Degradation (Tales of Snow #3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Alone, I leaned back in the tub and watched the steam curl up from the water. My limbs ached, but I knew the bath would help.

Outside, near the cooking fire, the others conversed quietly and prepared breakfast. Liam asked a question loud enough for me to hear.

“Do you think she’s angry?”

He was sweet to feel concerned, but surely he didn’t believe I would hold any of them to blame for what happened. If anything, they should be angry with me. Because of my presence, Maeve had appeared and had caused the cave-in that could have cost them their lives.

No, I found no fault in their actions to free me from the curse that Maeve had cast. And though I didn’t regret how we’d broken the curse, I regretted that I hadn’t been able to speak freely, which caused them all to doubt their contributions. Even now, I could feel Brandle’s lingering guilt as he fetched another pail of water from the well.

“How long must we leave our Lamb alone?”

I opened my mouth to tell Daemon I didn’t want to be left alone when Brandle entered with the rinse water.

Tipping my head back, I looked up at him.

“I’m not angry, and I don’t want to be left alone.”

He smiled, kissed my brow, and sat on the stool beside the tub.

“Then I won’t leave you alone.”

He unwound my braid and worked the tangles out of it in silence. His expression remained troubled, like his thoughts. I caught his chin with my wet fingers to draw his gaze.

“I don’t want to be treated any differently than before, Brandle,” I said softly. “I’m neither damaged nor fragile. So please release the guilt you feel, or I will be burdened to feel the same.”

“How so?”

“Without me, Maeve would have had no reason to appear in your glade.” I dropped my hand. “She caused the cave-in so she could speak with me alone. Will you choose to hold her to blame, or will you blame my presence here?”

“I hold her to blame. Never you.”

“And I do the same. I don’t regret what we shared, Brandle, only that she forced your hand.”

He nodded, and I felt his guilt lift as he wet my hair and soaped it.

“Why do you call her Maeve?” he asked.

“It’s the only name she gave us. Why did Edmund call her the Foul Queen?”

Brandle was quiet for a long moment. “I’m uncertain how to answer your question until you answer a few of mine. Has the spell binding you to silence broken? Are you able to speak of what happened to you? Is Maeve the caster who cursed you?”

I tilted my head to study him.

“She is. This time and before I ran from home.”

“Will you tell me everything?” He nudged me to lean back so he could scrub my hair.

Closing my eyes as he worked, I thought back to how everything started.

“I already told you that my father was a merchant. He loved my mother dearly, and though he left us often to travel and trade, she was never far from his thoughts. He would often send trinkets home for her. Eloise and I, as well. Ribbons and such things.

“When a beautiful necklace arrived, we thought it was from Father and put it on Mother. We saw a flash of green in her eyes but didn’t understand its significance until much later.

“Knowing what I do now, I believe the necklace was bespelled to consume the wearer’s energy. It was likely meant to do so over time. However, Mother had so little that she died immediately.

“She had only been gone a few days when Father arrived. He didn’t act like the loving man I knew. I thought it was due to grief, though, since he only stayed long enough to see Mother buried before saying he was off to trade. However, when Maeve appeared several days later, Eloise and I began to suspect something more.

“Maeve claimed to be a distant relative of our mother’s and said that Father had arranged for her to care for us in his absence. My intuition had whispered something was wrong, but I’d ignored it. I know now I shouldn’t have.”

Brandle's fingers smooth through my hair, soothing away the sting of my regret.

“Our life at home quickly and drastically changed with Maeve’s presence. Our help, who were more like family, as they had been with us our entire lives, disappeared one after the other. We found them much later, dead, with signs magic had been used.

“Maeve left our estate on the pretext of speaking with the guards about the ill luck of our household, but the Guard never appeared to investigate. Instead, Maeve sent out our one remaining staff member to acquire new help. He returned with women from a whorehouse. Something he wouldn’t have done in the past.

“Eloise and I didn’t judge them for their occupation, but Maeve did. Looking back, I think her objection was a ruse.

