Willingly, Together

Viella pushed the double doors to the High Lady's chambers gently, unwilling to alarm the High Lady of Empire with her discovery.

In her heart, she thanked the Prince for his warning, forgoing the possibility of being cured to save her from a horrible death.

The High Lady of Empire, hearing Viella come through the door, stood up in a hurry, her eyes wide and full of hope—laced with fear and grief, all at the same time.

Viella, who saw her more as someone in power than as a mother, forced a smile.

"I've made some calculations. When I saw the Prince and examined him, I noticed he was already too weak from his illness to be cured. I apologize, but I don't think we should continue with the medicine," Viella explained, lying through her teeth.

A few times, she nearly stuttered, recalling her hastily rehearsed excuse.

From across the room, the High Lady of Empire straightened her back.

Her face visibly soured with each spoken word, her hands clenching into tight fists as her shoulders tensed.

"Is that so?" she asked, her words surprisingly gentle.

"I'm afraid so. It would be too risky," Viella pressed on, now slowly moving towards the other side of the room.

Every so often, she glanced at the High Lady of Empire, who stood motionless, her gaze fixed on Viella and tinged with malice.

Like a vengeful ghost, she smiled.

Viella looked around, her eyes darting towards every possible corner.

"Where's Marie?" Viella turned on her heels, her clothes swinging with her movement.

The High Lady of Empire put both her hands in front of her, like a teacher catching a misbehaving student.

"You mean the little girl you left behind? Is she your sister?"

"Yes, she is! Now where is she?" Viella demanded, her voice rising an octave.

The High Lady of Empire lowered her eyelids.

"It is an offense to raise your voice to me. I am second to the Empress. Mind your tone," she said softly.

Second to the Empress? Viella thought, cold chills running down her spine.

No wonder her son had the title of Prince. These arrangements and titles did not exist where she came from.

The practice of keeping more than one official and acknowledged spouse was long abandoned, replaced by harems filled with women who could never be more than just that.

A snack.

"I will not risk the Prince's life to cure him when I don't know how the medicine will react to the poison in his blood. It's too risky,"

Viella explained once again, omitting everything else, fearing what the second Empress would do if she knew.

"And it's a risk I'm willing to take. Come, come now, child... no need to keep an ethical stance here. Did the Prince warn you of my trap?" the second Empress asked, slowly walking towards her.

"He's a clever boy, and his heart is too kind for his own good. You... were just supposed to cure him without conversing with him!"

By the time Viella realized what the second Empress wanted to do, it was too late.

A loud, echoing slap thundered through the silence of the second Empress's chamber. It spun Viella's head, sending her down to the floor as her feet lost balance.

The carpet was so thick that her fall made no sound.

Viella looked up with tears in her eyes.

She had endured worse, and yet, with each hurtful hand placed against her face and body, Viella still felt the sting in her heart.

"Y-you… y-you were going to frame me in case something horrible happened to the Prince," Viella stuttered, holding back a sob. She hated that she was crying.

"Of course. And I still will if something bad does happen to him."

"You can't force me!" Viella exclaimed. Once again, she felt the second Empress's hand on her, grabbing a handful of Viella's hair and pulling it back.

"I'm not forcing you," the Second Empress said with a wide, malicious smile. "You can choose to stay and cure the prince, or you can leave… alone!"

"No!" Viella cried, now with full tears flowing from her red eyes. She couldn't believe how fast everything had gone wrong after just one day of arriving.

Marie was threatened, and their lives were threatened, whether the risk was taken or not.

"W-what about the prince?" Viella said suddenly. "What about what he thinks of all this?" she asked.

"His thoughts are irrelevant!" the Second Empress threw her to the ground, strands of her dark black hair falling around her.

"That boy is utterly useless with his sickness! It's better if he dies than this!" she said, walking away from Viella, unaware of the girl's venomous gaze.

"If you do this for me… that little girl lives a good life regardless. But if you don't… you both die," the Second Empress said.

Viella felt her face grow hot with anger. Guilt stuck its ugly horns in her chest as she remembered she was the one who had brought this calamity upon Marie, who was just a sweet two-year-old child a day ago.

"Fine… I'll do it," Viella said, moving to stand.

She grabbed her satchel and then moved towards the direction she had just returned from.

Her heart was heavy with anger, fear, and anxiety.

Memories of past stories of herbalists and physicians trying to find cures for poisons came to mind—ending in horrible heart attacks, sudden blood vomiting, or simple death in sleep.

The truth was, that Viella should have carefully considered these things from the beginning.

As she walked down the same path with slow steps, Viella remembered how the High General had hinted lightly that it was a demonic attack.

The only possibilities were becoming scarred, crippled, or poisoned.

She should have asked him right there and then. Viella's mind was burdened by the many mistakes she had made that had brought her here.

Now standing once again in front of the prince's room, she noticed the door was still left open. No one had come to close it for him.

Viella looked inside, finding Prince Caspian lying on his bed, now sleeping with his head propped up by the same pillow from before.

His face, when sleeping, was relaxed. The tension in his stoic expression smoothed to innocence.

Quietly, Viella wiped away her tears, then walked over to the prince. Gently, she patted his shoulder, whispering, "Prince… Prince Caspian. Please wake up. I'm here to cure you," she said. Her voice was soft but loud enough for him to hear.

His eyes fluttered open. "I thought you would be gone by now."

"The High Lady of the Empire has my sibling. She won't let us go unless we do this," Viella explained, quickly taking out the bottle from her satchel.

She opened the lid of the 'medicine,' and then offered it to the prince, who moved back.

"I… uh…" Caspian said, trying to hold himself up. Viella set the bottle on the table and then helped him up.

She could feel he had been ill for a long time—his body light and thin.

"Just continue drinking until you feel better," Viella said, unsure what the dosage should be, feeling as incompetent as ever.

"Please… I… I spoke the truth before… the full and whole truth… I am afraid," Caspian said, moving away from Viella. "I know my mother would prefer me dead than reduced to living like a ghost in these walls. But I… I want to live."

The force with which he spoke his last few words touched Viella's heart.

She pitied the prince for living the way he did—unloved by his mother, ill, and alone here, surrounded by worn items she guessed he must have cherished.

"I know how you feel. I also want to live… Prince Caspian. It is that exact same reason that has brought me here. I also want to live.

If we do not attempt this, you will live, but I will die. And if we do and you die… I will die with you." Her words were stern to his ears.

Caspian's eyes widened.

"Here, take this bottle," Viella said, handing him the bottle before offering him her hand.

"Hold my hand… I will not leave your side until you wake again. It won't be painful," she said.

"How do you know I will wake?" he asked.

"I do not. It is my deepest wish for you… to open your eyes again if they close," Viella said, her words holding a deeper meaning that the prince understood.

With that, the stoic expression on his face returned, and without another word, he drank the remaining half of the potion, emptying it.

As Viella watched, she knew somehow, that even if the Prince survived, she would not leave the palace.

No. 

She would be entangled in internal affairs.