by Oxford, Rain
“Then forgive me because I will promise never to betray your trust again. Forgive me because I will promise to do everything in my power to stop the curse. Forgive me because I will promise to tell you every morning that you are the only woman I have ever loved. And once you forgive me, marry me because you love me just as much.”
“You will never find another man who will talk to you like that!” Thessa yelled at her sister.
“He said you were his sweet bread!” Ada added.
“I…”
The hesitant panic in her eyes was too much for me. I stepped up onto the platform without her, where my uncle waited. Nano, who was expected to oversee our ceremony, was entirely confused. “I am requesting a two day extension.”
“A what?” he asked.
“I do not want my wife or myself regretting out wedding. When we get married, it should be a happy day. As long as there is any doubt, it cannot be a happy day. We will hold off for three days from today.”
“What if there is still a problem then?”
“I will ask for another extension.” I held out my hand for Zeda. When she didn’t immediately reach for me, Thessa gave her a shove. She took my hand and stepped up onto the platform. I held her close, knowing we only had a short time.
“The last person you kissed was Vivian,” she said.
“We should fix that.”
“Please, do not ever remind me of that again,” Nano groaned.
Zeda laughed until I pulled her closer and leaned in. I could feel her hot breath on my lips when an explosion shook the world around us. I barely had enough time to throw Zeda and myself onto the ground and cover her before the stage was reduced to shards of raining glass.
Thessa and Ada screamed, but when I looked up, I saw that they were both protected by an energy shield. A dark shadow formed above me like a man trying to take shape, but the sun was too strong here and the spirit could do little more than… apparently blow up our stage.
“What is that?” Zeda asked.
“That would my father.”
“Your dead father?”
“Yes, my dead father.” I stood and pulled Zeda up with me, but pushed her behind me. Kseve was nowhere to be seen.
The dark shape seemed to fluctuate in the sunlight for a moment before it dived into one of my guards. The targeted guard then turned his bow on me and released the arrow before I could do anything.
Kseve was not here to protect me and I had no magic or weapon to defend myself with. With Zeda pressed against my back, I closed my eyes… but no arrow pierced me. Frightened that something worse had happened, I opened my eyes. A man stood in front of me. The bowman dropped to his knees, alive, but obviously dazed and confused.
“Shit, that stings,” the man said in English. He pulled the arrow from his shoulder. “Not as bad as a bullet, though.” He turned to me and smirked. “Wow, you’re as small as Ron.”
This man had a darkness to him that the void in my blood recognized; he was a demon. He fit the image as well; he wore black leather pants, a black leather collar around his neck, and a long, black leather jacket that reached his knees. His black shirt was satin and he wore silver chains around his waist and hip.
“I’m Zeb, Dylan’s demon,” he said, holding out his hand.
“You are under contract with Dylan?”
“Yep, and I know you, too. You’re a void and this is Dios, so you must be Dleso Nila. What I’m going here exactly, I can’t tell you.”
“Is it a secret?” I asked, taking his hand. Demon magic is void energy, therefore my blood didn’t cancel his magic out. Still, it felt weird, so I let go as quickly as I could.
“Nope, I just don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“What is happening? Who is he?” Zeda asked.
“Oh, that is fantastic; I have my language powers back. Anyway, who attacked you? I know that arrow wasn’t intended for me.”
“My father.”
The demon looked around. “Was it a drive by or am I just that scary?”
“I suppose you scared him away. He wants to meet Dylan. I don’t know why, but my father is a bad man. He’s dead, but he keeps coming back.”
“Wait, your father isn’t Atos, is he?”
“How do you know---”
“Sorry, blond Ron, but I need to see him for myself.” He put his hand on my forehead and I felt pressure, almost like a headache, before the image of my father appeared clearly in my mind. “Shit. It doesn’t rain, but it pours.”
I opened my eyes to find that he was gone.
“What just happened?” Zeda asked.
I shook my head. “I have no idea. Where is Kseve?”
My goblin guard had been wounded in the first explosion, as it had been specifically targeted at him. We got him back into the castle and had a physician look at him, but the man wasn’t very knowledgeable in goblins, because the creatures almost never needed help. The doctor basically said that my friend was getting old and would be slower to heal than he used to be.
Zeda actually surprised me. She had read many medical books and knew certain herbs that helped goblins. What the doctor didn’t have, he could help some of the volunteering townspeople find. We did what we could to help Kseve heal and make him comfortable.
I was sitting in a chair beside Kseve’s bed when Zeda entered. “I brought you some bread,” she whispered as if the goblin was just sleeping. She handed me a chunk of bread, which I ate despite my upset stomach. “How is he?”
“He will be fine. I had to wipe dust off his bed before they laid him down.”
“Does he never sleep?”
“I think he may sleep while standing guard outside my room at night. Maybe I need a new personal guard. I want him to have rest, but I just cannot imagine anyone else protecting me.”
“What if he continues to protect you during the day and you assign a night guard? Do you trust anyone enough to guard your sleep?” She sat beside Kseve on the bed, which was impressive. Not many people could stand to be so close to a goblin.
