The Fae King's Curse

by Jamie Schlosser

  “Plus, what?”

  “I’ve had a bad feeling all day. I don’t like that you’re sick. Something isn’t right.”

  I’m about to tell him it’ll pass and I’ll probably be fine by morning, but I don’t get the chance.

  When we walk back into the dining room, it’s mayhem. Several trolls are puking in trash cans, random buckets, and bowls.

  A fae woman runs out the front door just in time to vomit in the bushes. She expels the contents of her stomach with so much force her wings bust out.

  I cover my mouth, because watching everyone else hurl isn’t doing great things for my queasiness. “I thought it was just me.”

  “Not just you, love.” Kirian’s arm tightens around my shoulders.

  Most of the room has cleared out, but there are a few fae lingering by the bar as they try to pay their tab. But by the time we make it back over to our table, they start vomiting, too.

  Every container in the place must be occupied, because the soupy barf splashes across the floor.

  Oh my God.

  I barely manage to suppress a gag. Groaning, I shield my eyes and avoid the awful smell by pressing my nose to Kirian’s chest.

  “What can I do?” Damon gets up from his chair, and his face is flushed and covered in sweat.

  He doesn’t look so good.

  “Are you okay?” I ask, knowing he’s going to say he’s fine.

  “I’m fine.” See?

  “You’re not. You look like you’re about two seconds away from barfing back into your bowl.”

  “Poison.” Damon directs the claim at Kirian. “It has to be.”

  “Yes,” Kirian agrees, his voice strained.

  Damon lets out a visible shudder as he clutches his middle. “I need to go to my room. I’m not about to regurgitate my dinner in front of everyone. Send a doctor my way when you get a chance.”

  As he shuffles away, a hard cramp twists in my belly.

  Kirian holds me tighter, and he sounds desperate when he pleads, “Kai, please fix her.”

  “I can heal injuries, not illness.” The grumpy fae shakes his head. “You know this.”

  “Try!”

  Pursing his lips, Kai approaches me. As usual, his eyes have an emptiness to them when he brings his palms to my shoulders. Warmth comes from his hands, but other than that, I feel nothing.

  “Better?” Kirian asks, so full of hope.

  “No.” I lick my dry lips as a sickening gurgle rumbles in my gut.

  “It’s no use.” Kai drops his hands. “I can’t cure poison.”

  Kirian growls, but I can see from the resigned look on his face he already knew it wouldn’t work. “Torius, I need you stationed in the hallway outside our room. Kai, go find a doctor. They’re to treat Quinn first, no exceptions.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” Kai jogs outside.

  I can hear him shouting. Someone starts ringing a bell, and I’m not sure if it’s an emergency warning or part of the festivities still going on in the streets. There’s screaming, but I can’t tell if it’s happy sounds or if people are horrified by all the upchucking.

  All I know is the loud sounds are making me feel worse.

  “Poison,” I repeat, pressing a hand to my pounding head. When I glance up at Kirian, his face is twisted into a grimace of pain. Suddenly, my concern isn’t for myself anymore. I’ve never seen him look so pale before. “What kind of poison?”

  “That’s what we need to find out.”

  Kirian

  As soon as we get to our room, Quinn runs to the toilet. I follow.

  I don’t know what to do, and I feel helpless. I’ve never taken care of someone who suffers from ailments.

  My mother got bad morning sickness when she was pregnant with Gia. That was a long time ago. I was young, and all she wanted was privacy.

  Just as my father refused to leave her side then, I won’t leave Quinn now.

  A wave of dizziness hits me as I wet a rag with cold water.

  Having zero experience with illness, I don’t know how to recognize what my body needs. I feel something happening in my abdomen. My muscles cramp, and my stomach feels heavy, like a cannon ball is lodged inside my body.

  “Is it normal for it to be this… violent?” I ask, wondering what’s in my immediate future.

  Quinn’s laugh turns into a gag.

  “For me? Yeah.” Her response is echoey because her face is hanging down into the toilet bowl. “You’ve never puked before? Not even once?”

