Chapter Twenty-Three
Cary's shifted her position, wishing she had procured a better mattress. She couldn't ask Meical since it would look like she harbored sympathies for the prince. Gil helped her obtain an old straw mattress from a warrior who would never return. She also didn't want Aidan to suspect any sympathy.
Now she had another reason to be glad that she said nothing. A beast's hide would make better bedding. He would think she wanted to torture him.
Despite the bumpy mattress, her awkward position, and a myriad of flea bites, Aidan's breathing lulled her to sleep.
Strange serenity swept through Carys as she opened her eyes. Peacefulness rushed through her, even after a barrage of bad dreams.
Nightmares ceased affecting Carys. Hardly a night passed where she didn't dream of being eaten, buried alive, or ripped apart by the hellish denizens of the Curselands. It meant nothing. But she still struggled to sleep more than two hours at a time.
So it surprised her to wake up fairly rested, if not a bit sore and itchy. Aidan was no longer in bed with her. He was already up, attempting to wash his tunic in a bucket.
A far too sunny smile lit up his face. "During my training for knighthood, my instructor insisted that we all learn survival skills. He said only soft people couldn't care for themselves."
That sounded so similar to the Law of the Beasts. Carys thought of mentioning it, but didn't want to wipe his smile away.
Water sprinkled as Aidan attempted to hang his tunic on the window. Once finished, he reached for another item from a small pile of clothing on the floor. Judging by the quality and colors, Gil donated the clothes. She hated forgetting that he needed those things.
She pushed a dry strand of hair back. "Do you... do you need anything?"
"Aside from my freedom?" Aidan teased as he picked up dun trousers. "I suppose some soap and a table, if that's not too much trouble. Candles, needle and thread. Books are always appreciated, as are writing materials."
His teasing stung her. "Would you also like a crown?"
Her grouchy reply only brightened his smile. "Well... you did ask."
A loud knock thundered, thwarting her attempt to retort.
"Come in," Aidan called with too much carelessness for the Curselands.
Before she could chide him about his lack of vigilance, the door opened and a beautiful raven-haired girl slipped inside. "Aidan, I... oh," she said, catching sight of Carys. "I wasn't aware you had company."
"Who are you?" Carys asked.
The girl flipped her hair back and licked her lips. "I am Aidan's bedmate. I didn't expect such an honorable prince would invite another to our romps."
Carys scowled. "It's too early for your buffoonery, Gil."
Gil held up his hands as his appearance shifted to Claudia. "Aye, no buffoonery." He narrowed Claudia's eyes. "Let's all treat every day as a burden. Anyhow, your terrifying teacher sent me to fetch the two of you. You were supposed to be in her house of horrors almost two hours ago."
"Dragon shit." Carys scrambled up. "You oughtn't have let me sleep so late, Aidan. We must make haste."
She fidgeted, impatient to leave as Aidan put on his boots.
Gil shifted to a curly-headed maiden and leaned close to her. "So you stayed all night with the prince? Did his blade compare to our cursed brethren?"
"Must you be crass?" She crinkled her nose. "That's not why I was here."
Gil's perfect eyebrow raised. "It might be best to say that's the reason or people will think the prince's compassion is contagious."
The gentle teasing hid a note of warning. Showing sympathy endangered her. But she didn't need Gil to explain the Law of the Beasts.
She fell silent as the two began discussing a book that Gil lent him.
It seemed wasteful to read for fun. It mystified her that they were so animated as they discussed imaginary situations.
Dizziness overwhelmed her at Gil's myriad of metamorphoses, as he attempted to give life to the invented people.
His swirl of shifting only stopped when they passed Cal in the hall, his grim black eyes passing judgement.
Confusion coursed through Carys. She understood the disapproval of their foolery. While Aidan and Gil brought the Starlands out of each other, her insides ached. Something lacked in her.
But Cal wasn't different, and he never appeared lacking.
