Herbs and Crowns

Chapter One — The Herb Shop in Velmora

Amnava pushed the door of the herb shop open and went inside.

She came to Velmora to buy one special herb. She could not find this herb in her home town, Avelune.

The shop was warm and quiet. It smelled of dried leaves. Amnava walked along the shelves and looked for her herb.

Then she heard voices. They came from the back room.

Amnava stopped.

Someone was talking fast. The same words came again and again — a young man had been hit by a poisoned arrow, and only one herb could still save him. Someone else answered in a low, tired voice. Amnava understood one thing: something was very wrong in that room.

She walked to the back. She stopped for a moment at the half-open door.

Then she opened it.

A young man was lying on a small bed in the corner. He was very still, and his face was pale. Two men stood near him. When the door opened, they both looked up at once.

The herbalist looked at her.

"Miss, what do you want?" he asked.

"I heard what you said, and I have the herb you needed," Amnava said.

The herbalist stared at her.

"You have it?"

Amnava nodded. She opened her bag and took out the herb.

"I brought this," she said.

The herbalist came to her quickly. He took the herb from her hands very carefully, like it was something important. His shoulders relaxed a little.

"Yes. This is it." His voice became softer. "Thank you."

Amnava gave him a small smile.

"You're welcome," she said.

She did not ask questions. It was not her place to ask, and the men were already looking back at the young man on the bed.

She had come to this shop for her own herb, after all.

She went back to the shelves. She found the herb she came for, paid for it, put it carefully in her bag, and left the shop.

Cold air touched her face outside. She pulled her clothes closer and started to walk.

She found what she needed.

That was all.

Chapter Two — Avelune

When Amnava came home to Avelune, Zalbea was doing her work. The door opened, and Zalbea looked up.

"You're back!" Zalbea said.

Amnava smiled.

"Yes."

Zalbea ran to her.

"How was the journey?" she asked.

"It was fine. A little tiring," Amnava said.

"Did you find the herb ?"

"Yes. I found it in Velmora — Goldenseal(Hydrastis canadensis)."

Zalbea looked relieved.

"Good," she said.

Amnava put her bag down.

"While I was there, I heard some herbalists talking in the shop. They needed an herb, so I gave them one I had," she said.

"You gave them one?" Zalbea asked.

"Yes."

Zalbea smiled.

"Of course you did."

Amnava laughed softly.

"What?"

"You always do that," Zalbea said.

"Do what?"

"You help people even when nobody asks you to."

Amnava shrugged.

"They needed it," she said.

Zalbea shook her head, but she was smiling.

"You really are something, Jewel," she said.

Amnava smiled at the sound of her nickname.

The twin sisters talked about the journey. But soon the talk changed, and Zalbea's face became worried. She told Amnava about the nobles, and about everything that happened while she was away.

"Do you really think we should go?" Zalbea asked.

Amnava looked at her sister.

"If we stay, they'll keep coming," she said.

Zalbea looked down.

"I hate the way they talk about us," she said.

Amnava nodded.

The nobles did not talk about the sisters like people. They talked about them like prizes. Like a nobleman only had to win — and then he could marry one of them.

"We're not prizes," Zalbea said.

"I know," Amnava said quietly.

"I don't want to leave Avelune."

"Me neither. But we have no choice," Amnava said.

Zalbea nodded.

This was their home.

But they wanted a life where they could work as herbalists in peace. A life where nobody watched them all the time, and nobody treated them like something to win.

So they left.

Chapter Three — The House

The sisters traveled for two days, hidden under their hooded cloaks. Their journey brought them to the capital.

There they found a house. It looked like somebody lived there.

They knocked on the door.

Nobody answered.

Zalbea looked at Amnava.

"What should we do?" she asked.

Amnava looked at the door.

"Maybe someone will come back later," she said.

"We could wait here," Zalbea said.

Amnava nodded.

"Let's stay beside the door for now," she said.

They had little money left after the journey, and Amnava did not want to knock again.

The sisters sat down beside the door, with their bags close to them. The night passed quietly.

The next morning, Amnava woke up early.

Zalbea was still sleeping.

"I'll go find something to eat," Amnava said.

Zalbea moved a little.

"Okay…" she said, half asleep.

Amnava stood up and walked away.

Amnava was not far when Zalbea heard a sound. Zalbea sat up.

A young man climbed over the wall from the other side.

He jumped down — but he froze mid-air. He saw a girl sitting there. He did not expect anyone to be in the yard.

