“I spent so many days and nights trying to come up with ways to break the curse. I sought every action known to man to redeem myself and my home, and yet, in the end, it was nothing I did that broke the curse.”
Isa was confused. “You healed me. Wasn’t that when the curse was broken?”
“Yes, but it was not my action that broke the curse. Rather, it was my heart.”
Isa shook her head. “I still don’t understand.”
“A new strength had to be found. You, Isa, brought a new strength to the Fortress one that had never been known even to me. Your strength wasn’t military might or skill with a sword. You brought the power of the heart. You taught me once again how much strength lies in love.
“Second, what was broken had to be remade. Yes, I had broken you as a child. I, myself, had been broken in body, but even more importantly, I had been broken in spirit long before that. I had to have my trust in the Fortress, my relationship with it healed. Truths I had abandoned as a young man needed to be made real to me again. At the moment I happily gave of myself, I, too, was healed.
“Finally, I had to be willing to die. This was the hardest demand for me to understand. I thought I had been willing to die before, but what I risked in battle was no true risk. I grew up on the battlefield where men die every day, but my strength allowed me to desperately cling to life. With my power, I could never truly know what it means to sacrifice for my kingdom, or even for you. The Fortress knew that for me to truly serve my people, I needed to understand self-sacrifice. The only way I could learn that was for the Fortress to loosen my vice grip on my power.”
Suddenly, Ever’s breath shook as he spoke his next words, and his large hands gripped Isa’s arms desperately. “Isa, the moment I thought she had killed you, my world lost its meaning. I realized I had no reason to hang onto my power if it meant living without you. You had brought light into my darkness. You were the only reason I was able to truly hope, and if you died, it would be because of my own selfish ambition. Giving you the rest of my strength was the easiest thing I have ever done. I was more than willing to die. And in offering up my strength, I found a peace. I could die serenely, knowing once again that I was forgiven and that I was loved.”
With that, Ever stood, and Isa stood with him. Her head swam with his words, making him even more attractive than she had known him to be before. To her relief, he had leaned in for another kiss when a throat was cleared behind her.
“What is it, Garin?” Ever nearly growled, and Isa giggled.
“I apologize, Sire, but the people are beginning to wonder where you are. It is nearly time for the final ceremony.”
“We will be there in a few minutes,” Ever snapped.
Isa laughed again. His temper hadn’t changed as much as his appearance, and it put her at ease to see so much of the old prince in the body of the intimidating new king.
“It’s strange how the things that brought you peace and healed you were the same things that helped me as well,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “And yet, we were broken so differently. I always blamed my weakness for my lack of purpose in this world. And yet, it was my very weakness that allowed me to fulfill my role here.” She gave a dry laugh. “If you had done what was right, I would not have been injured all this time, and I would be a dancer now, married to Raoul.” She shook her head. Compared to what she had now, that existence was the last thing she could ever desire, the wisp of a future she never wanted to consider again.
“This place has a strange way of working things out like that.” They both looked up in wonder at the soaring white towers above them that glistened even in the dark.
“One more thing I don’t understand,” she said as they slowly began their walk back. “Why did you just disappear? Why did it take a whole week for you to return?”
“I’m not certain, but I have an idea.” He gave her a sideways glance. “If I had survived and defeated Nevina, would you ever have seen yourself as queen?”
“I’m not sure.” Isa shrugged. “I suppose not. I probably would have looked to you for direction.”
“Exactly. Without me, you had to admit to yourself, the Fortress, and to the people that this was truly your place. You were meant to be queen, with or without me.”
Isa nodded as she thought about this. As she did, another question popped into her head. “Where were you though?”
Ever chuckled a bit before answering. “I’m not really sure. The Fortress brought me to a place of healing and dreams. I have to admit that it was a relief. I haven’t had a tranquil dream since I was quite young.”
“What did you dream about for an entire week?”
“Some dreams were memories. Others were scenes of a life I’d never lived, a life of peace and children and gray hair.” Ever laughed a bit. “I can’t recall many of them, but I do remember one thing in particular.”
