Chapter 18
Nightmares roared through my mind relentlessly, ripping me down into their deep, desperate current. I fought against each wave, needing a chance to take a breath, but invisible hands held me beneath the tides. My insides burned, aching, dying.
And then whispered words had the chaos careening to a halt, everything narrowing to a single, shaky breath.
“We have to do something.”
Though I couldn’t see anything amidst the shadows, I instantly recognized the voice. Fury ripped like a flame through me, licking at my bones.
Kill them! Quickly! an internal voice demanded.
Golden magic filled my veins, eager to please, but no light would come forth.
“And what do you propose we do? It cannot be slayed.” A different voice.
The words were whispered in the dark, in a hidden room deep beneath the earth. It was a room I was unfamiliar with, one I hadn’t known existed. I watched from a corner, a secret observer in the shadows, witnessing something I never should have been privy to.
Suddenly, I knew what this nightmare was. This was the night the beast was bound, the night my kingdom was cursed.
Desperately, I lunged for my magic, but it would not answer, even though it thrashed and pushed; it, too, searching for a way out. How did I stop them? How did I stop something that had already happened? A frustrated scream erupted from my throat, but no sound came out.
Ice crusted the walls, long crystals hanging from the ceiling, and the two females crouched in the shadows. The faint smell of sulfur laced the air, making it difficult to breathe.
The scuff of a boot on stone met my ear before they continued. “At least not slayed by us.”
“There must be something.”
Rage, ancient and full of wrath, filled me to the brim, but still I could do nothing. My body wouldn’t respond. I was frozen in time, watching a moment in the past that had already destroyed everything come to pass once again.
The queens of the Pure Fae were conspiring against Eroth, against the Beast.
A long breath released into the dark before the harsh sound of flint hitting stone echoed in the chamber.
The queens winced at the noise, but continued until a spark flared, igniting the small candle held aloft between them.
They blinked against the sudden light which flickered under the weight of the suffocating cold air.
“If we can’t kill it, maybe we can trick it,” the Queen of Siris said.
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s too smart for that,” the Queen of Aeros replied.
“This is a world full of magic. There must be something we can use. It will destroy everything we hold dear unless something is done. It cannot be allowed to continue its destruction.”
The two of them were silent for a long moment as the dim candle fought to stay lit in the icy air, as I begged my immobile body to fight back. I needed to stop them from binding the beast, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t move.
The Queen of Siris stood up straighter. “If we cannot kill, perhaps we can trap.”
This intrigued the other queen. “Trap?”
A fervent nod. “Yes. Lure it to us with promises of what it desires most. Then we strike with magic.” A finger tap, tap, tapped against her chin as she worked through the plan in her mind.
“A curse of sorts—take away its power and force it to be something else so it can no longer unleash destruction upon Avalea.”
The Queen of Aeros blinked against the darkness. “Force it to be what?”
A long pause and then a sharp inhale. “One of us.”
“What?”
“Yes, that’s it. Curse the beast to live like us. It will bring it to its knees, bind its power in chains, and stop it from destroying any of the other kingdoms.”
“Do you really think it could work?”
“With both of our magic? Yes.”
Their excitement bubbled into the air, a tangible, suffocating thing that tangled with my rage at what they had done to my kingdom.
And yet the Queen of Siris hesitated, body trembling from the chill air.
“But…what if it breaks the curse? Then what?”
The Queen of Aeros shook her head.
“Though every curse requires a cursebreaker, we’ll make it impossible. Have it be dependent on something he—”
“It. Not he. It’s a monster, not a person.”
Something thrashed inside me, but it was leashed by the shackles of the nightmare.
“Of course. My mistake. A slip of the tongue.” A throat cleared. “Make the cursebreaker be a task that it could never complete alone.” A wicked smile spread in the shadows.
“And while it’s trapped, perhaps a lifetime trapped in another body will force it to forget what it used to be. Perhaps it’ll even learn how to love.”
A humorless laugh filled the room, and I wished my magic would cooperate to burn this entire chamber to the ground, the queens included.
“Not when it values power and destruction over anything else.”
“It’s not capable of love.”
