Chapter Forty
Meical spared Shanna with some nonsense explanation about not wasting resources. Carys suspected her brother was using this so-called benevolence to further bind Aidan to his cause. Aidan accepted everything with the empty look he wore since Spiky ate Kieran's head.
Meical didn't want Carys riding back with Shanna, so Aidan and Carys traveled atop Spiky. Carys wasn't sure if Meical worried about Shanna attacking her or wanted to keep the two apart.
During the dreary trip, something struck her.
Aidan seemed determined to direct Spiky, even if that meant using Curse Magic.
Their connection sent a flicker of understanding through Carys.
He was grasping onto Curse Magic to maintain the empty feeling, but she knew better than anyone that the emptiness wouldn't last. The Curse Magic summoned negative feelings during the long, lonely journey.
Memories crept into her about their first journey on Spiky with Gil.
The urge to tell Aidan about Gil sparked and snuffed.
If she said the wrong thing, Aidan might decide to attack Meical.
But she had to say something.
"This...this isn't how any of this was supposed to happen," Carys said.
Aidan remained still, but she knew he heard.
"I had a plan when I first broke the sealing stone.
I would bring you to the Curselands, and we would permanently break the barrier, eventually forcing the Star Mages to heal the curse so that we could remain in the Starlands.
Gil would have been unable to leave because of Shanna, but he would be able to travel back and forth, still caring for his sister. Everything was supposed to be better."
"We were also supposed to save Gil. Plans don't always work out," Aidan said curtly.
She needed to tell him.
"Why didn't you stay?" she asked instead.
He looked back at her. She feared black eyes, but only lovely emerald met her. "In the Starlands?"
She lowered her head, hiding behind her veil of messy hair. "It would have been better..."
"You would have died," he said. "As would Bella."
"I'm surprised that you don't think Bella's life is worth the price!" Carys raised her head, grabbing onto viciousness as a shield. "You will never be free now. And if ever you are to die you'll have even less dignity in death than Gil."
"I know."
"Then why?" she asked, her voice strangled. "You took so long...I could have been dead! Why take the chance?"
"You could have died when you trapped me." He leaned backward, raising his head to the red sky. "You took the chance that my gentle heart would work to your advantage. Despite the fact that you've seen nothing but monsters for your whole life. Why did you take the chance if it could fail?"
"I wanted something better..." she said slowly.
"It's the same for me."
Her brow furrowed, unable to understand.
"Kieran," Aidan explained, as if reading her thoughts.
"Aye, Kieran is gone." She ran her finger through a tear in her skirt. "But there will only be more wretched people in the Curselands. We should be working on getting out of here. They will destroy us, even if we made the Curselands a better place. Law of the Beasts."
"And that is exactly why we can never unleash those monsters on the Starlands," Aidan said ferociously.
She thought of Gil in Aidan's hand. "Do you think Meical will ever stop trying to get back to the Starlands?"
One of Spiky's heads snarled, reflecting Aidan's viciousness. And that was very wrong.
Aidan wasn't supposed to be angry, and the anger killed Carys' desire to tell him of Gil.
When they landed at Ghost Tower, Carys let out a small gasp. Trees were stripped, greenery pulled from roots. Not everything was gone, but disemboweled of color and life. Meical had taken almost everything to show up Kieran.
Aidan ran his hands across a broken bough, his feet crunching on twigs. "I suppose Meical shall require a bit more blood," he said dryly.
"You needn't give him anything," Carys said, touching one of the only remaining bits of color, a bush of useless roses.
"Only blood will keep the Curselands safe," Aidan said,
Her fingertip stung, and she pulled away. Blood dripped from her finger, spattering the rose.
"Even thorns must mind thorns."
Carys turned to find Claudia had crept upon them. "Mistress Claudia, you let Meical take everything?"
Claudia shrugged. "I cannot gainsay the Curselord, any more than you."
Carys flinched.
Claudia's black eyes surveyed her. "How was the Doom Ball?"
"Eventful," Aidan said.
He pulled a jar out of his rucksack and handed it to Claudia. Carys couldn't see the contents of the earthen jar but felt its malevolence.
"I would know that smell anywhere," Claudia said evenly. "Is that a jar full of Kieran?"
"Some of him," Aidan said as if it wasn't repugnant. "Mostly blood. But there is also a finger and part of his liver. Curselord Meical will be shipping the rest."
"Good, there is great magic in a liver," Claudia said. "Some novice witches always go for the heart. They miss some of the most primal magic."
"Will that be enough for your purposes?" Aidan asked flatly.
"It wouldn't be the same as actually killing someone in a sacrifice ritual, or at least with your bare hands. But it should amplify your flora magic. We might even have a proper forest."
Carys' mouth dropped open. "You are using Kieran's remains to increase Aidan's magic? As though it was Sacrifice Magic? Because he ki...because Spiky ended Kieran's life?"
"I didn't do enough of it." Aidan stared into the distance. "The laws of the Doom Ball prevented me."
"You intended his death and intention is often all that matters.
" Claudia got up and approached the jar.
"If I thought I could boost your Sacrifice Magic with a simple kill, I'd have tricked you into strangling a bunny.
But the intention would have muted the power of the sacrifice.
This is different. You intended that Kieran should die, even if you couldn't do it yourself. "
Aidan should have looked disgusted, but just looked dead.
