Would Ari marry a woman of his parents’ choosing and expect her to remain available for him? There were rumors that the King sitting before her right now had done exactly that. But that wouldn’t be Jasmine. If she didn’t have sole possession of Ari’s heart, then she wanted no piece of it at all.
She’d been in such a trance when Ari had first walked into the apothecary. If only she’d known then what she knew now, she’d have thrown herself into his arms and told him everything he’d wanted to know about the Alchemist.
She sighed. There was no point letting her mind wander down that path again. The clock was unable to be turned back, no matter how much you tried to bend its arms.
They weren’t far from Cypress now. The King’s carriage traveled much faster than Cass’s tired mules. That was one advantage they had, although she feared they’d wasted far too much time talking before setting off. The King had now dozed off to sleep and Ari had taken the opportunity to hold her hand.
She was so grateful. The feel of his warm skin pressed against her was feeding her courage and energy. They were in this together. He wasn’t going to leave her to do this alone, which was just as well. Sneaking up quietly on the Alchemist was going to be impossible while riding in this carriage. Not to mention the guards in the cart behind them.
“We should stop at the Alchemist’s house first,” Jasmine said to Ari. “I’m guessing he’s probably moved out by now and we might get a chance to search it properly without him there. See if there’s anybody locked inside. And he may have Raph there, too.”
Ari nodded. “We’ll search every room, and we’ll need to look for the body to see if it’s Ana.”
“Oh, Ari, I keep telling you it’s not her.”
“What makes you so sure?” asked the King, opening his eyes, appearing not to have been asleep at all.
Ari let go of her hand, a movement she was certain didn’t escape the attention of his father.
“My brother’s certain it wasn’t Princess Ana,” she said, not wanting to shock him with further details. And if Ari was right and the body was at the house, the King would find out soon enough anyway. “And my brother is always right.”
“Always?” The King sat forward in his seat and stretched his arms.
She nodded. “Always.”
“You love your brother,” the King said. “That’s nice to see. No doubt Ari has told you how his sister treated him?”
“Yes. She sounded very confused.” This was the politest way she could think to put it. Now wasn’t the time to upset the King, just when they were so close to being able to help Raph.
The King studied her closely, seeing no reason to avert his gaze. She offered him a gentle smile. “Thank you for taking us to Cypress. And allowing me to join you.”
He nodded. “My son didn’t give me a lot of choice.”
“Father—”
“Not now, Ari,” the King cut him off. “There’ll be time for this later.”
Ari fell silent and nodded.
“We’re here,” said Jasmine, looking out to the road.
Ari stood to speak to the horseman with some directions.
“What’s this house?” The King asked Jasmine.
“This is where the Alchemist lives. Lived, perhaps. I suspect he may have moved while we were gone. It’s where he held my brother prisoner that first time and also where we think he may have buried his wife.”
The King nodded. “We’ll do a thorough search then. I’ll have my guards assist.”
Jasmine cleared her throat. “If my brother’s not here, please Your Majesty, will your guards help me look for him at the apothecary? We must find him.”
“Let’s check here first,” he said. Jasmine thought she detected a hint of a smile on his lips. Not one of amusement, but one of admiration perhaps. Had she somehow managed to impress the King? She hoped so. Having him on her side would make everything so much easier.
The carriage veered off the road and down the path that led to the Alchemist’s house. Jasmine shuddered to think what horrors Raph had experienced in there previously. Please let him be safe and well this time. Perhaps he’d climbed a tree back at the palace and fallen asleep and this whole trip was for nothing. As good as that would be, she seriously doubted it.
The carriage came to a stop and Ari leaped out, turning to offer his hand to help Jasmine down.
When her bare feet touched the ground, she breathed a sigh. This was the soil of her hometown. Raph was here somewhere. He just needed to hold on until they found him.
“Wait here,” said the King, taking hold of Ari’s arm. “Guards, gain access to this house and see if it’s safe to enter.”
The guards found the door locked and as two of them circled the perimeter of the house, another pulled away some boards that had been nailed to the shutters on the window Ari had used to access the house. The guard climbed through the window and forced open the front door. More guards followed him back into the house.
Ari was pacing as they waited, and Jasmine put out an arm to steady him.
“I’m going in,” said Ari, ignoring the protests of his father.
He marched toward the house, with Jasmine and the King right behind him. As they got to the front door, one of the guards emerged.
“It’s empty,” he said.
“We’re looking for a body,” said Ari. “Either buried in the immediate grounds or hidden somewhere in the house.”
“It’s in the house, Your Majesty,” said the guard.
“You saw it?” asked Jasmine, unable to contain herself.
“I smelled it, ma’am,” he said. “Terrible stink coming from one of the rooms in there. It’s under the floorboards, I’d say.”
“Pull them up immediately,” said the King, stepping forward and gasping as a cloud of stench billowed from the house.
Jasmine’s hand flew to her nose and she tried not to gag. The guard was right. There was most definitely a body somewhere in there. Where were her smelling salts when she needed them? A deep sniff of Raph’s elixir would be more than a little bit appreciated right now.
