Will You Keep The Duke's Secret From The Prince? (Choose Your Path)
The Apothecary, Chapter 2: "The Duke and The Prince"
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The Apothecary is an interactive story in which your choices determine your fate. Don’t read the sections in order. At the end of each section, make your choice and click on the corresponding link to be taken to your next section. Will you choose to save the duke from a fairy curse, or will you aid the prince in a darker quest?
Start Here: The Curse
(continued from Chapter 1)
A mark like a black vine encircles the duke’s chest, as though it might strangle his heart.
“The fairy queen cursed me,” he says. “She brews a potion every few weeks to counteract the curse. If she ever chooses not to give me her antidote, I’ll die.”
Half-choked with shock, you manage to say, “But you’re the king’s son. This is treachery.”
“She has convinced the king that she knows nothing of the curse’s origin and that she works to keep it at bay,” the duke says. “The queen poisoned me to control me. She sees how my father values my counsel.”
A breeze rattles the leaves overhead. The sound of it unnerves you. The duke must have some reason for telling you such a dark tale, but you feel you never should have come to these woods.
“Whenever I try to cross her,” the duke says, “she threatens to let me die of the curse. A slow, agonizing death.”
Your gaze goes again to the mark of the fairy curse, the dark line of it that bleeds into the duke’s skin. You can almost feel the same agony wrapping around your own heart. Is it pity for the duke? Fear of the fairy queen?
“It would break my father’s heart to witness it,” the duke says. “And if I die, there will be no one to protect my father from his treacherous queen.”
“No one else knows how to brew the potion that keeps the curse at bay?”
“The queen closely guards the secret to the antidote,” he tells you. “But you have proven yourself to be adept with potions. And… you were loyal to me that evening in the woods.”
“I haven’t told a soul that I met you.” Or that he was snared and shivering.
“Do you know of an antidote that will help me?” the duke asks. “If not, I remain under the queen’s power.”
Your heart falls. You don’t know enough about this curse to help him. And if you did, how could you brew a potion so powerful?
“I will search my father’s writings. It may be I can find help there.” It’s as much as you can promise him.
The duke’s shoulders lift. His hopefulness almost pains you.
“That’s all I ask,” he says. “Until then, what help can I give you?”
Divulge that you have too little money to run your shop? Go to Debts.
Admit that you need practice making powerful potions? Go to Novice.
Honest
“The dinner is tonight,” she huffs. “Never mind, I see another apothecary down the way.”
The wealthy customer sweeps out the door before you can think of what to say to stop her.
The next day, your shop sits empty. Everyone is eager to visit the apothecary whose throat cure secured a marriage proposal.
Your famous rose water potion is forgotten, and so is your shop. You’ll never manage to pay the council fees.
Perhaps you should have given a different answer. Go to Opportunity.
Wealth
The next day, the rich woman’s potion is ready.
She accepts the vial with greedy fingers. “Of course, I’ll pay handsomely.” She drops a purse into your hand.
The weight of it thrills you. This will help pay your shop fees to the town council.
As she goes out, another customer comes in, a woman in a dress lined with glittering braid. “I need a potion for my daughter.”
Another wealthy customer. Your luck is in today…
Go to Opportunity.
Fronds
You part the ferns with careful hands, searching for insects. In their cool shade, you think of the duke, shivering in the cold wood.
Cursed–and desperate for your help.
But though you search the ferns carefully, you find nothing you can turn into a potion.
Go to The Fairy Queen’s Waterfall.
Novice
“I’m not the potions master you imagine me to be,” you admit to the duke. What your father has taught you of potions surely isn’t enough to cure a fairy curse.
“You need more like the rose I gave you,” the duke says. “I can tell you the queen was lately at a favorite waterfall pool. Perhaps after her presence there, some rare and magical plant was left in her wake.”
You thank him. You wish that, in return for his help, you could promise to help him. But the only promise you can make is to keep his secret.