The queens laughed, the sound a desperate, ugly thing.
They nodded fervently in unison, agreeing to this plan.
The Queen of Aeros extinguished the flame between them, plunging the hidden room into darkness once more.
“Yes, a curse must have a way to be broken, but a creature bent on destruction will never learn to depend on anyone else. It will never be released from its new body. Never in its true form again.” The glee was evident in the Queen of Aeros’s voice.
The sound of hands clasping in the dark sounded before blue and white light burst through the dark.
Suddenly, I was no longer in the shadows but standing right next to them.
Two sets of eyes—one blue-ringed and the other white-ringed—snapped toward me as though they could see me, and unleashed the fullness of their magic.
Burning filled my chest.
Ripping.
Agony—
I shot up in bed, finally breaking free from the chains of the nightmare.
Sweat drenched my clothes, chest heaving as I stared into the darkness of my room. There was barely a moment to take much needed air into my lungs before a familiar bitterly cold fury filled my mind.
Someone was in my chambers. My entire body tensed, bracing itself for battle.
Clearly my wards around the castle are failing if all these Fae can easily Flash inside.
I refused to think about what that meant for my magic, and how much time I had remaining. After so many years of it being only Nico and me, it suddenly felt a little too crowded in the castle, both with Maren and these uninvited guests.
I gave myself five seconds before throwing myself from the bed, wielding a pathetic amount of golden magic in my palms.
At first, nothing moved in the darkness, but then the candles along the mantle flickered, the fireplace itself roaring to life. I allowed myself a single blink to adjust, to take everything in.
Two females stood on the other side of the room, looking up at the moons through the window. They didn’t bother to face me.
At least I knew my magic wasn’t completely gone if I was able to tell exactly who the intruders were by the feeling of their thoughts. Positive side, I supposed.
“Shadow Ire isn’t looking very well these days, Prince Rhydian,” one of them said, still keeping her back to me.
The other woman glanced at me over her shoulder, her blue eyes flashing as she gave me a quick once-over. “Then again, neither are you.”
I swallowed down the fury rising in my throat, my stomach twisted into knots. They were trying to goad me, and I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of falling for it. “How did you get in here?”
The woman who had spoken first finally turned to face me, the white rings around her blue eyes flaring.
Her short silver hair was cut in a severe bob, her lips red as the lava surrounding my land, the sky-blue dress adorning her short frame seeming to engulf her.
She had always been my least favorite of the two. Elonara.
“It seems your magic has weakened to the point of letting us easily through your wards. It was all too simple to break them and enter the castle.”
My suspicions were correct then.
The other woman turned then too, the blue rings around her silver eyes flashing.
Her long black hair was ramrod straight, floating to the base of her back.
She wore an emerald dress much better suited for her tall frame.
Unlike the other, she wore no color on her lips or face.
She, unfortunately, didn’t need it. She was considered one of the most beautiful female Fae in all of Avalea. Valianna.
Too bad her heart didn’t match.
I hated these Fae.
They were cruel and twisted, ironic since they were not of the Dark Fae kingdoms.
It was them I had to thank for this curse.
It was them that Carrow had gone to all those centuries ago.
“What do you want?” I demanded, bracing myself for whatever this visit was going to cost me.
The queens of the Pure Fae always cost me something.
As if they were each a puppet on a string, they moved in tandem, each clasping their own hands and laying them in front of them. Their golden amulets shone in the light from the fire illuminating the room.
“Prince Carrow tells us you’ve had a resurgence in attempting to break the curse,” Elonara said. “Whyever would you do that?” To anyone else, the sneer on her face would have been terrifying. “Your time is almost up.”
I gave a careless shrug, not letting them see the inner turmoil I was truly feeling. “How else am I supposed to pass these last days?”
“You realize that freeing yourself is impossible, yes?” Valianna asked, her lovely brows twisting in confusion.
“Yes,” I said, jaw clenched. “I realize that.”
Elonara flicked her hand. “Give up, Rhydian. Your death is waiting on the wings, and there’s nothing that can be done now.”