“It wasn’t long after that we saw Maeve wearing and using the necklace that killed our mother. We had nowhere to turn. No Mother. No Father. No staff who could help us. Knowing that Eloise and I had discovered her wickedness, Maeve bound us to silence and used us to control each other. If I did not listen, Eloise paid the price.

“When I left, my sister was naked and bound with a chain to the hearth. Maeve had beaten her for her defiance days earlier. Eloise had begged me to leave. She believed Maeve had a purpose to keep us alive, and Eloise didn’t trust that she would need both of us.”

“I’m sorry, Kellen.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I left to save myself and my sister, and I believe Eloise was right and that it still holds true since Maeve merely cursed me and did not kill me. But I don’t know why.” I sighed and opened my eyes to stare at the thatching. “Why did she come to our home? Why did she kill our mother, who was the kindest, most gentle woman I knew? Why is Maeve trying to control us?”

“I wish we could have met you before you lost your mother. I would have liked to meet her. Though, perhaps she would not have agreed to our current circumstance.” He finished wringing my hair and took a soapy cloth to my arm.

“Perhaps,” I said absently, thinking of the woman I knew. “Perhaps not. She was a person who believed in helping others. I don’t believe she would condemn me for helping you. And loving and caring for another person is never wrong if it doesn’t bring harm to anyone.”

He kissed my fingertips and began washing my other arm.

“Did any of that help you decide if Maeve is the Foul Queen?” I asked again.

“I don’t believe she is.”

“Who is the Foul Queen then? Is she the one who cursed you?”

“The Foul Queen is what my brothers and I call the queen of Turre. She calls herself the Fair Queen but is neither fair in face nor grace. And, yes, she is the one who cursed us.”

“Why?”

He kissed the fingertips of my other hand and then began washing my shoulders and chest.

“Like you and your twin, the seven of us were bound to silence. You broke that silence along with the curse that changed our appearances. Yet, even with it gone, I beg you allow us more time to share our story. Though we’ve promised no more secrets, the thought of revealing everything terrifies us.

“We just won you for our own, Kitten. We don’t want to lose you.”

I understood his fear well enough. Hadn’t I feared his reaction once he learned what I’d run from? What we still needed to face? And if he thought that Maeve might be his Foul Queen, that meant he also had his own “Maeve” he needed to face.

“Very well. Unlike the men in this clearing, I possess patience,” I said with a hint of a smile.

Brandle grinned widely at me, which lit his eyes and melted my heart.

“Would it upset you to explain how I broke the curse?” I asked.

“That I can gladly do. By loving us. All of us. Unconditionally and equally.”

Something so simple yet so complex. In all the kingdoms, there wouldn’t be many women willing to commit themselves to seven men as I had. If not to spare Eloise, I might never have considered doing so either. Yet, looking at the tenderness in Brandle’s gaze, I knew I would make no other choice if given the chance.

“Brandle, you’re needed outside,” Edmund said.

He glanced away from me, and whatever he saw on Edmund’s face erased his annoyance. After swiftly kissing me, he rose. I twisted in the water to watch his retreat and look at Edmund. His gaze swept over me, and I felt his desire and fear. With a last look, he followed his brother out of sight.

Frowning, I reached for the nearby towel.

“Brandle said he wasn’t able to wash everything,” Liam said.

I looked up as he and Darian ducked through the doorway.

“Princess, you cannot go about your day in less than pristine condition.” Darian plucked the towel from my grasp with a mischievously innocent look. “People will believe we don’t care for you well enough, and then there will be men lining up, asking for a place in your harem.”

I splashed water at him.

He laughed and reached into the water to pluck my foot free. I remembered the last time he’d washed me and opened my mouth to question his intent. However, what they currently felt stopped me.

Their worry, which they’d carried since Brandle helped break the spell, had changed. Their fear that I would leave them had grown immeasurably while I’d spoken with Brandle. They feared what Eloise might be enduring. They feared I would question the same and leave.

My focus shifted from Darian’s smiling face to Liam’s.

