The Meeting and the Mishap

The small kingdom of Berwin was like a magnified, slightly distorted, circular bowl, surrounded by a massive body of water. The kingdom was divided into four sections—North, East, West, and South. Each section had a large twenty-foot archway that led to the business district, which was also the central and lowest point of the kingdom.

Lief found himself leaning against the wrought-iron archway of the North Section as he stopped to catch his breath. In front of him was the cobblestone street heading down to the business district, where he could rent a carriage to get to the South Section. Another hundred meters more to go. Making things worse were the warm rays of the sun prickling Lief’s skin. He had to remove his cloak otherwise he’d die of the heat, but now his exposed arms were being roasted.

This was why he hated losing hearts. “Walking sucks.” Lief groaned, his panting growing heavier.

As Lief crouched down to massage his aching legs, he caught sight of a figure walking slightly behind him. It was a young lady, wearing a beige long dress. The hems of the many layers of her dress swept through the ground with every step she took. Lief flinched at the thought of how excruciatingly hot and confining it could be to be walking in those clothes on such a day. Not to mention, her large satchel bag looked heavy.

Satchel bag? Lief stopped. He stared at the young lady’s face, studying the familiar long gown to the satchel bag he saw up close minutes ago. His gaze ended at her bright, green eyes. Shoot. It’s Aine Darien. He quickly crouched lower and bowed his head, making sure his face could not be seen.

Lief had difficulty maintaining his position. His legs were too tired and could give away any minute. He knew it wasn’t just the heat. The lack of hearts was catching up to him. He needed to get to the mystic waters as soon as possible. He should not stay there any longer.

Lief staggered as he forced himself to take another step. “Water…” he unknowingly grumbled, his mind already imagining how soothing the red mystic waters would be on his scorched skin. However, the more he strived to walk forward, the more his body rejected movement. His throat was already so dry, and even his vision was beginning to blur.

As Lief took another unsteady step, Aine brushed past him. In that moment, Lief’s vision suddenly blacked out, and he felt himself falling over. As his body was moving closer and closer to the ground, Lief instinctively reached out for the nearest thing he could hold onto…something pale and slim and warm…Aine’s wrist.

***

It was another hot day in Berwin. Aine knew she looked like a wet tomato in a long sack. Her cheeks and arms were probably already red due to the heat. Her long dress was only making the heat more unbearable.

Today, Aine was going to meet her friend, Princess Cistine, the third princess of Berwin. Perhaps I could ask Cistine to convince mother to finally allow me to choose my own clothes, Aine thought as she reached the archway of the North Section.

Aine noticed a young man walking slightly ahead of her. He stopped to lean on the archway. When he took a step, he was wobbling. He looked very unstable and was repeatedly mumbling something inaudible. Aine recalled how her father looked whenever he had too much wine with a visitor.

A drunkard? At this time of the day? Aine cringed. He seemed barely a head taller than her, so maybe he was around her age or even younger. So young, too. Not wanting to get involved with such a person, Aine quickly walked past him.

As Aine walked on, she heard some footsteps behind her. Then suddenly, something cold grabbed her hand.

Surprised, she looked back and saw the young man, his knees almost touching the ground, and his hand…his hand was on her right wrist. She attempted to shake him off, but his grip tightened. Before she knew it, she was being pulled down. As she tried to free her hand, Aine’s foot stepped onto the hem of her dress. She stumbled backwards, and the moment the young man let go of her hand, she fell butt flat onto the ground.

“Ouch!” Aine wailed, but she didn’t have enough time to process the pain because as she looked up, she saw the young man about to fall on top of her.

For a moment, Aine was frozen. She merely stared at the young man as he was steadily falling. Then his closed eyes opened, giving Aine a glimpse of his eyes. They were a mixture of olive brown and gold. There were a few streaks of green color, too. His eyes shut again as his body was moving dangerously closer to hers. Closer…and closer…and…

Aine raised her leg and kicked his stomach hard.

The young man fell, back flat onto the ground, with a loud thud.

