Night had grown late, and the small clinic lay bathed in the pale golden light of the oil lamp. Amer lay motionless on the bed, his small face still pallid from the poison. Emma sat at the edge of the bed, both hands wrapped around her son's small hand, her eyes never leaving each of his shallow, weak breaths, her heart still clenched from a panic that had not yet had time to settle since that terrifying afternoon.
The oil lamp on the table flickered faintly with every draft slipping through the gaps of the worn wooden door, its wavering golden light falling across walls stained with damp and mildew, the walls of the humble clinic she had called home for so many years. The scent of herbs mingled with the metallic tang of blood, long since wiped away but still haunting Emma's senses every time she closed her eyes, every time her mind dragged her back to the moment the poisoned arrow struck her son's small shoulder. Her hands, always so steady whenever she measured out medicine for others, now trembled uncontrollably, and she had to clench her jaw to hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall since that afternoon.
Henry stood quietly behind her, not daring to speak and break the silence, only watching in silence the exhausted figure of this woman forcing herself to stay strong for her child. Something in the way Emma's shoulders curved downward, in the way they trembled bit by bit despite her efforts to hide it, made Henry's chest tighten with a feeling he had never experienced before, a longing to hold her, to shoulder some part of the weight bearing down on those thin shoulders, even though he knew he had no right to do any such thing.
"Is the boy in any danger?" he asked quietly, his voice full of unconcealed worry.
Emma did not turn her head, her eyes still fixed on her son's face. "He's past the danger," she answered, her voice tired but still holding onto a healer's composure, "but I need the Panna elixir to clear the last of the poison from his body."
Henry's hands clenched, a heavy sense of guilt rising inside him. Amer was hit by that arrow because he shielded me. I can't just stand by and do nothing. "It was because he saved me that Amer was struck," he said, his voice hardening with resolve. "I'll send men to find the elixir for you."
Emma turned to look at Henry, a flicker of worry in her eyes. "That elixir is extremely hard to find..." she said, her voice heavy with the helplessness of a mother who had never before faced the risk of losing her child this way.
Henry looked at her, his gaze resolute. "Come with me back to the city of Lamus," he said. "I think it will be easier to find the elixir there, from the merchants. I would also like to ask you to treat my mother. She's suffered from headaches for years now that no one has been able to cure."
Emma bowed her head, tightening her grip on Amer's hand, as though steadying herself before the decision she was about to make. Back to the palace? That's the place I swore I would never return to. Memories of cold corridors, scrutinizing stares, whispers behind her back that she had tried to bury for so many years suddenly flooded back into her mind, making her whole body shiver faintly though the room was not cold. But then her gaze fell back to her son's pale face, and every hesitation dissolved before the fear of losing her only child. No haunting memory, no old wound was worth trading for Amer's life. "I'll do whatever it takes to save Amer," she said, her voice resolute.
"And I will do everything in my power to repay the debt I owe the two of you for saving my life," Henry replied, looking at Emma with unwavering determination, a promise he himself did not yet know how far it would carry his own life.
❖ ❖ ❖
The main gate of the royal palace stood majestic beneath the sunlight, its marble columns carved with dragon and phoenix motifs rising so high that anyone setting foot there for the first time could not help but stare up in awe. Guards in full armor stood at rigid attention in long rows on either side, the steel of their weapons glinting in the sun. The clatter of hooves rose ceaselessly from noble carriages passing in and out, servants calling to one another, the distant bronze bell of the watchtower marking the hour, all of it blending into a kind of extravagant sound that Emma's poor little village had never known. The scent of incense drifted faintly on the wind, mingling with the fragrance of neatly trimmed flowers and grass lining the path, making Emma feel as though she were stepping into an entirely different world, a world she had deliberately tried to forget.
Emma walked lightly, her face hidden behind a thin white silk veil, only her sharp eyes visible as they quietly took in this unfamiliar, opulent scene, eyes that could not hide the wariness of someone who always had to protect herself and her son in places where danger so often hid behind a magnificent facade. Amer clutched his mother's hand tightly, walking close beside her, his round eyes turned up toward the towering stone statues with a mix of curiosity and unease. Kael and two soldiers walked alongside them as escort, their bearing far more formal than the friendliness Kael had shown back in Emma's small village.
