"You look awful, Gwen!" said Rhosyn in a hushed voice as the two of them walked down the meadow path. "Was it really that bad?"

"Worse," Gwen croaked. She'd started feeling a lot better these past few days, but her voice was still rather awful-sounding, and her throat burned and itched. "You should have seen what I looked like just two days ago."

Rhosyn considered her friend carefully, then glanced down the trail behind them to ensure the two hooded guards weren't within earshot. Then she gave her head a tilt and leaned in closer.

"So, you're escorted everywhere now?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper.

"Anytime I want to leave the castle, yeah. It was that, or I wasn't even going to be able to come out here and visit you."

"Can you try again?" she asked. "You know, giving up eating that stuff?"

"No," Gwen sighed. "My meals are supervised now, and the kitchen staff have all been warned that I'll get sick again without my 'medicine'. And honestly, I'm not even sure I could do it again. Even if I had lots of help and support, I don't know if I could put myself through that a second time. It was pretty awful. I felt like I was dying."

"I wish I hadn't found that book," Rhosyn said, scowling slightly. "It wasn't fair to raise your hopes like that."

"Nonsense, Rosie. You were looking for a cure, the same as me. Not your fault that this one didn't work. Besides, finding that journal is still a blessing." Gwen glanced at the two guards, and then spoke to Rhosyn in a hushed whisper. "I've been thinking a lot these past few days. We know what this herb looks like, right? From the drawings in that book?"

"Right," Rhosyn agreed.

"And more importantly, we now know where it grows, too. I've checked some of these notes, and looked up some of the places on the big map in the library. Nearest is less than a week away, by horseback. They're far, but not too far."

"Not too far for what, exactly?"

"I could run away!" she said in an excited whisper. "If I do need to continue eating that stuff, I could just pack some things and sneak off to where it grows!"

"You mean 'we', don't you?"

"What? Rosie, I can't ask you to give up your life here," said Gwen, shaking her head. "You've got the horses! You have a boyfriend, and I just couldn't stand it if-"

"You mean Darin?" Rhosyn's eyes went hard. "I don't think I'd exactly call him my 'boyfriend' at the moment."

What do you mean?"

"I think he's trying to gather information from me," she said, her tone becoming cold. "The night I got back, shortly after I gave you the journal, he showed up at my place. He brought dinner with him in a picnic basket, asked me how my trip was."

Gwen gave her friend an odd look. "But why would that make you think-"

"Gwen, Anifail didn't give me a chance to tell anyone I'd left. At first I thought that maybe you'd told Darin so he wouldn't worry, but you've never actually met him! And even if you had, how would you have been able to tell him while under the effect of the geis sphere?"

"Hey, and how did he know precisely when you had returned from your trip?" Gwen asked, frowning. "That does sound kind of odd, now that you mention it."

"Exactly. So I asked him how he'd found out I was gone to begin with. He just sorta shrugged it off, said that some friend must have told him. After that, I started paying attention to some of the things he was asking me. He wanted me to elaborate on my duties as your lady-in-waiting, and tried to get me to talk about our friendship."

"But why?"

"Gwen, I'm the only friend you have. Do you seriously think a certain someone wouldn't try to take advantage of that?"

"You think he's trying to find out stuff for my father?" Gwen asked, heart sinking.

"I'm positive. I followed him for a while when he left that night. He headed towards town at first, but when he figured he was far enough from my place, he headed straight for the castle." Rhosyn twirled a stray lock of hair unhappily. "So yeah, there isn't exactly anything keeping me here. 'We' could run away from this place. You go, I go."

"Oh Rosie, I'm so sorry! I know how much you liked him." Gwen pursed her lips and considered. "If you want, we can come up with a list of things to call him when you're breaking up with him. Actually, I should see if I could get him locked up or something! That might be fun."

"Break up with him? Gwen, why would I do something like that?" Rhosyn asked with a smirk.

"Because he's using you, Rosie! That's a horrible thing to do!"

"So? Let's use him right back! If he reports to the king, we can feed him any sort of lies we want! If I simply got rid of him, your father will probably just look for some other way to find out what's going on. A way we may not know about."

"Ooo, that's a good idea! If my dad thinks everything's okay, we'll have an easier time slipping away when it's time to leave!"

"Exactly," smiled Rhosyn, though her expression was the slightest bit wistful and sad.

Gwen didn't really know what to say to her friend, or how to ease her obvious pain. She knew how excited Rhosyn had been when she'd first met Darin – finding out something like this had to be killing her.

They walked in silence, the only sounds coming from the clunky armour of the two hooded guards dutifully following a dozen or so paces behind them. Eventually, Rhosyn cleared her throat, looking a bit troubled.

"There's only one problem I can see with this 'running away' plan. It's a pretty big one though." She gave Gwen a significant look. "You told me yourself that you started hallucinating and getting sick after missing only a couple of days of eating that herb. There's no way you'd make it through a week of horseback riding without the stuff, is there? And if your father's the only one who has it, then how exactly... uh–"

Rhosyn stopped talking entirely, and considered the smile Gwen was giving her.

