chapter 4

“Are you okay?” she asked. “I'm sorry for not cutting that off sooner, I really should have, but I needed to see how far you would go.”

Travis frowned.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“After seeing you last night, I felt like something might be off,” she said quietly. “After you finished everything I gave you for breakfast, I knew there was a problem.”

“Yeah, I think you might be right,” Travis said, muffling a burp against his hand.

“Please don't be embarrassed,” Maria said. “Whatever is going on isn't your fault. Look at me.”

Travis flicked his eyes up to meet hers. He could barely breathe, he was so full. Sitting on the dainty garden chairs didn't help matters; Travis wished he could lay down and stretch out. Maria gave him a small smile. Her eyes looked worried but he knew she was trying to reassure him. It didn't help; he'd just made a pig out of himself and he'd be lucky if he could stand after eating so much.

“Everything is going to be okay, Travis. We're going to see the apothecary and we're going to get this fixed,” Maria said.

“What makes you so sure?” he asked. “What if this can't be fixed?”

“It can,” she said. “Don't worry, my apothecary is good. I spoke with him this morning.”

Maria rose from her chair with grace, grace that he was surely not going to be able to manage. Travis took as deep of a breath as he could manage before trying to get to his feet. Travis winced as his trousers pinched at his waist.

“Let me help,” Maria said.

Travis took her hand and they both huffed and puffed with the exertion of getting him to his feet. Travis breathed out slowly and took his first step towards the castle. Maria walked slowly and Travis had never been so grateful for her. He followed her into the castle, muffling burps along the way. Maria led him down the second set of stairs they came across, to a section of the castle Travis had never been to. The temperature seemed to drop suddenly as they found themselves in a narrow corridor lit only by candles. The lack of natural light made Travis feel uneasy but he followed Maria to an iron door.

Maria knocked on the door. The door swung open and they were ushered into a high-ceilinged room. Books and small objects littered every surface. There was a bitter, acrid scent in the air that Travis couldn't place.

“Is this him?” the apothecary asked.

“Yes,” Maria said.

“Are you sure he's not just greedy?” the apothecary asked. He examined Travis' impossibly full stomach with a poke.

“Definitely,” Maria said. “You wouldn't be questioning it if you'd seen it.”

“Maybe that's the problem,” the apothecary said. “I just can't imagine a witch using magic to make someone eat. What would be the point?”

“I don't know,” Maria said. “But it's not natural.”

Travis had never seen someone question the princess before. The apothecary did it with such ease, but Travis supposed he'd been there for her birth, possibly even her father's.

“Hmm,” the apothecary muttered. “He does indeed seem full, but I do need to run a few tests.”

Travis stood there as the apothecary walked further into the room, slipping behind a heavy curtain.

“I don't think he likes me,” Travis said quietly.

“Don't worry, Jeremiah doesn't like anyone,” Maria said. “But he's the best.”

The man that he now knew to be Jeremiah returned from behind the curtain, clearly holding something behind his back. Travis glanced at Maria, eyes wide. He didn't want to think about what it could be.

“Now, I know you're convinced,” Jeremiah said, addressing Maria. “But I need to know for sure.”

He walked closer and looked Travis in the eye.

“I need you to trust that I will get to the bottom of whatever is happening to you,” Jeremiah said.

Travis nodded and then Jeremiah revealed a small cake from behind his back. It looked delicious and Travis couldn't help but reach for it. He regretted cramming it into his mouth as soon as he swallowed it. He groaned and doubled over in pain.

“I think you were right, Maria,” Jeremiah said. “Tell me, Travis, do you know anything about what the witch did to you?”

“Yeah,” Travis said. “But do you think I could sit down?”

Maria led him over to a stone bench. It wasn't comfortable but it was better than being on his feet. Travis told them both everything he knew, including the dream. Jeremiah seemed to perk up at the mention of that.

“Hmmm,” he muttered. “Interesting... we may have to consult the herbalist for ideas. Luckily, she should be here any moment. I sent her out to the cabin to look for clues.”

Travis looked at Maria with wide eyes. Just how many people were going to get involved in this? It was bad enough that Maria had to see him like that.

