A Curse So Dark and Lonely

by Brigid Kemmerer

  Coale slams the door on him.

  Then he turns to me. His normally ruddy face has gone pale. “My lady. Again, you have our thanks.”

  “Yes.” Evalyn comes around the table and goes to her knees. She grasps my hand and kisses it. “Your kindness knows no bounds.”

  It’s all I can do to keep from jerking away from her. “No. Please.” Now that the men are gone, my adrenaline is catching up, and my heart beats a rapid pace in my chest. “It’s nothing—”

  “It’s not nothing.” When Evalyn looks up at me, tears have formed in her eyes. “The inn is all we have.”

  Freya joins her. She takes my other hand and kisses it. “Again, you protected the children. I would offer my service, my lady, as a lady-in-waiting, or a servant, or—”

  “No! No. No, thank you.” I don’t know what to do with this. They’re being genuine—after I made it all up—the kingdom, the armies. I have nothing to offer them in reality.

  Desperate, I look to Rhen for help.

  He’s watching me with a kind of bemused wonder. “My lady.

  He gives me a bow. “I, too, offer you my gratitude.”

  I am going to punch him. Stop it, I mouth. Help me.

  He looks across to Coale. “Innkeeper,” he says. “The princess has endured much travel over the last two days. I believe she may need a space to rest. Could I trouble you for a room for a short while?”

  “Yes!” says Evalyn, leaping to her feet without even waiting for her husband’s response. “Yes. My lady, allow me to prepare a room immediately.”

  “I will prepare a plate for your room,” says Coale. He hesitates. “Your Highness … will you be joining the princess?”

  I open my mouth to say no, but Rhen is quicker.

  “Yes.” He smiles. “Princess Harper and I have much to discuss.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  RHEN

  Fate is surely playing a trick on me. Fury and fascination wage war in my thoughts.

  Fury that armed men are terrorizing my people.

  Fascination that this reckless, maddening girl stood up to them.

  We’re back in the room I used last night. A fire has been freshly laid in the hearth, and Coale left a platter of food beside a pitcher on the dresser.

  Harper’s face is a shade paler than usual, her eyes a little wide. “That—that was—” She lets out a long breath and drops onto the side of the bed. Her palms press together in front of her mouth. “I can’t believe that worked.”

  Nor can I. Everything she does is so unexpected. Even now, after boldly facing those men, she surprises me by looking like a loud noise would send her bolting from this room.

  “If I knew no better,” I say, “I would have believed you myself.” I give her a sideways glance. “Are you born of royalty? In your world?”

  “No.” She gives a short, humorless laugh. “Definitely not.” Her eyes lift to settle on me, almost as if she’s just realized I’m here. Her eyes narrow. “I’m still mad at you.”

  “Truly?” I fold my arms and lean back against the door. “Then let us resolve that.”

  She stands, her expression fierce. “You told Grey to cut off my arm—”

  “I did not.”

  “—after telling me that bringing someone food was going to start an international incident—”

  “My lady.”

  “—and then you rode off without telling us where you were going—”

  I sigh. “Are you quite done?”

  “No! And when you got here, you sat by the fire and wouldn’t even speak to me until some armed men came barging in—”

  “Which you stopped.”

  “Which I almost screwed up because I don’t know what a stupid regiment is.” Her cheeks are flushed, her breathing rapid. She pushes a stray lock of hair out of her face, but it falls right back. “Is a thousand soldiers not a lot?”

  “In an army? No.” I pause, fixated on the one part of her tirade that’s taken root in my head.

  You sat by the fire and wouldn’t even speak to me.

  For that to matter, she would have to care, at least a small amount.

  She’s still glaring up at me. “Is your name really Vincent Aldrhen or was that made up, too?”

  “Such questions you ask.” I would be insulted if she weren’t so candid. “Why would I have need to invent a name? I truly am the Crown Prince of Emberfall.”

  “Then who are those men? What’s a Karis Luran?”

