How to cure a Dark Lord

These days, I had asked Mirabel not to bring up my breakfast anymore. When I thought about all the stress she had to go through bringing up my meals and climbing up and down three flights of stairs everyday. I realized that it just better that I go downstairs to the kitchen myself for my breakfast and eat it there while having Mr Roman fill me up with all the latest information in the castle and beyond.

 I headed down the stairs to have my breakfast in the kitchen and from there begin my routine for the day. I'll go to the woods to pick herbs first and then head to the market to buy ingredients before returning to the infirmary to prepare the ingredients and make the medicine for his Majesty.

 "Good morning, Mr Roman." I greeted heartily as I walked into the kitchen. The rest of the kitchen staff had gotten used to my presence.

 The head chef beamed when he saw me. "Miss Frieda, right on time."

I sat on the marble slab that served as a chair along with the higher slab serving as a table.

"What delicacy do you have for me today?" I asked him.

 "Only the best in Kerva." He replied me and we shared a laugh.

He served me breakfast; freshly baked bread, freshly churned butter and freshly pressed apples juice. I sipped the ape juice first and began to eat.

 "Did you hear? We have guests." Mr Roman said apparently excited since he now had more people he would cook for.

I pretended like I had absolutely no idea of what he was talking about. "There are guests here? In the castle?"

Mr Roman nodded and sat opposite me. He also had his voice lowered like he usually does when he was about to disclose something sensitive.

 "Yes. They are the emissaries of the King that oversee the affairs of Kerva's three borders."

 Kerva had three land borders and a seaport close to the capital. The land borders were the ones Kerva shared with Vidiya, Cophavn and Garamet.

 "They usually send their monthly reports to His Majesty through letters, but this time he asked them to come down to the capital and give their reports." He filled me in.

I tried to look confused. "Why did they have to come to the capital?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it must be of utmost importance."

Now that I thought about it, The Dark Lord was going to have a meeting with them last evening before I came along and he canceled. According to what I heard him say, the meeting was scheduled to hold today. I nodded and continued to eat my food.

"Whatever it is, I just hope it isn't the Garamet's invaders." The head chef sighed.

Now I was genuinely confounded. "The Garamet's invaders? Who are those?"

 "You've never heard of them? Why, they were quite the terror during King Cade's reign." Mr Roman filled me in.

I shook my head. I wasn't aware of that. I don't remember much about King Cade's reign. I was still quite young back then.

 "About thirty years ago, a group of outcasts rebelled against Garamet's King and began to wreck havoc on the Garamet. The reason for their rebellion was unknown. Even the kingdom's armies couldn't keep the rebels in check. They came as far as the borders of Kerva and Vidiya.

 "They killed hundreds and took hundreds away with them to nobody knows where. But what I heard was that those rebels were no ordinary people. They were..."

 "Ehem!"

Mr Roman and I jumped as we heard someone clear their throat behind us. It was Gilbert and he didn't look pleased at all.

 "I have come for the visitor's breakfast. It seems you must have forgotten about their presence in this castle." Gilbert's strict voice echoed in the now silent kitchen. Not a single chirp could be heard.

 I followed the head chef's gaze to a corner of the kitchen where the trolley containing the guest's breakfast sat forlorn.

 The head chef immediately bolted upright with a nervous smile while I looked down and tried to focus on finishing my food.

 "And Miss Frieda, your coachman awaits to take you to the woods."

 I nodded and quickly downed my cup of apple juice.

* * *

After an uneventful herb picking expedition in the woods, the coachman and I rode out to the capital's market. This market was unlike what I was used to back in Mirideth.

In the village, I knew every turn in the market and where everything was sold because it wasn't all that big. But this market was large. There was a huge section for people who sold dresses and fabrics and so on, a section for food items, for shoes, for farm implements, you name it. And each section was divided into a subsection.

 Today, the market was bustling with traders and customers as usual. Carriages moved about the roads cluttered with people and there was the loud chatter of people bargaining and calling customers to buy their wares.

 I told Maximilian to wait for me in the carriage while I went to buy what I needed quickly. I walked to where spices were sold and then I moved from stall to stall, looking for the freshest items.

 I stopped at a particular stall where I usually bought what I needed all at once. The stall owner was a kind looking woman in her fifties.

 "Oh, pretty miss. It's you again, what would you like today? The usual?"

 I nodded. "Yes please."

As the stall owner packed what I needed in a piece of parchment, I overheard the women talking at the next stall in hushed tones.

 "He even had to force the emissaries to come to the capital." the woman who was buying said to the seller.

 "I never knew it was this serious." The seller said in wonderment. "What if it spreads to the capital? What do we do?"

 The woman buying the wares came closer to the buyer and whispered something into her ear that I couldn't hear. What was she saying?

 The stall owner covered her gasp with her hands. "No! If that happens, we'll all perish."

The buyer nodded gravely. "I wish we could have the former crown prince as our king. He'd know what to do."

Oh, so I wasn't the only one who wanted Rowland on the throne. Well lady, your wish is about to come to pass, Just give me seventeen more days.

 "Here you are, Pretty Lady. Your fresh turmeric and ginger." The stall owner I was buying from said to me. I smiled as I took the parcel from her and paid her.

 I looked at the next stall and the buyer had left. The seller got on with her sales carrying a morose look on her face. I had to get back to the castle and find out why those emissaries were in the capital city.