  “No. That might change soon, though,” I tell her, pressing the cloth to her forehead as I sink to the tiled floor.

  I’ll hold off for as long as I can. Quinn needs me, so I’ll do everything I can to suppress my own urges.

  “Poison,” she says again, worried. “Are we going to die?”

  “No.”

  Actually, I’m not sure. I’d like to think my body is strong enough to withstand something like this, but I don’t even know what this is.

  There are many poisonous plants in the kingdom that can kill. It had to be in the soup, and there’s no way it got put there by accident. Too coincidental.

  We were targeted.

  My head swims and my throat burns. I feel a spasm in my diaphragm, and I can’t put off the inevitable any longer.

  “Watch out.” I practically shove Quinn aside in my haste to get to the toilet. As I grasp the sides of the porcelain bowl, chunks and bile pass through my mouth. The odor of it makes me get sick all over again, and I heave until it seems like there’s nothing left. “Does it always smell this foul?”

  “Oh, yeah. It’s nasty stuff.”

  I don’t get a reprieve before my body is expelling more of the mysterious substance.

  Amidst my vomiting, I realize Quinn is holding my hair back, just like I did for her. She rubs soft circles on my back and whispers soothing words. The wet rag mops the sweat from my forehead.

  And I’ve never loved her more than I do right now.

  She’s my best friend, my partner, my everything.

  Being fated mates couldn’t possibly beat what we have.

  “I love you,” I say, before spitting the bad taste out of my mouth. “I wouldn’t let anyone else see me like this.”

  “I love you, too.” Quinn finger-combs my hair, gently scraping my scalp. “We’ll get through this. I already feel better.” Her motions stop before she frantically pats my shoulder. “Wait—no, I don’t.”

  And then it’s her turn again.

  A minute later, there’s knocking. “That must be the doctor.”

  Quinn gropes my leg as I get up. “Don’t go without me.”

  I love how she’s so desperate to stay near me. Mentally fighting off my own sickness, I will my guts to stop churning as I pick her up. I kiss her forehead, not caring that it’s clammy. She sighs as she lays her head on my shoulder.

  After placing her on the bed, I answer the door. I sense a small male troll in front of me. He snaps his suspenders and lifts his glasses up on his nose. I smell antiseptic coming from his leather bag.

  “Your Majesty, Doctor Whittle here. I am at your service.”

  “Thank you.” I move so he can pass by me. “Treat my mate first.”

  “I need that trash can,” Quinn says, panicked.

  Before I have a chance to retrieve it for her, the doctor is already at the bedside, catching her latest round of vomit.

  “That’s it, dear,” he encourages gently. “Get it all out.”

  I grab a clean cloth for her from the bathroom and sit on the edge of the bed. While she wipes her mouth, Doctor Whittle opens his bag.

  “Do you need to do, like, a blood tessst or s-something?” Quinn slurs and her slow speech has me concerned.

  “What’s wrong?” I reach out to feel her face, and her skin is hot under my palm.

  “I-I think I’m getting a f-fever,” she says, shivering.

  “No blood test required,” Doctor Whittle answers patiently. “Wow, you got a lot
out.” He actually sounds happy as he holds up the bucket. “I have everything I need right here.”

  “Oh. You’re going to test that?” Quinn sounds disgusted.

  He chuckles. “Yes. The proof is in the puke.”

  The doctor hums a cheerful tune as he digs around in his bag. When he finds what he’s looking for, he pops a cork.

  A second later, flames erupt from the bucket in a scorching burst. Quinn yelps. Heat kisses my skin, but it’s gone just as fast as it came.

  Standing, I palm my axe. “What the fuck was that?”

  “Aha!” the doctor says, ignoring the fact that I might take a swing at his head. “I suspected this. Singed my eyebrows off, too.”

  “Suspected what?” I demand, impatient.

  “When ingested, stardust can make any creature very ill.”

  “We were poisoned with stardust? How do you know?”

  “I put a drop of distilled Day Realm water in the bucket.”

  I have no idea what that has to do with anything. “I’m not following.”

