The Cursed Prince

When Renwyck arrived in his chamber, Maxim was still sleeping. So, the wizard waited for the king until he woke up. 

"Hey... you are here?" Maxim batted his eyes and rubbed his bandaged head. He had seen Renwyck sat on the chair beside his bed when he opened his eyes. Maxim sat up and reached out for the water jug on the bedside table. "When did you arrive?"

"Two days ago," Renwyck replied. He quickly took the jug and poured water for Maxim into a cup, and gave it to him.

Maxim furrowed his brows in shock and accepted the cup. "TWO DAYS? Are you joking?"

When he looked at the wizard's face, Maxim realized Renwyck was not joking.

So, he really slept for two days?  Damn Soren, he thought.

The physician didn't seem to know what he was doing.  The first potion couldn't make Maxim sleep, and the second one actually made him fall asleep for two days?

Crazy!

"What happened while I was sleeping?" Maxim asked Renwyck. "Do you know what happened to Emmelyn?"

Renwyck cleared his throat and replied. "They said she is fine."

"Fine how? Did she wake up already?"

Renwyck shook his head. "Not yet."

"Then she is NOT FINE. I have to see her," Maxim got up from bed and checked himself on the mirror to see his wound.

He was surprised to see his bandage was replaced and he no longer felt immense pain like before. So, maybe the medicine did work? He turned to Renwyck. "Who changed my bandage and my clothes?"

"The physician and I, Your Majesty," Renwyck replied. 

"Oh..." Maxim nodded. "Well, then, Soren seems to be doing a good job. I feel so much better now."

Maxim sat on the chair and decided to ask Renwyn what he thought about Soren's explanation regarding Emmelyn's condition. So, he told Renwyck everything he knew.

The wizard's brows knitted and his expression was very serious when he heard Maxim's words. "So, Lady Emmelyn had a magic crystal shard in her body? That sounds amazing..."

"You think it's true?"

Renwyck nodded. "Yeah. It's because we are in Myreen, and the royal family is the Leoraleis. Their family is very respected among wizards and I heard they have several very rare and powerful family heirlooms. I am not surprised if the crystal that Soren mentioned is actually the crystal ball that originally belonged to the Lady of The Valley."

"Huh? Who is she? Lady of which valley?" Maxim became curious.

"Well... there were some folktales about the origin of Myreen. This whole kingdom was located in huge valley, much like our own Castilse, but bigger," Renwyck explained. "A very powerful woman lived in that valley and people thought she was a goddess, a goddess of harvest to be exact."

"When did this story happen?" Maxim asked again.

"Several hundred years ago, Your Majesty. One day she found a baby abandoned in the forest, he was almost eaten by wild animals. So, she saved him. The lady fell in love with the baby and decided to raise him. It turned out, the baby was a prince from a kingdom nearby."

"Huh? How could a prince be abandoned in the forest?"

"Well... it's a really sad story. Before he was born, his father, the king, received a prophecy that the baby in his wife's womb would be the cause of his death," Renwyck recounted the story from his memory.

He continued, "As soon as the baby was born he wanted to kill him. However, the queen was stubborn in trying to save her son. So, she gave her baby away to their butler and asked him to replace the baby with a dead one. So, the king thought his baby died during childbirth."

"Okay, so they put a fake baby as the replacement and made the king think his real son was dead. So, how did the baby end up in the forest?"

"The butler wanted to give the baby to his younger sister in the village to raise, but on the way to the village, he was found out by the king's younger brother. The man had been eyeing the throne for a long time and hoped the king would die without an heir."

Maxim's forehead winced in disgust when he heard Renwyck's story. It reminded him a lot about his own experience when his older sister's thugs chased him and wanted to kill him.

"The king's brother wanted to kill the baby in the butler's arms. The butler ran away and managed to hide the sleeping baby under a tree and covered him with leaves and branches to protect him. They tortured him to give up the baby's location, but he fought till the end and never spilled the information."

Maxim listened to Renwyck's story attentively. He didn't know Myreen had such an interesting history.

Renwyck continued his story. "They killed the butler and after searching for a long time, still couldn't find the baby. The lady of the valley saved him and raised him well. The baby grew up to be a powerful wizard and later founded a whole new kingdom, called Myreen. His biological father's kingdom was at war with them and he did end up killing his father, as told by the prophecy."

"Such an interesting story," Maxim commented. "So, do you think the Leoraleis inherited their family heirloom from a goddess?"

Renwyck nodded. "That's what they believe."

"I hope you are right. Emmelyn's life will depend on it." Maxim sighed. He closed his eyes and thought about Emmelyn. He wondered if there had been any progress with her condition. And if she didn't improve, what should he do.

"Let's go and see Emmelyn. I want to know what I should do to help her," Maxim decided. He got up and walked briskly out of his chamber. Renwyck followed him from behind.

***

Gewen realized he had finally arrived in Castilse when he saw the beautiful city on the valley, surrounded by mountains, under them. All the landmarks, the unique buildings that Edgar described to him, and geographical location were spot on.

Gewen pulled his coat tightly. It was so damn cold. The snow was falling down from the sky slowly since several hours ago and he was almost freezing to death.

All he ever thought about was finding a warm fireplace and a comfortable bed. Gosh.... he had suffered so much during the journey. He better found Emmelyn as soon as possible so his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

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Yes! Gewen finally arrives in Castilse and... will soon meet Kira?