"How much money do you have?" Emmelyn asked the old witch. "We will need more money to afford food and shelter."

"I have some copper and many silver coins," said Mrs. Adler. "It should be enough to pay for a room in a simple inn for one month, and then continue our journey. As for food, we can look for food outside. There are plenty of berries, mushrooms, and if we are lucky, we can get fish or wild chicken."

Emmelyn agreed with her. She could also set up some traps to trap small animals like rabbits. They shouldn't worry about food. But they would need some more supplies like clothes and other things.

She only had the clothes she was wearing now. It would tear and get dirty if she wore it every day. 

"That should be enough." Emmelyn nodded.

Now, she felt grateful because she gifted some gold coins to Mrs. Adler. She ended up getting the benefit. If she was not so generous back then, the old witch wouldn't have any money to help her by hiring the villagers to get her out of the grave.

The cook wouldn't have such a good impression on Emmelyn and his brother wouldn't be so happy to help her. She was feeling touched, to know that her kindness begets kindness.

"We should go and find the nearest town so we can rest properly, find out news from the king's town and think about what we should do next," said Emmelyn. 

"That's a good idea," said Mrs. Adler with a smile.

Before she cleared up the blankets and got ready to get on the wagon again, Emmelyn held the old woman's arm. She bit her lip and tried to hold back her tears when she spoke.

"Thank you so much for all your help, Grandma," she said with a hoarse voice. "As soon as I have money, I will pay you back everything tenfold, or more."

Mrs. Adler touched Emmelyn's hand with both hands and said sweetly, "Your Highness. You already call me 'grandma', that is an honor far greater than any golds can buy. I am just happy I can help you and be your travel companion. Because of you, I might have the chance to see my home again."

From the way, Mrs. Adler talked about her home in the Bay of White Whale, Emmelyn could see how much the old woman missed that place. There was no place like home, they said. Emmelyn had to agree with it.

She didn't know what to call her home now, though. Her parents' palace in Wintermere was no longer theirs and the castle she shared with Mars for the past eight months was now a forbidden place to visit.

At least until she was cleared from the murder charges, or her husband returned. She hoped it was the latter.

***

TWO WEEKS LATER

"We should go," said Mars with a flat tone. He got up from the ground and get his horse ready. Gewen, who was lying down next to him and wrapped himself with a thick blanket, opened one eye.

It was obvious that the man was still very sleepy and tired. His handsome face looked scruffy and unkempt, unlike usual. The Gewen that most people knew would never neglect his appearance.

But they had been riding their horses for weeks without decent breaks and rest. And now, they were close to home. Gewen thought since they almost reached their destination, Mars would slow down a little bit and give their poor horses rest.

Oh, how wrong he was. He should have known from his bloodshot eyes, that Mars would not stop until he reached the capital.

As soon as he heard Thessalis' chilling words that she had used Emmelyn to kill Queen Elara, Mars had immediately rushed out of the evil witch's mansion and went down to Shadowend.

He didn't need long to confirm that the witch was telling him the truth. His mother died and the murder suspect was Emmelyn. The man almost lost his mind because of the sudden and deep grief.

He didn't remember much of what happened. All he knew was that he dashed his horse to immediately return to the capital. His mind couldn't think and all he knew was he had to keep moving.

Gewen managed to chase him on the third day and had been with him ever since. The others were moving behind them, tried to catch up with the prince and his friend.

Mars only stopped for short breaks twice or three times a day to give his horse rest. He would keep riding even in the middle of the night when there was no moon. Since he could see in the dark, this was not a problem for him.

He only wanted to arrive in the capital as soon as possible and see his mother. The massive grief turned him numb from pain and exhaustion. Gewen struggled so hard to keep up with Mars, but as a good friend, he tried his best to stay beside the prince.

He was worried that Mars would break down in the journey with no one to help him. He was not in the right mental state and was likely to make mistakes.

What if he was ambushed by bad people? He was a formidable man, but with his current condition, he would not survive if he were to fight dozens of thugs or the enemy.

"It's still dark," said Gewen, looking frustrated. "Can we at least wait until it's morning before we continue?"

"You don't have to go with me," said Mars. "I will keep going. You can continue resting here."

"That's not what I meant," Gewen hurriedly waved his hands to calm down his friend. "I want to go with you, but I think, after forcing our bodies and our horses to keep moving for weeks, now we are already on the brink of collapsing. At least... give your horse more rest. Look at her!"

Mars halted his movements. He looked at his horse, Snow, intently, before he finally sighed. Snow did almost look like the horse was emaciated.

.

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Sorry for delay in publishing this chapter. I got a period cramp and it's awful. Writing this chapter took me forever :(((

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