“What was that?” Isa found herself breathless as she awaited his reply. In response, he stopped walking, drew her to him, and leaned down to kiss her again.
“You.”
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For the next book in The Becoming Beauty Trilogy, Book Two, read on…
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Blinding Beauty - Chapter One
Isa threw her hands up to protect her face, but it was too late. The blue flame from his sword had hit her head on. She should have used her own sword to deflect it, but her weapon lay uselessly on the ground a few feet away. The blow knocked her across the floor, and her head slammed against the stone with a sharp crack.
Sheathing his sword, Ever was at her side before the ever worrisome servants could make it to the center of the training room’s large floor.” I’m sorry.” Ever gently lifted her head and examined the spot that had struck the ground. “I didn’t mean to make that one so strong.”
His wife gave him a weak smile, but winced when his fingers found the spot they were looking for, buried at the base of her thick, auburn braid.
Pulling off his right glove, Ever placed his hand over the bump that had already begun to rise, releasing just enough power to draw the swelling down. As the blue light rolled back and forth between the knot and his palm, Isa’s breathing evened, and and she let out a gust of air.
“I truly am sorry,” he said again. Isa gave him a genuine smile this time, and as they often did, her large eyes caught him off guard, holding him captive in their midnight depths.
“It was my fault.” She shook her head and accepted his help in standing. After dusting her clothes off, she went to retrieve her sword. “I don’t know why I keep missing that attack. I see you coming, but I’m too slow to parry.”
“Your wrist is too stiff.” He moved to stand just behind her so he could put his hand over hers where she gripped the sword’s hilt to show her the proper form.
Instead of fixing her stance as he had demonstrated, however, she turned and leaned in for a kiss, and Ever couldn’t help himself as he bent his head to meet her soft lips. Somewhere behind him, he heard the sound of retreating footsteps, and he smothered a laugh.
Before his wedding and coronation, the crowd that gathered to watch Everard’s practices had generally been large. In those days, as their then-prince took on single, double, even seven or eight opponents sometimes, his spectators would watch in awe. Fathers would point out specific moves to their sons, and the women would whisper about how graceful and strong he was. Everyone agreed they had never seen the
like.
Since his wedding and coronation, however, though he still practiced with his soldiers, the spectators had learned early on that their king was not shy about flirting with his wife.
Even during weapons practice.
“I don’t know what else they think they’re going to see,” Ever had once overheard Garin, the Fortress steward, remark with a chuckle. “It’s only been five months since the wedding. They would do well to let the love birds be.”
But in truth, Garin and Ever both knew what the spectators wanted to see from their new queen. And as time went on, everyone, Ever included, grew more anxious when it didn’t show. Today had been no exception, and the flirting wasn’t to blame.
“That’s enough practice for one day.”
Ever cringed as Gigi’s sharp words drenched the warm moment like a bucket of melted snow. He should have known the exiting footsteps had belonged to one of the kitchen mistress’s spies. Grudgingly, he stepped back to allow Gigi to examine Isa more thoroughly.
“I thought we discussed this,” Gigi scolded him, lowering her gray brows when she found a rather large bruise on the back of one of Isa’s arms. “What if she were with child? How could this possibly benefit any of you?”
At this, Isa let out a huff. “We have been through this, and I am not with child. And Ever is right. I’m still not very good at defending myself.”
“Well, you’re done for the day,” the older woman clucked, taking Isa’s sword and handing it to Ever as though it were a dead serpent. “We have to fit you for new gowns.”
“More? What in the heavens for?”
“I’ll tell you on the way. Speaking of which, Ever, Garin needs to see you.”
Knowing better than to argue, Isa let the matronly woman lead her away, and Ever turned to find his steward smirking at him.
“You may be king, but that woman orders you about more by the day.”
“She doesn’t do it in front of the servants.” Ever sheathed his sword. “I can’t see any harm.”
Garin didn’t argue. Gigi had been more of a mother to Ever than Queen Louise had. Certain liberties were hers for the taking. She had earned them.