  “Distilled Day water is extremely concentrated and more acidic. What happens when you put normal Day water with stardust? Light,” he answers his own question. “Now multiply that reaction by a hundred. When the two are mixed together, things go boom.”

  “I’ve never heard of Day water being distilled. Is that some kind of secret they’re keeping over in the Day Realm?” Feeling dizzy, I sink to the edge of the mattress.

  “Oh, yes. It’s a recent discovery, though.” He shakes the bottle and the liquid sloshes inside. “They have a new distillery set up and it’s a hot commodity. Would you believe it takes ten barrels of regular water just to make this little flask?”

  “Why go through all that work? What’s the reward? Explosions?”

  “Well, that, and…” Pausing, Doctor Whittle adjusts the glasses on his nose. “It has healing properties, when used correctly. But most of all… drinking it amplifies fae abilities.”

  A magical drink that can be used for warfare, healing, and strength. In the hands of the wrong fae, it could be very dangerous.

  If I wasn’t already sitting down, I’d probably fall on my ass.

  “Someone put stardust in the soup?” Quinn pipes up, missing the significance of what the doctor just revealed. “Are we going to die?”

  “No,” Doctor Whittle scoffs. “You might feel like you want to, but this should pass by morning. Just don’t drink distilled Day water while the stardust is still in your system. Or else—”

  “Boom,” I interject, wanting to save Quinn from the gory details. “I get it.”

  Troubled, I wipe the sweat from my brow.

  A mystery has been solved. It makes sense now. The bomb in the carriage could’ve been due to this combination. It wasn’t a matter of magic, but of chemistry. Simple science.

  A horrifying thought hits me as I cover Quinn’s hand. “Did you drink any of your water at dinner?”

  She pauses to think. “No. I’d just had the rest of the waterfall mist before we came inside. I was hungry so I went for the soup first. I started to feel sick before I got thirsty. Do you—do you think someone put the distilled water in my cup?”

  Yes. Maybe. Probably.

  I hate to consider the possibility, but it adds up. If my suspicions are right, whoever we’re dealing with is ruthless and clever.

  Exploding from the inside out would’ve been one of the most gruesome deaths I’ve ever heard of. The thought of such a thing happening to Quinn makes my heart lurch in protest.

  Slipping a gold coin to Doctor Whittle, I instruct him to go downstairs to see if Quinn’s glass is still on the table. If so, he’s to test it.

  I pace the room, my guts churning and cramping as I wait for his return.

  When he comes back several minutes later, he has no answers for me. The dining room has already been cleaned by local business owners who pitched in to help. Any evidence is gone.

  I drop two more coins into his hand. “Thank you. Please check on King Damon across the hall next, then tend to my men.”

  “Will do. I’m going to leave you with some diluted Grevillea nectar for when you’re ready to rehydrate.” A few glass bottles clink together as the doctor sets them on the bedside table. “Don’t fight the illness. Getting the stardust out is the quickest way to recovery.”

  Once he’s gone, I lean down to feel Quinn’s forehead. Still hot and damp.

  “My plans are ruined.” She pouts, pulling the covers up to her chin as she gets more comfortable.

  “What plans, love?”

  “I’m ready.” She doesn’t have to elaborate for me to know what she means. “But sex is so not happening tonight.”

  “We have the rest of our lives for that.”

  Yawning, she nods. “I’m so tired.”

  “I need to check on Torius. He might be decorating the hallways right now.”

  “Are you okay?” Quinn grabs my hand before I can move away.

  Am I? No, not really.

  I’m striking pissed. Someone poisoned an entire restaurant in order to hurt Quinn. She could’ve died. And for the first time in my life, I’m sick. It’s absolutely awful. How do humans tolerate this?

  I don’t want to lie to Quinn, so I don’t answer her question. “I’ll be right back. I’ll leave the door open, so if you need me, just yell.”

  I’m doubled over as I stagger to the door. The stardust is wreaking havoc on my system, but I need to be strong for a few more minutes. It’s not good for my men to see me like this. I refuse to appear weak.