  “Karis Luran is not a what. She is the Queen of Syhl Shallow.” My shoulders are tight. This day has been long and exhausting already and seems to have no end.

  “Okay, what’s Syhl Shallow?”

  “It’s a country far northwest of here. On the other side of a mountain range.” The mountains should be impassable at this time of year. My father never had a quarrel with Karis Luran—but then, he was alive to prevent such a thing. Harper made a good show of presenting the King of Disi as a bloodthirsty tyrant, but Karis Luran truly has to be. Her country is landlocked, with brutal winters and dangerous game animals. It’s no wonder her men destroyed Freya’s house and threatened her children. They would have done the same here if Harper hadn’t tricked them.

  “What do they want here?” says Harper.

  I frown. “I have no idea.”

  She gives me a cynical look. “You have no idea why some queen could be sending soldiers here?”

  My jaw tightens. “Do you not understand that my entire staff, my entire armed force, consists solely of Commander Grey? I have no advisers. No couriers. I once had soldiers stationed at the border cities, but I have no way of knowing if they still stand. The mountains should provide a natural barrier to the west, and open sea to the east, but … given a strong enough force, there very well could be dozens of regiments behind those men who came here.”

  That seems to shock her into silence.

  Frustration has built a camp in my chest. I’ve spent over three hundred seasons trying to save my people from a merciless creature, and it’s left me with no way to save them from outsiders.

  Perhaps this is the reason for Lilith declaring this season to be my final chance. Perhaps she knows. My country will fall to enemy forces.

  Perhaps this is the true curse. She is not destroying me. She is destroying Emberfall.

  “So what are you going to do about it?” Harper says.

  I raise my eyebrows. “Unless you truly are the Princess of Disi and your father does have thousands of soldiers standing ready, I am unsure I can do anything at all.”

  “But you might have soldiers guarding your border cities? Is that the same as an army? Could you—”

  “It is not the same as an army.” There’s hope in her voice, and that’s almost as surprising as everything else. I hate to destroy it—but that’s clearly all I have talent for. “There may be soldiers standing guard, but with no way to swiftly communicate with them, I have no way of knowing if those guard posts still stand.”

  “But—but can’t you pay people to take messages—”

  “Surely you must realize that I cannot simply put a person on a horse with a sensitive message about military movements. Especially not now.”

  She chews at the side of her lip. “What happens if Karis Luran takes over?”

  “I do not know. My lands have not faced the threat of a hostile takeover since my great-grandfather’s reign—and he defeated the invaders and expanded Emberfall’s territory.”

  “Well, aren’t you technically the king now? Can’t you do something?”

  I look away. All my love for strategy is proving fruitless now. “I have nothing, my lady. Nothing I can offer.” I pause. “While we were able to chase those men off this time, that will not prevent them from coming back. I worry what will happen when they do.”

  She swallows. “I know. I thought about that.” Her hands press to her cheeks again. “Oh, these poor people.”

  Her tone of voice cuts straight to the core of me. She knows n
othing of my subjects. Nothing. By all rights, she should hate me and everything I represent.

  Then she says, “Can we stay?”

  The words shock me into stillness and I find myself picking them apart in my head. Can we stay. Can we.

  We.

  I shift away from the door and give her a narrow look. “You wish to stay here? In the inn?”

  She nods. “Just for tonight?”

  At this very moment, I would deny her nothing. “Of course.”

  Relief lights her eyes, but it’s short-lived and she grimaces. “I know it’s stupid. Like with the food. We can’t stay here forever. Just because they’re not burning this inn doesn’t mean they’re not burning an inn a mile down the road—”

  “My lady.”

  She must hear the gravity in my tone, because she blinks in surprise. “What?”

  I step closer, until I’m right in front of her. “For now, we can help some. Not all, but some.”

  She inhales sharply as I feed her words back to her. “Rhen …”

  Her voice trails off, and I find myself wishing that she truly was a warrior princess from a distant land. I believe she would make a formidable ally. She faced those men without fear. She faces me without fear.