He touches your sleeve where the stream water has plastered it to your skin. The heat of his touch makes you forget the chill air. “I will look for you again,” he says.
The words echo through your mind as you make your way back to your apothecary…
In Chapter 1, which potion did you choose to brew?
A cure for the boy’s sick sister. Go to Gratitude.
A strengthening potion for the rich woman. Go to Wealth.
Opportunity
“I’ve heard of the rose water potion you brewed,” the wealthy customer says. “But I want something else for my daughter. Something that will cure her throat and restore her singing voice. She’s to attend a dinner where I want to make sure she catches the attention of a count.”
How will you answer?
“I don’t have the right ingredients for a throat cure. Come back in a few days.” Go to Honest.
“I don’t have the potion you need, but I can give you a draught to increase her wit.” Go to Clever.
“Instead, I can promise you a powerful potion made from very rare ingredients.” Go to Daring.
Clever
“No doubt it works only a short time,” the woman sniffs, eying the watery potion.
“But it need work only for one evening,” you point out.
She takes the potion. The next day, she returns. “She could barely get a word out with her throat so sore. What good are witty thoughts no one can hear?”
Perhaps it was her influence that left your shop so empty over the next few weeks.
Your famous rose water potion is forgotten, and so is your shop. You’ll never manage to pay the council fees.
Perhaps you should have given a different answer. Go to Opportunity.
The Fairy Queen’s Waterfall
In a beautiful wood carpeted with flowers, you find the waterfall pool the duke told you of.
You can only pray that the fairy queen’s presence transformed some flower or creature. You must find an enchanted ingredient for your potions.
Delve behind the waterfall? Go to Mist.
Hunt through the ferns? Go to Fronds.
Search near the pool? Go to Glimmers.
Debts
“The town council expects a higher fee than I can pay,” you tell the duke. “I fear I’ll lose my father’s apothecary. Perhaps if I could make more valuable potions…”
“You need more like the rose I gave you,” the duke says. “I can tell you the queen was lately at a favorite waterfall pool. Perhaps after her presence there, some rare and magical plant was left in her wake.”
You thank him. You wish that, in return for his help, you could promise to help him. But the only promise you can make is to keep his secret.
He touches your sleeve where the stream water has plastered it to your skin. The heat of his touch makes you forget the chill air. “I will look for you again,” he says.
The words echo through your mind as you make your way back to your apothecary…
In Chapter 1, which potion did you choose to brew?
A cure for the boy’s sick sister. Go to Gratitude.
A strengthening potion for the rich woman. Go to Wealth.
Mist
Here in the damp rock, you find a night-colored butterfly, tinged with fairy magic. You close your hand around it.
And there–drinking in the mist from the waterfall–a glimmering lark, alight with fairy magic. Your father’s book says a feather from such a creature makes powerful antidotes.
An enchanted butterfly for a beauty potion, and an enchanted feather for an antidote for the duke. You can’t believe your good fortune.
You tuck both ingredients into your bag, and when you look up–a fiery gaze meets yours.
“Good day,” says the man before you. He’s dressed as richly as the duke, but where the duke is dark, he is bright.
His eyes are the golden eyes of a half-fairy, half-human. His hair is silvery in the sunlight. He is the fairy queen’s son, the prince.
“I thought I would be alone here,” he says, his voice languid. “But how much better to have company.”
“I’m sure I could never provide any kind of company for a prince,” you demur.
“And yet, you’ve sparked my curiosity,” he says with an enigmatic smile.
A hum of warning goes through you. And yet, you can’t turn away from the prince’s dazzling gaze.
“I saw you put something into your bag just now,” he says.
You should answer him without sparking more curiosity… “I’m gathering plants for my father’s apothecary.”
“Let me see,” the prince commands. You aren’t sure what to make of his request, but you must obey it.
Choose carefully. You risk both the duke’s health and your apothecary.