He landed badly and grabbed his hand. He had hurt it.

Zalbea saw the young man. She started to move away — but then she saw his hand.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

The young man looked at her carefully. He did not trust her.

His hand moved to the sword at his side.

Zalbea stopped.

She did not expect that.

The young man pointed the sword at her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Zalbea slowly raised her hands.

"I'm an herbalist," she said.

"An herbalist?"

"Yes. Your hand is bleeding."

He looked at his hand.

"Let me help you," Zalbea said.

"I don't need your help," the young man said.

"You're hurt."

"I said I'm fine."

Zalbea looked at him.

"You don't look fine," she said.

He stared at her.

She was not afraid. That surprised him. She thought only about his hurt hand, not about herself.

Before he could answer, the wind moved through the yard.

Zalbea's hood moved.

A strand of her red hair came into view. Red like a hibiscus flower.

The young man stared.And without thinking, he reached out and pulled her hood off.

Zalbea went stiff.

The moment he understood what he did, He stepped back fast.

"S-Sorry," he said.

Zalbea was staring at him too. But then she remembered his hurt hand.

"I will forgive you on one condition," she said.

"What condition?"

She pointed at his hand.

"Let me treat it," Zalbea said.

He did not answer right away.

He stared at her.

Then he put his sword down.

"Fine," he said.

Zalbea smiled.

"Good."

She came closer and looked at his hand.

"Let's go in the house," the young man said.

"Is this your house?" Zalbea asked.

"Yes."

This house was his secret place. When his duties became too heavy, he came here to be free for a few hours — and he always climbed over the wall, so nobody saw him coming.

They went in. Two of the young man's friends came in with them — a young woman and a young man.

Inside the house, Zalbea cleaned the wound and put a bandage on it.

"All done," she said.

"You dressed my hand well," the young man said.

"I told you. I'm an herbalist," Zalbea said.

At that moment, Amnava came back. She had two apples in her hand. She saw the house door open, and her sister was not outside.

"She must be in," Amnava said to herself.

Amnava went in — and stopped in the doorway. She saw a young man with a bandaged hand. Two more people stood near him. Her sister sat with them. And most important: all three had swords.

"Zalbea!" Amnava called.

Zalbea stood up fast and came to her sister.

"What are you doing? And why are you not hiding your hair?" Amnava asked.

Zalbea remembered. Her hair was open for everyone to see.

"Sorry," she said.

"These people look dangerous. They have swords," Amnava said.

"You are right."

Amnava turned to the three strangers and bowed a little.

"Sorry to disturb you, sirs and ma'am," she said.

The sisters started to leave. But the young man stopped them. He blocked their way with his sword.

"You still didn't tell me what you are doing here," he said.

"Why do you want to know about us?" Amnava asked.

"You are standing alone in front of my place, and you ask me why I want to know about you?"

"It's not like we did anything. So let us go," Amnava said.

"Do you know whose place this is? Do you know who I am?" the young man asked.

"We really didn't do anything, sir. Please let us go," Zalbea said.

"If you didn't do anything, then why do you cover your faces?" the young man asked.

"We are not thieves. We cover ourselves to protect ourselves," Amnava said.

"From whom? Tell me. I will help you," he said.

"Why would you help us?" Amnava asked.

"Because I am the second prince of this kingdom, Caldria," the young man said.

Zalbea and Amnava looked at him.

"Prince?" they said together.

"How can we believe you?" Amnava asked.

Then the young man's friend stepped forward.

"It's true, miss. I am his bodyguard, Ryder. And she is Talia," he said.

Zalbea took a deep breath.

"I am Zalbea, and this is my sister Amnava. We are here to protect ourselves — from the nobles," she said.

And then she explained everything. She told him how the nobles of their town asked for their hands, one after another. How nobody really asked them — the nobles just decided, like the sisters were something to win. How the letters and the visits never stopped. And how, in the end, the two sisters packed their lives into two bags and left their home.

The young man said nothing for a moment. Slowly, his hard face became soft.

As Zalbea finished talking, the other sister took off her hood and scarf.

And everyone in the room went still.

Her eyes were deep blue, like the ocean. They were bright like jewels. Nobody in the room had ever seen eyes like these. The three friends stared at her. They were shocked by how beautiful and unusual her eyes were.

"I know that kind of noble," the young man said at last. "The kind who look at a person and see something to buy."