Gil accompanied them into Claudia's cottage, needing a potion for his sister. The Bloodwitch didn't appreciate foolery, so he remained in his regular form. Claudia intimidated everyone.
Except for a certain Dalon prince. The encounter with his former tormentor didn't dim his sunny nature, nor did meeting Mistress Claudia. The witch despised Aidan, so his good manners perplexed Carys. Claudia would eat his heart if it benefitted her.
"Aye, I can work with this," Claudia said, examining a sample of Aidan's blood. "Although it would be more potent if we didn't concern ourselves with delicate feelings on Sacrifice Magic."
"At least it's something," Aidan said.
She smiled, striding over to a shadowy corner of the cottage. The reason for her smile became obvious as she carried a cage back. A pure white animal scampered frantically within as she set the cage on a bloodstained stone altar.
Aidan gulped, the slightest tremble rippling through his hand. "I thought there were no animals from the Starlands down here."
"A calling spell can bring them through the Jumping Portals." She poked the cage, causing the animal to scurry back. "I cast that spell during the attack on Dalon. Many creatures came through the stable portal."
"I'd no part in it," Carys said, defending herself as Aidan glanced her way. "I was too occupied laying a trap for you."
A teasing grin chased away the shadows on his face. "It's a merry jest that is your defense."
Carys saw nothing merry about it. But the Bloodwitch laughed as she pulled the squirming bunny out. "Carys ever had a soft spot for the innocent. But it says little for your innocence, my prince. She values a rabbit more than a prince whose father banished her to hell."
"That wasn't Aidan's fault!" Carys burst out, the words surprising herself.
The words also surprised Aidan. His beautiful green eyes widened. "You don't blame me anymore?"
Gil let out an exaggerated loud cough and Carys looked at her feet. She did exactly what he hadn't wanted, but couldn't stop herself. Hatred still burned inside for Aidan's father and most of the selfish Starlands.
Aidan was different.
The Bloodwitch sniffed. "As I said, a soft heart. She forgets that the Dalon prince has no choice but to show her kindness. Were he free, he'd leave us all to rot."
Carys raised her head as shame crossed Aidan's face. Claudia spoke the truth, but Carys didn't care. Aidan had light and life waiting for him.
The Curselands only offered blood and death.
Aidan's shame transformed to horror as Claudia moved her twisted dagger towards the bunny. "What are you doing?"
"Arming this chunk of fluff. What do you think I am doing?" Claudia shook her head. "You may scruple at using Sacrifice Magic, but I need something stronger if I'm to do anything with your blood."
Carys forced herself to face the animal. The sight of the helpless creature desperately squirming brought back ugly memories.
"Mama? Mama, what are you doing? Oh Mama... let me go!"
Gil had seen worse, so he faced the horror. Aidan glanced back and forth between both witches. Then, faster than Carys could comprehend, he pulled her towards him, away from the grisly ritual. Before she could ask what he was doing, a terrible noise filled her ears.
The hellish sounds of Claudia finishing the sacrifice.
"Such a gallant prince," Claudia mocked. "Tell me, my gracious lord, do you think Carys was too delicate for such a sight?"
Carys' mouth fell open at Claudia's explanation for Aidan's odd action. She looked up into his lovely eyes.
Aidan shrugged. "Aye, she has seen worse. But she needn't force herself to watch anything that upsets her."
Carys pushed herself away from him. "I'm not... I'm not upset."
Claudia snorted as she drained the bunny's blood into her cauldron. "If you're to lie, do it better."
Carys disregarded her teacher's doubts, Gil's discomfort, and Aidan's disconcerting decency. She busied herself preparing the potion, detached as the blood drenched her hands.
After the potion was finished, Claudia led them outside. Having already received his own potion, Gil should have left. But the shapeshifter stayed, appearing as a solemn scarlet-headed young maiden.
Claudia poured the foul gunk right on the dead gray ground.
Carys followed her teacher as she circled around the mauve muck.
They moved faster and faster, whirling and chanting the incantation.
