Chapter 25
“You can’t do this, Lisette. It’s too risky.”
I ignored the earnest pleas Lucien gave ad nauseam. He still clung to my wrist as though afraid I’d disappear any moment, despite the fact that we’d stepped back several paces.
Ryland and Evelyn hurried over to us. “Are you alright, Lisette? The curse nearly took you.” Evelyn anxiously took in my body, as if to assure herself I was still present.
We all turned to gaze at the seemingly empty section of land residing at the heart where the vanished hamlet once stood. The air still shimmered slightly, evidence of the curse’s presence I’d become intimately familiar with these past several weeks.
Evelyn pointed towards the trembling air. “That’s magic. I’ve never felt the curse so strongly before.”
I took a hesitant step towards it, feeling as if I was approaching a doorway with an entire world residing just on the other side, one filled with the souls and villages that had been erased from the visible world. Once more I felt the insistent tug, though not as strong from this distance. I advanced another cautious step.
Lucien tugged me to a stop. “Please, Lisette.” Fear hitched his voice, lending strength to his urgent warning. As touching as his concern was, my determination couldn’t be shaken.
“I have to do this. I can feel several vanished souls waiting just on the other side…and I’m the only one who can help them.”
“But if you fully succumb to the vanishing curse and cross into the land of the nothing, what if you’re unable to return? I couldn’t bear to lose you again.”
Terror cinched my chest at the all-too-likely possibility. I didn’t mean to dismiss Lucien’s concerns; I simply feared their potential to dissuade me from my chosen course, one that for all its risks I knew to be the right one, as if the magic behind the curse had been leading me to this moment of finally being able to do something worthwhile, to contribute in a way I’d failed to do ever since my invisibility had descended upon me.
I succumbed to the temptation to peek at his frantic expression and was unprepared for the worry etched into every line and the concern filling his eyes as he looked at me. My breath caught at the raw emotion on his usually serious countenance, a level of care and longing that no one had ever shown me before.
“You love me.” I’d done my best to trust the feelings I yearned to be true, even midst the small pinpricks of lingering doubt, but it wasn’t until this moment that I realized the full breadth of his sincerity.
He hands enfolded mine. “I do, so much. So please don’t put my heart in danger by undertaking such a risk.”
The warmth of his words enfolded me in its gentle embrace. “What of our people? Do you love them as well?”
His brow furrowed. “Of course I—”
His gaze followed as I gestured towards our empty surroundings. His pain deepened as he took in the nothingness that was all that was left behind of what had once been a thriving village, only one of the countless victims of the curse ravaging the land.
“For years you have searched for a cure for the curse and now we are on the brink of finally discovering one. Exploring the land of the vanished is the only path we haven’t tried in our efforts to break the curse. Despite its risks, as Brimoire’s future sovereigns we have a duty to your people—to our people—to do all we can for them.”
“But you’ve taught me that I’m more than a crown prince: I am Lucien first and foremost, making you the most important person to me.”
His words were the fulfillment of my most heartfelt wish that during my years of loneliness I never would have imagined coming true. I caressed his cheek, marveling at how much of his dear face I could now feel beneath my fingertips. “As you are to me, which is why your wish to rescue your people is so important to me. Just as you want to do your best to fulfill your role as crown prince, I want to become a good queen.”
He draped his hand over mine and leaned against my touch. “You don’t need to prove it to me; I already know you’ll be a remarkable ruler.” His earnest gaze seeped into mine, testifying of his sincerity.
I searched deep within myself and couldn’t deny the part of me I discovered that still felt the need to prove my worth to myself in an effort to fight off the shackles of insecurity that had bound me for so long.
“I might not take such a drastic risk if I hadn’t created my own unobtainable expectations to live up to,” I admitted. “But more than that: I’ve finally found the purpose I’ve spent my entire life searching for. It cannot be a coincidence that the future queen of a vanishing kingdom has the power to go between worlds. I cannot waste the opportunity to help not only the people we will one day rule together, but the man I care for who has already sacrificed so much for their benefit.”
He searched my expression a long moment before his resistance shifted to determination. “Then I will accompany you.”
My heart lurched. “No, you couldn’t possibly—”
“I can, and I will. Wherever you go I will follow. You’re not alone anymore.” Earnestness filled his determined gaze, robbing me of the much-needed sense that would be my only power to dissuade him…though I no longer wanted to, strengthened to press forward by his devoted presence.
Ryland and Evelyn were watching our exchange from a discreet distance, but at Lucien’s declaration, Ryland urgently stepped forward. “Do you mean to purposefully contract the vanishing curse? As the crown prince you cannot possibly take such a risk.”
“Should anything happen to me, I trust the kingdom to your capable hands.”
Ryland shook his head. “But I’m no longer just the spare—with my wife in line to inherit her own throne, my new title upon my marriage is the future Consort of Estoria.”
Lucien frowned but his resolve didn’t waver. “Should it come to that, I have no doubt you’ll find a way to make it work, but I’m determined for there to be no need. My greatest dream is to live a long—visible—life with Lisette, and I will do anything to make that desire a reality…both for me and for my people.”
