Walking through the corridor, as he left the dining room, Katyan felt rumbling in his stomach. Although it was unusual, he paid very little attention to the odd sound and a little bit of movement in his bowels. Instead, he focused on the wine in the silver chalice that he carried, taking a large sip.

It tasted sweet, but the rich flavor carried a hint of spices as well as the grapes. Behind him, the voices of his women intertwined into a mix that already made his head hurt. Half-drunk, they were quite annoying, but his opinion changed as images of their naked bodies flashed through his mind, making him aroused.

As he reached the staircase and began climbing it, he also started to make plans for the very near future. ‘The food will settle, and I'll fuck three,’ the thought erected a chuckle from his throat.

The rumbling, though, intensified, and as he finished climbing, he began feeling slight discomfort. It was irritating, but not enough to alarm him in any way, so he kept ignoring it until he reached his chamber.

Upon pushing the door open, his eyes darted to the table, where only yesterday he spoke with the strange young man sent by the pirates. There was something about him that caused Katyan to reach for this memory every time he glanced at the table, but this time he ignored the thought and went to lie down in his massive bed. Although now empty, it soon would be filled with gorgeous, half-drunk women.

The idea caused him to lick his lips. Slightly tipsy from the wine, he moved forward, emptied his chalice only to drop it to the floor, then fell on the bed. The silver rang slightly upon hitting the rug.

The king crawled forward, eventually lying down in the middle, but then a sharp pain in his belly made him sit. „Urgh!” he grunted. „Guard! Guard!”

The yelling alerted two soldiers, who soon burst into the king’s chamber, looking around for a possible intruder, but they didn’t spot anybody.

„Bring Bahir, now!” Katyan yelled.

The two looked at one another, before darting away, leaving the door open.

With his face twisted by pain, the king waited for quite a while until finally, his ears caught the hastened footsteps echoing through the corridor and falling into his chamber. Moments later the guards and Bahir showed up.

„What is it, my king?” the old man asked.

„My stomach! It hurts,” Katyan groaned. „Bring me a leech or a barber! I need help.”

„Yes, my king,” Bahir bowed, then turned around, immediately pushing the two guards, who understood the gesture and left with him. As the door got closed, the old man looked at them both in the dim light of the corridor. „You will stand guard, and don’t let anybody in. You will bring an alchemist from the city. Inform me when he arrives.”

"Yes, sir!" both called out.

A second later, one bolted away to fulfill the order. The old man followed him, at least initially, but his destination was completely different. He went straight into the dungeon, finding the soldier stationed on guard duty sitting by the candlelight right by the door, clearly bored.

Noticing Bahir, the soldier jumped on his feet, almost to a salute.

"Open," the treasurer instructed, making the man move. As soon as the passage was possible he stepped in between the cells. On his right, sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, was Bruno. "What did you do?" Bahir asked straight away.

"What did I do? Today? Not much..."

"Silence!" the old man snapped, cutting the young alchemist off. "You know what I mean, so stop your little act, or you will face consequences!"

"Act? Consequences?" Bruno let out a short-lived chuckle. "I’m afraid I have no idea what you are talking about. In case you didn’t notice, I am a prisoner in here. Locked in a cell, with two locked doors, and a guard keeping watch. There is very little I can do, but if you meant before you shoved me in here..."

"The king is sick, and I know you are behind this," Bahir growled, interrupting the young alchemist. "You will be beheaded if you don’t admit what you did. I’ll behead you myself!"

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"I’m afraid that decision is in the king’s hands, and I have no idea how I could make the king sick from all the way here," he chuckled again. "You are going insane, old man."

The treasurer’s eyes darted to the guard, who listened to everything in shock, which was visualized in his facial expression – an open mouth. "Grab him, and follow me," he instructed.

"Yes, sir!" the soldier barked, rushing to the door to open it and drag Bruno out. The young alchemist wasn’t resisting, but he also didn’t hide how he felt about the situation. Despite the threat of death, he was smiling.

Bahir paid no attention to all that, clearly too focused on his fury. He began walking, retracing his footsteps all the way to the top floor, where the guard protected the door to the king’s chamber. He was accompanied by two other figures, panting heavily, as they clearly underwent some heavy physical activities just a moment before.

Despite the dim light, they were visible a bit further away, walking in circles as they regulated their breathing. One was the other soldier, and the other one was a man in his forties, with a scruffy, one-day-long beard, messy salt and pepper hair, wearing a long, slightly dirty robe. He brought a leather bag, which hung on his shoulder.

