The Pharmacist and The Prince

A Threat and a Juxtaposition

threat /θrɛt/ : a statement of an intention to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile action on someone in retribution for something done or not done.

juxtaposition/ˌdʒʌkstəpəˈzɪʃ(ə)n/ : the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

“You’re an exception?”

Reuentahl tipped his head to the side, giving the question a thought. “Yes, I am but it’s not just me. My entire family.”

Ebony squinted at him. “Why? Why are you and your family members exceptions to what I understand to be the normal magic nature?”

“Because we are the Seelsorgers. We form the basis of the Kingdom of Seelsorger. We rule and as such, are given the power we need to rule. That is how it has been and that is how it will continue to be.”

Very sensible answer. From the beginning, Ebony had been wondering why he had the same name as the kingdom. It seems his family was the foundation of the kingdom.

It was typical that they would be stronger than the average person then.

“That makes sense.” Ebony thought for a bit. “Does that only mean that you can use magic without runes or it expands to something else?”

“It expands to various other things. You know how one person will usually have an aptitude for one type, or at most two types, of magic.” He waited until she nodded before continuing. “For us of the Seelsorger family, we have aptitude for all the types of magic.”

Ebony’s eyebrows flew toward heaven. “Including healing?”

Reuentahl nodded as he laughed. “Yes. Including healing. But we do have to be trained, like anyone else, to fully utilize the magic.”

That was fair. “What types of magic have you trained in?”

Reuentahl counted off his fingers. “Construction, agriculture and carpentry.”

“No healing?”

“No healing,” Reuentahl confirmed.

Ebony puckered her lips. “Boooo. I wanted to make you my apprentice. That’ll be a power move. The King Regent as my apprentice.”

Reuentahl laughed.  “Right?”

Ebony laughed as well. “I could even put it on my CV.”

Reuentahl narrowed his eyes. “CV? What is that?”

“It’s a…thing in my world. It’s like a list of accomplishments that you present when you’re trying to find work, a job somewhere. Does that make any sense?”

Reuentahl inclined his head. “A bit. You should tell me more about your world. It was really a shock to hear that you could not ride a horse. I would like to know how you transport yourselves in your world as well as other things.”

Ebony recalled the time he spent expounding on his kingdom and how his world worked. She loved hearing about the magic and the wonder that defined this world.

She didn’t think, however, that she had anything interesting to say about her world. It all seemed so mundane and boring compared to this fantastical world.

“I’ll try. I just don’t know if you will find anything interesting about my world.”

Reuentahl folded his arms. “Try me.”

Ebony lifted one shoulder up lightly in a half-shrug. “Maybe I will.”

“And don’t worry about finding people to work with you. I plan to assign some of the surviving healers to work under you as assistants.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” As an afterthought, she lifted her skirts slightly and attempted a curtsy. “You’re very kind.”

Silence.

Then a burst of sound as Reuentahl wrapped his hands around his middle and doubled over in laughter. Ebony watched in growing embarrassment as his shoulders heaved up and down.

“It was not that bad. Really.”

How mortifying.

But she had to acknowledge that she enjoyed seeing him laugh. His strict look disappeared and his face was transformed, with a child-like innocence revealing itself.

She thought he looked more like Ferdinand this way. Speak of the devil…

Ebony looked behind Reuentahl and Ferdinand stood in the doorway of the storage room, hands on his hips, looking mildly amused and irritated as the same time.

“The carriage is ready. Has been ready for a while. What is happening?”

Reuentahl having recovered from his mirth stroke, turned to his brother and waved an apology. “I’m sorry…,” a gasp and cough, “I’m sorry about that. Let’s get the barrels moving.”

He turned back to her and his eyes still twinkled with the vestiges of laughter. “Ebony, can you wait outside the room?”

Ebony consented and walked out of the room. She noticed the X-Ray gaze that Ferdinand gave her as she passed by him and suddenly became uncomfortable.

It was different from the look of polite interest he gave her when they first met.

This one was more searching and definitely more discomfiting.

She got to the hallway and spun around to look into the room.

Ferdinand had moved to the back of the room and was lifting barrels with the same ease that Reuentahl had a few minutes ago.

But he seemed to be laying them flat on the floor instead of upright. She watched as he gave one of the barrels a kick and it rolled out of the room and straight at her.

Ebony jumped back in fright, plastering herself against the wall. The barrel, however, turned sharply once it got to the hallway and bounced down the path they had taken to get here.

In similar fashion, ten or more barrels rolled out of the room and out of sight. Finally, the two brothers came out to the hallway, with Reuentahl shutting and locking the door behind him.

“Shall we?” Reuentahl said, as he gestured to the empty passage.

Ebony bit her lip as she peeled herself off the wall. “We shall.”

Their trip out of the castle was silent and uneventful. The courtyard was empty except for two carriages parked at the centre.

One was the carriage she had arrived in. One horse with one small car attached.

The other was a setup she had never seen before. Three huge wagons were arranged linearly and attached to four equally massive horses.

The barrels were neatly lined up beside the wagons, like soldiers awaiting orders. And the orders came soon.