“Let me go in,” said Ari, his nostrils flaring. “You two wait here.”
But the thought of Raph trapped inside was enough to propel Jasmine forward. “No, I’ve failed my brother too many times. I’m not failing him again.”
The King waved his hand at them, his face a shade of green. “I’ll join you when the body’s been recovered. Stay close to the guards.”
Jasmine followed the sound of the guards pulling up floorboards in one of the rear rooms of the house, staying close enough that she could see but wasn’t in their way. One of the guards had found some kind of metal bar with a pointed end and was using it to pry up the boards. With each board that came up, the smell got stronger. She just hoped there was only one body in there. Surely the Alchemist hadn’t had time to put Raph in there, too. They had to be sure before they looked further. This could be the only chance they got to inspect this house properly. It was a miracle the Alchemist hadn’t set the whole thing alight already.
“There it is,” said one of the guards, pointing as another lifted a board from the floor.
“A body?” asked Ari.
A guard nodded. “Excuse me, Your M—” He turned his head and vomited in a corner of the room.
The smell was intense now and Jasmine had to use all her self-control not to join the guard expelling the contents of his stomach.
“Let me see her,” said Ari.
The guards stepped back.
“Please wait outside and tell the King what you’ve found,” he instructed.
With the room now clear, Jasmine went to the edge of the hole in the floor and looked down to see the Alchemist’s wife a few feet below, lying on her back with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a bunch of dead flowers clutched in her lifeless hands. The wig that Raph had seen slip from her head was back in place, clinging to the body as if determined to do its job as long as possible.
Thank goodness Raph was nowhere to be seen in this hole of death.
Jasmine studied the corpse’s face. It’d started to decay and was hard to tell if Raph had been right in identifying her as a man, although she’d easily believe it. Perhaps Ana had just been a masculine looking woman. That wasn’t so unusual.
It was only then that she thought to look across at Ari.
He was squatting down, staring at the body, his outstretched hands shaking as he took in what he was seeing.
“Is it Ana?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Raph was right. This is a man.”
“How can you tell?” She looked again, squinting her eyes to see if she’d missed something.
“Because I know him,” said Ari.
Jasmine gasped. Ari was right. Their stories were linked. And it looked like she was about to find out exactly how.
RAPHAEL
THE NOW
“Let me go!” Raphael struggled with the ropes that tied his wrists together. Another rope had him strapped to a chair by his waist and ankles.
The Murderer paced the room before him. Raphael’s room. They were in his old bedroom in the Garden of Evernow, only he’d never wanted to be here less. It was no longer a place of sanctuary from the world. It felt very much like the place where he’d been brought to die. There was no way the Murderer was going to let him live now.
“What do you want with me?” he asked. “You can’t leave me tied up here like this.”
The Murderer pointed to Raphael’s workbench where he’d made the elixir for Jasmine.
“What did you put in it?” he asked, picking up a mortar and pestle and sniffing them. “I can detect bergamot and lemon, but I know you used something else.”
Raphael sealed his lips. He’d rather die than tell this evil man anything. It wasn’t like he was planning to reproduce the elixir and cure the people of Wintergreen. He’d probably wipe out one of the essential ingredients to ensure it could never be made again.
“Would you like to have another little sleep?” the Murderer asked, approaching him with a cloth in his hand, his nose twitching wildly.
Raphael shook his head. “You must know what’s in it. How else did you wake me up just now?”
“You weren’t given the plague, you fool.” A drop of saliva flew from his mouth and landed on Raphael’s leg. He wriggled, wanting to wipe it away, but couldn’t. “You were just put into a light sleep so you could give me a hand with this.”
“Princess Ana took me. I remember. Where is she now? Where are you hiding her? I want to talk to her.”
“You’re not really in a position to bargain with me right now, are you?” the Murderer sneered. “Why don’t you tell me what’s in the elixir instead? Then I might tell you where Ana is.”
“You invented the plague. Surely you know how to cure it?” said Raphael, looking out the window, willing Jasmine to come and save him. He’d been so stupid to leave her in the palace gardens. He’d felt safe when clearly he hadn’t been. Perhaps the Murderer was right. He was a foolish boy.
“What did you put in it?” he asked again. “Lemongrass? Peppermint perhaps?”
“I’ll never tell you.” Raphael closed his eyes as a sign that he no longer wished to talk, disappointed that he’d correctly identified two of the ingredients.
He felt the Murderer come near. So near that his breath was on his cheek. “Then I have no reason to keep you alive, do I?”
Raphael’s eyes snapped open. “Where’s Ana? Bring her to me and I’ll tell you what’s in the elixir.”
He wanted to see her for himself. The woman who’d taken him from the palace and away from his sister.
The Murderer tipped back his head and laughed. “I think you need another little sleep to have a think about this. Maybe when you wake up, you’ll be ready to cooperate.”
Raphael turned his face away and tried to kick his legs. “Don’t you touch me!”
