The Pharmacist and The Prince

Stonehenge

teleportation  /telɪpɔːˈteɪʃn/   :  transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them.

Under the compliments of his King, Varick raised his head not unlike a plant does when watered. He smiled a very bushy smile, his cheeks stained by a blush.

He placed his hand on his chest, his posture similar to someone swearing a pledge. “Your Majesty, I thank you for your kind words. I will do my best to do you proud.” He turned to Ebony and bowed. “Thank you, milady, for this opportunity. I will work my hardest.”

Ebony smiled. What a gentle giant. “Thank you too, Mr. Lutz.”

Varick picked up his quill, hand poised on the paper. “I think I understand your needs, milady. I will make some sketches now.”

For the next few minutes, the only sound that could heard in the room was that of his quill scratching on the paper. Ebony snuck a glance at the King Regent, playing back his words to Varick in her mind. It had been a great thing to say to the man. She wasn’t sure that if she had been given the time to prepare the words in her mind, she would have said something so moving.

He was an impressive man.

The scratching stopped. “Milady, will you require a storage room for the building?”

Ebony raised her eyebrows. That hadn’t crossed her mind. “A storage room will be very welcome. It would be easier than transporting items all the time.”

Varick scribbled some more. Then stopped. “The toilets and the bathroom, milady, where shall I place them? Or are they not required?”

Ebony facepalmed. Was she getting senile? Of course, the isolation centre needed bathrooms and washrooms. “Yes, Mr. Lutz. How many bathrooms do you think will be suitable?”

Varick stared down at the paper in front of him. “Mayhap twenty.”

Ebony nodded. A reasonable number considering there would be a hundred patients plus the attendant staff. “That’s good. Now I think about it, there should also be several wash hand stations in the centre. Maybe around eight of them.”

Varick scribbled more. A few seconds later, he raised his head with a satisfied huff. Dropping his quill, he picked up the sheet, leaned over the table and placed it in front of her carefully. “What do you think, milady?”

Ebony thought that she should always keep it in mind that she was not in her world anymore. This world has magic. This world has magic. Maybe she should write it on her palm. It would serve as a good reminder and the more she facepalmed, the more it would get embedded in her brain.

The sheet of paper was not filled with rough lines and diagrams. Which was what she expected. No. It was filled with an elaborate architectural plan. Straight lines, clean curves, labelled structures. Like it had been produced by a master architect using the most advanced drawing tools. Not by scribbling with a quill on bare paper.

She went to ask but changed her mind. Instead, saying, “This is beautiful, Mr. Lutz. I think it is perfect.”

Varick beamed with the praise. “Thank you, milady. You are very generous.”

Ebony lifted the paper closer to her face, examining the drawing. It was a masterpiece and he had drawn it in a few minutes.

The sound of a chair scraping against the wooden floor drew Ebony’s attention. She turned her head to see the King Regent rising up from his chair.

“We should head to the Guild of Construction Magickers. It will be better if we can conclude this issue before the day ends.”

He was right. Ebony and Varick stood as well. The fact that she forgot about the storage room and the bathrooms showed her that while she may be the only one who actually knows what an isolation centre was and had an idea of what it looked like, she lacked the technical know-how. She needed an expert to make the more technical decisions.

“Mr. Lutz, would you accompany us to see the construction magickers?”

Varick raised his eyebrows. “It would be an honour.”

“Can I fold this?” Ebony waved the drawing around. “I want to take it with us.”

“Of course, milady.” With that, the trio headed out of the room and out of the backroom.

Varick pointed to the other side of the building. “I have a carriage that you both can ride in. Will that be suitable, Your Majesty, milady?”

“Yes, it will be very suitable,” Ebony piped up. A carriage would be infinitely better than riding a horse again. Beside her, she heard Reuentahl chuckle softly. Dang. She spoke too soon. He would think that she was avoiding riding with him. Which she was. But she didn’t want him to know.

Varick nodded and led them to the carriage. Ebony and Reuentahl watched silently as he attached the carriage to his horse. He then held the carriage door open for them.

Reuentahl stepped to the side to allow her enter. “After you, Ebony.”

“Thank you.” Ebony bunched up her bulky gown and stepped into the carriage. It was simple. Simpler than the one the king had given her for her transport but still neat. She settled in and watched as Reuentahl entered the carriage and sat opposite her with another one of his you-just-did-something-strange-but-I’m-not-going-to-tell-you-what-it-is-and-instead-laugh-at-you-silently smile.

Ebony felt her lips curl downward. What was it now? She reviewed everything she had done since they left the room and found nothing unusual. One look at his face told her that he wanted her to ask. But she would rather die of curiosity than give him that satisfaction.

Varick called from outside the carriage, telling them that he would start moving. At once, they carriage lurched. Ebony looked out of the window and watched as they moved past the front of the shop.