“No, but I can accept that if it means Kseve will be healthier.” I took his hand for a moment before letting him go. He could tolerate my presence for an indefinite amount of time, but my touch rendered even his powerful magic useless.
I sometimes wished I could go live on Earth, where there were many people who didn’t have magic. Zeda patted my knee, stood, and left.
* * *
I woke to a familiar groan and, remembering the previous events of the day, stood up faster than my feet could cope with. Kseve chuckled as I toppled to the ground like a fool. I didn’t care. I got up and sat beside him on the bed.
Other than healing cuts on his body, we could find no broken bones or internal injuries. Of course, none of our medical scanning equipment could see through the thick hide of a goblin. I knew I was supposed to act unaffected and mature, but I wasn’t unaffected or mature. I grew too slowly, I was too rambunctious, and my attention wandered too much, but Kseve was my friend. He was more than just my guard.
Kseve never pitied me, never coddled me, and never treated me as something evil. He was kind, supportive, and guiding. He would snarl or threaten someone who upset me and then tell me to get over it when we were in private. He always had time to listen to me whine and never told me everything was going to be okay. Instead, he made sure everything was okay.
“I want you to rest more,” I said, hoping I didn’t hurt his ego. “I know you would heal faster if you had more sleep, and I know you are not getting enough.”
He reached up slowly with his huge hand and patted my head gently. “No.” That was it. That was his entire answer.
“I order you to rest more.”
He grinned and dropped his hand to my shoulder. “No.”
“You are so stubborn,” I sighed.
“Yes.”
* * *
Kseve was guarding me again before I even left the room. This time, however, for fear of my father’s ethereal attacks, h
e refused to leave me in my room by myself. He would stand in the doorway of my library facing out as long as Zeda was with me, but he wouldn’t leave us alone. I was okay with that; I wanted to watch over him as well.
Zeda and I spent the next two days together. Of course, Ada and Thessa were there much of the time. Unfortunately, none of us were alone. My father was attacking every time we turned around. It was usually Zeda who was targeted, but her sisters, Nano, and Kseve were also attacked. None of my guards could stop him, and it seemed he could possess people for long enough to shoot a weapon or strike with a sword.
Dead or not, his magic was powerful and when he was not in direct sunlight, he could take corporeal form. Many times, Zeda and I would be in the library when she would feel my father’s hands around her throat. It got so bad that after the fifth time, she could barely speak for hours. We started staying outside after that, but even there he had power.
“What are we going to do about Atos?” she asked. It was the day before our wedding and we were lying in the grass in the field where a new stage was being set up. I stroked the bruise on her neck softly. “We cannot dodge his attacks for the rest of our lives.”
“I think he will stop when I am no longer a void. This started the day I prayed to Zer to end the curse. I believe Atos needs me to be a void for some reason.”
“This guy, Dylan, who you keep talking about… Can he help us?”
“We have to keep Atos away from Dylan. For whatever reason, my father wants me to introduce him to Dylan. The reason could not possibly be good. Dylan is preparing for a war against demons right now. When he wins his war, which I plan to help him with, Atos will never be a problem again. We just have to get through this.”
“How do you plan to help him?”
“When it begins, there are many people, trolls, and goblins willing to fight for him. Right now, we need to… oh, no…”
I trailed off as Ada ran up to us, her arms and legs covered in blood and tears streaming down her face. Zeda shrieked and jumped to her feet. “Where are you hurt?!”
“Thessa… Thessa is hurt!”
“Kseve, watch over them and keep them outside in the sunlight,” I demanded as I ran back to the castle. I made it to the front doors before Nano was there to block my path.
“She’s alive,” Nano said in English, obviously trying to keep our conversation private.
“Then let me in!”
“That is Atos’s plan. Thessa will be fine, but I can’t let you fall into your father’s trap.”
I knew my uncle meant well, but he also underestimated me more often than not. He was more powerful in his magic than any other man on Dios, but even his magic was useless against the void. Furthermore, whether he tried to deny it or not, I was far stronger than him.
I pushed him aside, unconcerned with if I hurt him or not, and shoved the double doors open. One of the doors snapped off its hinges and clattered to the ground behind me. I went straight to the physician’s office, but opened the door carefully so that I didn’t scare the doctor. It was a good thing, too, because he was cautiously applying medicine to her wounds. While he could heal her, the medicine would help her with the pain and prevent her from bleeding out as he did.
There were so many cuts and punctures all over her body that I thought I was going to be sick. Thessa was awake as she watched the doctor work. I wanted to help her and hold her hand, but the doctor’s healing magic wouldn’t have worked while I did. She looked at me without speaking, and when I realized why, I was horrified. There was a cut across her throat. It was covered in medicinal paste, but it had to be bad.
“Ada and Zeda are outside. They are both safe,” I said. She gave me a weak smile and watched me instead of the doctor for the remainder of the procedure.
After the doctor was done with his medicine, he started with the wound on her neck. Once what was finished, he focused on her face and worked his way down. He healed each cut individually. They were not completely healed, but every cut was closed and looked many days old instead of fresh. The process must have been painful despite the medicine, because tears started to fall. She didn’t make a sound, though.
