Mrs. Adler took the basket to her kitchen and came back not long after with a tray. On it, she had a teapot of ginger tea, two cups, and a small plate with the pie slices.
She put them on the old rug spread on the floor and asked Emmelyn to join her for afternoon tea. Emmelyn smiled and sat across from her.
Mrs. Adler poured them a cup of ginger tea each and gave one cup to Emmelyn.
"Hmm... thank you. It smells amazing," Emmelyn said when she received the cup.
"I dug out some of the herbs last week before winter. I can give you some of them if you need them," Mrs. Adler replied.
"Oh.. there is no need for that, the castle has enough ingredients to make whatever I want," Emmelyn quickly shook her head. "Thank you, though. I really appreciate your offer."
She could see Mrs. Adler was so old already. It must have taken her a lot of work to get those herbs. She wouldn't rob her of those ingredients when she could easily get whatever she wanted in the crown prince's castle.
"Oh, okay," Mrs. Adler nodded in understanding.
She really didn't mind sharing some of the herbs she gathered as they were free from nature. The only expensive thing was probably the gingers because those were hard to come by.
Emmelyn suddenly remembered that she also brought gold coins for Mrs. Adler. She forked them out from her inner pocket and gave them to the old witch.
"I just got my allowance, so I wanted to gift you something," she said with a smile. "I think you can buy more ginger, a new coat, and anything you like to keep you warm during winter."
The witch was stunned to see the two shiny gold coins. Like those cooks, she also couldn't believe her luck today. Did this Wintermere princess really give her money?
How generous!
Mrs. Adler already liked Emmelyn from their second meeting when she came to visit her with the wine and pie.
The witch could sympathize with her situation and tried to help Emmelyn as much as she could, even though her divination window only showed her bad luck and other ominous things.
Now, Mrs. Adler liked Emmelyn even more. Not because of the gold, but because she just showed her kindness to the old woman, even though she didn't need to.
Emmelyn gave her so many gifts, even though Emmelyn didn't want anything from her. That was something that Mrs. Adler could appreciate because it showed her sincerity.
Too often, people only gave something because they wanted something in return. This was not the case with Emmelyn.
"Why, thank you..." Mrs. Adler was beaming with happiness when she received the gold. She was a poor village witch and had never had gold in her whole life. Her hand was trembling when the coins touched it.
"You have to hide it well, so people wouldn't know you have gold," Emmelyn advised her.
"I understand, Your Highness." Mrs. Adler agreed with her. "I will not spend it in my village. Everyone knows everyone here. I will only use it when I go to town and buy things I need."
"That's good," said Emmelyn. She took her cup and sipped her ginger tea. "Ahh... it's so nice!"
She couldn't wait to ask the cooks to make this tea for her and Mars. Maybe tomorrow they could drink it before bed.
***
Meanwhile, in a small tavern that was regularly frequented by the crown prince and his friends, four people were enjoying their wine merrily.
Gewen wasn't holding any women in his arms today out of respect for Ellena. Even though he was a womanizer, he wouldn't act lewd around Ellena because she was a respectable lady.
He wouldn't mind doing it in front of Mars and Edgar though, but today he had to hold back.
"Ellena, it's so good to have you back," Gewen said while pouring wine into Ellena's cup. "You have to tell us what happened and how did you find the witch."
Mars and Edgar also gave him their cups, asking to be filled. Gewen rolled his eyes when he saw them raising their cups.
"You have perfectly capable hands to pour wine for yourself," he chided them. "I only pour wine for ladies."
Edgar relented and took the wine jug and poured for himself and Mars. After that, they all held their cups respectively, all the while looking at Ellena with great interest.
They were all dying to hear her story. How on earth she could find the witch, while the king's people failed?
Ellena smiled faintly when she took her cup and sipped her wine slowly. She knew they were curious, but she didn't rush to share her story.
"Well?" Mars was finally becoming impatient. This information was really important to him. The safety of Emmelyn and their baby was at stake.
He would never feel safe before he could make sure that the witch was dead.
Ellena turned to him and smiled broadly. "Well, Your Highness. Why are you so impatient? You just got here. I am feeling so cold. Please allow me to enjoy this wine before you interrogate me."
Ellena intentionally used the word 'interrogate' to make the crown prince feel bad about forcing her to talk like he would to his prisoners of war and enemy's spies.
This worked. Mars looked away and gulped his wine, trying to hide his worry.
He realized he shouldn't look too pushy. Ellena might feel cornered and refused to talk if he kept forcing her. Mars needed that information, so he should play his card well.
"Well, it was not easy to find the witch," Ellena finally started her story after she drank half of the wine in her cup. "I know that she was the late Lady Marielle Bellevar's godmother. So, I tried to find her through the Bellevar family."
"Aren't they gone already?" Mars asked. "They left the capital as soon as their daughter committed suicide."