Author's Note: Welcome to new follower, FluffyPyschic. Thank you to laurizzle for favouriting the story, and of course also to Jimli, Akora17 and Arista Everett June my faithful reviewers.
THE WIZARD'S PRICE
CHAPTER 9
After meeting the strange woman, the King rode home as quickly as he could. He arrived at the palace early in the morning and immediately gave Princess Julietta a spoonful of the liquid. Within half an hour she felt better; she went out riding, ran and laughed with her friend Zita and looked as if she'd never been sick. The next morning however she was as ill as before, until the King gave her some more of the syrup.
Queen Henrietta asked her husband, "Where did you find this strange medicine? It makes Julietta better."
King Xavier told his wife about the woman he had met in the forest, the things she had said and her sudden disappearance.
"Perhaps we should do what she said, Xavier. The medicine helps only for a short time, but it might be enough for Julietta to find the garden. And with Zita to help her, I'm confident the girls will succeed."
"As you wish, Henrietta, I'll let them go, but quietly. I don't want anybody to know that my daughter is roaming the countryside in search of some garden that could very well be imaginary. Fortune-telling, magic, water that will cure my daughter … it all seems too unreal to me. I'll be asked to believe in fairies next."
As soon as the necessary equipment was ready the King told Zita that she was to go with Princess Julietta to find the water that would heal her.
"I don't even know where this garden is supposed to be, but you have to try and find it. The syrup in this phial will help my daughter, but when it is nearly finished and you haven't found the garden, I want you to turn back. I want Julietta safely back home before this drug is finished. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sire, I'll look after Princess Julietta and do what I can to help her."
The King suggested they start their search in the forest where he had encountered the strange woman who'd given him the medicine. He thought they might find a clue there and even went that far with them. The moment they entered the forest a fog appeared. It rose from the ground and seemed to come down from the treetops. The fog became so dense they could hardly see each other. It was impossible to find a trace of either the woman or the place she might have come from. For two days they wandered in the fog, finding they were going round in circles. The King was still with them. It seemed he wanted to accompany them on their search.
Finally Princess Julietta told him, "Father, I think it is better if you returned home. A king has to do his duty to his land, not follow his daughter in case something happens. Don't worry about me, Zita is here, and she'll make sure I'm all right. Anyway, I think Zita and I are supposed to find this garden on our own. If you turn back now, we'll be home before you know it."
The King eventually, after a lot of persuading, gave in and returned to his kingdom and his wife, even more worried than before that his daughter was off on a fool's errand.
ooOOoo
As soon as the king started on his way back the fog began to lift. Looking everywhere for the mysterious woman Julietta and Zita had entered Peratha. A couple of days more of walking and searching brought them to the edge of the forest. Below them in the valley, and as far as they could see was the land they had to search. It was an impossible task; they didn't even know where to begin.
"Let's go to one of the towns, Zita. Gardens are always near houses, aren't they?"
Zita shook her head.
"There's something … Do you remember that you asked me once how I knew so much about the forest and about plants? You said you didn't understand how I could tell if something was poisonous or not and I told you about the old lady who taught me, the one who lived in the woods behind aunt's house."
"Yes, I remember. I asked you if she was perhaps an ugly, old witch and you said she looked more like a friendly grandmother."
"She didn't only teach me about the forest. Sometimes she told me stories about fairies who are really powerful spirits of nature; and about wizards and kings and queens of olden times. She also told me about a secret garden, so secret that nobody knows where it is, except perhaps the fairies. Now, what else did she tell me about the garden?"
Julietta hardly dared breathe while her friend was trying to recall what she had been told.. Finally Zita said, "Yes, I remember. She said the garden is full of magic, blossom and fruit are hanging on trees at the same time. It's spring and summer and autumn all three together, but never winter. The garden is in the high and wild part of Peratha. There was also something about a curse, but I can't remember what it was, except that only certain people can enter. I'm afraid I didn't always listen carefully to the stories; I found it more interesting when she told me how to find food. But that must be the hidden garden we're looking for, a garden no one can go into, a garden nobody can find. "
"In the high and wild part of the country? Which high and wild part? There's lots of high and wild all around the valley."