Ryland shook his head. “But—” He stopped abruptly as a gasp from Evelyn drew our attention. She gestured, wide-eyed.
“The magic doorway is shrinking. It must only last for a short while after the curse is cast.”
I anxiously edged towards it. “We have to go before it closes.”
Lucien nodded at me before resting a reassuring hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I can do this.”
The two stared at one another a long moment before Ryland sighed in acquiescence. He rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder and stared evenly at him, his expression gravely serious. “Promise me you’ll return.”
“I promise.”
They clasped one another’s arms a moment longer before Ryland finally nodded once and turned to me. “You must promise to return as well, Lisette.”
Evelyn took my hand in agreement. “I know we’ve only just begun to develop our friendship, but already you feel like more of a sister than a mere fellow royal. I couldn’t bear to lose you before we’ve had a chance to truly get to know each other; I have a feeling we have much in common…and I could use some female companionship when a certain someone gets too interested in rocks.” She finished with a playful glance towards her husband that dispelled some of the tension surrounding us.
My heart twinged and I pressed my hand to it, marveling that their concern didn’t just extend to Lucien’s well-being but also my own. My existence was no longer only viewed with indifference; I now had people who cared for me. Each relationship created more than the single connection that had initially bound me to the visible world, but an unbreakable tether that gave me greater incentive to return after completing our mission.
Ease relaxed the apprehension tightening my shoulders as I reached for Lucien’s hand to lace our fingers together in our now familiar hold. After exchanging looks of reassurance we faced the section of magic acting as a glistening portal to the land of the vanished. Whatever happened once we crossed that threshold into the unknown, love and determination would see us through.
With a shuddering breath we stepped forward and were instantly enveloped in the cold, invisible fog that had descended upon me once before. It gradually pulled us from the tangibility of the visible world into the sea of nothingness awaiting us, but unlike the last time I’d felt this ocean of endless darkness that threatened to drown me, I no longer felt adrift; instead I was securely anchored by the presence beside me.
I watched as the curse began to blur Lucien’s form, traveling down his body to our connected hands. The entire time our locked gazes didn’t waver, nor did our connected grip falter—his palm warm against mine—even as the curse engulfed us.
Suddenly the magic erasing the details of the realm we’d left behind shifted, causing our surroundings to no longer dissolve but to gradually take shape. Structures and buildings appeared in faded black and white outlines absent of color, as if they were being drawn on the empty canvas that had once surrounded us, yet they were distinct and tangible. Next the ghostly shapes of dozens of people came to life, followed by our own bodies once more taking the translucent form that had accompanied my invisibility.
Upon finishing, the magic slithered away, leaving us standing in this new environment. We exchanged shocked glances before Lucien slowly lifted his transparent hand. “We’re still here.” He wriggled his fingers experimentally, his reaction reminiscent of my own when I’d first discovered my new cursed form.
“As is the village.”
I slowly looked around, taking in every detail of the place that back in the visible world had become nothing more than a barren landscape, brought to life once more—the cluster of houses, the tidy rows of crops, the bustling market stalls, and most of all the crowd of villagers watching us with wide-eyed confusion. Each faint face was foreign, save for one standing closest to us, her intent gaze fixed on me.
My breath hitched. “Aira?”
Strain tainted her greeting; her eyes shifted from my face to narrow first at Lucien, then down to and our intertwined hands. I braced myself for her poisonous onslaught of disapproval, but to my surprise her expression softened as she reached for my free hand. “I’ve missed you, Your Highness.”
I released Lucien to pull her into a hug. “No more than I’ve missed you. I’m so glad to see you face to face once more.”
Aira smiled and then turned her attention to my fiancé, her face solemn. “I’ve been watching you closely, Prince Lucien.”
He startled and squinted at her, as though trying to identify her. I hastened to introduce her. “This is my handmaiden, Aira. She was with me in the carriage when the curse struck, and she’s the one I’ve been able to communicate with at times while invisible.”
“Ah, of course.” Lucien gave her a polite nod. “I thought you looked familiar; I believe I’ve seen you accompanying Lisette during her visits.”
Aira tilted her head in silent appraisal, raising her eyebrows as though pleasantly surprised that the serious, focused future king had noticed a servant. “I admit I was mistaken about your intentions. You’ve not only changed from the stoic, unfeeling prince I believed you to be, but seem to truly love Lisette, especially considering the sacrifice you just made on her behalf.”
There was so much I wanted to share with her, particularly all the special moments Lucien and I had experienced together that would assure her that the affection between us was real. But not only was time pressing, my attention was distracted by another woman standing a short distance away. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her before, though something about her felt familiar—a recognition from my heart rather than my mind. She watched me as if she knew me, her expression one of such love and tenderness I was left breathless.
Upon my noticing her, she hesitated, inching forward. “Lisette.” Adoration cradled her soft Brimoirian accent, not a reaction I would have expected from someone who for all my knowledge was merely a stranger.
