5
“I TOLD YOU NOT TO let anyone else inside, Edgar,” Thane said in a coarse whisper from his dark corner.
“I will not deny that you did, my lord,” his valet said.
“So you will defy your Master?” he growled.
“Forgive me, my lord, but I believe as valet and butler of this household, it is my duty to see to your needs and make sure you are comfortable. I am old and cannot do everything myself. I need help. Most estates have servants by the handfuls. Be happy I have only hired one other,” Edgar said as he stood in the doorway, one hand holding a lit candle, the other behind his back. Thane had known Edgar his whole life and up until eight months ago, had thought the valet was soft-spoken and strictly obedient. Since they had fled the castle, Edgar’s personality had started to crawl out of the shadows. Thane didn’t know if he liked it or hated it.
“I could fire you,” Thane grumbled.
“You could,” Edgar said matter-of-factly, not a hint of disdain. “But who would cook your food or wash your clothes? No offense, my lord, but we both know you would go hungry and naked before you would put forth the effort to learn the skills to take care of yourself.”
Thane huffed and sunk deeper into his chair. He was right. Without Edgar, he would be helpless, and it was pathetic. “There is no point.”
“No point to what exactly, my lord?”
“No point to any of it. You spend all your time serving me and cleaning the place up. You should leave and find a better life, a better master to serve. Just leave me to rot like I deserve.”
Edgar stepped forward, his blank expression barely visible in the room that felt like a prison. He pulled something out of his waistcoat pocket. “Until you tell me I am fired, I will stay, and even then I probably won’t go far. Your mother was the best queen I have ever seen in my lifetime, and on her deathbed, she made me promise I would look after you.”
Thane cringed at the mention of his dead mother. He couldn’t bear the subject. “What is that in your hand? The latest pamphlet? Is there news?”
“Yes, my lord. My trip into town this morning revealed a lot of answers to the many questions we have been asking,” Edgar said and stepped forward. Thane held out his hand for the paper, but the valet hesitated. “My condolences, my lord.”
Thane ripped the pamphlet out of Edgar’s hand and searched the page. His heart froze. “He’s dead.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Thane crumpled the paper in his fist. “I thought Vincent would be kept at bay for at least a few years. Now there is nothing stopping him from taking the throne and doing what he wants.”
“It seems he has already started, my lord. Taxes will double the day after your father’s wake,” Edgar said.
“And that will be just the beginning.” Thane sighed, and stood. He paced the open space of the room, his cloak trailing behind him. “I just keep thinking how I didn’t see all the signs, even from early on. He is manipulative, not just charming. He is selfish, but will make it seem like he is selfless. I was blind. I just thought of him as a little pest that would go away if I ignored it, when the whole time he was planning my destruction. Someone has to stop him.”
“You could stop him,” Edgar chimed in.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am,” Thane bellowed.
“You are the prince who is supposed to be king now that your father is dead.”
“No king looks like this,” Thane hissed as he yanked his hood off. Edgar tried to hide his emotion, but Thane saw the fear flash through his eyes.
The valet swallowed. “The horns are bigger today.”
An animalistic growl escaped Thane’s throat. His appearance grew more grotesque each day. Since the fateful day of his curse, the black spidery veins had spread all over his body, his eyes had turned completely black, and two thick, black horns broke through the skin on his bald head. Thane reached up and found the horns. They did feel bigger. They were starting to curl like the horns on a ram. It wasn’t enough to have everything taken away from him—he had to suffer the slow progression of turning into a monster bit by bit. He moved his hand to his face to feel the mark the sorceress left, as well as a burn he’d gotten from an unexpected explosion the night he ran away from the castle.
“The kingdom needs saving, but not by me,” Thane said as he threw his hood back on. He turned away from Edgar toward the door that led to his bedchamber.
“Can I get anything for you, my lord?”
“Someone to break the curse,” Thane said in a sarcastic tone. “That would help a lot. But don’t waste your time; there is no such person that could see past my flaws. My soul is too far gone.” Without another word, he slipped away from the light of Edgar’s candle and slammed the door shut behind him.