Each enchanted word extracted energy from Carys, leaving her faint and frail.
Darkness edged her vision and pain wracked her insides.
When the spell finished, her body went limp.
It didn't surprise her when Aidan's strong arms steadied her.
What surprised her was that she didn't push him away.
Moments stretched on as she leaned against him, trying to recover her equilibrium. Frustration filled her as the spell brought no change. The stupid bunny had died for nothing.
Just as she decided to leave, the dead ground twisted and trembled. Carys and Aidan backed away while a curious Gil inched forward. Claudia remained still, indifferent to the contorting ground.
Tiny blades of grass burst through the rotten land.
Green rippled across stone surface, carpeting the area in emerald.
Something tickled Carys' feet. She stumbled backward as a small, spherical tangle of leaves emerged, reaching up to her knees.
Red bulbs were entwined in the green, opening up to reveal delicate leaves.
"Is that a tree?" she asked, almost certain that trees were taller. "Why does it have red leaves? Did the spell go amiss?"
Gil coughed.
Aidan looked uncertain. "It's a bush, Carys. Those are roses."
Her face flamed. "I know of roses. I've seen images."
The sympathy in his eyes cut her.
"I didn't know they could grow that fast," she improvised.
Gil leaned down to examine the rosebush. "They generally don't."
"Magic, of course." Claudia caressed a rose.
"I added a few seeds to the potion, but Star Magic accelerates the growth.
It is said that the ancestors of the royal families used their power to bring life to the Starlands.
I've suspected for years it was some primeval form of Sacrifice Magic.
It makes one wonder if that place was once as barren as this realm, only to be healed by Star Magic. "
That never occurred to Carys, and, judging by his horror, the thought never occurred to Aidan.
"My ancestors would never use such a foul practice!" he protested.
Harsh laughter shook Claudia. "How do you think the practice of Curse Magic even began?.Not only did your ancestors rely on it, but so did many of their descendants. They say the shapeshifters of Rali sacrificed a man of every age to grant them their power."
Gil shifted into his own form. "I never understood that story," he mumbled. "That would imply we could just shift ages."
The Bloodwitch ignored his argument. "Your own father practiced Sacrifice Magic," she told Aidan. "He sacrificed his own life."
His face reddened. "That's not the same—"
"And there are petty reasons." Claudia smirked. "Have you never heard about the Princess of the Snows?"
"Everyone knows that tale," Aidan said crossly. "Her stepmother was jealous of the princess' beauty. The stepmother used Curse Magic to place the princess in an enchanted sleep. A wandering prince woke her with a kiss, and the evil queen was cast into the Curselands for her misdeeds."
Claudia cackled. "The tale becomes even more ridiculous with time. Do you think a kiss could break such a curse? Or that anyone is petty enough to use Curse Magic because a young girl is prettier? A quick knife to the face would have taken care of her beauty."
Aidan scoffed. "Then what is the true tale?"
"Like any good mother, she didn't want her stepdaughter ascending the throne over her own children.
She needed to get rid of the girl without incurring blame.
" The Bloodwitch snapped a twig from the branch.
"She sought the services of a Curse Mage.
They are always easy to blame when a princess is cursed. "
Carys was fast losing interest, her attention captured by the glorious greenery. But she still heard her teacher telling the tale like a possessed bard.
"The queen failed to understand the power of her stepdaughter's beauty.
I don't think the lad was even a prince.
Likely just a common hunter. But he desperately desired the princess and sought out a Curse Mage to wake her.
The spell was broken, and the princess had her own stepmother thrown into a Jumping Portal.
" Claudia sniffed. "The princess actually wed the lustful hunter.
Passed him off as a prince. After all, who would question a pure young man who ended the curse with a kiss? "
Aidan snorted. "Why should I believe such a tale? How would you even know these things?"
"Because I was the Curse Mage who cursed the princess, and I was the one who broke the spell for her young swain. I was paid richly for both acts. My only regret was the queen became known as a Curse Mage. It made us all look like incompetents."