“Who are you?” I asked.
Sadness tinged her affectionate smile. “I’m your mother.”
I stared in disbelief, unsure whether I’d heard her correctly. “My…mother?” I searched her features, straining to recognize the face I hadn’t seen since I was a tiny child.
She extended her arms and I stepped into the loving parental embrace I never imagined I’d ever experience. I tipped my head back to hungrily take in every detail of the woman who’d been shrouded in such mystery that part of me wondered if she’d ever been real, even as my heart knew that her words were true.
I took in her common attire that never would have been allowed in the royal court where I’d grown up, lingering on our similar facial features—particularly the shape of our eyes, colorless in the cursed land, but which stirred a dormant memory of being a tender-filled green, connecting with the mother I’d just met.
I retrieved this recollection from the foggy forgetfulness shrouding my earliest memories, brushing away the cobwebs that obscured the details—the gentle lullabies she used to sing to me, snippets of the stories she’d told to entertain me, the feel of her protective arms cradling me, the memory of her fastening a necklace around my throat with trembling fingers on the last day I’d seen her. Even when these details had faded with time, I could still recall the love I’d felt and the precious knowledge that she’d cherished me. By the look filling her eyes now, time and distance had done little to erase her devotion.
There was something familiar about her loving gaze, a look that somehow felt as though I’d seen it more recently than my childhood. It took me a moment to recognize it as the feeling that had sometimes accompanied me even before I succumbed to the curse—moments I felt I was being watched over. Only now did I recognize it as my Mother, supporting me from afar even when I hadn’t known she was there.
Her village must have been one of the first consumed by the curse, allowing her the privilege of watching over me that she hadn’t been granted after our separation…further evidence that no matter how alone I sometimes felt, there had always been someone who cared for me.
As sweet as it was to finally meet the mother I’d spent so much of my life without, there was still so much I didn’t understand. She noticed the unspoken questions and lingering confusion and hastened to explain the particulars about my birth I’d never been able to ask.
“My family owned a mine in a small Brimoire village near the Thorndale border that processed phanite, a mineral His Majesty coveted. We met when he was researching its properties; eventually he used me to obtain information on how to excavate it. Unfortunately someone of my station cannot refuse a king, even a foreign one.”
Heartache filled her eyes at the distant memory that still clearly brought her pain.
“I suppose I must be grateful that despite tossing me aside after forbidding me from contacting you ever again, he at least took you in when you were a few years old, providing for you in a way I could not…though I fear it came at too high of a cost and it would have been better for you to have been raised in physical poverty rather than with the neglect you undoubtedly experienced within his household.”
I would have once agreed with her, but my royal title that used to only be a measurement of my perceived inadequacies had granted me the opportunity of meeting Lucien, so I could no longer regret it. Now that I had endured my past and risen above it, I could better appreciate the love and joy awaiting me in the future I’d chosen.
“What compelled him to take me in when he’d never shown any prior interest to me?” I asked.
“I believe it was shortly after the death of his sickly daughter who was around your age, all for the prospect of a valuable future marriage. The daughter had spent much of her life in seclusion due to her illness, so it was relatively simple to replace her with you so that they still had a valuable bargaining tool for a marriage treaty…simple for them, but with unimaginable consequences for you and me. I was devastated to lose you, yet powerless to fight against the fate he’d designed for you.”
This information shed light on another shadow lurking in my past—my coming to the palace at a few years old to replace the deceased true princess made more plausible for how my illegitimacy had been kept a secret from the court, as well as offering a more tangible explanation for the Queen of Thorndale’s hatred towards me. It was one thing to be the daughter of a mistress, and quite another to be an illegitimate child who’d unwittingly taken the place of the real princess. While nothing could justify cruel treatment of an innocent child, I felt a trickle of understanding for the woman who’d contributed to my misery; it must have been unimaginably painful to not only lose her daughter, but to be forced to pretend that a different child was was hers, losing the ability to grieve and heal.
The queen’s reception of me was nothing to the reaction I’d previously feared from the man beside me, the one I’d unintentionally deceived by assuming he’d known the circumstances surrounding my birth…only to later discover it’d been a closely guarded secret as a means of tricking Brimoire into accepting an alliance with our kingdom.
I sent him a grateful glance, thankful I’d found the courage to tell him the truth and even more thankful for the way he’d responded. He met my look with the same love he always had. “Nothing will change how I feel about you,” he reminded me. “I fell in love with a remarkable woman named Lisette, not your title.”
His reassurances confirmed the truth about his heart our courtship had slowly illuminated piece by piece, disapproving years of fear, doubt, and insecurity that my painful and often messy past didn’t matter—I was accepted, loved, and could entrust my own heart to his keeping.
This realization was enough to heal the last of the doubt afflicting my heart, leaving nothing holding me back for the first time. I straightened and looked around at the people who loved me before casting my gaze farther. It was time to finally figure out how to break the curse upon the land once and for all.