31. Lady Zoila

When they crossed the meadows and left the apex of the mountain view behind, entering a dark forest of oaks and pines covered in a deep turquoise foliage, Joseph realised something.

This wasn't the path they should take if they wanted to go to his house. It wasn't even close, actually. They were heading straight north-east, while Joseph's house was to the south-east, using the college as a starting point.

“My prince… Er…Where are we going, if I might ask?”

“We're going to take care of your foot.”

The prince had loosened his grip a bit. Just a bit. But it wasn't as if Joseph wanted to leave his embrace… It was just that...he was tired. So tired. He hadn't had enough sleep, enough food, enough care. Now that he had experienced some sort of peace, all he wanted to do was to rest at his place.

"I don't understand. I mean, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I can take care of my own injuries."

"You can't. That wound was caused by a dead thing… By a *wraith*. Their bite is venomous."

"A wraith?"

"A type of undead. That area, the crossroads, is like a portal for those creatures."

"Why?"

"There is a marker there. It seems many people were murdered there, right?"

"Y-yes."

"When someone dies before their time, a violent death, all the energy of fear and anger merges into a dense mass. It can let the souls of the deceased roam the living world, and lures deceived spirits around. Multiply that by three or four, plus the pain and grief of the survivors from that family."

Joseph swallowed, a shiver running down his spine.

"Why didn't you tell me before? About my foot..."

Tariq stayed silent for a bit. Then he sighed.

"Well, you kind of told me to leave your house before, when I was applying medicine. But since you seemed to be recovering throughout the week, I thought it might heal without any more issues. Then you insisted on accompanying me to the cemetery, and now it seems to be drastically worse… So I think it might be spreading."

The silence in the woods was broken only by the chirping of a few birds and the foliage rustling.

"That doesn't make sense. If it's venomous, it should've affected me right after I was bitten."

"*If* you had been bitten by a normal creature, such as a viper, or strung by a scorpion… But it was an astral being, and astral venom only works if the victim’s spiritual defences lower enough for it spread."

Joseph became uncomfortable in his position. He held onto the saddle, pulling away from the prince's arms.

"Alright. Forgive me, but now I'm lost."

"I said it to Svoboda, and now I'll say to you as well. If you have any questions, we can talk about it. Just don't expect to understand everything at once."

Joseph remained silent, closing his eyes.

*Maybe I should just trust him, for now...*

"Of course, my prince. May I ask where you’re taking me, then?"

"To my grandmother's house."

The young doctor went pale.

"Eh? Really? You can't!"

"Why not?"

"I'm rank and I’m dirty! Limping and wearing clothes from two days ago! I can't meet with a noble lady like this!"

Tariq let out a laugh.

Joseph turned back, frowning.

"Why are you laughing?"

"You have absolutely no idea what Nana is like..."

"But-"

"Just relax, alright? Trust me."

Joseph shook his head, sighing and looking forward again.

***

They went deeper into the woods, to a point where there was barely any sunlight. The mare was trotting slower and slower, for there was no road anymore, only tall, uncut grass.

"Ah!"

Joseph gasped when he noticed the silhouettes of over 15 deer surrounding them behind the tress. A huge, mature male, with its head covered in a crown of several long branches, caught the doctor's attention. The stag’s gaze was angry, as if he was prepared to attack the invaders.

"If you stop gawking at them, they’ll settle down."

"Excuse me?"

"These creatures are perceptive. Like Tallulah. They can feel you’re disturbed and afraid."

"That big horned one there doesn't seem afraid at all."

"Violence is always a fear-based response."

"Oh..."

Joseph turned his head away from the deer. In front of them, there was a circle of light surrounded by two simple yews, signalling they were about to enter a clearing.

The doctor's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened when he saw the circular garden of winter jasmine and magenta hellebores. All around them there were vivid red winterberries, their bald branches sprinkled with flowers and snow. The golden sunlight poured down as if from a celestial flagon, giving life to all the grass, flowering bushes, and yellow winter aconites popping up from all around on the ground which was still covered in a blanket of snow.

