It took several days for them to get there, Kelsi all the while teaching Dralina everything he can about the world around them. He shows her animal tracks, game trails, where to find some of those plants she read about in those books, and where certain types of birds like to nest. It was a crash course, but it was informative.
The path takes them up a hill. Dralina, in her excitement, runs up ahead of her teacher and is stunned into stillness at the top. The castle is bigger than she could've ever imagined, the flags a beautiful purple with a bright yellow sun on it: the royal family crest. And the town had so many buildings and houses than she'd ever seen before. And everybody was moving. Kelsi joins her at the top of the hill, smiling at her.
"Welcome to the capital, Dralina." He says.
"It's beautiful!" She says in awe.
Kelsi chuckles. "Yes, it is." He walks down the hill towards the front gate.
Dralina shakes herself out of her daze and races to catch up with her master. They pass the guards at the gate and they nod at him with respect. She looks around at everything, taking in the amazing smells. It's all so new and all so wonderful to her. Her smile never leaves her face as she holds tight to her master's cloak.
After a few minutes of weaving through the crowd of people, they stop at what looks like a healer's shop. Dralina looks around while Kelsi talks to the owner. Looks like he's trying to sell the healer his salves and the healer is getting mad because Kelsi won't cough up the recipe. The healer ends up buying all of what Kelsi has with him while Dralina giggles behind her hand.
They exit the store. "Want to go get a snack?" he asks her.
"Yes!" she shouts.
Kelsi chuckles and leads the way to a bakery. He purchases her a sweet bun and some cakes. they stop to eat them on the center fountain. Its then that she sees the mural being repainted.
Her eyes widen. "Is that the lost princess?" she asks, staring at it.
"Yes." Kelsi says. "That's the lost princess Rapunzel."
"I knew that woman wasn't her mother. She was way too afraid of outsiders." she mutters.
Kelsi looks at her confused. "What do you mean?" he asks.
"I know where she is." she says, not looking away from the mural. "But that woman is dangerous."
Kelsi is speechless. His mind is reeling as he tries to put the pieces together. "That friend of yours... She's the lost princess?" he asks quietly.
Dralina nods, finishing her sweet bun and starting on her cake.
Kelsi doesn't know what to say. He questions whether he should do something. If that woman is as dangerous as Dralina says she is, then they would have to be really careful about this.
"What was the woman like?" Kelsi asks finally.
"Well, she was really mean. There wasn't any fire in her eyes, only darkness." Dralina says. "She was protective of Repunzel so at the time, I didn't really think about her situation. They live in a tower with no stairs or a ladder for gods sake."
"That definitely sounds like a dangerous woman." Kelsi says.
Dralina nods and finishes her cake. "Thinking on it now, it all seems sort of out of place." she says. "That tower in that hidden grove..."
Kelsi nods in agreement. "I would find it odd as well." he says pulling out a water skin and taking a swig from it. He offers it to Dralina and she takes a drink too.
They look up at the sky together. "This is nice." Dralina spoke first. "No stress today. No pressure to learn anything and there's no real work to be done."
"Yeah, we got all of our work done already, though there's a friend that I wanted to visit today." Kelsi says with a smile.
"If he's nothing like that healer, then I'm game." Dralina says, sliding off of the edge of the fountain.
Kelsi nods. "Ready to get going already?" he asks, getting up. "Well then, let's go."
Dralina nods and follows him, grabbing onto his cloak when the crowd gets thick again. Kelsi takes them out of the market and into what looks like a residential area. After a few twist and turns that would definitely get anyone who didn't know the area very lost (which Dralina was) they finally arrive at this little cottage raised off the ground about five feet by stone supports.
"Is this it?" Dralina asks.
"Yes." Kelsi says, walking up the ladder to knock on the door.
"Is that you Kelsi?" a voice inside shouts.
"Yes, Henry!" Kelsi shouts back.
"Come on in, I got my hands full! And don't let your apprentice touch anything." Henry says. Dralina blinks in surprise and Kelsi chuckles, opening the door and leading his apprentice inside.
The inside of the house is not unlike the inside of Kelsi's house. There are books lining the walls, a single fireplace, a a small kitchen, and what looks like a backdoor to a yard of some sort. Dralina sits in the single chair in the corner and Kelsi joins his crochety old friend by the fireplace where he's worrying over a large black pot. The old man is stirring it this way and that, never leaving it to sit still.
He looks at Dralina. "You! Apprentice! Come stir this!" he barks out. "Three times to the left and two to the right and back again. Don't let it still."
Dralina scurries over and takes up the stirring for the old man.
Henry deflates and limps over to the chair in the corner. He relaxes into it, letting out an exhausted breath. "Thank you, child. I've been doing that all morning. It has but an hour left." he says, sighing again.
"Well, don't you look terrible." Kelsi remarks. "Time has not been good to you, my friend."
Henry nods. "Had a bad cold three winters back. Been this way ever since." he says.
"You have to take better care of yourself Henry." Kelsi says, going over to stand next to his friend.
"Yeah. Sure thing, mother." Henry half growls. "Picking up the royal physician's slack is a real pain ya know."
"Do you at least get paid?" Kelsi asks.
"Not nearly enough." Henry says, defeated.
"Then you should take a vacation." Kelsi suggests.
"Uh-huh. All this work will still be here waiting for me when I get back." the older man growls.
"Then find someone else to do this job." Kelsi says, exasperated. "You are working yourself to death."
Henry wave at him flippantly, saying nothing. Kelsi sighs and goes to the cupboards, rifling through them. He pulls out plenty of spices and sets them on the counter. He then sets to grind them in a mortar. After a few minutes, he sets a kettle full of water on the fire under the large cooking pot that Dralina is still faithfully stirring. He smiles gently at her.
"Alright, I'll be right back. I need to get some things for supper." he announces. "Dralina, be good. Henry, don't eat my apprentice." And he walks out the door.
Dralina frowns and keeps stirring the pot. "How much longer?" she asks the old codger.
"Another 45 minutes at the least." Henry says.
Dralina sighs and diligently stirs the concoction. She knows from experience that if she does the wrong thing for even a second, this potion or whatever will turn out completely wrong. And then you have to start over. It's a real pain. She switches arms and stirs at a moderate pace.
Not too long later, Kelsi comes back with a package from the butcher and a long loaf of bread and the kettle is whistling. He picks up the kettle on the way to the kitchen. He pours everyone a cup of tea and offers Henry's cup to him.
He takes it gratefully and silently. Dralina guesses that he is really too tired to cook for himself, letting Kelsi cook for him. And she keeps stirring even though the pain in her arms is immense.
It's not too long after that Kelsi comes over and takes over for her. She can barely lift her arms to sip her now-cold tea. They shake with overuse and she rests her arms in her lap.
"Well, aren't you a pitiful thing." Henry comments over his cup of tea.
"I could say the same for you." Dralina says flatly.
Henry narrows his eyes. "You're a right lout." he says.
"If I could lift my arms, I'd set your tunic on fire." She says, glaring at him.
"Calm down children." Kelsi says giving the both of them a look. Dralina sighs and shakily pours herself more tea.
The rest of the evening passes rather quietly. As Dralina is laying down their bedrolls on Henry's dirty floor, she looks up at her master. "Can we visit Rapunzel on our way back?" she asks softly.
Kelsi considers that for a minute. "I don't see why not." he says, laying down. "But we can't really see her. If that deplorable woman sees us, she'll probably move her and you'll never have a chance at seeing her."
Dralina nods. "Alright." she says and lays down, her dreams filled with the days she played with that blonde princess.