Julietta and Zita tried to determine what could be the highest and wildest area in Peratha. Zita's eyes were drawn again and again to one of the farthest mountain ranges.
"Let's go there, to the forest on that mountain over there," she said. "I think we have to be there. It's the highest mountain and with those dark forests it looks wild as well. It feels … it somehow feels strange."
Julietta looked in the direction her friend was indicating; the North of the country, the highest part with snow-capped peaks and thick forests growing right up to the treeline. It looked dangerous, foreboding, uninviting. Could a garden be hidden among all those trees?
"It certainly looks high and wild," Julietta said with faltering voice. She mustered all her courage and decided to trust her friend. "You must be right. Let's go there."
Zita looked at the country that lay below them. They would have to get down to the valley, then walk across the mostly wooded country and finally climb up the slopes of the northern ridge. Not an easy journey and Zita hoped Julietta's medicine wouldn't be finished before they got there.
The girls looked and looked for the easiest place to go down towards the valley. On the Eburon side the mountain sloped gently down towards the plains. On the Peratha side they found only cliffs and steep drop-offs. It seemed that the only access to Peratha was via de Border Road, the road that linked the two countries and went through the canyon that cut the mountain range they were on neatly in two halves.
Zita thought of the time it would take to reach the road, go down the mountain on the Eburon side, walk through the canyon that would take them further south into Peratha, and then find their way to the extreme northeast of the country where she believed they would find the garden. Could Julietta do it with the one phial of medicine or would they have to turn back before they were even halfway? All she could do was remain positive, encourage her friend and help her where she could.
The girls started walking south towards the Border Road when Julietta suddenly noticed a path that seemed to go downwards into Peratha. She called Zita and said, "I may have found something here."
"Wait a moment, Julietta," Zita answered. "I'll go and have a look to see if it really goes down or whether it is just an access road to a meadow."
A few minutes later Julietta heard Zita call, "Come down, Julietta. This is it. This is a path into the county of Peratha."
Julietta quickly joined Zita and together they walked along the path that zigzagged in great, wide loops all the way down to the valley. There the path forked out in five different directions. Without hesitation Zita chose the middle one. They walked and walked for hours, seeing few habitations and no actual villages. When the sun started to set their goal didn't seem to be any closer. They spent the night in a small shed close to the path. Three days later their destination was still as distant and unattainable as ever. It was evening and no shelter could be seen, not even an animal shed. The only thing that could give some protection was a little copse off the road. Julietta and Zita decided to rest there. It was a warm evening, the scent of the flowers and the trees surrounding them made them drowsy and soon they were deep asleep.
Zita was the first to wake up. She heard the sound of running water nearby and was surprised as there hadn't been any the night before. When she walked out from among the trees she didn't recognize the area. She looked around and suddenly saw the mountain; it was a lot closer than the previous day.
"Why didn't we notice this last night?" said Zita.
"We were probably too tired last night to notice it, Zita. Surely we can't both have been sleepwalking here."
Zita shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose you're right."
Encouraged by the apparent distance they had already covered the girls continued their journey but a week later their goal seemed more beyond their reach than ever as Julietta's medicine was running out. The terrain had changed as well. The path was sloping steadily upward, even though they were still far away from their goal.
One day they reached the remotest port of Peratha. They spent the night in the house of a young farmer and his family. It was the first time since they set off on their journey that they slept in a real bed. In the morning they felt properly rested and ready to take on the wildest wilds of Peratha. The farmer's wife had given them some food to take on their journey.
While they were putting it in their backpacks she said, "Are you sure you want to continue? This is the last house, you know. Nobody lives beyond this point. The ground is too rocky there and the only creatures you will meet are goats. Beyond that are just woods and more woods. Nobody likes to go there. The woods are haunted … or something."
"Thank you for the information, but we have to continue. I have no choice, I can't return," said Julietta.
"And I'm going where Julietta is going. Thank you for the food but we have to be on our way now."
When the last things were packed away Julietta and Zita were ready to continue their search for the hidden garden.