Show him the butterfly you gathered for the beauty potion? Go to Beauty.
Show him the feather you gathered for the duke’s antidote? Go to Antidote.
Gratitude
The next day, the boy’s potion is ready.
The boy looks relieved as he accepts it from you. “Will my sister get better now?”
“When she does, remember to tell everyone where you got this potion,” you say. You’ll receive no pay for this order, but perhaps his gratitude will bring more customers.
As he goes out, another customer comes in, a woman in a dress lined with glittering braid. “I need a potion for my daughter.”
She seems wealthy—just the customer you need.
Go to Opportunity.
Glimmers
Here, among a delicate spray of flowers, you spy a jewel-colored butterfly tinged with fairy magic. You close your hand around it.
And there–drinking in the mist from the waterfall–a glimmering lark, alight with fairy magic. Your father’s book says a feather from such a creature makes powerful antidotes.
An enchanted butterfly for a beauty potion, and an enchanted feather for an antidote for the duke. You can’t believe your good fortune.
You tuck both ingredients into your bag, and when you look up–a fiery gaze meets yours.
“Good day,” says the man before you. He’s dressed as richly as the duke, but where the duke is dark, he is bright.
His eyes are the golden eyes of a half-fairy, half-human. His hair is silvery in the sunlight. He is the fairy queen’s son, the prince.
“I thought I would be alone here,” he says, his voice languid. “But how much better to have company.”
“I’m sure I could never provide any kind of company for a prince,” you demur.
“And yet, you’ve sparked my curiosity,” he says with an enigmatic smile.
A hum of warning goes through you. And yet, you can’t turn away from the prince’s dazzling gaze.
“I saw you put something into your bag just now,” he says.
You should answer him without sparking more curiosity… “I’m gathering plants for my father’s apothecary.”
“Let me see,” the prince commands. You aren’t sure what to make of his request, but you must obey it.
Choose carefully. You risk both the duke’s health and your apothecary.
Show him the butterfly you gathered for the beauty potion? Go to Beauty.
Show him the feather you gathered for the duke’s antidote? Go to Antidote.
Daring
It’s a dangerous promise to make. But you need her coin to pay the council fees to keep your shop open.
Her face lights up. “A powerful potion? As powerful as the rose water potion? They say you made it with fairy magic…”
You respond with only a cryptic smile.
“Can you make something that will enhance my daughter’s beauty?” the woman asked. “Not just for the evening–for good?”
You make the promise, even knowing that if you fail, this woman’s influence will destroy your apothecary’s reputation…
Go to The Fairy Queen’s Waterfall.
Beauty
“A butterfly. For beauty.” He laughs at your surprised reaction. “My mother sometimes brews such potions.”
You stay silent, unsure how to respond. The prince reaches for what you’ve shown him.
But he doesn’t take it. Instead, his touch lingers on your hand. “Take the butterfly to your apothecary.”
You breathe a sigh of relief, even while your skin tingles at his touch.
“And after you’ve made a potion with it,” he says, “bring the potion to me.”
End of Chapter 2.
Return to the beginning? Go to Start Here: The Curse.
Continue to Chapter 3? Click here: The Test. (coming soon)
Antidote
“A lark’s feather,” the prince says. “And what is this for? Some helpful cure for aches and pains, no doubt?”
You stay silent, unsure how to respond. The prince reaches for what you’ve shown him.
But he doesn’t take it. Instead, his touch lingers on your hand. “Take the feather to your apothecary.”
You breathe a sigh of relief, even while your skin tingles at his touch.
“And after you’ve made a potion with it,” he says, “bring the potion to me.”
End of Chapter 2.
Return to the beginning? Go to Start Here: The Curse.
Continue to Chapter 3? Click here: The Test.
Come back soon for Chapter 3: The Test. The prince summons you to the castle, where your potions prove only to heighten the tension between the prince and his brother, the duke.
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