"That was sixty years ago!" he exclaimed. "How old are you?"
Claudia grunted. "It's not princely to ask a woman for her age."
The colors emerging from the ground muted everything else for Carys. "Aidan?" she interrupted the boring argument. "Is that a flower?"
He frowned. "No, I believe that is a tomato."
Gil tore out the red, round plant and tossed it to Aidan. Dubiousness came over the prince, but he took a bite. He let out a gasp. "Carys! You must try it."
Before Carys could protest, Aidan pressed it to her mouth. Almost by instinct, she bit into the pulpy plant and a peculiar taste overwhelmed her. She took another bite and gasped in delight.
When she looked up, Aidan had swung from pleasure to suspicion. "How could my blood make this grow so fast? It doesn't work that way in the Starlands and I've bled plenty."
"Because you heightened your magic in the blood and I added the right sacrificial elements to the spell.
Death is the price of life." Claudia broke another twig off.
"In truth, I'd more seeds in the potion that didn't flourish.
They would've grown had the bunny died by your hand or, better still, a virgin. "
Aidan shuddered. "Enough grew without such monstrous acts."
Claudia shrugged. "It shan't last," she said, her words cutting Carys.
"Strong magic is required to keep life flourishing in this dead land.
Your corruption will eventually become too great and ere long I shall run out of harmless animals to sacrifice.
Unfortunately, I can't just sacrifice virgins—"
"Indeed, a good thing," Aidan interjected.
"For it's near impossible to find a virgin in the Curselands," Claudia continued, ignoring Aidan's horror. "And I don't think Curselord Meical would be well pleased if I sacrificed the two of you."
Carys' face flamed while Aidan spluttered. Gil's cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
Attempting to ignore her prickly teacher, Carys took in what they had accomplished. The rosebush, tomato plant and a scattering of flowers and grass.
Not much at all.
But the fragrance was incomparable. Her memories had faded of the overwhelming sweet scents of the Starlands, but this reminded her of the fragrant beauty. She wanted to lie on the green and absorbing the alluring aroma.
She wouldn't forsake her dignity for such a shameful desire. But, as she returned to Ghost Tower, she couldn't resist lingering looks back at the lush pocket of life.
After Aidan took the purging potion, she stayed with him again. He laid his head in her lap, leaving her uncomfortable in so many ways.
When sick and sleeping, he had little resemblance to a handsome prince.
Although Carys hardly thought of him as a handsome prince when he was awake and prattling.
But she found herself staring at his hair, a shade reminiscent of the only time she saw sunset.
A disarming sweetness and serenity swathed his slumbering face.
It perplexed her that nightmares didn't disturb him.
When Aidan awoke, Carys couldn't help casually asking about the reputed beauty of the Princess of the Snows. "She was supposed to have skin as white as snow, eyes as black as coal and lips as red as rubies," he recalled.
She frowned. "That's beauty? That sounds like a corpse with dead eyes and a bloody mouth."
He chortled as if she made a jest. "I never thought of it that way." He scratched at his stubble. "Mind you, I don't know if I believe Mistress Claudia's version. But if she looked that way, there is no chance the wicked queen could have been bothered by her beauty."
She held back a snort of laughter. "I suppose most just assume princesses are beautiful."
"Not all royalty is beautiful. Look at me," Aidan joked. Then a wistful expression enveloped his face. "Some princesses don't look like death. Only life."
He was clearly thinking of Bella. Carys assumed she sacrificed something for the beauty, but didn't share the spiteful thought.
Carys' enchanted mirrors never concealed her absence of beauty.
A wild tangle of blonde hair, wan skin, lack of a decent bosom, and eyes stained with black magic.
It never bothered her in the past, serving as a shield from unwanted attention.
But, for the first time, she considered asking Claudia for a beauty potion.
Pride instantly withered the idea. The beauty Aidan brought to the land was pure.
There was nothing pure about Carys. Nothing could ever heal the ugliness inside.