Right at the gate, an elegant noble carriage had just pulled up, and Serena stepped down in a gown of fine silk, followed by two demure maidservants. Serena paused half a beat when her eyes met those of the mother and son approaching.
Emma stared blankly at Serena, a vague unease creeping through her that she could not explain.
Serena arched an eyebrow slightly, her gaze scrutinizing Emma from head to toe, her lips curling into a haughty smile, the kind of smile anyone who had lived in the palace would instantly recognize as contempt cleverly disguised beneath a veneer of courtesy. "Does the palace have a distinguished guest visiting today?" she asked, her tone dripping with condescension.
Kael stepped forward with a bright smile, positioning himself protectively in front of Emma. "My lady, this is the healer the palace has invited to treat the queen," he explained.
Serena gave a thin laugh, her eyes never leaving Emma. "You'd better verify her abilities before she's allowed to see the queen," she said, her voice full of scorn. "It looks like she's only come here to steal a bit of the royal family's reputation for herself."
Emma clenched her hands, looking at Serena with an icy stare, though she said nothing in reply, her own pride refusing to let her bow her head before such a baseless insult.
Kael kept his warm smile, entirely unshaken. "Her skill in medicine is remarkable," he said. "Prince Henry owes her his life."
Emma stared at Kael, blankly, a truth that had just come to light making her whole body freeze as though turned to stone. He's a prince? she wondered to herself, so stunned that she nearly forgot to keep her composure in front of strangers. All the memories of the man she had saved, cared for, spoken with over these past days suddenly appeared before her in an entirely different light, a truth she had never once suspected. She remembered the evenings he had sat beside the small fire in her thatched house, sleeves rolled up, helping her chop firewood without a trace of the airs of nobility, remembered the smile he gave Amer every time the boy begged him for a bedtime story. A man like that, it turned out, carried the noblest royal blood in this entire kingdom, and that realization made the distance between them suddenly feel almost suffocatingly vast.
Serena stared at Emma, seemingly no less caught off guard by the news herself. "Well, that's wonderful, then," she said, her tone softened somewhat, though her eyes still carried a trace of calculation hard to read.
Serena walked on inside, the hem of her silk gown sweeping past Emma with proud indifference. Emma watched her retreating figure disappear beyond the great gate, a new resolve rising in her chest. Once I've cured the queen and cleared the poison from Amer, I'll leave here at once. I can't let Amer face any more danger.
Kael turned to Emma with a respectful bow. "Please, healer, follow me," he said.
Emma bowed her head slightly, gripped Amer's hand tightly, and followed Kael through the palace gate, leaving behind an entire chapter of her life she had once believed buried forever.
❖ ❖ ❖
The chamber reserved for distinguished guests within the palace was overwhelmingly spacious, splendidly decorated with an intricately carved wooden bed, silk curtains embroidered with elaborate patterns draping around the large windows. Henry stood beside a wooden table, personally overseeing the servants as they arranged every item with a rare thoroughness reserved for a guest of honor. On the table, a vase of freshly cut flowers gave off a gentle fragrance, beside a tray of fruit arranged with meticulous care, all of it luxuries Emma had never once had the chance to touch in her small thatched home.
Emma and Amer stood dumbstruck in the middle of the room, their eyes sweeping over each extravagant object around them with a look of wonder, neither of them ever having imagined they would one day find themselves in a place this magnificent. Amer crept over to the bed, reaching out to touch the soft silk blanket, his eyes shining with delight as though he had stumbled straight into one of the fairy tales his mother often told him at bedtime. Emma watched her son, the corner of her lips curving up slightly, though in her heart she still could not entirely shake the sense of not belonging in this opulent place, where every ornament reminded her that she was only an outsider invited here out of necessity, not someone who truly belonged.
Henry turned to Emma with a gentle smile. "This will be your and Amer's residence for the time being," he said, his tone courteous. "If you need anything, just tell the servants."