  I reach to tuck that errant lock of hair behind her ear. “I did not intend to upset you earlier.”

  When my fingers brush her temple, her breath catches, just the tiniest bit, but she doesn’t pull away. “Which time?”

  That makes me smile. “When we did not speak. By the fire.”

  “Not the time you told Grey to kill me?”

  “I told Grey no such thing.” Her hair slips loose again, and this time, when I reach to push it back into place, I let my hand linger. Her lips part as my fingers brush the rounded shell of her ear.

  But then her hand flies up to catch my wrist. She’s suddenly breathless and angry. “I know what you’re doing. You’ve had three hundred women to practice this on. Stop.”

  The words hit me like a dozen arrows, piercing flesh and hitting every nerve. I jerk free and turn away. My fists are tight at my sides and my voice is full of ice. “As you say, my lady.”

  “You’re not going to trick me into falling for you.”

  I glare at her. “You have made that quite clear.”

  “I don’t trust you, Rhen.”

  Each word brings another bolt of pain with a chaser of resignation. “You have made that quite clear, as well.”

  She throws the door open. “Well, you don’t trust me, either, so I guess that makes us even. Don’t do that again.”

  With that, she storms out.

  I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed, then run my hands through my hair. I should have let Karis Luran’s men run me through. That would have been less torturous.

  I touched her without thinking. So very careless. She was right—I have had over three hundred women to practice on. I should have known better.

  But for one brief moment, I forgot the curse. I forgot that she is not some simple girl who sparks intrigue with every other word from her tongue.

  And for one brief moment, I remembered. I remembered what it was like to want to touch a girl, not as part of a carefully planned seduction designed to lure her into breaking this curse.

  Silver hell. This is terrible.

  Grey appears in the doorway. “My lord?”

  “What.”

  He’s quiet for a brief moment. “May I be of service?”

  Yes. He can end this torment.

  The thought feels immeasurably selfish now. He can kill me, but that will do nothing to spare my subjects from an invading force. My death ends my suffering. It does nothing for him or for my people.

  In truth, my survival does nothing either. The creature will destroy them all just as easily.

  I look up. “Lady—Princess Harper has asked to stay here tonight. Will you inform the innkeeper?”

  “I will.” He doesn’t move from the doorway.

  I study him, wishing again that Harper did have a battalion of soldiers at her beck and call. At the very least, wishing I had a fully staffed castle guard, to give the impression of defense. Something. Anything.

  I have nothing. I have Grey.

  “Why do you stay?” I ask him.

  “My lord?”

  “Why did you not run with the others, the first time?”

  He needs no further clarification than that. “I swore an oath. When I did so, I meant it.”

  I give him a wan smile. “I am certain the others meant it, too, Grey.”

  “I cannot speak for them.” He pauses. “Perhaps I meant it more.”

  Perhaps they meant it less.

  “Do you regret your oath?” I say.

  “I do not.”

  His answer is quick, a practiced response. I won’t let him out of it that easily. “Have you ever?”

  “No.”

  “This is our final season, Commander. You must know you can speak freely without much consequence.”

  He hesitates, which is rare for him. When he speaks, I realize the pause is not for the reason I would expect. His voice is quiet. “I do speak freely, my lord.”

  His loyalty should inspire me. It does not. I have done nothing to earn it.

  I find that I regret his oath.

  “Leave me,” I say.

  The door whispers shut. Grey has always been good at following orders.

  And for the first time, I wish he wasn’t.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  HARPER

  I hide in the stables.

  At first, I tried to join Evalyn and Freya in the kitchen, hoping to lose myself in their chatter, but they were too busy fawning over me.

  “Your father’s power must be immeasurable, my lady. Tell us of life in your court.”

  “Your beauty knows no bounds. It is no surprise you caught the prince’s eye. Are curls a trademark of your people?”

