Chapter 150 - The Stag

When dawn again, Alexa woke up in Cymric's house, without hearing Romeo's familiar trill. She missed that. With a sigh, the princess gathered her strength to get up. Her spirit was less confident in the task ahead, today.

Her night had been consumed in the tower, with little news except two important news that Balbo communicated to her. The first was that the Di Borghesi took Blue Eyes to an unknown place, probably a monastery or church in the countryside, to receive medical care. 

And the second thing was that Prince Gutard had forbidden 'The Prince' to leave the chambers until they captured all the witches.

"At least tonight, Your Highness, stay here. Bastien didn't return to his shift, and I learned that he's ill at his home. Finding people of absolute trust for the Prince's guard will be very difficult now. We shouldn't challenge the Sovereign Prince, there are many things overwhelming him right now."

Balbo looked tired for a double shift, and Alexa agreed and swore that she would stay there if Balbo slept a little.

There were many unanswered questions, but the princess already knew that not everything could be resolved quickly.

When Alexa stood up, she immediately went to look for the old man, who had been outside brewing a surprisingly wonderful smelling concoction in a grimy pot. The smell of herbs was still strong, and following the source, Alexa went to the boiling pot, hoping to find Cymric around it, since he was not inside the house.

The contents of the pot had been reduced to a dark liquid bubbling at the bottom of the pot. A thin muddy coat that looked very unpleasant to look at, but that had a sweet and strong smell, reminiscent of honey. 

The old man was dozing sitting on a pile of firewood. His head was leaning against the wall of the house and the ex-druid wrapped in an old thin blanket. 

'Poor thing…!' Alexa felt sorry for the elderly man.

"Cymric! Cymric! The potion!" she shook him gently. The old man woke up stunned, choking on the air.

"Oh, the potion! I slept over!" He ran to the pot, coughing for having spent the night under the chilly dew beside a bubbling cauldron. Alexa followed him, and saw how mad at himself he was for falling asleep.

"The potion evaporated almost all while that stupid old man was sleeping! I'm too old for these things!"

"But is it still usable?"

He nodded, still annoyed,

"Just more concentrated and in small quantities. Maybe we can dilute it with water after all."

Alexa prevented him from taking the pot out of the fire and she did it herself, following his instructions to sift the liquid from the cooked herbs. She was in a hurry as she was to leave without delay for the Tanbury Forest, where the Spring Ritual should start at any moment.

The princess felt very guilty for not being able to help keep an eye on the fire. But she didn't even have time to have something as breakfast before Reed, one of the men in Giles's group, came to pick her up.

"Come on, lady, it's time! I hope everything is ready!"

She nodded, and as she stepped on the horse, the ex-Druid handed her the potion, in a small bottle,

"Milady, he must drink at least a third of the bottle for the medicine to take effect. Ensure that and everything will be fine. The effect is fast, so you will soon know if it worked. And pay attention: if the 'Stag' refuses the Queen of Spring, she will lose her post. It will be a colossal mess. In the same way that the 'Stag' cannot be someone who has a physical disability or is less than a formidable and young warrior, the Queen of Spring must be the most beautiful and seductive of women. So much the better if a child is conceived of the ritual."

"Hm, that explains a lot. Thank you, Cymric. I owe you so much!"

"Don't waste time thanking me. Just go!" said the old man, slapping Alexa's horse's hip so she could leave soon.

Avoiding the main road where pilgrims going to the festival moved, the pair went to a hill near the Tanbury forest, where the 'Hunt' would take part. From there, they could not see the meadow where the festival took place, but they could see the smoke from the fires, against the gray sky of that foggy morning.

Alexa felt a tightness in her stomach, and it was not just hunger, but tension about what would happen next.

Giles greeted her, and bluntly warned,

"Our scout has signaled that Lady Gwen is in the forest, with the Druids. When they return, they must bring your husband so that the 'Hunt' begins." 

Alexa nodded,

"I'm going to the forest. I want to make sure that Magnus proceeds to the diversion as planned." 

Giles looked her up and down before giving his verdict,

"Well, I think it's a wonderful idea. He will feel more secure if you come with us. Maybe through the veil of his visions he can recognize his real wife, instead of falling into the bestial traps of instinct…"

'I highly doubt it,' Alexa thought, 'since we are not even an actual couple and Magnus is actually one hopeless incorrigible pervy. Even so, I can't let him run to between that evil minx's tights!'

