Will You Walk Into The Prince's Trap? (Choose Your Path)
The Apothecary, Chapter 5: "The Trap"
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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 Fragile Crown
(continued from Chapter 4, find all chapters here)
While you work in your apothecary, bottling simple draughts and common cures, your mind is back at the castle…
You need to find a way to get into the fairy queen’s garden. Something there can be made into an antidote for the duke. But for now, no plan presents itself.
You tidy the jars and vials that shimmer in the light of your cauldron’s fire. One thing keeps catching your eye…
The flower crown the prince fashioned for you. To mock you, perhaps, for giving so much attention to his brother.
But you can’t help that you’re drawn to the duke. To his kindness, and to his loyalty to his father and his people.
The door to your shop opens and the woman from the day before sweeps inside. “I’m here for the beauty potion you promised me,” she says.
Did you give the prince the beauty potion in Chapter 2?
Yes, I gave him the beauty potion I made with the butterfly: Go to Goblet.
No, I never showed him the beauty potion: Go to Vial.
Interrogate
Alarm flashes in the man’s gaze. “Keep your voice down,” he snaps.
His fear is not unfounded—a man in a heavy apron suddenly appears in the doorway, as if he’d been spying on your shop.
It’s your rival, the very person who hopes to catch you in some misdeed. “You said something about a potion no one is willing to brew?” he asks suspiciously.
“What is it this man requests from your shop?” Your rival tears a scrap of paper from the cloaked man’s hand. “An invisibility potion! It’s illegal to brew this!”
An invisibility potion is just what you needed to sneak into the queen’s garden. But now your rival has the recipe…
And the town council has so-called proof that you aren’t a law-abiding shopkeeper. They give control of your shop over to your rival.
Maybe you should have been a bit more secretive…
Go to Lure.
Lure
The man moves into a shadowed corner next to the shelf and hands over a scrap of paper. “Follow these directions and I’ll pay you well,” he murmurs.
You read the recipe: myrtle leaves, strand of spider silk, the hair of a hare caught during a full moon…
It’s a recipe for invisibility–an illegal potion. But it’s also just what you need to sneak into the queen’s garden and find the ingredient for the duke’s antidote.
“Can you brew it for me?” the man asks, twitching his hood closer to his face. No doubt he’s a thief who hopes to use the potion to steal something.
The moon is full tonight. If you can manage to catch a hare, you could brew the potion. You dare not sell such a potion for fear of losing your shop, but now that you’ve seen the recipe, you can make the potion for yourself.
In a low voice, you tell him, “I can’t help you. I could lose my shop.” You only mean to be rid of him, but the truth of what you say makes you shiver. “I’m sorry.”
As he leaves, you eye the flower crown made of fairy flowers. Perhaps it will give you luck on your hare hunt tonight…
Go to Moonlight.
Beguiler
“What kind of potion?” he asks. You’re about to answer when he cups his hand under your chin. “Careful,” he says. “Don’t lie to me.”
A thrill of anxiety goes through you, mingled with guilt. But then, he hasn’t been completely honest with you either. There must be some reason he happened to find you here in the hills at night.
“I wouldn’t lie to a prince,” you say, though your voice falters.
“You think I don’t know what you’re doing out here?” The prince holds up the disintegrating crown. “I warned you not to use fairy ingredients in your potions.”
How will you reply?
“I didn’t use the flowers in a potion. I used them to catch the hare.” Go to Clever.
“I thought the flowers were a gift. What else should I have used them for?” Go to Playful.
Arcane
“I hear you make potions others can’t–or won’t,” the shadow says, tugging back his hood a little to reveal an angular face and glinting black eyes.
Your curiosity gets the better of you. “What kind of potion do you need?”
“First,” he says in a gruff voice, “I need to know if you can be discreet.”
Clearly, whatever he wants you to make could get you into trouble. And you’re not sure you need more trouble at the moment.
What will you say to this troubling customer?
“What exactly do you need with this potion that no one else is willing to brew?” Go to Interrogate.
“Perhaps you should look at these cures for indigestion here on the back shelf…” Go to Lure.
Silver
You inch forward with the flower crown on your head. But if the crown had the ability to hide you, you wouldn’t need the invisibility potion, would you?
The hare bounds away. Another flash of silver in the grass—
This time you toss your flower crown over the hare in the hopes it will snare the creature.
Go to Startle.
Goblet
You have no choice but to disappoint your customer, since you gave her daughter’s beauty potion to the prince.
“Promising what you can’t deliver?” she sneers. “The town council will hear of this.”