"Royal study, bottom left drawer of his desk. A leather pouch tied with red cord. That's where he keeps it." Gwen gave her friend a sidelong grin. "That's the one good thing that came from everything that happened. Dad saw me, figured out what I was doing, called for Anifail, and got him to fetch a whole bag of the stuff. Mentioned exactly where he could find it, right in front of me. I don't know if it's his whole supply, but even a small pouch should be enough until I can locate some more."

"He just mentioned it in front of you? Well then, he's probably moved it somewhere else by now."

"I don't think so. He probably thinks I was too out of it to have heard him say it. Mind you, he probably wasn't that far off the mark – I was seeing spiders on the walls at that point, and could barely stay awake. And even if he suspects I heard him, he's way more worried that I'm trying to avoid eating that stuff right now. I doubt he's too concerned I might go and steal a bunch of it for myself."

"Hmm. True," Rhosyn agreed.

"Plus, he's got a lot on his mind. The wedding is happening in just a couple weeks time, and he's been working hard to get everything ready, so he's got to be juggling a lot of torches right now. A stash of herbs he's got hidden in his study is probably the furthest thing from his thoughts."

"So if it's in the study, how are you going to get it?"

"I'm trying to figure that out myself, but the important thing is that we've got to be ready to go once I've found a way to grab it. I can't just grab it now, because he'd notice it's missing. We'll need supplies readied first. Money, clothes, tack, things like that. I should be able to get my hands on some silver, as well as a few other things we can bring along and sell later. However, if I were seen carrying saddlebags or provisions or anything suspicious like that, word would definitely get back to the king."

"I'll come up with a list, and start gathering some things," Rhosyn said, nodding slowly. "You've never been on a trek like this before, but I just spent a whole week on horseback, and know just about everything we're going to need for a trip like this. In fact, I'm still mostly packed from that last trip."

"Okay, so you be sure to let me know if there's stuff you need that you don't have, or can't get access to. In a pinch, I should be able to find a way to smuggle what we need out of the castle. Out my window might work, depending on how fragile it is, though we'd probably have to coordinate a time or–"

"Ah, there you are!" a familiar, cocky voice announced from somewhere behind them.

Both of the girls stopped walking and turned to face Anifail, who was now standing directly between their two armoured escorts, not twenty feet away. The expression on his face was as self-satisfied as his tone had been.

"You know, I wasn't entirely sure I'd find you out here, Princess," he said with a smile. "I mean, after all, you have so many friends and acquaintances that when it came time to look for you, I scarcely knew where to begin! Stroke of luck, finding you in the very first place I thought to try. I could have been wandering for days, knocking on doors, asking all your other friends if they'd seen you, or if–"

"How's the hand, Captain?" Gwen inquired sweetly.

Anifail's calm, easygoing smile fell away at that, and though he tried to keep his expression neutral, he wasn't entirely able to keep his lip from pulling into a sneer. The muscles in his jaw clenched slightly, and Gwen noticed his right hand come up and touch the heavy bandage wrapped around his other hand.

The burn she'd given him was probably still very painful. Gwen briefly wondered if enjoying that fact made her a bad person.

"Lunch is being served, Princess. Supervised, of course, to ensure you don't cause any more careless accidents of this nature," he said, motioning with his bandaged hand. "I do appreciate your concern. It was quite painful, actually, and the pain has lingered for the past couple days. But then I spoke with your father about what would be happening these next few weeks, and some of the things we ended up discussing, well...." He gave her a wolfish grin. "I find it hurts much, much less now."

Gwen was unsure exactly what it was he was talking about, but it sounded fairly ominous.

"Well, if you find it's still bothering you, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to kiss it better, Captain," Rhosyn said in almost the exact same, sweet voice Gwen had used.

Anifail smiled patiently at that, and then turned and waved a gesture behind him, indicating the path leading back to the castle. "If you would please come along with me, Princess? I suspect your lunch is getting cold."

Gwen gave Anifail a flat stare, then turned to Rhosyn. The girls embraced one another, briefly.

"We start getting ready tonight," whispered Gwen. "Right away."

"Your window, every midnight. Drop a note, or whatever you need smuggled out," Rhosyn whispered back.

"I will. Be careful."

"You too."

And with that, Gwen turned away from her friend and began walking towards Anifail and her two watchdogs. She barely even acknowledged the three men as she walked past them, heading for the castle.

It'd probably only take a couple of days to gather the necessary things, she mused, at which point they could be off and rid of her father for good. That meant hatching a plan for how she was going to get into his study, and fast. Everything hinged on her getting access to that pouch. Once that was done, they could pretty much leave right away. She'd be free, and her father's plans would be in ruins.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something in Anifail's expression, a kind of cheerful malice that was different than usual.

It made Gwen suddenly wonder if it was already too late.