The Princess Broken Wolf

16

The little incident with the horse was sure to spread like wildfire. Rosamund could still feel her cheeks heat up from the stares she was getting as her maid changed her into a normal attire fit for travelling. Her wedding dress was carefully boxed and loaded onto the humongous carriage. Ruslan himself was changing in the west quarters of the Mirror castle. A light lunch was served to Rosamund, consisting of her favorite food, vegetable stew and barley bread with a chicken and cheese sandwich and a small serving of caramel pudding. Rosamund had eaten alone in her quarters, and slept for a few hours when someone came to wake her up. It was Ellie who had woken her up.

“Your Majesty, it is departure time.” Ellie had respectfully bowed low and addressed her similarly to the King.

“May I inquire something, Ellie?” Rosamund said, her eyes following the movements of the girl.

“Yes My Lady.” she still had her head bowed.

“What has the Queen offered you in return for your life?” the moment Rosamund said those words, Ellie jerked her head upwards, looking alarmingly towards her.

“I….I don’t…You are mistaken, My Lady.” the way her fingers started fidgeting, and the visible perspiration on her forehead were a tell tale of something Rosamund had expected. It was either treason or magic.

“Be truthful. I will not harm you.” Rosamund gently told the girl, not wanting to spook her.

“I…” Ellie choked on her breath, silent cries wrecked her small body and she fell onto the floor, her hands clutching the front of her shirt in either desperation or anger. Rosamund didn’t know.

Rosamund woke up from her bed and sat beside the girl, in a very unlady-like manner and kept silent for the cries to come up.

“Would you like water?” Rosamund asked as the girl hiccupped continuously while offering the water.

“My Lady…..Thankyou.” Ellie accepted the water with trembling hands and tear-soaked face.

“Will you tell me?” Rosamund asked, giving a chance for Ellie to refuse.

“My daughter caught the lumnious disease a long time ago. I have travelled to many places in search of the Basalicks poison to treat her but I failed.”

Lumnious disease was a very rare but fatal disease that caused a scorching burning sensation in the eyes. Often, the patients die if not treated but the excruciating pains linger on even after successful treatment. The main cause of this disease was a magical creature, a small fly called Momentos, that laid its eggs in the eyes. Lumnious disease can be cured easily, but in extremely rare cases, it becomes untreatable unless Basalick's poison is used. The most effective way to treat lumnious disease was washing the eyes with Basalicks poison. Basalicks was a magical creature native to Marigold. They were so rare to find that killing them was against the laws for royalty as well as citizens. But the Queen had an extensive collection of Basalicks poison, Rosamund knew. She had tried to have the Queens collection be distributed among the doctors. It seemed to Rosamund that the queen had offered the poison to Ellie’s child as a bribe for giving up on her life.

What a cruel thing from one mother to another, Rosamund thought.

“I…I…” Ellie tried to speak, but her hiccups didn’t subside anytime soon. Without saying anything, Rosamund went towards her chest, which had some of her personal things, and rummaged through them till she found the thing she was looking for.

“M..My Lady?” Ellie inquired from the other side of the room.

“Aha.” Rosamund exclaimed, taking out a small vest filled with a pinkish liquid and making her way towards Ellie.

“Take this. And get your kid and yourself away from Marigold. Use a drop and sell the rest. You would be able to buy a small home in Sahar Bagh and live there peacefully.” Rosamund gently placed the vest in Ellie’s hands.

“ This…this is…” the flabbergasted look on Ellie’s face made Rosamund regretful. How cruel it was of the Queen to bribe a child's life only because she wanted her own satisfaction.

“Yes. This is Basalicks Poison.” she confirmed Ellie’s thoughts.

Ellie burst out crying all over again and customly hugged Rosamund while thanking her constantly. After a few minutes, Ellie drew back while profusely apologizing for her actions. Calling the guards from the door, Rosamund gave the instructions for Ellie to be taken back to Marigold and then to Sahar Bagh. She had just freed a person from the Queen’s evil clutches. Many more were to be freed.

Going back to her bed to retrieve the wedding band, Rosamund felt the presence of a person in her room.

“How have you not turned cruel?” the voice asked.

“It is treason to come into the Queen’s room without permission,Marcus.” moving back, Rosamund saw Marcus sitting at the window, his legs hanging from it.

“Well for the citizens or the maids or the guards. Which I am none.” Marcus carelessly shrugged his shoulders while taking an apple from the basket. Taking a large bite, he began munching loudly on the apple.

“You are being disrespectful as a person you know.” Rosamund knew he was unapologetic, yet she just had to say it.

“ I know and I don’t care. Now tell me why you didn’t turn cruel?” he asked, genuinely interested in the answer.