You hurry to produce another vial. “Wait, at least take this instead.”
She grimaces at the pale pink potion. “This isn’t what you promised.”
Desperately, you admit, “True, its effects will only last a short time. But there is a way to enhance this potion…”
“I’m listening,” she says with a sniff.
“Come back after nightfall,” you tell her in a hushed tone. “Your daughter must drink this potion from a fairy goblet.”
“A fairy goblet?” The woman glances around surreptitiously. “How did you get your hands on such a thing?”
You choose your words carefully. “It was a token of appreciation from the castle.”
The woman’s eyes gleam. She seems impressed.
“I’ll bring my daughter here tonight,” the woman says. “And if your goblet really has any fairy power, we’ll soon see.”
The woman returns that evening, while you’re brewing a wisdom potion from luminous flowers. With her is her daughter, thin and pale, as if she’s spent too much time in her mother’s shadow.
You produce the silver goblet and fill it with a temporary beauty potion. In the depths of the silver cup, the potion darkens.
You give the woman’s daughter an encouraging smile. “This will help you catch the eye of any wealthy man. At least for a month or so.”
“I’d rather a potion that will enhance my skill at the harp,” the girl says with a sniff, but she takes the potion dutifully.
As she drinks, her cheeks fill out and her eyes sparkle. Her skin glows in the light of the luminescent flowers, which are almost dull next to her radiance.
“Now you’ll surely marry well,” her mother says with glee. “And then you can play all the fine harps your husband can afford.”
As they leave the shop, a figure in a dark cloak through slips in through the doorway. A young man peers out from under a hood.
Go to Arcane.
Moonlight
You close your shop and climb into the hills outside of town, in search of wild hares. A full moon lights your way.
Something about the moon pulls the hares from their burrows to graze. They seem to flicker at the edge of your vision, almost ghostly.
Just as you close in on a grazing hare, a tall shadow falls over the grass. You turn–
But there’s no one there. Your mind must be playing tricks on you. You turn your attention back to the hare. How to capture it?
Put your flower crown on your head in the hopes it will magically hide you from the hare? Go to Silver.
Toss your flower crown over the hare in the hopes it will snare the creature? Go to Startle.
Liar
The prince hooks a finger under your chin so that you are forced to look into his eyes. “You’re lying,” he says. “Such a shame. I thought we were past that.”
A thrill of anxiety goes through you, mingled with guilt. But then, he hasn’t been completely honest with you either. There must be some reason he happened to find you here in the hills at night.
“You haven’t yet told me how you came to find me here.”
“I don’t answer to my subjects.” The prince holds up the disintegrating crown. “And I thought I warned you not to use fairy ingredients in your potions.”
You give a truthful reply:
“I didn’t use the flowers in a potion. I used them to catch the hare.” Go to Clever.
“I thought the flowers were a gift. What else should I have used them for?” Go to Playful.
Startle
As soon as the crown falls, the hare stops moving. It seems entranced by the glow of moonlit petals.
You dart forward and capture the hare.
A voice behind you says, “Is this what you think of my gift? Something to toss aside?”
You turn to find the prince. His silvery hair seems made of moonlight, and his glimmering gaze transfixes you.
“It pains me to lose your gift,” you say, finding your voice at last, “but that pain is remedied by your presence.”
He smiles as he pulls the fairy crown from around the hare’s legs. “I didn’t take you for a flatterer.”
“It wasn’t flattery,” you say. “But don’t let me keep you from whatever brings you out in the middle of night.”
“The middle of the night is the perfect time to keep me,” he says, and your face heats.
He reaches out as if to touch your hand, but instead he pets the hare lying oddly still in your arms. “What will be its fate?” the prince asks.
You can’t tell him about your plan to sneak into the queen’s garden. You’re sure he would try to stop you.
Cautiously, you say…
“I’ll use some of his fur to make a potion.” Go to Beguiler.
“He’ll be tomorrow’s dinner. A hare caught by moonlit has a rare flavor.” Go to Liar.
Vial
“The beauty potion for my daughter,” she demands.
You give her the potion, and she marvels at its brilliance. “If this works, I’ll tell the town council how skilled you are,” she says, and hurries away.
If only you were as good at brewing antidotes, you could save the duke from the curse that still holds him under threat.
A man lingering in the doorway sneers at the vial in the woman’s hand. “Beauty potions? Is that all this apothecary is good for?”
It seems your rival has returned to keep an eye on your business.
With thinly veiled annoyance, you say, “Would you like me to share the recipe? A nicer face might bring more customers to your shop.”