  Standing as straight as I can, I go out into the hallway. Torius is there, guarding my room like he said he would, despite the fact that he’s probably in a world of pain. Duty comes first, and I’m proud of him.

  I lean against the wall for support. “We need to narrow down a list of suspects. Interview the staff to see who was in the kitchen earlier.”

  “I already did.” Kai walks over to us. “But the cooks and servants are all down for the count.”

  “The innkeeper?”

  “Incapacitated.”

  “Did you see anyone suspicious? Anyone who hung around in the dining room but didn’t eat?”

  “No,” Kai answers.

  “How are you both feeling?”

  There’s a heavy pause, before Torius replies, “Fine.”

  I cock my head to the side. “You’re not sick?”

  Another pause. “No.”

  “And you, Kai?”

  “Feeling fine.”

  Confusion and paranoia swirl with the nausea. “You mean to tell me you both ate the soup and you’re not sick.”

  Torius clears his throat. “That’s correct, Your Majesty.”

  “You,” I whisper, unable to believe my men would betray me. But the witch did tell Damon it would be someone I trust, and for the past several days, these men have been the only people I’d bet my life on. Quinn’s life. Seems I was wrong to do that. “You two conspire against me.”

  “No, my king,” Torius rushes out.

  Both men kneel, and a thud resounds on the wooden floorboards.

  Stepping back, I sneer. Their fake show of loyalty is pointless.

  “It was you in Quinn’s room that first night,” I say to Kai, before pivoting toward Torius. “And you’re the one who secured the carriage.”

  Torius thumps his chest. “I would never—”

  I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “And stardust was perfect, wasn’t it, Kai? You knew you couldn’t help with poison. Are you disappointed Quinn didn’t drink the distilled Day water?”

  “Distilled what? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Kai must’ve practiced his denial. Or maybe he’s just always been good at lying, because he sounds utterly clueless.

  “Why?” I rasp. “You didn’t want a human to rule over you? Quinn has been nothing but kind to you both.”

  Kai sighs, defeat heavy in the sound. “I suppose it won’t do any good to try t
o convince you we had nothing to do with it?”

  “No,” I answer honestly.

  What does a king do when he can’t trust his own soldiers?

  Eliminate them.

  But I don’t have proof, and sentimentality with a niggling of doubt is getting in the way. I keep remembering all the times we’ve covered each other’s asses. Saved each other’s lives.

  My mind is too foggy to think clearly right now.

  “You won’t be with us on the rest of the journey,” I decide. “Go to the citadel on the west side of the Aelustria. Tell them your king has sent you to do an inspection of the fortress. Stay there until I send for you. Swear it.”

  “I swear,” they both say the oath at the same time, and a flutter in my chest solidifies the promise.

  “If you disobey me and we cross paths before then… may the stars be merciful on your souls.” I don’t wait for them to respond before slamming the door in their faces.

  I run a hand over my jaw, and my palm comes away slick with perspiration.

  “Kirian.” Quinn’s tone is sympathetic. “I heard, um, everything.” The sheets rustle as she struggles to sit up. “Do you really think it was them?”

  I want to answer her, but I can’t put my emotions into words.

  Torius and Kai were my closest friends. I’m sad. I feel betrayed. I feel vulnerable and weak, and I’m questioning my judgment. My pride is wounded, and my heart is broken.

  But before I can say any of that, my stomach revolts, and I’m bolting to the bathroom.

  Quinn

  Kirian’s eyes are closed, but I know he’s awake. Dawn glows on the horizon over the expanse of rooftops outside our third-story window. The soft light throws shadows on Kirian’s troubled face.

  “Do you realize you’re frowning right now?” I ask, snuggling closer.

  The corners of his lips dip even more. “No. Are you still feeling okay?”

  I nod, my cheek rubbing against the hair on his bare chest.

  The stardust poisoning set us back a whole day. We’d planned to leave yesterday morning, but we weren’t in any shape to travel. The doctor was right, though. By the time lunch rolled around, our appetites were back. Sort of. We were able to nibble on some bread, and the Grevillea nectar helped to curb the dehydration headache.