Seconds passed, and the young man merely lay on the ground, without any sound. Aine stared at him for a moment. He was not moving a single finger. Is he dead? “Oh my God…Did I just—”

With difficulty, due to the searing pain in her butt, Aine stood and approached the young man. She slowly poked him with a finger. “Hey, are you dead?” She poked him again. “Seriously…” Another poke. “Please say you’re alive. Because if I were in any way going to kill someone, I would have preferred if it was with a potion I brewed. And mind you, dying like this is very lame on your part, too.”

He remained still. Aine examined the young man. He had very black hair, that although was quite disheveled during that moment, still looked soft and clean. His skin also looked fair and well taken care of. Is he from a rich family? A noble? He was wearing casual polo and pants. Nothing striking. No family emblem. A laborer? But his clothes are too clean, and his physical build seemed very normal, not the type one would expect from people who work all day. A student? A traveler? He had no bags or any belongings with him, only a black cloak. “Anyway whoever you are, please wake up.” She poked the young man continuously.

Then, the young man gasped.

****

Lief’s entire body was in pain. “Wa…ter…” he mumbled. He needed to get to the mystic waters as soon as possible, but also, his throat was very dry. “Wa…ter…”

He felt the presence of someone beside him. When his eyes opened, he saw Aine’s pale face. Strands of her long black hair rubbed against Lief’s face as she looked down on him. His vision was still blurry, but the bright green eyes staring down at him were clear in his mind. “Wa…ter…” he mumbled again.

Then Lief felt something being poured onto his mouth. His tongue tasted beetroot. There was also a hint of honey and vanilla. The liquid was cold on his tongue, but there was a burning sensation the moment it reached his throat. The liquid flowed continuously into his mouth. Lief coughed. The burning sensation was spreading all over his body. His fingers and toes began twitching.

“There,” Aine spoke. “That should be fine.”

***

Aine finished pouring some of the tomato juice onto the young man’s mouth. He coughed as she gave him quite the generous amount.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps could be heard. Aine looked around and saw the military guards approaching from the opposite side of the archway. It was about time for their routine archway checks. Aine pursed her lips. Getting involved in someone’s almost death was one thing. Getting caught by the military was a whole other issue. Even her father was going to lose it.

“The guards are here,” she told the young man as she quickly stashed the canteen back in her bag. “They’ll tend to you. You’ll be fine. And just in case they ask…” She stood. “Please do tell them there wasn’t anyone else.” She slung her bag and ran away.

While running, she glanced back at the young man one last time. That would be their first and last encounter.

***

Lief stared at Aine’s back as she ran away. She glanced back at him, and he saw them again…her bright green eyes.

Then Lief heard a thump. Then another. And another. It wasn’t the sound of the earlier footsteps. It was different. The thumping was steady, continuous. The sound wasn’t coming from outside. It was inside him. Impossible…

The thumping was growing louder, faster. Slowly, Lief’s hand felt for his chest. Impossible… A series of sounds he hadn’t heard for a very long time. With the bit of strength he had left, he pressed his hand harder on his chest. And there he had confirmed, for the first time in 524 years…his heart was beating.

***

When she was sure she was already far away, Aine finally stopped running. “Seriously…” She struggled to speak while panting. “I guess…that’s just my luck today.”

Aine heaved a heavy sigh as she tried to remind herself that it was still a good day despite the recent turn of events. She woke up on time. Her mother’s yapping aside, the coffee and sandwich they had for breakfast were good. And Mila was her usual nice self. Most of all…Aine paused. She opened her bag and took out the canteen. Her experiments had been progressing quite well.

Aine opened the canteen, lifting it to her nose to relish the aroma of her tea imbued with love potion, expecting the scent of vanilla and honey. But to her surprise, she smelled a mixture of cinnamon and pepper. She quickly looked through her bag and found the other canteen. It weighed lighter, almost empty. She then remembered the young man and the tomato juice she let him drink, or at least that was what she thought.

Her mouth fell open. Did I…just give him…love potion?