He looked at the two sisters. He looked at the hoods in their hands, and at the door behind them. Then he moved his sword away and stepped back. The way to the door was open and clear.

"You are free to go, of course. But if you need a place where nobody will bother you — you are at the right place," he said.

The young prince looked at the sisters for a long moment.

Zalbea looked at her sister. Then she looked back at him. Her voice became small.

"We… really need that," she said.

"Don't worry. You are at the right place." He smiled a little. "By the way — I am Zayn."

Chapter Four — The Mountain Forest

The young prince decided to help the sisters.

He knew a place where they could live in peace, with nobody to bother them. He took them there himself.

The sisters began to live there.

After two days, Zayn came to visit them. During the visit, the sisters told him they needed to go to the mountain forest — the forest on the mountains — to find some rare herbs.

"When will you come back?" Zayn asked.

"Before evening. It will not take long," Amnava said.

The next morning, the sisters got ready to leave. When they came outside, the prince was already waiting for them.

Zalbea stared.

"Why are you here so early?" she asked.

"I want to come with you. I love traveling," Zayn said. He smiled. "And as the prince of this nation, I know this area better than anyone."

Ryder, his bodyguard and close friend — a friend like family — laughed a little at this.

Talia stayed serious. She only said they should go now, so they could come back early.

So the sisters and the prince traveled together in a horse carriage.

This time, the sisters did not cover their hair and eyes. They traveled like normal people. Nobody looked at them strangely. Nobody made them uncomfortable.

They reached the mountain forest. The trees grew up the mountain, green and quiet. The sisters began to search for herbs. They explained the herbs to the prince — what each herb was for. He was surprised how much they knew. He really enjoyed learning from them.

After some time, they separated. That way, they could find more herbs before evening.

While the sisters were searching alone, Zalbea saw a man. He stood between the trees, and he watched her.

Before she understood what was happening, the man grabbed her. He pulled her and tried to drag her away. His eyes were on her red hair. He smiled, and the smile made her cold.

"Do you know what a noble would pay for hair like this?" the man said.

Amnava saw this from far away. She ran to stop him.

Then a second man came out from the side and hit Amnava on the head. Everything went dark, and she fell.

At that moment, Zayn felt something was wrong. He ran to them and shouted. The two men saw him, looked at each other — and ran away into the trees. They left Zalbea behind.

Zalbea fell on her knees next to her sister. She tried to wake her and called her name again and again.

When Amnava finally opened her eyes, Zalbea hugged her. Zalbea's whole body was shaking.

"You scared me,"Zalbea said.

Amnava's head hurt, but first she held her sister's face and looked at her.

"Are you alright?" Amnava asked.

"I'm fine." Zalbea breathed out. "The prince saved me."

Zayn still looked at the trees where the men disappeared. Then he turned back to them. His voice was quiet and hard.

"You heard him," he said at last. "A noble would pay for hair like yours. "His voice was quiet and hard. "There are men like this. I have heard stories about them — I just never thought they would come this close."

The sisters said nothing.

They left their whole town to escape exactly this.

"From now on," Zayn said, "tell me whenever you go somewhere. Promise me."

They all went home that evening.

Chapter Five — The Court Herbalist Test

A week later, Zayn moved the sisters from his quiet hiding place to a small house in the capital — closer to the castle, and safer for two girls alone.

Some days later, the sisters sat together and counted their money.

They needed jobs. Now they had rent to pay, and food, and the small things of life.

The next morning, a neighbor — an old woman who liked the two quiet girls from Avelune — told them about the court herbalist test.

Zalbea's eyes became bright at once.

"If we pass, we become court herbalists. We get a good salary — and we can live in the castle," she said.

But Amnava shook her head.

"I heard the test is one of the hardest. Everyone says so," she said.

"Please, Jewel." Zalbea held her sister's hands. "The castle has many rare herbs. The court pharmacy is one of the biggest pharmacies. Think what we can learn there."

Then she looked away, a little shy. And Amnava started to smile in a slow, dangerous way.

"Pharmacy, is it?" Amnava said.

"Don't."

"Phaaaarmacy."

"Stop teasing me!" Zalbea said.

But Amnava was already laughing, and in the end, she agreed.

They studied hard. Every day they went to the herb shops of the capital. They learned the herbs. They asked about the test — what kind of questions came in the exam. In the evenings, they asked each other questions over the table until late in the night.