Emma looked at him cautiously, her mind still in turmoil over the truth she had just uncovered at the palace gate. "You're the prince of Lamus?" she asked, her tone carefully probing.
Henry hesitated for a beat, then smiled again as though nothing were amiss. "That's right," he answered simply.
"Did you hide it from me on purpose?" Emma pressed, unable to hide a gentle note of reproach in her eyes.
"You never asked me," Henry replied, his tone carrying a hint of mischief, as though trying to steer the conversation somewhere lighter.
"I thought you were one of the palace guards," Emma said, unable to hide her embarrassment as she recalled the times she had treated him no differently from an ordinary man.
Kael, standing nearby, couldn't help but burst out laughing at that.
Henry turned to give Kael a stern look, making the guard hastily swallow his laughter and stand up straight, his manner suddenly deferential. "I've sent men out searching all of Lamus for the Panna elixir," Kael reported, trying to steer attention elsewhere.
Henry nodded, turning back to Emma and Amer with a caring look. "The moment there's any news of the Panna, I'll tell you at once," he said.
"Thank you, Your Highness," Emma answered, bowing her head slightly, though she was still getting used to this new form of address for the man she had, only days before, called by an informal name without a trace of ceremony.
Henry, along with Kael and his attendants, bowed and left the room, leaving Emma standing alone in the opulent chamber, her eyes following the door as it closed, her heart still tangled between worry for Amer, wariness of Serena, and a new, uncertain feeling she did not yet dare name whenever she thought of the man who had just revealed his true identity. She sat down at the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch the window frame, looking out over the vast courtyard below where servants bustled back and forth. I promised myself I would only stay here until Amer recovers and the queen's headaches are cured. Nothing more. But deep down, some part of her uneasily wondered whether that promise would truly be so easy to keep, as the image of that kind hearted prince kept creeping further and further into her mind.
❖ ❖ ❖
The queen's chamber was overwhelmingly vast and magnificent, gilded statues standing scattered around the room, sunlight streaming through the great glass windows and gilding the entire opulent space. In the middle of the room stood an intricately carved round table surrounded by fine wooden chairs, while the queen's large bed sat nearby, beside a small table set with a teapot and a vase of fresh flowers. Deep crimson velvet curtains hung from the towering ceiling, their gold trim glinting whenever a draft slipped through the gaps of the door, and the white marble floor beneath was polished to such a shine it could reflect a person's silhouette clearly, all of it radiating the utmost majesty befitting the mother of the realm.
The queen lay in bed, one hand raised to rub her temple, her face carrying the weariness of headaches that had plagued her for years on end. Servants stood at rigid attention on either side of the bed, waiting in silence. Her eyes, though touched by the passage of time and endless sleepless nights, still retained the noble bearing and sharp perceptiveness of a woman who had lived through countless rises and falls within the depths of the palace, only now overlaid with a weariness no physician in the palace had ever been able to dispel.
Henry entered with Emma, who still wore the white silk veil over her face, carrying a small wooden medicine box. The servants bowed their heads in unison. "Greetings, Prince Henry," they said together. Emma followed half a step behind, keeping the exact ceremonial distance Kael had carefully instructed her to keep before entering, though she couldn't help feeling nervous at being received, for the first time, by the most powerful woman in the kingdom of Lamus.
The queen sat up, leaning back against the headboard, smiling faintly at the sight of her son entering. Henry approached and bowed to his mother.
"Greetings, Mother," he said, "I've brought a healer to treat you."
Emma stepped forward and bowed in greeting. "Greetings, Your Majesty. I ask your permission to examine your health," she said, her tone maintaining a professional calm, though she couldn't help feeling nervous before the majesty of the mother of the realm.
"Very well," the queen answered, nodding her permission.