Travis just sat on the bench and looked at the floor whilst Jeremiah tinkered with bottles and books, occasionally muttering something to Maria.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than half an hour, the door swung open. Travis jumped at the sound of it hitting the stone wall. A girl he had never seen before strode in with no hesitation. She was perhaps 19, wearing an emerald green cloak that made her red hair look like fire. For a second, Travis thought it was the witch, but no, she just had the same hair and the same piercing green eyes. Her travelling cloak still had leaves clinging to the hem and despite her put-together appearance, Travis could tell that she was not the demure type.

“This is going to be a problem,” the girl said immediately.

Without waiting for a response, she walked over to Jeremiah's desk and pulled a large tome out of her satchel.

“What did Hazel say to you when you stabbed her?” she asked Travis.

“The witch? I'm not sure... I mean I kind of heard her say things in a dream but not when it actually happened.”

“Yes? So what did she say in the dream?”

Travis recounted what had happened in the dream, yet again.

“So, what do you think, Violet?” Jeremiah asked.

“It doesn't sound like a spell but... there were definitely traces of something in her cabin. Usually words don't carry that much meaning but given the circumstances and the blood moon... I think I know what's happened here.”

Jeremiah and Violet poured over a page in the book and eventually turned to face Travis and Maria.

“Would you like the good news or the bad news?” Violet asked.

Maria looked at Travis and raised an eyebrow. He just shrugged. He couldn't imagine any news that would make this worse.

“The good first, please.” Maria said.

“Well... it's fixable. We can cure this,” Jeremiah said.

“How?” Travis asked.

“Well... that's the bad news,” Violet said. “Essentially, time.”

“What do you mean?” Maria asked.

“Travis has been cursed to be unable to resist his greatest sin. My guess is that that sin is gluttony,” Violet said, with a pointed look at his swollen stomach. “The full moon gave the curse its power. It will be what breaks it.”

“So we just need to wait until the next full moon?” Travis asked.

“Not exactly,” Violet said. “You need to give in to the curse to lift it. It's designed to make you suffer, so it wont be lifted until you've suffered enough...”

“I've given in, trust me,” Travis said. “It's not like I have a choice.”

“Oh, you have a choice,” Violet said. “You can just keep yourself away from the object of your sin. In this case, food. The curse wont be triggered until it is in your sights... but that's not important. You need to give in constantly until the time comes for it to be lifted.”

“What?!” Travis asked. “I can't do that for a month!”

“Oh? Did I say a month?” Violet asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. “One month wont do it, I'm afraid. The last full moon was special, which is why this curse is so strong. We bore witness to the blood moon that night. You're lucky, though, the next one is only seven months away!”

“Seven months?” Maria asked. “You're joking, right? There must be something else we can do to fix this.”

“There is,” Jeremiah said. “You can keep this man away from food, aside from what he needs to stay alive, of course. Violet is right though, seven months between blood moons is rare... if this curse can only be broken moon to moon, this is your best chance. Sometimes we can go years without seeing one!”

“So that's sorted then,” Violet said. “I can leave?”

Travis couldn't look at her. There was malice in her eyes when she spoke of his fate and he had a feeling that her similarities to the witch... to Hazel... weren't just a co-incidence.

“You can,” Maria said coldly. “In fact, will you excuse us, Jeremiah? We have somewhere to be. Come on, Travis.”

Travis stood up quickly, a little too quickly for his stomach's liking, and followed Maria out of the room. They walked up the stairs and back towards the room he had been given without a word. Maria didn't look at him until they were both back in the room and the door was closed.

“I'm so sorry you had to meet them both, they're not the most pleasant of people,” she said.

“What was Violet's problem?” Travis asked. “She seemed way too happy about the situation.”

“She always did have a twisted sense of humor,” Maria said. “Hazel did, too. That's why she was banished two months ago.”

“Wait, she used to live in the citadel?” Travis asked.

“Yes, Hazel and Violet used to run the herbalist store together,” Maria said. “They're sisters, obviously.”

“So what am I going to do?” Travis asked.

“Well, soon, we are going to see my brother and then... I think we know what you need to do,” Maria said. “As much as I
don't like Violet, especially under the circumstances, she's never been wrong about this sort of thing before.”