“Because I choose not to.” Rosamund shrugged her shoulders carelessly.

“You, if you were cruel, you could have ruled Marigold?” Marcus tried to reason with her.

“And what good would that be? A tyrant can’t always win the heart but cage them. I choose not to be that tyrant.” and she would have made that choice again and again.

Marcus went silent, in his own world and thoughts when he suddenly said,

“You will become the perfect Queen and Saintess.” he had looked directly into her eyes while saying that and before she could ask him to elaborate, Marcus had vanished into thin air.

“This man…”Rosamund let out a frustrated sigh just as the guards informed her that the time of departure had come.

Both of them had changed out of their wedding attire although the veil remained but a different, lighter one. Ruslan was dressed in black slacks with his heavy sword hung around his waist. His white shirt hung loose on his body but it did little to nothing to conceal the muscles underneath them. His sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his arms bare. Rosamund could see the golden skin that had undergone more exposure to the sun than a king should have. His hair was combed backwards, a few strands teasing his forehead. The dark chocolate color of his hair looked almost black but the golden hue made it shine. Rosamund flushed when she caught herself ogling the man seated in front of her. Her almost husband. They had begun their journey to Karkonz after changing into their respective attire suited for travelling. Just like Ruslan, she was wearing a pair of pants, with a loose red shirt that flowed with the wind. Her veil changed into a face covering like that of Ruslan, her hair braided in fish braids with pieces of world stone decorating it beautifully in the form of beads and small butterflies. Another courtesy of the man in front of her. The white band shone in the sun's rays, all of her jewellery was replaced by only a small pair of ruby earrings. The strands of her hair were loose, flowing with the steady wind. It had unintentionally caught Ruslan's eyes because he started speaking to her while looking directly at the stray hair. He started a very normal conversation with a not very normal couple.

“We will reach the nearest town soon, my lady. In exactly five hours, we’ll change to horseback riding.” Ruslan informed her, gently and nicely.

“I understand, Your Majesty.” Rosamund replied, to which Ruslan stiffened.

“Can I request something of you?” He suddenly asked, making her stiffen in return.

“Yes?” Rosamund asked timidly while her hand went towards her thigh where she had fastened the blade and the poison.

“Can you address me as Ruslan rather than use honorifics?” the way he asked, not commanding, made her heart flutter just a bit.

“But it would not be proper, My Lord.” she struggled to even say a word of honorific. It was as if her heart would break if she denied him anything.

“But I kindly insist,” he persisted.

“But…” Rosamund tried protesting but he continued.

“I don’t know if you are aware or not, but I am a wolf shifter and currently my wolf wants to kill me because he thinks I have commanded you to address me as such.” Ruslan explained while his hand went around his throat.

“I….oh.” the way he casually told her that he was a wolf shifter startled Rosamund. This topic wasn’t something that could be spoken about so easily. Rather, war could be waged if words got out.

“Alright, Ruslan.” Rosamund responded, softly saying his name. She thought he would relax but instead he had stiffened even more.

“Fuck.” his silent curse surprised her.

“I apologize.” clearing his throat, he went back to looking outside the window.

“How long till we reach Karkonz”? Rosamund was aware of all the places by which they could easily reach the Karkonz palace, but the way the carriage was heading, it was an unmarked trail.

“ It's a journey of four days. But I have made plans to visit the Crescent Castle in Jamoil.” Jamoil, a place that was under the ruling of Karkonz that was rich in gold and diamonds and one of the most advanced cities in the realm.

“Crescent Castle?” Rosamund asked, intrigued about the castle she never knew of.

“It is deep within the woods of Jamoil. It's a place where I often stay when I am in Jamoil. You wouldn’t know about it.” the way he lightly smirked indicated that he was teasing and testing her at the same time.

Rosamund kept silent in reply, already making mental plans of what she could do with this opportunity. She could kill him during their stay there in the Crescent Castle.

“How long would we stay there?” Rosamund inquired. Trying to sound as innocent as possible.

“For a week,” Ruslan said distractedly, just as Luke knocked on the window of the carriage.

This was a golden opportunity. She could do her mission and kill Ruslan in one swift move. As far as she was aware of her wolf's powers, the further the wolf was from its home, the weaker its powers were. So she had to think carefully. Ruslan was currently not at 100 percent of his powers. She had the perfect chance to kill him and be done with it without actually going to Karkonz. Within a day, the Marigoldian delegation would send the letter of agreement to Ruslan. After he makes the bond, she could kill him with far less pain than if she was to kill him in his home,

A burning feeling started in her heart and Rosamund knew she had to take the chance. It was now or never and if her Goddess was on her side, she might even be able to come out of it alive.