Mrs. Adler would not dare to be presumptuous and ask too many questions to a princess. So, she just kept her mouth shut and let Emmelyn rest, while she took care of the thug.
Luckily, she was trained in herbomancy and medication, so she could be of use for Emmelyn. She worked for a few hours to prepare medicine, and then treat the man's wounds.
***
Emmelyn slept restlessly all night. She had a nightmare while she was sleeping. In her dream, she was being chased by a group of soldiers and the palace behind her was burned to the ground. It was a scary sight.
"Aaahh!!" She instantly sat up in bed with cold sweat. Her hands dampen and her face paled.
Emmelyn felt so distraught by what she saw in her dreams. Surely she had been thinking too much about her being bad luck and the prophecy, that it even crept into her dreams.
Ugh!
"Good morning, Your Highness." Mrs. Adler spoke gently beside her. "You are fine now. You can wake up."
"Ah.. I am very sorry. My voice must have startled you," said Emmelyn apologetically. "I had a nightmare."
Mrs. Adler didn't say anything. She just smiled. The old woman knew Emmelyn had nightmares because she could hear the princess scream many times last night.
"Did I bother your sleep last night?" Emmelyn asked. "I am sorry."
"No, not at all, Your Highness," said the witch hurriedly. She intentionally lied so Emmelyn wouldn't feel bad. She added, "Last night I slept so well. I also think today is going to have perfect weather."
"Oh.. you think so?" Somehow, something told Emmelyn that the witch was not being honest to her.
"Yes, your highness," said the old woman.
Emmelyn got up from her bed and observed the thug's wounds. His face was swollen and had gruesome bruises all over it. The princess turned to Mrs. Adler and asked about the thugs' condition. "Are his wounds really bad?"
The old witch shook her head.
"They are bad, but he won't die," replied the old witch calmly. "Your Highness can trust me. I will nurse him back to life."
Emmelyn let out a sigh of relief. This was good news that she needed to hear today.
Okay, so the thug would definitely survive.
That's why Emmelyn decided not to worry about him and just focus on herself. Right now, she must be healthy and active for Harlow.
"Do you... do you have any food?" Emmelyn suddenly felt so hungry. She shyly asked Mrs. Adler for food. "I am... hungry. I want to eat something.
"Oh..."
Now, it was the old witch's turn to feel embarrassed. She didn't have much food left, but she couldn't possibly let this princess go hungry.
Mrs. Adler still remembered just a few days ago she was invited to the crown prince's castle for lunch. When she came, Emmmelyn provided so many nice dishes for the lunch, made by the kingdom's best chefs.
It would be embarrassing if she couldn't at least give Emmelyn some bread and meat. So, she took her last piece of bread from the kitchen and gave it to Emmelyn.
"Take this, Your Highness," she said to Emmelyn. "You can have it all."
Emmelyn received the bread reluctantly.
."What about you?" she asked the old witch.
"Ah, don't worry about me, Your Highness," Mrs. Adler faked a chuckle and said. "I woke up very early this morning and already ate mine for breakfast."
Since Emmelyn was very hungry, she didn't want to stand on ceremony with Mrs. Adler. So, she took a bite of the hard bread and started munching. While she ate, Emmelyn made a decision to go home to the castle.
She would report the incident that happened to her to the head of the castle guards. She would ask him to send his men to pick up this thug from Bydell Village.
Once she knew the thug was taken care of, Emmelyn would go to the royal palace to report this directly to the king... or maybe the queen, since Queen Elara was more supportive of Emmelyn.
Plus, Emmelyn had found out that the only person who could handle the king was his wife. So, if Emmelyn could make the queen see what Ellena did to her, Queen Elara would take action, or at least talk to her husband.
"I have finished the bread. Thank you so much," Emmelyn said after she wiped her lips. She got up and fixed her appearance. So, even though she was still wearing men's outfits, people could see that she was actually a woman.
When she left the castle yesterday, only Roshan knew that she was disguised as a man. If she didn't show up as herself today, they might think she was an intruder.
"I want to go back to the castle. Can you look after this man? I will send someone to get him as soon as possible."
"I can do it, Your Highness," said Mrs. Adler respectfully. She prepared a waterskin with water and gave it to Emmelyn. "You can bring this water, in case you are thirsty."
"Thank you."
Emmelyn took the waterskin and got out of the hut. She checked the horses and removed the rope that tied them to the tree. Once everything was ready, she got on the carriage and drove it to the castle.
She was not sure of the direction since she never went to this village on her own. She decided to ask for directions from the villagers she saw next. Uff.. she couldn't wait to go home.
"Hey, excuse me..." she stopped her carriage and waved to a man, walking to the forest. "Could you please tell me the way to the crown prince's castle?"
The villager turned around to see who was talking to him. Before he could reply, suddenly Emmelyn heard the sounds of horses galloping from afar. She looked up and narrowed her eyes toward the sounds.
Her face immediately beamed when she recognized the black and grey uniforms that the royal soldiers usually wore. She would just call them and ask them to take her to the castle.
Emmelyn rose from the coachman's seat and waved to the group of soldiers. She was happy that she could meet them here.
However, before she could say anything, the leader of the group had seen her and ordered his men to speed up their horses.
"That's her! Go get her now before she escapes!" He shouted impatiently.