“Your Majesty. Your horse,” Ebony exclaimed, pointing at the animal.

Reuentahl had no reaction to her outburst. “Is there a problem?”

Ebony whipped her head around at his neutral tone. “Yes, the horse is not tethered. What if it wanders off?”

Reuentahl shrugged. “Of course, he is not tethered. He may have somewhere to go to. I’ll simply call him when I need him. I do have a pact with him.”

“Hmmm,” Ebony replied, leaning back on the cushioned seat. She was having one of those the-words-make-sense-individually-but-not-together moments. She really needed that “This world has magic” tattoo soon. “That’s fine. That’s very fine.”

Reuentahl c****d his head to one side. “You do know, Ebony, that anyone who sets eyes on you will automatically know that you are not from…around here. They do not know, of course, that you were summoned from another world but they know that you not of this kingdom. It will not make you seem any less intelligent if you ask questions. They would be eager to help.”

Ebony glanced at him and returned her eyes to the window. As she watched the landscape change, the carriage taking her farther into the kingdom than she had ever been, she remembered her life at school. University. A place where asking questions did make you seem less intelligent. Even though they were there to learn.

The lecturers either brushed off your questions, insulted your intelligence or the class laughed at you, even if they didn’t know the answer as well.

She had learned from her experiences and from observing the experiences of others not to ask too many questions. Or to even ask at all. The questions she had asked the Bookkeeper and the King Regent were out of a sense of helplessness. She didn’t want to ask so many questions.

But listening to him now…

“You’re very right, King Regent. I should ask more questions. and if your people will answer when I ask, then that would be very good.”

Reuentahl smiled a little smile. “So, Lady Ebony. Would like to ask any question?”

A glimpse at that upturned mouth told her that the taunter was back. And she knew what he wanted. Well, since she promised to ask freely….

“When I climbed into the carriage, Your Majesty, it seemed like you found something to laugh about. May I please know what it is?”

Immediately, the smile transformed into a full blown laugh, ringing in the enclosed space.

Shaking his head, Reuentahl smirked at the woman opposite him. “I thought to myself: ‘she may ask about the horse first, then later, about my laughter.’ But it really was bothering you, it seems.”

Ebony gritted her teeth. First, he tells her not to be ashamed of asking questions. Now, he laughs the moment she asks one. Strangely, she was not bothered by his mocking. It seemed like something a friend would do to another. “Will you answer, Your Majesty?  Or will you keep mocking me?”

“It was the way you pulled up your skirts.”

What? Ebony’s mind blanked out. Her skirts?

“My skirts…I barely raised them.”

“Yes, but you raised all of them. A woman of the Seelsorger kingdom will typically only raise the front slightly and climb into the carriage. But you,” Reuentahl paused, laughing at the memory. “You wrapped the entire skirt around your body. I did not mean to laugh but it was just so funny. Forgive me.”

Ebony had never seen someone ask for forgiveness looking so unrepentant. “You…”

Her lecture on repentance was interrupted the arrival of the carriage at the teleportation ring.

Staring outside the window with her jaw on her lap, Ebony saw what could only be described as Stonehenge. But not like the one of her world. This one was complete. All the massive stones in place and inscribed all over with…runes.

As she stared, a carriage similar to the one she was in, arrived in a flash of light about ten metres away from where they were currently parked. She reeled back from the window in shock.

“It seems like you have questions.”

Ebony whipped her head around to look at the King. “Of course I have questions. What is…” She was once more interrupted by a wave of energy that rocked her, albeit gently, unto the carriage’s cushion. Grabbing onto the arm of her seat to stabilize herself, she looked outside to see what had caused the disturbance and saw a wilderness.

Her jaw returned to her lap. Was that the teleportation? No beams of energy. No splitting into molecules and reforming. Maybe she had been split into molecules and reformed; she didn’t know. What she knew was that she had just teleported.

Teleportation. She had just teleported.

There was a sound of horse neighing and the carriage moved forward. Taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart, she decided that the best course of action would be to focus on the journey. Because if she started asking the questions in her head, there was no doubt that she would not be able to focus on the task at hand.

Ebony rubbed her chest vigorously and exhaled deeply. “How long will it take to arrive at the Guild of Construction Magickers?”

Muffled laughter. Then an answer. “In about five minutes.”

Ebony blinked rapidly. Her brain was having trouble processing that information. They had made a journey akin to crossing half of Australia in less than twenty minutes.

As if knowing what was going through her mind, Reuentahl added, “We simply picked the closest teleportation ring to the Guild and teleported there. Now, we are travelling there by horseback.”

Ebony nodded, processing the information silently.

There was no conversation for the rest of the trip.

Four minutes later, they arrived at the Guild of Construction Magickers.