Chapter 7
We stood at the bottom of the mountain path, narrow rocks cut into the side of the mountain like stairs.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Madden had gotten here, but I’d remembered more and more of myself since we faced those firebugs.
I knew that I hated snow, that I loved being outdoors, that I’d been a friend to all kinds of creatures whom many feared in Gilraeth, that three fire faeries had taken me in and tried to protect me after my parents died.
Every step of the way, Madden had been by my side, holding my hand when I was afraid, listening to me recall my memories, assuring me that I didn’t have to sacrifice who I’d become for who I'd been.
Now he held my hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Are you ready to go back home, Princess?”
Home. I looked at the steep path cut into the mountainside.
I wasn’t so sure now. All I’d wanted was to get back to the top of that mountain, but now that I’d started remembering more of my life outside this cursed world, I didn’t know I could ever go back to the sheltered life I’d lived here.
It had been easy when my memories were a blank slate.
But now I wanted to feel the sun on my face.
I wanted to run through the desert and see all the vibrancy of the reds, oranges, browns, and greens.
I wanted to see the fire faeries: Shira, Ephira, and Elexa.
Madden told me they’d been protecting me, watching over me while I remained in this cursed state.
I started walking up the path, and Madden followed behind.
“I’m not sure I even know what home is anymore.
” But that wasn’t entirely true. When I said the word home, a single image flashed in my mind, one of a warrior with a scar running from his eye to his mouth, with tattoos and scars riddling his arms, with a leather black vest, a mischievous smile that made my knees go weak, brown eyes with all the shades of the leaves on a fall day.
Madden had somehow become my home lately. I wanted to go wherever he went. I didn’t think I could handle him leaving this cursed world without me.
He’d assured me he wouldn’t. That he would stay until I was free, but what if getting my memories back wasn’t enough? Neither of us had any idea what broke the curse. Maybe it couldn’t be broken, and this was all some sick, twisted game the sorceress was playing.
I bit my lip as we ascended higher, higher, lost in my thoughts. And even if I broke the curse, what then? I’d accepted that I was a princess, would have an entire court to rule.
Madden was a mercenary, and he’d made it clear the Band of Mercenaries were his family.
He couldn’t be king—at least I didn’t think he could.
I wasn’t sure of the rules in place regarding marriage.
My stomach curled at the thought of an arranged marriage, being chained to someone I didn’t love. Someone who wasn’t Madden.
I glanced at him. Sweat rolled down the side of his face, his wavy brown hair tied back today.
He’d told me more about his past, about the mercenaries who’d become his family, how they’d traveled all over the continent.
He told me stories about the different courts: the frost court, the earth court, the sea court, and the sky court.
He’d even told me about the shadow court, which he’d visited exactly one time, and he never wanted to go back.
He’d told me more about the history of Arathia and how all the courts came to be.
We’d spent night after night laying on our backs, gazing at the stars, and talking until we fell asleep, often waking up curled into each other’s arms.
Nothing else had happened between us, though.
My feelings for Madden were growing, but I didn’t know how he felt about me, and if we couldn’t have a future together, then I didn’t want to explore whatever was burgeoning between us, didn’t want to open myself up to heartache, not when I had a feeling there was already so much of that simmering beneath the surface of my uncovered memories.
“Hey.” Madden nudged me. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
He stood above me and held out his hand, helping me up onto the next step.
His big hand enveloped mine, warm and firm.
He let go, taking all that warmth with him.
The black sky spread above us, red clouds gathering.
We’d seen the stars more and more lately, and after so long of not seeing them, I stayed up much too late in the night just staring in wonder at their beauty.
“Just thinking about these nightmares,” I replied.
Madden continued ahead, and I followed behind him, enjoying the view a little too much.
“You’ve conquered every nightmare we’ve faced so far, and you’re remembering more and more everyday. I’m proud of you, Princess. I know this isn’t easy.”
A cold desert breeze whipped around us, and I frisked my arms. “But I still haven’t uncovered any memories about what happened to my parents, what happened to me when I got cursed.
Everything so far has been happy, pleasant.
What happens when I face a nightmare that forces me to remember something painful? ”
Screams. Blood. So much blood.
Madden stopped and turned, putting his hands on my shoulders. “Hey, I’m here. Remember that, okay? I’m with you every step of the way.”
“You must really care about Gilraeth to be doing this,” I said.
“Yeah.” Madden held my gaze, throat bobbing. “I do. I care very much about Gilraeth.”
My chest tightened, and I found it harder to breathe while we stood there, staring into each other’s eyes.
Madden stepped closer now, his warm breath grazing my cheek. He lifted a hand and brushed away a stray hair that had escaped my braid. “There,” he said, voice soft, then turned and kept walking.
All the breath left my lungs in a whoosh.
The stairs wound up higher, higher, the rocky walls on either side jagged and sharp.
Madden stopped suddenly, and I ran into his back. “What’s—”
I didn’t have to finish my sentence. I saw the same thing he did: a shadow leaping from the wall of the mountain, rising high and looming over us.
“What is that?” I asked, voice shaky.
“That’s a monster,” Madden said.
“And how do I defeat it?”
The shadow had no legs or arms, just a shifting form with a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth and red eyes that glowed. It blocked our path forward.
The shadow grew bigger, letting out a scream that pierced the air.
I covered my ears but couldn’t block out the splitting sound.
“What should we do?” Madden yelled.
I swallowed, then removed my hands from my ears and stared at the shadow monster. “I’m not really sure. I don’t think this is a friend.”
I gritted my teeth and stalked toward the creature, and the shadow monster screeched loudly at the firelight, shifting and slithering through the air, flattening against the mountain wall. Then it sprang up behind me, constricting around my waist, and holding my arms to my body.
“Princess,” Madden yelled, rushing forward.
But my eyes were already rolling back in my head as yet another memory overtook me.