Emma knelt beside the bed and gently took hold of the queen's hand. A soft blue light spread from her palm, enveloping their joined hands, warm as early spring sunlight yet gentle as late night moonlight, a power whose very origin Emma herself had never fully understood, only knowing that it always answered whenever she poured her full heart into healing another. Henry stood beside the bed, watching Emma's practiced movements closely, a look of admiration mixed with a flutter he couldn't quite name flickering in his eyes, a feeling he had never had toward anyone else before. He realized he was staring at the curve of her lips whenever she concentrated, at the way the fine strands of hair at her temple trembled faintly with her steady breathing, and he had to remind himself that he was standing in his mother's chamber, not in some private moment of his own.
Just then, Serena entered, followed by two servants, a bright smile on her lips that carried a faint edge of insincerity. She bowed and curtsied in proper courtly fashion.
"Greetings, Your Majesty, Your Highness," Serena said. "I heard Her Majesty was unwell and hurried over to visit..."
The queen looked at Serena with delight, her eyes full of affection. "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Serena," she said.
Emma quickly rose to her feet after finishing the examination. Henry reached out instinctively to steady her, but Emma smoothly declined, avoiding that touch in front of so many watching eyes.
Serena froze for a moment at the sight of Henry standing so close beside the mysterious healer, her gaze sweeping over that closeness with sharp attention.
Emma turned to the queen with a composed expression, though her fingers still trembled slightly after pouring so much of her strength into the healing light. "Your Majesty, I have examined your condition," she said. "It seems your headaches have persisted this long, perhaps, from excessive worry."
Henry looked at Emma with concern. "Can Her Majesty be cured?" he asked.
"I'll need a bit more time to prepare the medicine," Emma answered.
Serena stepped closer, her movements graceful, yet each step carried a subtle undertone of pressure, her eyes fixed on Emma with a deliberately pointed curiosity. "I wonder, why does the healer keep her face covered?" she asked, her voice sweet but laced with probing intent, as though setting a gentle trap and waiting for her prey to step into it.
Emma faltered for a moment, forcing herself to hold her composure. "I'm only a common woman, afraid of being disrespectful before the royal family," she answered.
Henry's brow furrowed, his voice cutting in coldly. "Serena, that's none of your concern."
Serena bowed her head, a flash of resentment crossing her face though she kept the smile on her lips. "My apologies for displeasing you, Your Highness," she said. "I was only a little curious."
Emma took a small glass vial from the wooden medicine box, containing vivid green herbal pills inside. She took one out and held it before the queen. "Please take this, Your Majesty," she said. "It should help ease the pain for a short while."
Serena looked at the pill with a deliberately displayed air of concern. "I feel we ought to examine this pill carefully, to avoid any mistake," she said.
Emma, calm and entirely unshaken, held the pill out toward Serena. "Then please, my lady, go ahead and examine it," she answered, her expression composed, as though she had nothing at all to hide.
Henry's face hardened, his voice ringing out cold before Serena could even reach for it. "There's no need to examine it," he said. "I can vouch that there is nothing wrong with that pill."
Serena stared at Henry, blankly, not expecting him to take the mysterious healer's side so decisively, a defense that stirred a vague discomfort inside her she had not yet found a name for. She glanced at Emma once more, her eyes sweeping over the veil with an even sharper scrutiny than before, as though trying to commit every last detail of this mysterious woman to memory, to bring up again should the chance arise later. Who is she, that the prince would defend her like this? Serena wondered to herself, her fingers tightening slightly around the hem of her silk dress, concealing a jealousy quietly beginning to smolder inside her.
❖ ❖ ❖
In the chamber set aside for the distinguished guest, Emma sat at the edge of the bed, her face lit with a rare joy, her hands cradling a brown pill giving off a warm golden glow. Henry sat across from her, his eyes shining with no less delight.
"You've made the Panna elixir into this pill?" he asked, his voice full of excitement.
"That's right," Emma answered, a smile spreading across her lips for the first time in many tense days. "Thank you for finding the Panna elixir for me."
"It was the least I could do," Henry replied, his tone light, as though it were only a small matter, even though in reality he had mobilized no small number of people to track down that rare elixir.
Emma turned to Amer, sitting on the bed, gently placing the pill in his mouth for him to swallow, her eyes betraying the worry of a mother. "How do you feel?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "Any discomfort anywhere?"