*If it's like this in winter...I can’t imagine how it must look in spring...*

At the end of a paved road, there was a compact manor of three storeys. Joseph couldn't determine its architectural plan very well. The second and third storeys were adorned by three pairs of Georgian windows, but the ones on the ground floor and the bay windows in the middle were all topped by Romanic arcs. In fact, the mazes and marble arbours surrounding the main house were all in round arcs and covered in fresh ivy with a few white buttons. Pastel pink bricks made up the main house, revealed through the thin ivy that grew across its walls.

They stopped right in front of a fountain decorated with a long-haired knight driving a chariot guided by two winged lions. One was made of white marble and the other of black. The knight was sculpted in beige marble and the base of the fountain was made of what seemed to be a bold alloy of green quartz and onyx. The warm water flowed flawlessly from the lions' mouths, as if they were in the height of summer.

A flock of wild geese broke the silence, flapping their wings and honking loudly, making their way towards a lake to the north, which the doctor could see just a bit of beyond the wall of pines.

"Wow! This place...."

"Beautiful, huh?"

"It looks like a fairytale farmhouse!"

Tallulah snorted, shaking her head.

"Time to get down."

Tariq quickly jumped from the animal's back.

“W-Wait! What about-”

Before Joseph could even finish asking how he would climb down from such a height with an injured foot, the prince grabbed his waist, easily pulling him from the mare's saddle.

The doctor instinctively held onto the other boy's shoulders, seeking support. When Tariq placed him safely on the ground, Joseph realised he was still holding him and staring into his eyes. Their noses were less than a hand’s width apart. Tariq was still holding onto his waist. He tightened his grip, pulling Joseph closer.

The doctor lowered his head, refusing to look up and meet those golden and mischievous, but oh so beautiful, eyes. His legs trembled and his face burned like a pile of coal. The golden light of the sun bathed them both in warmth, a welcome companion to the warmth filling Joseph’s body.

The prince’s velvet glove touched Joseph's face, his hand gently tilting his face up. Joseph shook. He could feel Tariq's breath on his lips.

"Look at me, Doctor. I want to see your eyes under the sun."

"M-My prince..."

"It seems you two may need a room,” a deep contralto voice said from behind the doctor, making his heart jump.

He pushed at Tariq's chest, releasing himself from the prince’s hold and almost falling on the ground as he suddenly lost his balance.

*That idiot! Somebody saw us...*

That warm sensation from before gave way to a cold fog of terror. Now Joseph was trembling miserably from head to toe. He wrapped his arms around himself, unable to look up from the ground, just waiting for the violent arms that would drag him into the cage. Again.

Instead, he felt the gentle touch of a woman’s hand on his shoulder.

"Fear not, child. It was a merely a jest."

Joseph reluctantly raised his head, turning back towards the person who had spoken to him. There was a woman with a solemn, mature figure. Her long, voluminous silver hair freely flowed over her shoulders and poured down her pastel blue dress with a white lace top. She was tall and lean, nearly Joseph’s height, her grey eyes the same colour as the winter sky. Her lips were stained in a bold tone of plum paint.

She was accompanied by a young man who was even taller than Tariq. He was very fair, his face framed by his wild dark brown hair. Thrown over his shoulders was a massive cape of brown fur, which made his shoulders look even broader. A sword in a silver sheath, covered in engravings of yew leaves, hung from his black leather belt. It was even larger than the one prince Tariq had lost in the ruined graveyard.

There was no friendliness on his face. He was frowning, his thin lips tight in warning, most likely due to the “intrusion”. Joseph noticed the boy was missing his left eye, and a fine scar traced a line from his eyebrow to the top of his cheek.

"Doctor Selden, I’d like to introduce you to my grandmother, Lady Zoila Von Schwarzenberg-Schlanger, and to my brother, Karl Gerrard Von Schwarzenberg-Schlanger."