“Tell me,” I said. “Why do you fear for Eloise?”

Liam’s shock rippled through him unchecked. Darian’s was quicker to fade.

“You read us better than Brandle does.”

“I feel you more acutely than I did before. Not your thoughts; simply what you’re feeling. It’s hard to explain. But I do know it’s Eloise you fear for. Why?”

“We found the remaining tracker in the woods,” Liam said. Something in his tone gave away what they’d found, and I patted his hand.

“I felt him die before her arrival. I know what Maeve does. She drains them and leaves husks behind. With me here, I don’t believe she’ll do that to Eloise. I think she needs my sister and me alive.”

“You knew?” Liam asked.

“I did. If I’d warned you, you would have stayed at my side and likely met the same fate as the tracker.”

Darian slid the cloth along my calf. “Unlikely, Princess. The charms we wear are not decoration. The strongest caster’s spell cannot touch us.”

“So long as you’re wearing them,” I said. “She is devious, Darian. She caused the cave-in. Wearing your amulet wouldn’t have saved you from being crushed. You put too much faith in the protection you wear. Use your head.”

He lifted my foot and lightly bit my toe. My core clenched, which created an unpleasant ache.

“Stop that. Wash me quickly so I can dress, or leave me to wash myself.”

His grin returned, and he nodded to Liam. I was thoroughly scrubbed clean in less time than it took for the water to cool and dressed without too much petting. Unsure whether to feel disappointed or worried, I pushed aside both emotions and followed the pair out to the yard.

My intent to join the others and reassure them disappeared when I felt Father’s presence to the east where the early morning shadows were still the longest. Liam and Darian stayed close and didn’t question why I strode toward the trees, but I could feel their tension when I stopped at the edge of the barrier.

“Father, are you well?” I asked.

He appeared in the shadows, his clothes looking more ragged than before.

He growled several words that I couldn’t understand. But I could feel his fear that the human he once was was fading.

“Father, do you trust me?” I asked.

He bowed his head toward me, and I moved to enter the woods.

Darian caught my arm. “Princess, it’s too?—“

I met and held his gaze. “I am not the same person I was a day ago, Darian. Trust me. Please.”

“It’s not you we mistrust, Love. The father you once loved is waning.”

“I know. That’s why I need to give him what little help I can. I need him, Liam. Everything Eloise has suffered will be for nothing without him.”

“Brandle is going to kill us if your father doesn’t first,” Darian muttered.

He stepped into the shadows in front of me, leading the way to my father. When we reached him, I saw his lips were pulled back in a silent snarl as his gaze flicked between the two men standing in front of me.

As I had with Garron, I touched my well and sent my energy into Father, searching his mind for the memories he held most dear. Rather than replacing memories with false ones, I meant to bind him to his memories as a man. With my intent set, I spoke the words.

“Father, in the days to come, the happiest moments in your life will shine in your mind brighter than the sun. Those memories will keep the shadows at bay, binding you to your purpose and reminding you why you must stay.”

Leaning forward between Darian and Liam, I touched a finger to my father’s brow.

A small spark flared under my fingertip. Father howled in pain but didn’t pull away as the acrid smell of burned fur filled our noses.

“Remember, Father,” I said softly. “Embrace the joy of what you once had and the pain of what you’ve lost. Eloise and I love you and need you to return to us.”

When I removed my hand, he dropped his head forward. His heavy panting gave away the anguish that radiated from him and curled around me.

“Forgive me,” he rasped, speaking clearer yet still garbled by his elongated snout.

“I find no fault in you, Father. There is nothing to forgive. Maeve is not one to stand against and survive.”

He grunted. “I will not fail you again.”

“You’ve never failed us, Father.”

“Sir, you’ve held out against the curse longer than most men,” Darian said.

“And each time danger approached, you warned Kellen,” Liam added.

Father glanced at the pair. “Protect her with your lives.”

“We will,” Darian said.

Behind Father, I felt other beasts slowly creeping forward, and I knew we needed to retreat to the glade.