Reuentahl raised his hand and with a light wave, the barrels jumped up and into the wagons. As they landed, the wood made a cracking sound and Ebony’s hands flew to her mouth.

The wood…how has the wood not broken yet? It rolled all the way here and now, it was flying into a wagon.

How…? Magic.

She answered the question herself. This world has magic.

But as the barrels settled down into their new position, another issue arose. “Won’t they fall off as the carriage moves?”

“I’ve locked them in place. They will not move,” Reuentahl said.  

“Ahhh,” Ebony said, like his answer made sense, which it didn’t. That was fine, though. As far as the barrels didn’t actually move. “Thank you very much. I’ll be returning now.”

Reuentahl pointed to the wagons. “You’ll need help unloading that. I’ll escort you.”

She had totally forgotten about that. She opened her mouth to thank him again but was interrupted by Ferdinand.

“You, my dear brother, need to get back to your ruling council.” Ferdinand gripped his brother’s shoulder. “I’ll escort the healer lady back.”

Ebony blinked once. “That’s right. You were having a meeting when I arrived. The Prince is right, Your Majesty, you should return.”

Reuentahl frowned but acquiesced. “Fine.”

Ferdinand flashed a bright smile at them both. “Then let’s go.”

Once they reached the carriage, however, Reuentahl pulled Ferdinand some distance away and whispered harshly to him. Whatever Reuentahl said seemed to have no effect on Ferdinand, as he pulled away with a cat-that-caught-the-mouse smile.

What was that about? Ebony wondered, as Ferdinand entered the carriage a short while after. He sat opposite her and crossed one leg over the other, smiling an unreadable smile.

He said nothing, even after the carriage had left the castle behind and they were a few minutes to the apothecary.

Ebony was staring out the window, at the scenery that was slowly becoming familiar to her, when Ferdinand spoke.

“My brother trusts you.”

She spun to look at the Second Prince. “I’m sorry. What was that?”

Ferdinand leaned into the cushion and folded his arms. “My brother trusts you. Or at least, your capabilities.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond or if she should even respond. The choice was taken out of her hands as Ferdinand continued.

“That’s enough for me. If he believes that you will save the kingdom, it’s enough for me. I’ll trust and believe in you as well,” he said, his voice cool and neutral.

“Thank you. I will try not to betray your trust, as well as that of the King Regent,” Ebony said solemnly.

Ferdinand looked down on at his trousers and brushed them off, as if there was a piece of lint clinging to the material.

“Oh Ebony, you’ll have to do far more than try. Because if for some reason, you ever betray my brother or this kingdom,” he paused to look up at her, “I will kill you.”

What?

As their eyes locked, Ebony’s blood ran cold. Her spine stiffened and sweat beaded on her upper lip.

Terror. That what was she felt. She was utterly terrified.

The person she was looking at terrified her. His eyes were cold and hateful, like those of a snake, yet she found herself unable to look away.

Ebony remained petrified until he broke the deadlock and averted his eyes, releasing her from his murderous gaze. She lowered her eyes to the floor and felt a shiver run through her and goosebumps pop all over her skin.

Infuriatingly, hot tears stung her eyes, beginning to spill out.

What did she do to deserve the threat to her life?

Her life before she arrived here was very peaceful; the worst thing on her mind a stupid pharmacology exam.

She had been summoned here without warning, given a mandate to stop a plague and save an entire kingdom. Now, she was being threatened.

It was unfair. So very unfair.

The carriage clattered to a stop behind the apothecary. Beside it, the horses pulling the wagons also came to a stop.

Ferdinand alighted from the carriage and held the door open for Ebony, flashing his characteristic smile. Ebony would be a fool if she believed that smile again.

Ebony didn’t look back to see how the barrels would be unloaded. She didn’t care. She just wanted to work and leave this place.

She walked, eyes unfocused, toward the apothecary’s entrance. She turned the final corner of the building and halted.

Stared.

Shook her head and stared some more. What in tarnation is going on here?

Planted in the gardens of the apothecary was a massive building. A completed and massive building.

The isolation centre. Her isolation centre.

Shaking off her fear and resentment, she rushed towards the building, her skirts swaying as she ran. She skidded to a halt at the open doors of the isolation centre at the same time Varick Lutz made his way out, his eyes shining with accomplishment.

“Mr. Lutz! The centre. It’s finished. The centre is finished,” Ebony said excitedly.

Varick responded with a bright smile. “Yes, milady. The work here is finished. Do you want to see the inside?”

“Of course.” It took all of her self-control not to bounce up and down. “I want to see it.”

Varick led her into the centre and began to point out all of the features of the building, pride pouring out of him.

Everything was in place and was better than she had ever imagined. The bed frames, the lighting, the windows, the wash hand basins, the toilets and bathrooms, the storage room, the floor, the roof.

It was all perfect.

As she walked out of the building, smiling, she thought to herself that this isolation centre could rival any coronavirus isolation centre in her world.

Ebony stopped, her shoes squeaking on the wooden floor.

She blinked once. Blinked again. Spun around and stared at the line of beds to her left and right.

The image she saw juxtaposed with another one. That of a COVID-19 Virus isolation centre.

The plague…was it coronavirus?