When the doctor started wrapping her most severe injuries, I took her hand. “Are you in pain?” She squeezed my hand. “What happened?” I asked the doctor.
“She was in Zeda’s library when the skylight came down. I pulled more glass out of her than I can count, including out of her throat. She may never speak again, even with my magic, but she will live.”
Zeda could be heard in the hall as her outraged voice grew closer.
“The door is locked,” the doctor said. “I will go let her in.”
Thessa squeezed my hand urgently. “Wait!” I said to the doctor. He did. “Squeeze my hand for yes. Do you want me to let your sisters in?” I asked. She stared at me intently, but I felt no pressure on my hand. “You are not squeezing. Do you mean that you do not want your sisters to see you?” She squeezed my hand firmly. I sat heavily on the seat beside the bed. “Zeda is going to kill me.”
Without making a sound, she mouthed the word “please” over and over.
“It is your decision.” I tried to ignore the banging on the door as my wife threatened to chop the doctor into little pieces if he didn’t let her in. “Give her something to help her sleep,” I suggested. Thessa squeezed my hand lightly.
The doctor helped her drink down the potion and very soon after, she closed her eyes. The moment she was out, I unlocked the door and let Zeda in.
“Be quiet; she needs to sleep. She was in a lot of pain and she is embarrassed to be seen injured.
Zeda nodded, calm now that she was in the room, and went to her sister. “She was always that way. She acted like being injured or sick was a sign of weakness.” She leaned down and kissed Thessa’s forehead gently. “Will she be okay?”
“She will live, but you should be outside with Kseve.”
She winced. “Your guard might be mad at me for a while. I kicked him in the knee and shoved Ada at him to get past him.”
“You threw your baby sister at an angry goblin?”
“No… I gently guided her into the protective arms of my husband’s most trusted friend.”
Nano entered the room. “Uncle, use your magic to protect Thessa while she heals. I believe she would prefer some privacy for the next few days. We should leave her at peace for the time being. Maybe we should postpone the wedding.”
“She would hate that as much as missing it,” Zeda said. “Thessa hates to be the center of attention.”
* * *
Zeda, Ada, Kseve, and I were in my bedroom. Kseve had actually boarded up the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony, so we were relatively safe. Even though it was cold, my guard had refused to let us light the fireplace.
Ada sat in my reclining chair while Kseve stood guard by the door. Of course, he was on this side of the door this time. I propped my pillows against the headboard and leaned against them. “The moment you feel even a tiny bit uncomfortable, you have to tell me,” I warned Zeda.
She rolled her eyes and snuggled into my arms. I couldn’t let myself enjoy her heat or how perfectly she felt against me. All my life, I knew my touch was dangerous, and I could only have a taste of this.
I started reading aloud from a storybook that Ada had picked out. It was a fairytale of all things. After a few pages, I noticed that the room was growing warmer. I stopped reading, looked up, and saw that Ada was asleep. Surprised that she would fall asleep so soon, I started to sit up only to be overcome by a horrible migraine. I tried to nudge Zeda away, but she was asleep as well. Lethargy joined the throbbing in my head and I found myself slumping over my wife at the same time I heard Kseve collapse.
* * *
Ada’s shrill and terrified scream woke me in the middle of battle. Unfortunately, the battle was taking place in my bedroom. Kseve, Nano, and Zeb fought against my father and two very powerful demons. I stood up to put space between Zeda,
who was still asleep, and me. Ada was hiding behind the chair as magic, fire, and weapons flew. I scooped Zeda into my arms and set her carefully down next to Ada.
There was nothing I could do against demons, since I couldn’t cancel out their magic. When an explosion came from outside the room, I realized this was worse than I had thought; demons were flooding my castle.
“Where is Thessa?” Zeda asked, coming awake from the sound. “If Nano is in here, does that mean Thessa is unprotected?”
When she tried to run to the door, she lost her step and fell clumsily. I wanted to help her, but I knew touching her was why she was in this condition in the first place, which had likely been my father’s plan.
“Please help Thessa!” she yelled at the door.
“Can you get Dylan?” I asked Zeb.
“He’s unconscious right now. I can get Ron and Hail.”
“They’re children!” I argued, but he was already gone.
A moment later, the boys appeared. Atos vanished while the two demons escaped out the door. Zeb and the boys went after them. Nano helped Zeda to her feet while Kseve checked me over for wounds.
“We are going to end this right now,” I said. Nano and Kseve were both panting harshly, and that was dangerous for goblins.
Ada came out from behind the chair. “How are we going to end this?”
“Zeda and I are getting married right now.”
“How will that end anything?” Nano asked.
“Atos is trying to kill Zeda so that I will stop trying to break the curse. He will stop once we are married because Nano is going to put a life bond over us during the ceremony.”
Nano’s complexion turned a little green. “I can’t do that!”
“I can,” Ron said as he entered the room.
“What is a life bond?” Zeda asked.
“Our life lines will be bonded so that if you die, so will I. However, as I am a void, it would not be reciprocated. My life can extend yours, but if I die, the bond will be severed and you will live. If Atos is so determined to prevent me from breaking the curse, he absolutely would not do anything to kill me.”