“How was practice?”
“I thought she would be more in control by now. But she just stagnates.” Ever let out a gusty breath. “She’s so unsure of herself as it is. I just don’t know how to help her.”
“I remember the day you first discovered your strength.” Garin waved his hand at the servants to open the doors to the king’s study. “You certainly never hesitated to use it.” The glint in his steward’s eye told Ever he was remembering all the tricks Ever had played on the Fortress staff as a small boy. “You were quite imaginative, if I may say so.”
“It came so naturally.” Ever shook his head as the doors closed behind them. “I never had the problems she’s having.”
“There is quite a difference between discovering the Fortress’s strength as a child as opposed to an adult,” Garin said as he lifted a stack of parchments from Ever’s desk and began rifling through it. “Children accept life as they see it. But Isa has had to face an enormous amount of self-doubt and adversity. Her confidence is still shaky, at best. I know you do not want to hear it, but give her time, Ever. The Fortress knows what it’s doing.”
Ever placed his hands on his desk and let his head sag, something he never allowed any of his other subjects to see, or even his wife, for that matter.
“In truth, did any of the other queens struggle this much with their powers?”
Garin’s eyes grew very old, as they always did when talking about the Fortress’s past. “Let me remind you that many of the queens never even gained the Fortress’s strength at all. The Fortress never saw them fit to carry its power. As for those who did receive and master it, I’ve found it best not to compare. The Fortress will teach her in its own time. Her heart must be ready. Now, for other things to talk of.” He handed the stack of parchments to Ever. “I think you’ll find some of today’s reports quite interesting.”
Ever grinned a bit when he took the papers and noticed their broken wax seals. It was nothing new to Ever for his steward to read his messages first, but Isa’s younger brother, Launce, had once seen it and gawked.
“When you’ve overseen the Fortress business for a few centuries, you, too, may read the king’s messages,” Ever had told him when he saw the young man’s astonishment.
Today, Ever glanced at the first few reports, mostly numbers on taxes and regional crop production. But when he saw the letter from the Lingean king, his heart beat uneasily, and as he read it, he found his gut instinct was right to be worried.
Everard,
I fear I have no pleasant tidings to bring you this day. Though you know me as the sort to keep order in my own realm, I have had reports of a most heinous crime committed along our northern border. Indeed, it was so outrageous I would not give it heed until I had seen it with my own eyes.
Ten of our region’s priests were journeying to a small town that has recently been taken with a terrible illness. It is my understanding that their intentions were to assist the healers. They never reached the town though. The day after they should have arrived in the village, a shepherd found their bodies strewn about in a nearby field.
I regret requesting your assistance, as it is three days’ journey from your home, but I cannot fathom what kind of monster the murderer must be to cut down ten men appointed by the Maker Himself. If you are at all willing, I implore you to help me solve this mystery. My people are more afraid by the day.
Your friend and ally,
Leon Tungsvara of Lingea
“I want a military contingent to escort two of the Fortress healers to Lingea at once. Have them examine the bodies and bring their findings backs to me.”
“I thought you would find that odd.” Garin’s voice was tight.
“Ten holy men murdered in one day goes far beyond odd.” No wonder his northern neighbor had reached out to him. No such atrocity had been reported in decades. Garin nodded and went to relay the order as Ever read the next parchment, hoping to find better news. Garin walked back in just as he finished.
“This one is truly odd.” He waved it at Garin. So that was why Gigi had wanted new dresses for Isa. “Since when do the Cobriens allow outsiders to compete to be the royal successor?”
“Since now, I suppose.” Garin frowned slightly before smoothing his face. “Does that mean you’re going to find out?”
“It does. Apparently, we’re going to Cobren.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
About the Author
Brittany lives with her Prince Charming and their little fairy in a sparkling (albeit, tiny) castle in whatever kingdom the Air Force has most recently sent them. When she’s not writing, Brittany can be found enjoying her family (including their spoiled black Labrador), doing chores (she would rather be writing), going to church, belting Disney songs, exercising, or decorating cakes.
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