  “My lady, are the women of your lands known to be warriors? You spoke with such fierceness.”

  I had to get out of there.

  The stables are small, offering six stalls, a low overhang, and a narrow aisle down the middle. The innkeeper—or Bastian—keeps it orderly, the stalls clean. Hay and sweat fill the air, underscored by the cold, wet scent of melting snow. I’d give anything to saddle up and ride out of here, but armed men will now be watching for “Princess Harper of Disi.”

  The buckskin blows warm air on my hands, looking for food, then lifts his head to nose at my face.

  “I’ll bring you an apple next time,” I whisper. “I promise.”

  I have no idea what just happened with Rhen.

  Maybe I was overwhelmed from chasing the men out of the inn. Maybe it was the bickering. Maybe he read that wrong. Maybe I did.

  I know how quickly a skilled con artist can talk their way into your head and convince you their path is the best path. I saw it happen to my father. Jake and I were paying the price.

  Well, right now, Jake is paying the price.

  I pull the phone out of my pocket. The clock says it’s three thirty in the afternoon in Washington, DC.

  The battery meter is glowing red and I have no way to charge it.

  Emotion swells in my chest, tightening my throat. I’ve barely looked at the pictures, but I guess leaving it on drains the power.

  Once it dies, I won’t have any connection to them left.

  I sniff the tears back, and the buckskin pushes at my fingers again, running his velvet nose over the corner of my phone.

  “I have learned that when you go missing, I should check the stables first, my lady.”

  I turn my head to find Grey at the end of the aisle.

  I look back at the buckskin and slide the phone into my pocket. It’s hard to chase thoughts of Jake out of my head, but standing in this stables, listening to snow dripping off the roof outside, leaves me with the bizarre, disorienting feeling that here is real, and there is not.

  “I’m not good at
pretending,” I say quietly.

  “Pretending?”

  “Acting like someone I’m not.”

  He steps into the aisle and stops beside me. “I did not see much pretending, Princess Harper of Disi.”

  I blush. The horse lips at my fingers, and I pull them out of the way before lips turn to teeth. “When I said for you to prove how serious I was, I wasn’t entirely sure you’d do anything.”

  “You give orders well.”

  “I’m surprised you listened.” He glances at me, so I add, “To me, I mean. Instead of Rhen.”

  He says nothing to that. Instead, he says, “You are the first girl I’ve claimed from the other side who has such familiarity with horses. Why?”

  “I used to ride a lot. When I was young. Mom took me—” My voice wavers at the mention of my mother. “At first it was just therapy, after I had surgery to fix my leg. But as I got older, it became a passion.” I pause and stroke my hand along the buckskin’s cheek. “I hadn’t realized how much I missed it until … until I came here.”

  “Yet no weaponry?”

  That startles a laugh out of me. “Those don’t really go hand in hand where I come from.” I pause. “How did you learn to throw a knife like that?”

  “Practice and repetition.”

  “Was your father a guard, too?”

  “No. My father was a farmer.” He hesitates. “My mother had been a lady’s maid in the castle, and my uncle was a soldier with the King’s Army. When I was a child, my uncle would show me what he knew. I was a quick study. It became a fun pastime.”

  “So you grew up wanting to be a soldier?”

  He shakes his head. “I grew up intending to inherit farmland.” A pause. “When I was young, my father was badly injured. He became caught in a thresher, then dragged by the horse. He could no longer work. He could no longer walk. I had nine brothers and sisters—”

  “Nine!” No wonder he’s good with children.

  Grey nods. The horse butts at his hands and he gives the animal a soft word and strokes his muzzle. “I helped as best I could, but I was a boy trying to do a man’s work. Over time, much of our land was sold. Much of our livestock. Our crops suffered. We suffered. Every year, the castle would accept ten new guards. As you heard, it is a significant mark of favor for the family. I would have to forswear any connection to them, but I knew it would end their misery. When I came of age, I applied.”