“I heard a rumor you had been called to the castle.” The man smirks. “But I can see that you’re still here, peddling minor draughts.”
Minor? “I’d like to see you make a potion like that one. But then, I doubt you could handle fairy ingredients.”
“And how exactly have you come by these fairy ingredients?” the man sneers. “I doubt the queen gifted them to you.”
Guilt tightens your throat so that you can’t find a response. There’s nothing illegal about how you’ve taken fairy ingredients, but then again, the prince does seem to view it as theft.
Your rival seems to sense that something weighs on your conscience. He gives you a smug smile. “I should warn you,” he goes on, “the town council has become suspicious of your shop. They fear your potions might use dangerous ingredients.”
“I haven’t used anything dangerous,” you insist.
But he turns and leaves without listening…
That evening, you brew a wisdom potion from luminous flowers. You try not to think about what your rival said and instead consider that the town council will be impressed when they hear of the beauty potion you brewed.
While you’re busy studying your father’s book of recipes, a shadow flicks through your doorway. You look up to find a young man in a dark cloak peering at you from under a hood.
Go to Arcane.
Playful
“Flower crowns are meant to be worn,” the prince said. “But your ingenuity intrigues me.”
“Still,” he goes on, “by all rights the hare is mine, since you caught him with fairy magic.”
You clutch the hare tightly to your chest. “Please, I need to take it back with me.”
He moves to pull the hare from your arms and you blurt out, “If I don’t take it with me, your brother will die.”
The prince steps back, his brows lowering. “Now the truth comes out. But why should you go to such great lengths to make a potion for him?”
“The duke was kind to me.”
“Wasn’t I also kind to you?” the prince asks, frowning. “Didn’t I give you the gift that allowed you to catch this hare?”
He did, which is rather convenient, now that you think about it. But you put that thought to the side. “Is there something you want in return for your kindness?”
A smile flickers on the prince’s face and then quickly fades. “I want you to brew a potion for me.”
“What kind of potion?”
“A forbidden potion, but one that would help me.”
You gape at him. “But the queen makes far better potions than I can, I’m sure.”
The prince shivers under his cloak. “The queen would not approve of this potion.”
Go to Forbidden Task.
Clever
“True,” he says. “But you will use the hare’s fur for a potion. Tell which kind–and don’t lie.”
“A customer asked me to make an invisibility potion,” you admit.
The prince lifts his eyebrows. “An illegal potion. You daring intrigues me.”
“Still,” he goes on, “by all rights the hare is mine, since you caught him with fairy magic.”
You clutch the hare tightly to your chest. “Please, I need to take it back with me.”
He moves to pull the hare from your arms and you blurt out, “If I don’t take it with me, your brother will die.”
The prince steps back, his brows lowering. “Now the truth comes out. But why should you go to such great lengths to make a potion for him?”
“It’s my duty as the duke’s subject.”
The prince frowns. “And what about your duty to me?” Just as you’re wondering what he means, he says, “I want you to brew a potion for me.”
“What kind of potion?”
“A forbidden potion, but one that would help me.”
Go to Forbidden Task.
Forbidden Task
“Is this why you came to me here, in the middle of the night?” you ask. “Did you follow me from my shop?”
The prince smirks. “I was the one who sent the customer to you today with the recipe for the invisibility potion. I knew you would come here to find a hare in the moonlight.”
“You sent the customer?” you say in surprise. “But why?”
He draws closer to you and says in a low voice, “I know you need a way to steal into the queen’s garden.”
Your breath catches. “And why would you help me?”
“Perhaps I have a conscience after all,” the prince says, still close enough that the edge of his cloak grazes yours. “Perhaps I want to help my brother.”
Somehow, you doubt that.
“Then you’re kinder than you seem.”
“Do I seem unkind to you?” He lifts a hand to palm your cheek. “Then I should work harder to show you kindness.”
He smiles at the way you stand transfixed. “In truth,” he says, “I want to see if you have talent–and daring–for brewing illicit potions.”
He turns away suddenly and lets out a whistle that brings his horse out from behind the boulders.
“Take my horse back to your apothecary,” the prince says. “If you manage to brew the invisibility potion, I’ll know you’re ready to brew something for me.”
End of Chapter 5.
Continue to the next chapter? Go to Chapter 6: The Betrayal.
Return to the beginning? Go to Start Here: The Fragile Crown.
Come back soon for Chapter 6: The Betrayal. After you attempt a dangerous task for the duke, a stunning betrayal leaves you lost in confusion and trapped in the castle.