The Pharmacist and The Prince

Death by Starvation

starvation/stɑːˈveɪʃ(ə)n/ : suffering or death caused by lack of food

“Your Majesty…I cannot…I really can’t. I’ve never done this in my life.”

“That seems strange. I thought it would be a common thing in your world.”

“It’s not. It really isn’t.”

Horseback riding. 

Reuentahl watched as Ebony shook her head forcefully at his suggestion and felt confused. He was one of the few people who knew she was summoned here from a non-magical world. It only made sense to him that horses should be one of the ways these non-magical humans transported themselves.

But that did not seem to be the case.

“Is that so? Mayhap you’ll like to ride with me then.” Seeing her rebuttal, he proffered another solution to which she shook her head once again. This time, though, her face was flushed. “Is there a problem, Ebony?”

“Well…I…I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you, King Regent.”

An admirable thought. But this time around, he wanted to be inconvenienced. If she didn’t ride with him, she would have to ride with one of his attendants. And he didn’t know why that thought rubbed against him the wrong way.

“It is fine. I will not be inconvenienced in anyway. Or shall I call for the carriage you arrived in?” Reuentahl made this suggestion but his judgment of the woman told him that she would refuse it. She wouldn’t want to be treated specially. And he was right.

“No. It’s…fine. I…I will ride with you, Your Majesty.”   

Hiding a small smile of triumph, he signaled for his horse to be brought over. Once the white stallion was handed to him, he stepped to the side to allow her mount the horse. “Go ahead.”

Another shake of her head. “You’re forgetting that I’ve never ridden a horse. I don’t know how to…”

“That’s right. Forgive me. Shall I assist you then?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

He saw her take a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and immediately felt his lips curl into another smile. She is acting like she’s heading into war. Best warn her then.

“Allow me,” he said. Reuentahl curled his hands around her waist and hoisted her on the horse. He had expected some sort of reaction out of her but the squeak he heard…it was so uncharacteristic of her and the serious countenance she had shown so far. And funny to watch.

So he laughed heartily and energetically, very much aware of the embarrassed look she had on her face.

“I’m sorry. Did I startle you?” Reuentahl said, coughing to cover his laughter.

Ebony didn’t bother answering the question. She knew when she was being taunted. She had another issue in mind. “The horse. It’s moving. It’s shaking.”

“Hmmm…yes, I believe it is.” Reuentahl faked a somber demeanour to taunt her ever more. “I think it is breathing. What do you think?”

Ebony looked down at the beast and blushed a little. It really wasn't moving.

“King Regent, you’re making fun of me. I don’t appreciate it.”

The height of the beast gave him a good angle from which to look at her, almost as if he was looking up at her. Looking at her pursed lips and her furrowed brows, he knew that she was trying to make him feel remorseful for laughing at her. 

She was trying, not succeeding. 

“I’m sorry if I made fun of you. It will not happen again,” Reuentahl said, flashing a smile. “By the way, Ebony, you do know you cannot ride like that. You have to straddle the animal.”

“Straddle?” She looked at her position on the horse. “I can’t move. I’ll fall,” she said desperately.

“I can help you. Will you allow me?” He stretched out his hands but paused for an answer.

“Yes, thank you.” 

He moved slowly this time around. He wanted her to see his hands and where they would end up, in the hopes of not startling her. But it all mattered for naught. The instant his hands came in contact with her waist, she let out another embarrassing yelp.

Mortified, she slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” came the muffled apology.

“It’s fine,” Reuentahl said with another smile. He had been smiling a lot today. “Lift your right leg up and swing it over to the other side. Hold on to me if you need to.”

Ebony held on to his forearms. He felt her fingers search and grope, as if she was searching for a good grasp on him. He tried not to focus on that and watched her lift her leg up slowly. Her skirts brushed his arms slightly as she moved her leg higher. 

“Slowly. Don’t hit the horse,” Reuentahl said, as her leg approached the horse's head.

Once her leg crossed to the other side and she was successfully straddling the horse, Reuentahl released her slowly. “I’m going to come up now.”

She nodded her agreement, her face flushed. With practiced and confident moves, the King Regent quickly mounted the stallion, settling in behind her. 

He tried to ignore the warmth at his front as he leaned forward to grab the reins.

“Are you fine?” he asked, to which she nodded again. “That’s good.”

“We’re leaving,” he said, this time to the rest of his entourage.

Ebony turned to look at the rest of the group. It was the same set up he met her with the day before. Four other horses with two pulling wooden carriages. But this time, the carriages weren’t empty. They were full of heavy sacks and jute bags.

As they slowly rode out of the gate and onto the stone bridge connecting the castle to the town, Ebony turned slightly towards the prince. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she asked, “King Regent, what are the bags for?”

Reuentahl immediately knew what she was referring to. He also knew it would be easier to show her. “You’ll see when we get to the town. Are you comfortable?”

***

Ebony nodded. This was her first time on a horse but it was not as strange as she’d expected. 

Ebony had seen the King Regent and his entourage ride horses before. But she had never expected to be riding one. Most especially with the King Regent himself behind her. She’d never admit it but the prince’s arms around her stabilized her and made her more confident about not falling from the lurching animal.

“I’m fine.” The entourage crossed the bridge.

“That’s good. We’ll be speeding up now.”

Once they hit the plain, all the horse riders sped up as if on agreement and left a trail of dust as they headed towards the town. For miles, the only sound that could be heard was that of the hooves hitting the ground at a gallop. When they got to the gates of the town, they slowed, again in tandem, shuffling through on the tarred road.

Ebony had been here only once. The very first day she arrived. As she looked around the town, hoping things got better, she could see plainly that things had only gotten worse.

The streets were completely empty; the few shops she had seen open two days ago were shut. No sign of life could be seen in the beautiful town. They travelled through the town until they got to their destination. A barn-like building located near the centre of the town.

Before she could ask what they were doing here, the Prince had dismounted and so had the rest of the group. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her from the horse.

“What are we doing here, Your Majesty?”

“We brought food to be rationed.”

“Rationed?”

“Hmm,” he said with a nod. “The plague has adversely affected our agricultural production. There is barely any food being produced. If we leave things as they are, then the populace will starve to death before the plague can even get to them. We deliver food from our stockpile to these centres from where the food is shared among the town’s population. It is not much but if we can delay the demise of our kingdom a little longer, then that’s what we’ll do. Let’s head this way.”

Reuentahl turned and began walking to the building. Ebony stood where she was by the horse, watching as the attendants unloaded the bags of food from one of the carts. She was once again struck by the severity of the plague. These people were in danger of being totally wiped out by the disease. It was a precarious situation, to say the least.

For the millionth time since she arrived, Ebony could only hope she could help these people.