The princess also expected Alexander to be next to Magnus. And if he had followed his advice, he would have sung to Magnus so that his brother would remember who he was and what he was doing there. It would have been great if it had worked.

Going down the hill with the group to the place where they would 'ambush' Magnus, Alexa was instructed of the tracks in the forest that indicated the way to go. Some agents in the group were still taking care of the last preparations, diverting the course with obstacles and bait Magnus out of the way for Lady Gwen. The Queen of Spring awaited him near a special tent for the ritual.

Alexa divided the contents of her bottle into two others, totaling three bottles with the antidote, and handed one to Giles,

"You are stronger, Giles, so please help me if I fail to make my husband drink it."

Giles nodded, and motioned for her to follow Reed down a path.

"Wait for your husband at that point, we'll make sure he comes here," and Giles went with the other men to another location.

The expectation was torturing his nerves, and Alexa leaned against the trunk of a tree for a moment, to breathe. She was sure Magnus would hate to have gone through this, and because he was so dependent on other people. He, a prince of such a rich kingdom, an accomplished warrior, a man with a clear and shrewd mind, had been made a fool of by an artful woman who wanted to change her ritualistic lover.

'Ah, for sure he will be very ashamed ...' she thought. "He considers himself better than everyone else and having the help of a girl, a group of peasants, and an admittedly old charlatan is going to be a big blow to his vanity."

She couldn't find it funny, however.

Then Alexa heard loud noises in the distance, and her instincts tinkled with anxiety. Screams and noises that seemed to struggle.

Reed, the short man who was the first to see her in the forest, exchanged a worried look with her,

"Milady, I think our friends are having a confrontation!"

"Should we go and help them?" she questioned, trying to decide what to do.

"No! We must stick to the plan, "the man suggested, although he had grabbed his spear. They heard someone running towards them, and they became even more alert. Archie, a boy from the pack looking no more than 14 years old, came up to them, breathless,

"Reed! He's coming here. He wasn't detoured from the expected path and took down our archer, so the men had to interfere. He… knocked everyone down!"

Alexa looked away from Archie to see the shadow coming towards them, in the middle of the mist that rose from the forest floor.

The shadow of a man with a stag's antlers.

"He's already here," she felt the corner of her mouth twitch in a satisfied smile. The plan had worked, albeit with flaws.

Archie and Reed turned to look at the imposing figure coming at them, and held their spears tight.

Alexa pulled the air into the lungs, and grabbed one of the vials with the antidote. Maybe Magnus was conscious, and they could just get away without any other problem.

It wasn't entirely impossible, after all he was not even an ordinary man.

"Everyone calm down now. Let me try to talk to him and see if he recognizes me..." she asked. Reed whispered,

"Be careful, milady."

Magnus slowly came to the clearing where they were. He certainly knew they were there, and he had most likely followed Archie. But his steps on the noisy forest floor were hard to miss.

Taking a few steps forward, Alexa positioned herself more visibly in the clearing, lowering her hood. Uncapping the bottle, she held it out in her hands,

"Magnus. It's me, Alexa. Come on, I have something for you. It'll cure you."

Then his steps stopped for a moment.

The men behind Alexa were also silent and expectant. The princess whistled, hoping Alexander would show up too, but nothing happened for a long moment. 

"Come to me ... Alexa."

Something in Magnus' voice caused a shiver to run down her spine, but Alexa took a deep breath again. It reminded her of the voice she heard the day Magnus dueled Florian, before slaughtering him.

What if that narcotizing smoke had taken away all Magnus's reason and control, bringing up only what he referred to as 'the thing inside me', which he seemed to fear and hate?

But she had no choice, did she?

"Magnus, come with me. I will ease your tiredness and get the confusion out of your mind. I'm going to…"

"Alexa, come with me," he repeated without let them see more than a glance of him, or entering the clearing. His tone of voice was an order, not a request.

And it was scary. She hardly recognized him now.

'Oh crap,' she held her breath, deciding it was the only way to do that. Going towards him, she said loud and clear,

"I'm going. But promise me you will drink what ..."

"Milady, don't do this! NO!" Reed came towards her, trying to stop her, while Archie just stood there, panicked.

"It's not your husband! It's the devil!"

Too late.

In a blur, events happened so quickly that Alexa could not retell them. Magnus entered the clearing and threw her on his back, and as the world turned upside down, Alexa felt the bottle slip from her hand.

Now Magnus was running with her through the forest, but Alexa wasn't sure if he was really him.