Alexander remained unconscious through the night.
By morning, the wound along his side had stopped bleeding, but his skin was hot and his breathing remained shallow. Gabriel changed the makeshift bandage while Liam stood near the hut's small window, watching the road.
"We can't keep him here," Liam said.
Gabriel tightened the cloth around Alexander's waist. "I know."
"The nearest proper physician is days away."
Gabriel looked at Alexander. Their prince had faced the Glacial Behemoth without hesitation. Now he lay still beneath a rough blanket in an abandoned hunting hut, unable to even open his eyes. "There has to be someone closer."
Liam turned from the window. "Yesterday, I heard one of the villagers mention a princess."
Gabriel frowned. "A princess?"
"Princess Ariella."
The name sounded familiar, though Gabriel could not place it.
Liam continued, "They said she lives somewhere in Verdura. Apparently, she has a gift with food and herbs. They call it gastronomic alchemy."
Gabriel looked at him. "Food?"
"That's what I thought, too." Liam crossed his arms. "But the villagers swear she can make remedies from ingredients that ordinary healers wouldn't know how to use. One woman told me Ariella once treated a fever that had resisted every medicine in the village."
Gabriel glanced at Alexander again. "How far?"
"Not far enough to make me comfortable."
"Then we go."
***
They resumed their journey as soon as Alexander could be moved. It was not easy. The prince was conscious only intermittently, and every time the carriage struck a rut in the road, his face tightened beneath the bandages.
Gabriel stayed beside him. Liam rode ahead, stopping whenever they reached a fork in the road to ask for directions. By late afternoon, the landscape began to change. The trees grew thicker, greener. Small streams wound between the hills, and patches of wild herbs grew along the roadside. The air smelled of damp earth and leaves rather than smoke and iron. They were entering Verdura.
Liam returned to the carriage. "I found it."
Gabriel looked up. "The princess's home?"
Liam nodded. "An old woman pointed us toward a path through the forest. She said we would know we'd reached the right place when we smelled something cooking."
Gabriel gave him a doubtful look. "That's your direction?"
"Apparently."
"It could be anyone's kitchen."
"Then I suggest we follow our noses."
Gabriel almost smiled. They continued along the path. A warm, unfamiliar scent soon reached them. Herbs. Roasted vegetables. Something sweet.
Liam lifted his head. "Well."
Gabriel looked ahead. "I suppose she wasn't lying."
***
A small house stood among the greenery at the end of the path. It was larger than a cottage but far too modest to be called a palace. Vines climbed one side of the wooden walls, and several baskets of herbs hung beneath the covered porch. Smoke drifted from a chimney.
Liam dismounted first and approached the door. Before he could knock, it opened. A young woman stood there. She wore a simple dress beneath a light apron. Her golden-brown curls were loosely tied back, with several strands falling around her face. There was a faint streak of flour near her cheek. She looked from Liam to Gabriel, then toward the carriage behind them.
"May I help you?"
Gabriel stepped forward. "We're looking for Princess Ariella."
Her expression changed slightly. "You've found her."
Gabriel bowed. "Your Highness, forgive our intrusion. We have brought an injured man who desperately needs your help."
Ariella's gaze moved past him. "Who?"
"Our prince."
The concern in her expression was immediate. "Bring him inside."
Gabriel and Liam exchanged a quick glance before moving to the carriage. As they carried Alexander into the house, Ariella stepped aside to make room. Gabriel had seen beautiful women before. He had met noblewomen dressed in silk, ladies adorned with jewels, and courtiers who had spent hours preparing themselves before appearing in public.
Ariella's appearance was different. There was nothing elaborate about her. Her sleeves were rolled slightly above her wrists. A loose strand of hair clung to her cheek. Her hands carried faint traces of flour and herbs. Yet Gabriel found himself looking twice.
Ariella noticed. "Is something wrong?"
Gabriel straightened. "No, Your Highness."
She studied him for a second before turning toward Alexander. "Then help me get him onto the bed."
Gabriel followed. Behind him, Liam remained near the doorway. For once, he had nothing clever to say.
Ariella glanced at him. "You too."
Liam blinked. "Of course."
He hurried inside.
***
They laid Alexander on a bed in the adjoining chamber. Ariella pulled back the blanket and examined the bandages. "Who treated this wound?"
"I did," Gabriel answered.
"You did well enough to keep him alive."
Liam let out a breath. "That's reassuring."
Ariella gave him a quick look. "It wasn't meant as praise."
Liam closed his mouth. Gabriel almost laughed.
Ariella carefully removed the bloodstained cloth. The wound along Alexander's side was deep and angry-looking. Her expression tightened. "When did this happen?"
"Yesterday."
"And he has been unconscious since?"
"On and off."
Ariella touched the skin around the wound. Alexander stirred. His brow tightened. Gabriel immediately stepped closer. "Easy."
Ariella shook her head. "Let him be."
She examined the wound again. "He's exhausted. His body is trying to recover, but the injury is taking too much from him."