"Sir," both guards stretched like tight strings upon noticing the treasurer.

"I was informed you wished to see me, sir," the man in a long robe approached.

"Yes. Follow me,” Bahir instructed before his gaze shifted to the man protecting the entrance to the king’s chamber. "Open,” he instructed.

The soldier followed the other, and soon the old man, Bruno, the alchemist, and the prison guard entered the chamber, closing the door behind. The much brighter light present in the room, thanks to the large open window, briefly blinded Bruno, but enduring the pain, he did his best to keep his eyes open.

„My king, I brought the alchemist. I believe he will be able to help you, as I think this one,” he reached to grab Bruno by the shoulder, then pulled him, causing the young alchemist to stumble forward, ”has poisoned you.”

„That’s nonsense,” Bruno snorted.

„Silence!” the treasurer snapped, before his attention moved to the medic. „Find out what is happening to the king,” he instructed, his voice carrying a hard tone, hinting at a possible threat.

„Y-yes,” the older alchemist stuttered, then approached the king. „Y-your majesty… What can you tell me about the pain?”

„That it fucking hurts!” Katyan yelled.

„Y-yes, b-but… Where do you f-feel it? How s-strong is it? P-please describe...”

Bruno laughed at that moment, making everybody glance at him. „This man has no idea what he is doing, and he is so scared, that he is only going to mess this up,” he explained. „Let me do this. I can help you, King.”

„Shut up!” Bahir snapped again. Then he swung his hand, slapping Bruno across the face.

The sound reverberated in the air, causing complete silence, but it didn’t last long, as the groan that left Katyan’s mouth jolted everybody else to action.

„Y-your majesty… The pain…” The alchemist mumbled.

„My stomach hurts! It's a dull pain, but now and then it becomes sharp like something is stabbing me!” the ruler growled.

„Y-yes… A dull pain...” the man repeated, then hesitantly reached to the king's forehead with his hand, to check the body temperature. „No fever,” he mumbled. „Any vomiting, diarrhea, or blood in the stool?”

„No!” Katyan shouted. „The pain came just now!”

„W-what a-about changes in the diet? Or life? Emotions?”

„No!”

„W-where is the ch-chamber pot?” the voice of the alchemist with each question was getting quieter and quieter.

„Balcony!” Katyan growled.

The man quickly grabbed a flask from his bag, then rushed to the door leading to the balcony, and moments later returned with the urine in the container. Wasting no time, he was already looking at the yellow liquid, examining it with his eyes before he took a sniff.

He returned to the back, putting the flask on the table along the way, only to return to the urine sample with a thin wooden plank, which had a diagram painted on it. He checked something on the drawings, putting the wood away next to the plank. He then went back to his bag, pulled out an hourglass, and holding it in his hand, checked the king’s pulse by grabbing him by the wrist.

Everybody patiently watched as he counted under his breath, only to put the hourglass back into the bag. After that, he still wasn’t done. He pulled out another thin wooden plank with a drawing, a weird shape split into several other shapes with lines coming out of it, connecting them to a single word each.

„Please show me your tongue, my king,” he said with the chart in his hand. As Katian followed the instructions, the alchemist examined the tongue, using the chart to help himself. As he finished, he put it back into the bag, only to pull out yet another wooden plank. This one had a man drawn on it, with several symbols around it.

„Oh gods, please!” Bruno exclaimed. „Now you want to do astrology? This is nonsense. Let me help the king. I actually know what I’m doing, contrary to this man, whom I don’t know where you pulled out from, but he quite clearly has barely any idea about human health.”

„Silence!” Bahir growled.

Although the alchemist briefly glanced at the young man, he immediately returned to his task. After a moment of checking something on the drawing, he hid it in his bag.

„I can prepare an herbal remedy for your pain, my king. If it doesn’t help, then I will need to let some of your blood,” he finally concluded after the lengthy exam.

Bruno sighed, rolling his eyes.

„Do it!” Bahir urged, waving his hand at the man, who was quickly escorted by the guard out of the room. „As for you… you are going to hang! For poisoning our king, I’m going to put your body on display, so the pirates will be able to see,” the old man’s attention switched to the young alchemist. There was so much emotion in his words that he spat several times while speaking.

„No!” the king growled. „Throw him back into the dungeon.”

The treasurer gave Katyan a long look, before giving a nod, then pushed Bruno out of the chamber.