The Murderer forced a cloth to his face and held it to him, using his other hand to steady the back of his head. He had no choice in this, just like he’d had no choice in the way his life had turned out so far. This wasn’t fair! He’d been sure he was on his way to his Evernow. Was it possible that for him, death would be his Evernow? Life was supposed to get better. Life was supposed to…
ARI
THE NOW
“Who is he?” Jasmine asked, just as Ari’s father walked into the room.
“He? It’s a he?” His father looked puzzled. “You mean, it’s not Ana?”
Ari shook his head, unsure if this was good news or bad. “Look who it is.”
His father went to the edge of the hole in the floor, pinching his nostrils closed with his thumb and forefinger.
“Oh my! Isn’t that…” He let go of his nose and squatted to get a better look, his face scrunching up at the stench.
“Who is he?” Jasmine asked again, seeming desperate for an answer.
“It’s the palace perfumer,” said Ari, putting her out of her misery. “The one Ana ran away with.”
“Are you sure?” She leaned in for a better look.
“As sure as Raphael was that she was a man,” said Ari.
“So, where’s my daughter then?” asked the King. “What did he do with her?”
“We haven’t looked in the rest of the house,” said Jasmine, stepping toward the door. “Raph could still be here. Or Princess Ana. Both Raph and Ari have heard strange knocking in here before. Maybe there’s a secret room.”
His father smiled, seeming to like this idea.
Ari began the search, opening every door and cupboard, and checking all the floorboards for any sign of being recently disturbed.
He heard a tapping noise in one of the smaller rooms and found Jasmine knocking on the wall.
“Something’s not right,” she said. “There should be another room between this one and the one we were just in. It’s like a room’s been closed up.”
“You’re right,” said Ari, looking out to the passageway and noticing the large space between the rooms where the walls didn’t seem to meet.
He went to the wardrobe that sat against the wall and opened it, feeling along the back panels for a moving part. Sure enough, one of the timber panels began to slide. He pushed harder until it moved across, leaving a doorway to a dark void.
“Oh my…” he said. “Look, Jasmine.”
“What’s in there?” she asked behind him.
“I’m not sure yet.” He climbed through into the void and blinked in the darkness.
“I’m coming in,” said Jasmine.
“See if you can find a lantern first,” he called back to her. It was darker than midnight in here.
“Raphael?” he called, as he waited. “Are you in here? Ana?”
Silence. It was so eerie. Maybe he could get Jasmine to pass him the lantern and spare her from seeing something that she may not ever be able to forget. He had a bad feeling about this. Although, he knew there’d be no point in this. Jasmine was even more stubborn than he was. She’d insist on seeing whatever was in here for herself.
It was still hard to process that the corpse in the house had been the perfumer Ana had run away with. Because then who could the Alchemist possibly be? Another man foolish enough to fall in love with Ana?
He heard Jasmine crawling through the wardrobe and he reached out to help her as a soft light filled the room.
He turned to look around and was stunned to find they were in a child’s nursery. A small bed sat to one side of the room and a wooden rocking horse on the other. There were a few toy soldiers knitted from wool and a music box that Jasmine was winding up.
“What an awful room,” said Ari. “Who do you think it was for?”
Jasmine shrugged. “Some poor child. A boy, I’m guessing. Not Ana.”
Ari got a chill. What if Ana had a child with the perfumer after she’d run away? This awful prison-like room could have been used for his nephew. It was an awful thoug
ht. And not one that explained where his sister was. Or the child.
The adrenaline that had surged through his body upon finding the secret room, dissipated. He’d been certain he was about to solve the mystery of Ana’s disappearance, but now his head was spinning.
“Can we get out of here?” asked Jasmine, retreating to the makeshift door. “This place gives me the creeps. And I really want to get back to the apothecary and search for Raph.”
He was happy to agree. This room had such sadness embedded in its walls. To think that someone had been locked in here—a child most likely—and he could have rescued them when he’d rescued Raphael. That knocking had been a cry for help!
They climbed back through the cupboard to the main house to hear shouting erupt outside. Ari went to investigate to find the guards holding a man in a suit. He was struggling to get away.
“This is my house,” the man shouted and Ari realized it was the Alchemist himself. This was the first time he’d seen him up close and there was something about his face that unsettled him. He was both very familiar and a complete stranger all at once. A bit like the corpse below the floorboards, only the feeling was a thousand times stronger.
“Release him,” said Ari, wanting a closer look at him.
The guards let go of the Alchemist and he brushed himself off, avoiding Ari’s eye.
Ari went to him, took hold of his shoulders and forced the man to look directly at him.
“It’s… you,” stammered Ari, as his whole world unraveled. His grip on the Alchemist tightened, not from affection or recognition but to stop him from collapsing to the ground.
“Hello, Ari,” sneered the Alchemist. “It’s been a long time.
“Careful, Ari,” said Jasmine, as his father approached to see what was happening.
“Who is this man?” asked his father. “Ari, what’s happening?”
“Don’t you see it? It’s her.”
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 39