"Can you heal him?" Liam asked.
Ariella looked at him. "I can try." It was not the confident promise either man had expected.
Somehow, that made Gabriel trust her more. "What do you need?"
"Hot water. Clean cloth. And the herb basket from the kitchen."
Liam moved immediately. "I'll get them."
"Gabriel?"
He looked at her.
"Stay with him."
He nodded.
Ariella went into the kitchen. Soon the sound of bowls and bottles being moved around came from the next room. She returned carrying several ingredients Gabriel did not recognize. Leaves. A pale root. A handful of dried flowers. And something that looked like powdered crystal. She placed everything on the table.
"What is that?" Gabriel asked.
"An ingredient."
"That is not very specific."
Ariella glanced at him. "You don't need to know everything I put in the remedy."
Gabriel accepted that.
She crushed the herbs with a stone mortar, added them to a small bowl and mixed in several drops of a dark liquid. The scent was sharp enough to make Liam wrinkle his nose when he returned.
"That smells terrible."
Ariella continued stirring. "It isn't meant to be eaten."
Liam looked at the bowl. "Good."
She added the powdered crystal. The mixture thickened almost immediately. A faint warmth rose from it.
Gabriel watched closely. "What exactly is gastronomic alchemy?"
Ariella glanced at him while continuing to work. "Using the properties of food, herbs and other ingredients to create effects beyond ordinary cooking."
"Such as healing?"
"Among other things." She carried the bowl to Alexander. "This should help close the wound and reduce the inflammation. It won't restore him immediately. His body still has to do its part." She began cleaning the wound.
Alexander stirred again. His eyes opened briefly. Everything around him was blurred. A woman's face came into view. Golden-brown hair. Warm eyes. A faint streak of flour on her cheek. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming.
Then Ariella spoke. "Don't move."
Her voice. Alexander's eyes widened slightly. He knew that voice. Not from yesterday. Not from the battlefield. From somewhere else. Somewhere that should not have been real. The dream. The celestial place. The woman beside the cooking table. His lips moved. "Ariella..."
Ariella paused.
Gabriel looked up.
Liam stared at Alexander.
"You know her?" Gabriel asked.
Alexander blinked. His eyes remained fixed on the woman beside him. He had forgotten her name when he woke from the dream. He had remembered her face, her voice, even the way she held a spoon over a steaming pot, but the name had disappeared. Now it had returned.
Ariella.
She frowned slightly. "Have we met before?"
Alexander tried to answer. His body refused to cooperate. His eyes closed again.
Ariella looked at Gabriel. "Has he been delirious?"
"Not that I know of."
She glanced back at Alexander. "Perhaps the fever is affecting him."
Liam looked between them. "He said your name."
Ariella's expression remained thoughtful. "I heard him." She returned to the wound. "Whatever he remembers, it can wait." She spread the salve carefully across the injured flesh.
Alexander's breathing gradually steadied.
***
The next few days passed quietly. Ariella changed the dressings twice a day and prepared small portions of broth, herbs and restorative mixtures to help Alexander regain his strength. At first, he could barely sit up. Then he managed to drink without help. By the fourth day, he was able to stand.
Gabriel remained nearby whenever Alexander was awake, while Liam had made himself useful around the house despite having little knowledge of cooking. Ariella tolerated his presence with surprising patience.
"That's not how you cut those," she said one morning.
Liam looked down at the vegetables in his hands. "They're vegetables. Surely there's only so much damage I can do."
"You've already managed it."
Gabriel, sitting nearby, lowered his head to hide a smile.
Liam pointed the knife at him. "Don't encourage her."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face did."
Ariella laughed. The sound made Alexander look up from his chair. He had been watching her more often than he realised. She moved around the kitchen with an ease that reminded him of his dream. The same hands. The same voice. Even the way she tasted something before adding another ingredient felt strangely familiar.
One afternoon, Ariella placed a bowl in front of him. "Eat."
Alexander looked at it. "What is it?"
"Something that will help rebuild your strength."
He lifted the spoon. "You made this?"
"Who else?"
He tasted it. The broth was simple, but the warmth spread through his chest almost immediately. "It is good."
Ariella smiled. "High praise from a prince."
"I don't give praise easily."
"I noticed."
Alexander looked at her. There was something about her that continued to unsettle him. Not because she was beautiful, though she was. Not because she had saved his life. It was the familiarity. He had seen her before. Twice. In dreams. And now she was sitting across from him as though she had always belonged in this world. Alexander lowered the spoon. "Have we met before?"
Ariella's brows lifted. "I don't think so."
He studied her face. "You look familiar."
"Perhaps you've seen someone who resembles me."
"Perhaps." He did not believe it. Neither, judging by the way she watched him, did she. For now, however, neither of them pressed the matter.
Outside, the wind moved through the trees. Inside, Alexander took another spoonful of broth. He could still remember the dream. And for the first time, he began to wonder whether it had ever been a dream at all.