How to cure a Dark Lord

The carriage arrived in the castle and I stepped out, thanking Maximilian like I always did. I took my basket of herbs straight to the infirmary where I knew my helper Avery was waiting for my arrival. Learning from my mistake of yesterday, I had hidden my nightshade stalk in my dress where it wouldn't be seen.

As I walked past the courtyard of the castle, I noticed the servants were standing in groups of twos and threes, speaking in hushed tones. There was apparently tension in the air.

 I returned to the infirmary and got to work preparing my ingredients for the medicine I would be making later in the day. After a while, there was a quick knock on my door. I asked the person to come in.

 "Good afternoon, Miss Frieda." the familiar high pitched voice of my redhead friend sang. I looked up and saw Mirabel holding on to a tray containing what seemed to be my lunch.

 "Mirabel. You're here quite early. Is it noontime yet?" I asked her as she walked in. She shook her head.

 "Mr Roman asks that I bring this snack to you." she answered.

Oh, so it wasn't lunch then. It was good, I could use a snack right now. All that walking around the market had gotten me hungry.

 I checked the dish and found it was a slice of apple pie and a fork.

" It smells divine." I told her after taking a whiff of the pie.

 "I know. The kitchen is still filled with the aroma."

I took the fork and had a bite. It tasted divine. 

 "You should have some of it too. It's such a big slice and I bet Gilbert hasn't let you take a breath."

 She nodded with a sheepish smile.

"What's going on in the castle though? I noticed the servants were quite out of it today." I asked her hoping she would have the information I needed.

 "Nothing much." she said with a shrug. "Except that the Dark Lord is having a meeting with the emissaries from the borders." she told me, also taking a bite from the pie.

 "You know, I kept looking if I would see the Dark Lord today, but I couldn't. He was hidden amongst the elite servants." She huffed looking quite disappointed.

 I frowned. "Why would you be looking for the Dark Lord?" Why would anybody in their right minds be searching for that evil tyrant?

 "Well, I heard some rumors that the Dark Lord was a very beautiful man." she said looking dreamy.

 "Who told you that?" not that the person was wrong, but why would he or she care about that man's looks? Didn't they know that if he heard this, I'd also be required to treat his ego overdose?

 "Camille. A laundry hand. She had seen his face once when Gilbert took her to the fifth floor to change his sheets. She said he had light-brown eyes and his hair was long and dark as a raven's. But is it not true? You see him every night, you should have a good idea how he looks."

 Her words made me choke on a piece of pie. I coughed violently and she had to bring me a cup of water before I could calm down.

"Let's just talk about something else. How long has the meeting been going on?" I quickly changed the subject.

 "Since after breakfast. They haven't been out since. Even the grand Duke and some other high standing nobility are present."

 "Any idea what they're talking about?"

"Of course not. The throne room has been sealed shut for the past four hours. We can't even hear a squeak from in there. That is if the guards would let us close enough." Mirabel said with a pout.

 Then she came closer and lowered her voice. "But you know, there are some rumors flying around."

I lowered my voice as well. "What rumors?"

 "Rumors that a deadly plague has been spreading at the Kervan border. The whole palace is talking about it."

More like the whole kingdom from what I had heard at the market. "A deadly plague?"

 "Yes Miss Frieda. They also say that it is a kind of rabid disease and the infected people always try to infect other people. They also say that the infected people have a monstrous look before they eventually die." Mirabel made a scary facial expression when describing the monstrous look but it didn't have the effect she was going for because she looked cute and funny.

 But a plague was no joking matter. It was a bad thing. The lives of people were at stake. All my years of being a physician, I had never come across a plague before. The closest thing to that was a whole family being infected with chicken pox.

* * *

Dinnertime came, and by then, I was done making the medicine for the Dark Lord. I put the medicine in the porcelain pot like I always did and carried it with me into the main castle.

I went to find Gilbert but he was no where to be seen. I found Mirabel taking out laundry to the laundry room along with another maid.

 "Mirabel, have you seen the butler anywhere?"

She shook her head. "Not in the past few hours, no."

 I felt a bit frustrated. He was supposed to come with me and announce my arrival to the Dark Lord. I couldn't go up to the fifth floor all by myself.

 "I think he's probably at the fifth floor attending to His Majesty." Mirabel added and walked away with her companion.

I figured she was right. I made my way quickly to the spiral staircase and began to climb. As I climbed, I heard the sound of melodious music from a piano coming from upstairs.

Back in the village, music was a luxury only those skilled in it could enjoy. But even though I haven't heard a lot of music since Mr Killjoy the Dark Lord had banned festivities, it didn't mean I didn't know quality music when I heard it.

 I took a detour to the third floor where the music was coming from. The more I approached the music room the louder the music got and the more beautiful it sounded. Whoever it was that was playing was an absolutely skillful player.

The song that was played sounded a bit sad, but that didn't stop it from being the best thing I had ever heard. It evoked a lot of emotions in me, it reminded me of Papa.

 I approached the door and tried to peek through the peek hole so I could see who it was with such talented hands when another hand it was not expecting, blocked the door.