The Cursed Prince

"How long did it take when you woke me up?" Queen Elara asked Edgar after they waited for over an hour and nothing happened. She could see his face look helpless and so she thought there was something wrong with the scarf.

The man looked at her, feeling sorry. "It was almost immediately, Your Grace. I think it took only half an hour..."

"Oh..." Queen Elara's back slumped in helplessness. She turned to look at her husband and cried despondently.

So, it didn't work.

Was it only working to bring back the dead?

But now that she thought of it, she was not really dead. They thought she was because they couldn't feel a heartbeat, but in reality, she was just going into a very deep sleep where she had a long dream.

Or... maybe it only worked for someone like her, who had her origin associated with magic?

She was half-elf and their kind was known to be magic users. So, even though she couldn't cast magic, she was also part of them?

This was so confusing...

"I already sent for Elmer to come here, Your Grace. Maybe he can explain it," Mr. Vitas spoke. "Bruinen will come too. He knows a lot about things like this."

He checked Jared's pulse and his heartbeat and heaved a sigh of relief. "For now, His Grace's condition is stable. Hopefully, nothing will happen to him while we wait..."

***

Elmer came an hour later. It was almost two hours to midnight. Bruinen also came with him. They met Mars in the hallway when they were walking toward the queen's chamber.

Mars looked frustrated. Harlow was with him and she gripped his arms so hard and her lips pouted. He had tried to calm her down and waited for her to sleep to no avail.

She was calm and sweet, but as soon as her father wanted to leave her with the Athibaud sisters to see Jared's condition, she would throw tantrums and kick a fuss.

Mars knew Harlow was not mistreated by Ilma nor Lorian because she was fine being around them. She was just especially possessive lately and wanted to always be with him.

This gave him a headache. He wanted to go to Summeria as soon as possible after Gewen left with the dragon. He had prepared his army. But how would he do that if Harlow always wanted to latch on him? How could he go and leave her behind?

"Your Majesty..." Elmer bowed down his head slightly to greet the king. Bruinen did the same.

"You're here," Mars smiled tiredly at them.

"The little princess is not sleeping yet?" Bruinen asked him, looking concerned. Usually, babies would be asleep at this time of the night.

"No. She is especially fussy today," Mars replied. He remembered Harlow was very sweet around his mother. He thought maybe she would want to be with Queen Elara.

So, he decided to bring Harlow with him to see his mother and at the same time check on his father's condition. That's how he met Elmer and Bruinen in front of the queen's chamber.

"She looks fine," Bruinen smiled. "As long as she is not sick, it's okay."

"Yeah.. I agree with you." Mars turned to Elmer. "Did my mother ask you to come?"

Elmer nodded. "Actually it's my brother. He wanted me to check something. A magical artifact that he thought contains healing magic."

"Oh..." Mars realized his mother must have tried to use the scarf on his father. Did it work? He was curious to know. "Let's go in and see it then."

They entered the chamber and found the queen sat helplessly by the bedside. Edgar and Mr. Vitas stood nearby, looking worried.

"Mother..." Mars came to his mother. As soon as the queen heard her son's voice, she looked up. The sight of Harlow made her smile, despite her distress. 

"You are here..." The queen wiped her teary eyes let out a sigh. "I tried to use the scarf to heal your father. I don't know why it doesn't work."

Mars wished he could ask Emmelyn about the scarf, who gave it to her, and how it worked. Maybe it would only work for halflings like his mother? Unfortunately, Emmelyn was not here to answer his questions.

"Can I see it?" Elmer came closer and asked the queen. She looked up to him and nodded. The old wizard bent down and touched the scarf curiously. His face immediately lit up and he turned to Bruinen. "Bruinen, you have read the book I gave you about magical artifacts, right?"

Bruinen nodded. "Yes, Master. There are three grades of magical artifacts, first-grade, it is the highest one, and then second-grade, lastly, third-grade, depending on the magic they contain and who creates them."

Elmer smiled excitedly. "This is a first-grade magical artifact, created by none other than someone from the royalty level in Cretea."

"Huh?" Bruinen furrowed his brows at his master's words.

He had read very little literature about this place called Cretea. It was a place that people called the origin of magic. So, whatever magic humans saw or use in this world came from that place.

After this realization dawned on him, the young wizard gasped.  His reaction made Mars, Edgar, and Mr. Vitas surprised.

"I don't understand," Mars said. "Is there something the matter with the scarf?"

Elmer shook his head. "No, it should work as intended. This scarf is blessed with the highest level of magic I have ever seen. If it could work to revive Queen Elara from her long sleep, I am sure it could work to heal His Grace too. Maybe we should just wait. I think, decades ago I heard about such a magical healing artifact. It worked differently for each person. Right now, we can only wait and see."

Mars looked at the scarf and wondered who gave it to his wife and how Emmelyn could meet so many powerful and impressive people like this.

"You mentioned something about royalty from Cretea..." Mars turned to Elmer and asked for his explanation. "Can you tell me more about them? I am curious to  know how my wife can get her hands into this artifact."

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From the author:

I decided to give some background on the ice prince in the next chapter. I hope you don't mind waiting a little bit for Jared to be healed. XD

PS: If you read "The Cursed King", you might remember that Loriel got his immortality potion from Cretea.