The two of them had many silent walks to the top of Ghost Tower, but this was the most awkward one of all. Some of Meical's adherents approached them, eager to discover what had happened at the Doom Ball.
Carys frightened them away with a look.
They continued their trek in uncomfortable silence. Upon reaching their chamber, she couldn't look at him. "You can go back to your room for tonight," she said. "Meical isn't here. It doesn't matter."
She had a task that night, but couldn't tell him. Unfortunately, Aidan decided to balk.
"Appearances matter," he said.
She scowled. "Very well. But fair warning. I am not the best company tonight."
"You could have given me that warning on many other nights."
That was all wrong. Aidan used to joke pleasantly, and she always knew that he didn't mean offense. The new unnatural tone had her on edge. It didn't help that it uncomfortably echoed Gil's jests.
A loud creak echoed as her magic opened the door.
Candles lit up and the first thing Carys saw upon entering was the chessboard with the unfinished game.
Gil swore that he was going to defeat her.
He teased her that she always believed that she was three steps ahead, but was usually one step behind.
She tossed her goblet at him, but he smiled and said that she couldn't stand being wrong.
He was right. Carys believed that she was a clever witch, always ahead of her opponents.
But she was just a wretched girl who didn't know what she was doing.
Unable to even resist her own brother's commands, unable to even see the commands coming.
She understood the Law of the Beasts and was fool enough to think Gil was better than it.
A loud crash echoed through the room as her magic sent the chessboard hurtling toward the wall. It struck the tapestry of the Valiant Prince and chess pieces scattered everywhere.
Aidan thankfully didn't say anything. Carys went over to her dressing screen, needing a moment to collect herself.
She slowly shed the carefully crafted gown, leaving a heap of crimson and ebony at her feet.
There was no mirror behind the screen, but she didn't miss the damage to her body.
The burns mirroring Spiky's injuries had healed when the Curse Creature healed, leaving only slashes and gashes decorating her body.
She didn't want Aidan to see the damage done to her.
She could have reached for her chemise that hung over the screen, but then would have to join Aidan in her bed.
Their bed. Like a coward, she slumped down, hugging her knees.
She couldn't ignore the sounds of Aidan readying for bed: boots being removed, a stream of piss tinkling in the chamber pot, and the creak of the bed as he sat upon it.
"Are you coming to bed?" he called.
"In a moment!"
But the moments kept coming, and Carys remained there. Only when she started nodding off did she force herself to reach for her chemise. No one would find her hiding behind a screen. She might be a coward, but no one would ever know.
Gil had seen her moments of weakness when he saved her from the Curse Stag. He could have used it against her, but he never did.
Unless he told her brother.
After slipping the chemise on, she slowly crept over to the bed.
Relief washed over her at the sound of Aidan's light snores.
Quicker than a Curse Stallion, she hastened out of the room and down the lonely tower.
She exited and made her way to the stripped garden.
Her eyes fell on the rose, spattered with her blood.
The rose hadn't wilted, but black streaks ran through the delicate petals.
She winced at the proof of her inner poison.
Only destruction followed her.
She stood alone until a shadow reached her. "Leave me be," she whispered.
"I cannot..."
She whirled around, greeted by the only eyes in hell unstained with black.
Yet.
"I cannot leave you alone because we cannot be apart," Aidan said quietly. "The curse."
"We were separated by worlds. I scarcely think the distance between the tower and the garden shall make much of a difference."
He grimaced. "Forgive me for not wanting to take the chance. I dove back into hell on the chance that the curse wouldn't be activated."
"For Bella."
A strange look flickered across his face. "Do you think it was just for Bella?"
She played with the rough fabric of her chemise. "No? I suppose it could be your family or friends, but I..."
Words died as warmth grasped her arm. The cold look melted from Aidan, and a hint of the sunny prince returned.
"I didn't want you to die," Aidan said.
The words held the ring of truth, but the shakiness of Aidan's lack of understanding. As if the truth confused him as much as her.
Her gaze held his emerald eyes, and she inched closer. His warmth guided her like a lodestone until they were so close that his breath caressed her.
"You can't keep destroying yourself for other people," she whispered.
His face crumpled. "I have to do what's right. I can't just turn my back and do nothing."
She bit her lip. "You're doing what Meical wants, not what you want."
He started rubbing her arm absently. The motion soothed her, tingled her skin. "I don't want anyone I love to die. I want to heal the Curselands. It just won't be as easy as I thought."
His gaze shadowed, and her hand reached out. She froze, unsure of what to do. Comfort was a different language to her. She occasionally understood the words, but could never speak them.
Aidan spoke the language. He grasped her hand, holding it gently as if the day's battle never happened. As if gentleness could exist after brutality. He took her other hand, and a ripple of magic escaped her, swaying the bare fig tree's branches.
"I was afraid that I was gone too long." Aidan's hands tightened around hers. "And you would be gone when I returned."
She was afraid Aidan would be gone after the death of Kieran. But the soft grip on her hands proved that he was still there.
"I should have been gone," she said, avoiding her flummoxed feelings. "I shouldn't be alive. I..."
She caught her breath as the blackened rose fell to the ground, and a notion bloomed at the sight of the fallen decayed blossom. Her rotten blood did so much damage.
But it might have spared her life.