"Rowland?" I asked. I wasn't so good with handling surprises, especially ones like these and it took me a while to recover.
He smiled back at me, still holding me in his arms.
"Nice to see you again, Frieda."
Nice to see me? What was I supposed to say to that? I was pretty much speechless for the first few seconds.
"Nice to see you too." I managed to say when my brain finally became unstuck.
My eyes scanned his face and body for any sign of hurt or injury. He seemed to be fine. I remembered the wound on his arm that had brought him to papa's place. It had healed pretty well too.
A moment of silence came between us. It seemed we were both thinking of what to say to each other. It had been almost two months when he left the village for Vidiya and a lot of things had happened within that time.
"How did you get here? I thought you were staying at Mirideth?" I finally blurted out after a long while to thinking what to say.
He shook his head. "No, I wasn't planning to stay in Mirideth. I came looking for you. I heard what happened to your father."
At the mention of my father, I looked away hoping I could blink back my tears before he got to see them. He touched my chin and made me look at him.
"I'm sorry about your father. He was a good man and he died trying to protect me. I will forever be indebted to him and to you."
I sniffled and hurriedly wiped my tears.
"It's alright. Papa knew what he was getting into in the first place. He wanted to help put the right leader on the throne in his own little way." I didn't know whether I was consoling him or myself.
"And I won't forget his sacrifice and his belief in me." He said with a lofty time I always admired.
We both got quiet again and were content with each other's presence in the slightly dark, murky cave.
"Your father left a parcel for you in my care, case he wasn't around anymore. I think he knew that harm would come to him."
My brow lifted in question. "A parcel?"
He nodded. "But I didn't think I'll meet you out here. I don't have it with me. Next time I come here, I'll be sure to bring it with me." He promised.
I was baffled. "Next time? Isn't it risky for you to be out here?"
"It would have been, if I wasn't part of the royal family. I know these woods like the back of my hands." Rowland shrugged.
"But how are we going to meet each other next time?" I asked him.
"You'll see. How did you wind up in the palace though?"
I didn't like to recall the memory of my abduction, but I told Rowland everything, down to the smallest details.
"He's sick?" Rowland asked in surprise when I got to that part.
"Yes. At least that's what he told me. He needs me to come up with a cure for his illness."
Roland's brow furrowed in thought and he mumbled something along the lines of "... guess that's his destiny after all."
"What?"
He shook his head at the question. "Nothing. What happened to the rest of the royal physicians? Couldn't they find a cure for him? Why you in particular?" Rowland asked with faint irritation in his voice.
"Apparently, he killed the Royal head physician and seventeen others because they failed to come up with a suitable cure."
Rowland's face twisted with horror. "That sick -" he cursed, looking away from me. "What about you? Have you been able to come up with a cure?"
"I was able to come up with a treatment for him by brewing herbs known to treat the heart. But I guess at the end of the day, he won't get any better."
Rowland looked confused. "He won't get better?"
I nodded, then I lowered my voice. "I'm poisoning the medication. By the time he's done with the medicine, the poison must have eaten deep into his system."
Rowland looked horrified. "No Frieda, you shouldn't so that. If he finds out, that ruthless freak will kill you." He whisper shouted.
"You think I don't know about that?" I didn't mean to sound sarcastic but I did anyway. "The thing is, I had no choice in the first place."
"What do you mean you have no choice?"
I looked away. I had been pretending to be bold and holding back my fears this whole time, but speaking to someone made the walls I had built around my emotions crumble down.
"He's going to kill me anyway. If I fail to cure him like the seventeen other physicians before me, he'll put me to death."
Rowland muttered a curse.
"Then you need to get out of there right now. Come with me, I'll take you somewhere safe where he can never find you." He said pulling me with him into the darkness of the cave.
I shook my head and pulled back, making him stop. "No, I have to finish what I started."
Rowland gave me an incredulous stare. I tried to explain my reason.
"Once the Dark Lord is out of the way, you can reclaim your throne and your people. And I will do what I can to make that happen, even if I have to give myself to achieve that."
Now he looked like he was going to explode. "Have you lost your mind? I can't let you do that, Frieda. I made a promise to your father to keep you safe and protect you. I can't let you come to your death. Especially such a ridiculous type of death."
"You have to let me do this Rowland. Right now I'm the only one who can end his life from the inside. In three weeks time, there'll be nothing like a Dark Lord." I told him with all conviction. I had never been so serious about anything in my entire life.
He gave me a long hard stare. I hadn't known him for too long but I had never seen him so upset before.
"But you don't know much about the guy. What if he gets up to something funny and decided to execute you before then?"
"Fine. How long will you feed him medicine for?"
"Two weeks. I have twelve more days to treat him. The thirteenth day is the day he decides I should live or die." I answered him.
"Good. I'll come on the night of the twelfth day and get you out of there."
"How will you be able to do that. The castle is heavily guarded both day and night."
"You think I don't know that? I'll take a way the Dark Lord or the guards don't know of."
"Where?"
"The tunnels."
Rowland explained to me that there were intricate tunnels underneath the castle that were used by the ancient royal family to escape and hide in times of war and sieges. The Dark Lord wasn't aware of these tunnels.
"Good, ahead with your plan and just trust me. You don't have to die, I'll come get you."
Soon I heard Max's voice calling for me. I must have been with Rowland for thirty minutes or so. I turned to the crown prince.
"That's my cue to leave."
He held on to my hands and peered into my eyes. "Just hold on in there. I'll come and get you on the twelfth night."
I nodded. He squeezed my hands gently in his, it was clear in his eyes that he was debating with himself whether to let me go or not. I gently pulled my hand from his grip and gave him a reassuring smile.
I stepped out of the cave to come face to face with Maximilian who had been looking for me for a while now.
"Milady, where have you been. I have been looking for you for a while now." He said with his hands clutching his chest. He couldn't be more relieved to see me.
"Oh, I noticed some interesting plants by the caveside and I went to inspect them. Have you fixed the problem with the carriage?" I quickly asked him before he got too curious.
He nodded. "Turns out it was just a false alarm. Are you done with the herb picking, Milady?" he asked me.
I nodded, and followed him back to the carriage. As I walked away, I looked back once more into the cave but there was no one there. Rowland must have disappeared just as mysteriously as he appeared.
From the woods, our next stop was the capital's market where I got the rest of my ingredients from. The entire journey, I had been replaying my encounter with the crown prince in my head.
Deep down, I felt quite relieved, maybe even elated at the sight of Rowland. He was fine and well.