“Kill the girl, and let what’s going to happen, happen.” The words sounded strange and brutal coming from Valianna’s beautiful lips.
“Aren’t Pure Fae supposed to be against senseless murder in favor of giving life?” I asked.
“Not when it comes to you.”
I mustered every bit of hatred into my glare as I said, “What did Carrow do? Come running to you with his tail tucked between his legs? Did the girl scare him that much?”
Elonara rolled her eyes, pursing those red lips. “Carrow did what he should have done, which was warn us what you were trying to do.”
“I’ve been trying to free myself for centuries. Why do you care now?”
“Because—” Valianna began and Elonara cut her off with a look.
I didn’t have time for their games. “Say it,” I demanded.
Valianna hesitated, biting her lip as she cast a nervous glance at the other queen before finishing her sentence. “Because Carrow thinks that this time might actually work.”
It was a good thing there was a chair right next to me or I might have collapsed to the ground in shock. I steadied myself with a hand on the back of it.
“Val,” Elonara scolded. “Stay your tongue.”
Queen Valianna didn’t look remorseful in the slightest, and anger radiated from Queen Elonara in waves.
Whatever Carrow had seen in Maren must have concerned him. She worried him enough that he went straight to the queens. That dying ember of hope that was nearly extinguished within me suddenly flared, burning white hot.
If the three of them were worried about this girl and the possibility that she might be the cursebreaker…
I felt the need to move, to go, to take Maren and run to Mount Kharos.
Their fear had fueled my drive to fight one last time.
But for the sake of her safety, I needed to play dumb until the queens left the castle.
I couldn’t afford for them to take matters into their own hands. I couldn’t let them hurt Maren.
So I shoved my hands in my pockets and drawled, “Well, you three have worked yourself up over nothing. The girl is not what you think. She loathes me.”
Elonara wilted ever so slightly in relief, but Valianna’s stare intensified, the blue ring around her silver eyes flaring, searching for the lie I was trying so hard to hide.
I would say whatever it took to keep Maren safe if it meant finally breaking these queens’ hold over me. And then when I was free, I would finally get revenge for these centuries of death and decay that they’d forced upon Eroth and me.
And if I were honest with myself, I would lie through my teeth to protect Maren just because…I felt drawn to her. It was inexplicable, like a strange tether between us that kept tugging me toward her. The further I tried to pull away from her, the stronger my desire to get close to her was.
It made no sense, but in the end it didn’t need to. Not as long as she freed me, saved Eroth.
“That’s extraordinarily good to hear,” Elonara said. She gave a fake look of pity. “Too bad for you though.”
Valianna didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t say anything either.
Why were they still here? They had overstayed their welcome, and they weren’t even welcome in the first place.
“You can go now,” I bit out, waiting for these heinous queens to leave my domain. I fervently wished my magic was what it once was so I could put them in their place for daring to enter Eroth, and my castle, at all.
Before the curse, they never would have dared.
Elonara scoffed, not even waiting for the other queen or uttering a goodbye when she disappeared in a flash of white.
I waited for the flash of blue to come, signaling Valianna’s departure, but she didn’t move for several heartbeats, her fingers tapping the front of her dress as she stared at me. I tried not to fidget under her glare.
“I hope you are being truthful, Rhydian,” she said a moment later.
“Excuse me?”
“About the girl. I hope you are being sincere when you say she could never love you.”
My swallow was far too loud in the silence that throbbed between us. “I am.”
Valianna’s face morphed from beautiful to terrifying in the span of a heartbeat.
“Good. I’d hate for the girl to meet an unfortunate end. Accidents have been known to happen.”
I didn’t miss the threat in her words. Didn’t miss that the Queen of Siris had just threatened to kill my one chance at breaking the curse if I didn’t calm their fears. I wanted to spit in her face and tell her to stay away from Maren, but that would mean showing my hand.
So instead, I shoved my hands into my pockets once more and drawled, “She means nothing, Val. She’s simply a weak human that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You’ll have your wish when the last petal falls. I will die, Eroth along with me.”
A whisper of relief flashed across her face, and she didn’t say another word before giving a single nod and disappearing in a flash of blue.