Sometimes they went to the castle itself. Zayn already told them: they were welcome to visit any time, as his guests. He also told them to inform him whenever they went somewhere, because he worried after what happened in the mountain forest. He was their friend now, and he did not want anything like that to happen again.

At the castle gate, the guards did not let the two hooded girls in easily. The prince's security was serious. One guard went inside to ask about them. Another guard stayed outside and watched the two girls quietly standing there in their hoods. When the first guard came back, Ryder was with him. Ryder himself took the sisters into the castle.

Inside, in the prince's study, Zayn was working at his desk. He put his pen down when he saw them and asked them to sit. The sisters took off their hoods. They told him about the test they wanted to take. They needed jobs.

Zayn, Ryder and Talia were very happy to hear this. They all talked until the light outside became golden. Then the sisters said goodbye and went home.

At last, the day of the test came.

The sisters went to the castle. Zayn, Ryder and Talia waited for them in front of the castle gate.

"Good luck," they said.

The sisters walked to the test area.

The test took place in the castle library. The chief of the pharmacy watched over it. He was one of the greatest herbalists in the capital. All the castle herbalists worked under him.

The library was very quiet. Long tables. Paper and ink. A few candidates sat straight and pale. Between the shelves walked an old herbalist with calm eyes. He watched everything and said almost nothing.

The first day was the written test — herbs and their uses, doses and their dangers, winter sicknesses and water sicknesses.

Amnava read every question two times before she wrote. The questions were hard. But they were like the questions from her childhood — asked at a kitchen table, over dry leaves, by people who loved this work like her. She answered them one by one, in her small, careful writing.

After the written test came one day of rest. After the rest day came the practical tasks.

Trays of dry herbs came to the tables. Every candidate named the herbs and said what they were for. Then a wound — cleaned and dressed the right way. Then fevers — a child's fever, an old man's fever. For each one: what to give, what never to give, and when to call a physician instead.

Zalbea answered fast and correctly. One time, they put a dry root in front of her with a wrong name. She said so plainly, and gave the right name. The old herbalist looked at her a long time and said nothing at all.

When Amnava finished her last task, she checked everything two times, like always. Only then did she see that her hands had been shaking since the first tray.

The test took three days in all.

After it, the sisters walked out of the library and breathed again. But waiting for the result was still heavy on their chests.

Five days passed.

In those days, they met the prince and his friends and had some fun together — quiet fun, near the castle. The prince was busy with his own work too. He was learning about his nation and the castle, like a prince must. When his older brother was away, the responsibility of the palace came to the younger prince.

Then the result day came.

When the reader came to Amnava’s name, he stopped — and then read the score. Nobody in that hall had ever heard a score like that before. People whispered along the rows.

Both girls passed.

And more than that — Amnava got the highest score in the whole capital. No person had ever gotten a score like hers before. Zalbea got a good score too. And with the two sisters, three other herbalists passed.

The next day, the chief herbalist called all the passing candidates to the castle. He told them where they would work. This was not the only pharmacy in the nation — but it was the most important one, because it served the castle itself.

The sisters became junior herbalists of the castle, each under a senior.

Amnava came under a senior herbalist named Ethan.

Zalbea came under a senior herbalist named Lizzy.

The chief's assistant walked the two girls to their seniors. They met, and Ethan and Lizzy welcomed them warmly.

The girls went to find Zayn. Zalbea was so excited to tell him they passed, she was half-running through the halls. They all celebrated together.

Then the sisters went home and started to pack.

A new chapter was starting.

They were going to live in the castle pharmacy, as herbalists.

Chapter Six — The Castle Pharmacy

The next day, they came to the palace with their things.

The chief told them about their rooms and the pharmacy rules. He said they would get their passes after two days. With those passes, they could enter and leave the castle easily.

The assistant took them to their rooms. The sisters put their things away. Then they went to their seniors.

The seniors showed them everything.

They took them to the castle herbal garden. All the herbs grew there. Not all of them were common — some herbs were very rare. The seniors explained each herb, and how to care for them. They showed them the room where medicines were made from the herbs. And they showed them the visitor room — the treatment room — where every injured person came, and where they had to treat them.

When the seniors, the chief and the assistant saw the two sisters for the first time — really saw them, without hoods, in the light of the pharmacy — they were all shocked.

But they did not make the girls feel uncomfortable. They gave them compliments, they were friendly, and they were kind from the first day.

So the sisters began their work in the castle as herbalists, under their seniors.

* * *

By Amnava

*— end of Part One —*