Amer swallowed the pill, then smiled brightly at his mother, his eyes bright and shining, with no trace left of the exhaustion from his brush with death just days before. "I'm fine, Mama," the boy answered.
Emma, overwhelmed with joy to the point of tears, pulled Amer into her arms, holding him tight as though afraid he might vanish from her embrace once more. Thank the heavens. My son is all right now. Every burden that had weighed on her shoulders these past days seemed to dissolve in that instant, though she knew full well that plenty of uncertainty still lay ahead on the road before them. Henry watched the two of them embracing in silence, the corner of his mouth curving into a warm smile he rarely let show in front of others, an indescribable joy rising in his own chest as well, as though Emma's worries these past days had somehow become his own worries too.
❖ ❖ ❖
The queen's chamber still lay bathed in the brilliant light of the afternoon sun. Emma, still wearing the silk veil over her face, handed the queen another pill giving off a soft golden glow. The queen took it and swallowed it without a moment's hesitation, the trust built up over several previous treatments now firmly in place.
"Since Your Majesty's headaches have persisted for so long, the treatment will need some time to take full effect," Emma explained.
"That's all right," the queen answered, her voice relieved, her eyes clearly showing the trust she had come to place in this mysterious healer who had given her the first restful sleep she'd had in years. "As long as you can free me from these headaches, that will be more than enough."
Just then, Serena entered with two servants, bowing respectfully to the queen. "Greetings, Your Majesty," she said, her voice sweet. "Today I've brought the pastry you love most."
Serena took the plate of sweets from a servant and stepped closer to the queen's bed. Emma stepped aside to make room, entirely unsuspecting of that seemingly harmless gesture.
Suddenly, Serena feigned a stumble, lurching toward Emma. In that chaotic instant, Serena's hand moved fast as lightning, yanking the silk veil from Emma's face.
The cloth fell to the floor, laying Emma's face bare before everyone in the room.
Serena straightened up, her eyes wide with astonishment as she stared at the now uncovered face, the corner of her mouth slowly curling into a smile that could not hide both triumph and genuine shock. For a moment, every calculated scheme she had planned in her mind vanished at once, replaced instead by a far more complicated emotion, both disbelieving and trembling before a face achingly familiar, one she had thought she would never have the chance to see again in this life.
Emma raised her hands to cover her face in a panic, but it was already too late, her eyes fixed on Serena with fear, her entire body frozen stiff as though every layer of protection she had so painstakingly built over the years had just been stripped away. The room suddenly seemed to close in around her, every sound growing distant, leaving only the frantic pounding of her own heart and the eyes of everyone in the room now fixed on her bared face.
"Is that you?" Serena exclaimed, her voice trembling with genuine astonishment. "Emma..."
The queen looked from Serena to Emma, bewildered, unable to understand what was happening. "You know her, Serena?" she asked.
"This is my older sister," Serena answered, her voice still carrying a trace of unsettled shock, her hands clutching the hem of her silk dress as though trying to hold onto a reality that had just been turned upside down before her eyes.
Emma stood dazed, unable to utter a word, feeling as though the entire world were collapsing beneath her feet. For years she had struggled to bury her past, to build a new life far from the name once bound up with humiliation and loss, and yet in one brief instant, it had all been laid bare before people she had never wanted to know that past at all. The queen looked at Emma with no less astonishment, her bewildered eyes sweeping over the newly revealed face as though searching for some explanation.
At that very moment, Henry stepped into the room, and his gaze froze instantly at the sight of Emma's uncovered face, a look of pure shock etched clearly across his own.
"Emma is your sister?" Henry asked, his voice full of disbelief, his eyes darting back and forth between Serena and Emma as though trying to piece together a truth he had never once suspected.
Emma looked at Henry in fear, not knowing how to explain a secret even she had never wanted to speak of again, in a room full of eyes now waiting for an answer she was not yet ready to give. Everything she had worked to build, every layer of disguise she had so carefully maintained through all her years of exile, had now collapsed entirely in one brief instant, exposing a past she had never prepared herself to face before the very man toward whom she was slowly coming to feel something more.