“I love you, Father. Go. I will call if I need you.”

Without waiting for his answer, I turned and passed through the barrier so he would not need to fight to protect me.

When we emerged, the others were already in the yard. As Darian predicted, Brandle was not happy to see me leaving the forest.

“No lectures, Brandle,” I said. “I went accompanied and barely within the trees to help my father. Did you bury the tracker?”

He glanced at Darian and Liam.

“She already knew,” Darian said.

“She felt him die when the Foul Queen arrived,” Liam said.

“Maeve,” I corrected. “I believe two separate casters are plaguing us. Maeve likes to leave a trail of dried-out husks in her wake. What is the Foul Queen’s specialty, other than cursing brothers?”

“She kills small children,” Eadric said.

Edmund moved to cuff him.

Without conscious thought, I stayed his hand. All their amulets flared blindingly, and Edmund’s eyes rounded as he stared at his hand, frozen a breadth from his brother’s head.

“Please don’t cuff each other for speaking the truth,” I said.

“How?” Edmund asked, looking at Brandle. “This shouldn’t be possible.”

“You can still move your hand away, Edmund, simply not forward,” I said and watched him pull it back quickly. “You can thank Garron’s lesson on direct and indirect casting and Maeve’s visit. She proved the difference between casting directly on a person and casting on the environment around the person to indirectly affect them. I blocked your hand with a cushion of air between Eadric’s head and your hand. That’s all.”

“And our amulets?” Brandle asked. The question held no accusation, only curiosity.

“I’m not certain,” I said. “To protect Eadric, I instinctively reacted to Edmund’s action.”

Darian hit the back of Daemon’s head, which earned him a scowl from several of his brothers.

“I thought we wanted her to try again to determine the cause,” he said with a shrug.

“At times, you act no better than urchins,” I said. “Perhaps, rather than focusing on my erratic control, we should now move forward with our plans to travel to Turre.”

Each one of them glanced at Brandle.

“Fear the moment I do figure out how to cast directly on your persons as I will be the one doing the cuffing. You are a frustrating lot. Did we not have an agreement? I help you break the spell holding you—which I have—and you help me gain the resources we need to free my sister.”

“We haven’t forgotten,” Brandle said. “However, the cave-in will cause another delay as we need to finish the mining before we can leave for Turre. Also, once we reach Turre, it will take time to acquire what we need as we will need to work quietly and in secrecy to avoid the Foul Queen’s attention.”

Though I understood why we could not immediately rush to free my sister, I struggled to understand why the mines needed to be addressed before leaving for Turre, and my frustration climbed.

Brandle closed the distance between us and took my hands in his.

“We need the gems in the mines,” he said.

“With them, we could purchase the silence of all of Adele,” Edmund added.

“Henry made us promise never to go to Adele empty-handed,” Eadric said.

I sighed in defeat and tugged my hands from Brandle’s.

“As you will it.”

When I would have walked away, Garron caught my sleeve.

“I think you can help us,” he said. “Especially now.”

“Garron,” Brandle said with warning.

“Anything that will get us to Turre faster,” I said quickly.

“Princess gets to go to the mines with us?” Darian asked with barely contained excitement.

“Do you not remember what happened the last time we were in there?” Edmund asked.

“It will be fine,” Darian said. “Magic caused the last one.”

I snorted. “And you do not know what damage it’s caused to your tunnels.” I glanced at Brandle. “How Henry kept you all alive is beyond my understanding.”

Humor lit Brandle’s gaze. “Some days proved more difficult than others. Considering your abilities, we would fare better with you than without, but once you’re rested.”

“I’m rested,” I said firmly. “Liam, fetch me your clothes. Eadric, feed me my breakfast. It’s time I see these mysterious mines of yours.”

No one contradicted me, but I could feel their reservations. They were worried I would doubt their intentions once I saw whatever was in the mine.

Cuddled and petted on Daemon’s lap, I wondered what could cause them almost as much fear as finding a dried-out body in the woods.