Kerin found Alberic first, as he was looking for her in the kitchens. “You were looking for me?”

“Yes, my dear.” He took her hand and kissed it. “I find I need your advice. Let’s go somewhere we can talk.”

As they looked for an empty parlor, Alberic asked Kerin what she had been keeping busy with.

“I’ve been spending most of my free time with your sister,” she answered.

“Oh? How is she?” Alberic had, guiltily, avoiding visiting his sister because it upset him so much to see her in the state she was in.

“Exhausted. We talked a bit, and she is getting angry. I told her what we suspected, and she has started to try fighting it on her own. But she still finds herself trying to get out without even realizing she’s doing it. So she keeps taking the sleeping herbs, and I’ve been sitting with her and reading stories to her in the times when she is sleepy enough to block the spell, but not asleep yet. But the poor girl has no time to eat, and that horrid spell means she keeps beating herself against things, like the door, trying to get out.” Alberic winced in sympathy, both for Tamlin and Kerin. He stopped and gave his fiance a big hug, thanking her for all of her work, understanding, and strength. Kerin smiled back. “If we can get through this, I think we can handle anything else that married life wants to throw at us, at least.”

Alberic gasped. “Kerin! Don’t tempt fate like that! But I did come to tell you about a piece of luck we’ve had on the search. Well, I say we, but Neil did all the legwork. We found a witch, up in Eadis, who Tsk’d a lot when told of our problem but wouldn’t come with the servants to help us.”

Kerin looked thoughtful. “Same witch?”

“We aren’t sure. Neither Neil or I have seen her yet.”

“Yet. Are you planning to go talk to her?”

Alberic smiled. “Kerin, you are so clever. I love you so much.”

“I am going to assume that means yes. You do remember that we are planning a wedding soon?”

“Of course I do. I have been counting the hours. If it was just peacefully sleeping ladies whose families haven’t even come looking for them yet, I could put it off. But Tamlin…”

Kerin sighed. “True. If she doesn’t collapse under the stress, the guards and we will, and the bush will get her too. We need a cure sooner than later.”

“Neil and I can go; we can travel light and fast with the two of us and spare horses. We would hopefully only be gone two days. Would you want to come along?” Alberic asked honestly, knowing that Kerin could more than handle the rigors of travel, and her clever thinking might well come in handy. And Neil might get distracted long enough that the two of them could just ride away and never come back… The Prince shook his head at himself. No sense in indulging a fantasy he couldn’t let come true.

“I really don’t think the castle would withstand us both leaving. Someone needs to be in charge, with all of the guests here. And I’d feel bad leaving Tamlin, she likes it when I spend time with her. I think you underestimate your sister.”

“I’m sure I do. She is a lot stronger than I thought, if nothing else. I still have bruises.” Alberic kissed Kerin again to prove to her that he was mostly joking, and they made travel plans over a light lunch.

***

Kerin came up with the excuse for the King and Queen, simply by telling them that she had left something at home that she needed, and that Alberic had gone to fetch it for her. When they asked why she didn’t just wait for her family to bring it, she just said that she didn’t want to wait that long. The Queen had taken her husband off telling him not to worry, it was common for young brides to obsess on pointless details. Kerin rolled her eyes behind their backs and got back to work.

Neil and Alberic did indeed ride towards Kerin’s family home for a short way, until the crossroads where they turned towards Eadis instead. Riding as quickly as they safely could, they reached Squire Eadis’s manor an hour after sunset, just as the very last hint of light was fading. They rode into the courtyard and were met by a stableman, who took the horses and promised to give them a good rest and some extra care for their hard work. Someone must have warned the Squire that they were there, because he met them just inside the door to his home, and welcomed them warmly. He was in a dressing gown, but the Prince and his valet didn’t care, since they were taken to a room almost immediately and allowed to clean up and get some sleep.

As the sun rose, Alberic rushed through a breakfast in the kitchen, not wanting to wait while the staff finished setting up the Squire’s table. Neil talked the cook out of some bread and cheese for a luncheon, and the men went to the stable for their horses. By the time the sun was burning off the morning mist, they were already on the trail to the cottage that the supposed witch lived in.