sacred hill at the back of the main palace."

Edgar remembered the small hill behind the main palace where he and his friends often spent their time when they were younger. It was very lush and peaceful.

They would just need to make sure nobody would enter the area to bother Sand. They didn't want anyone to fall victim to an angry dragon whose sleep was disturbed.

"That's a good idea, Your Majesty. I will bring Sand there and John can prepare meat for him. Then, I might as well do that now." Edgar rose from his seat and got ready to go back to the Grey Tower and meet Sand again.

"Edgar, wait..." Mars suddenly thought of something. "When do you plan to send the dragon back to Summeria?" 

Edgar said, "Well... he had been flying for three weeks with only short breaks throughout. I think he must be really tired now. Renwyck, the Summerian wizard, told me after the long journey it might be best to let Sand relax for one week. So, maybe... the best time to send him home is in one week. After he gets proper rest."

"That long?" Mars felt distraught. Why oh why did Emmelyn go to such a faraway place? He wished she was just around Wintermere. He would get on Snow right at this instant to go there and get her back.

However, Summeria was really, really far from here.

Mars felt so helpless.

Well.. he should have counted his blessings. Even though Emmelyn was far away in Summeria, at least she was still alive. This was so much better than yesterday when Mars thought his wife was really dead.

"Fine. I will get Harlow to the Athibaud sisters. You can bring Sand to the hill behind the palace and then go with me to the ice cave. I will find some ways to distract my father. He shouldn't know that we will try to revive my mother."

"Understood." Edgar went out and got Sand to take him to get his rest.

Mars went to Harlow's chamber and gave her to Ilma who immediately took over. The wet nurse was called and nurse the baby who was now feeling hungry.

***

"You should really rest after this," Mars told Edgar.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. I will do as you said," Edgar replied.

They were riding a carriage to the ice cave so Edgar could rest on the way. Riding a horse in his condition would make him really tired, that's why they chose the carriage.

They also did it to avoid attention.  Mars sometimes would bring Harlow in a carriage to visit her grandparents, and people were used to seeing the carriage come out of the palace.

So, that's what he was doing now. He pretended to be bringing Harlow to the ice cave.

If Queen Elara could really be brought back to life, they needed to keep it a secret. Mars had been wanting to get evidence of Ellena's crime, but even after a long time, he couldn't get her to slip or confess.

Worse was, the people who were close to her, suddenly died one by one. Those were the people that he thought to be involved in Queen Elara's murder.

So, if his mother could wake up and tell everyone who actually stabbed the knife to her heart and killed her, Ellena would be outed as the real killer. And Mars could finally deal with her.

Nobody would doubt the queen's words. Ah, Mars was so looking forward to seeing his father regret his whole accusation toward Emmelyn and begged her for forgiveness.

The truth was, he almost didn't speak with his father anymore.  The only reason he didn't openly cut ties with his father was that he was raised as a filial son.

He also cut the man some slack because Jared Strongmoor was in deep grief. He understood what it felt like to lose the woman he loved.

However, other than those reasons, Mars really didn't want to be around his father anymore. 

"Here we are," Mars commented when their carriage stopped in front of a big cave secured by at least thirty guards.

This was where the late queen was laid to rest and nobody was allowed to be near the ice cave ever since. The former king had built a mansion not far from here and it was recently finished. That's where he lived when he was not around this cave to be with his wife. 

Edgar immediately felt bone-chilling temperature as soon as he stepped down from the carriage. Fortunately, they brought thick coats with them. The two men wore their coats tightly and walked toward the entrance.

"Hey!! Wait for me!!"

Before they could enter, suddenly they heard Gewen's voice rang from afar. Mars and Edgar turned around and saw a horse galloping toward them with Gewen on its back.

Mars knew the Athibaud sisters must have told their brother about Edgar's arrival. That's why the man immediately went here.

.

.

***********

Sorry, Gewen is interrupting... XD. We will see Queen Elara in the next chapter. I will publish it soon.