A Curse of Gold

by Annie Sullivan

  No one has come to see us off. But I do spot Kattrina waving from my balcony as Royce urges his stallion forward.

  We speed out through the town. Faces whirl by. I keep my head down, hood pulled tight. Eventually the clatter of hooves on stone fades into the thick thud of hooves against packed dirt as we leave the city behind. Green fields surround us.

  Butterflies with yellow-and-red-striped wings dance above tall, swaying grass. Small white flowers with faded pink centers grow in patches along the edge of the road. A hawk soars over us, casting a momentary shadow amidst the sunshine. In the distance, a sea of trees creates a moat around the great mountains.

  I’d stop to enjoy the beauty if the kingdom wasn’t at risk.

  Royce falls in next to me as we ride toward the thick copse of trees that swallows the road.

  I’m thankful for the protection from the sun as the canopy swallows us. I wish I could let down my hood and release all the heat that’s built up.

  But I know better than that.

  Last time my hood came off, Royce’s superstitious crew tried to throw me overboard, and then I was chased by pirates on the Island of Lost Souls when they saw my golden skin. No, I didn’t have positive experiences whenever I took my hood off outside the palace.

  I’m called back into the present by a bird calling out. Everything else is still. Sunlight flits between the trees, making the shadows dance and come alive—and making it impossible to see what they hide. The dark shapes reach out to me before curling back inward like a crooked finger beckoning me closer. I tighten my grip on my reins and look away.

  The quietness of the woods suffocates me. I feel if I don’t break the silence, I’ll start convincing myself there’s something in the bushes.

  I move my horse closer to Royce’s.

  “I’ve never been this close to the mountains,” I say.

  Royce smiles. “Me neither.”

  “I hope we find some answers.” I sigh. “If we don’t, I’ll be dethroned before I make it back to the palace.”

  “No, you won’t.” He moves his horse so it is a hand’s breadth from mine.

  “They wouldn’t even listen to me, Royce.” I throw up my hands, and then quickly regret that decision and return them to the reins. “The only reason they didn’t run me out of the palace is because you were standing there with a sword. If Dionysus attacks again, we’ll lose everything.”

  Maybe I was foolish to think I could rule. I’d thought it would come naturally, that I’d be good at it—or at the very least that I could read and learn what I needed in order to help fix Lagonia.

  But nothing I’d read could fix this. Not the documents outlining how cities like ancient Aijiram were built. Not the treaties between Orfland and Lagonia. And none of the journals kept by our past rulers.

  I’d only succeeded in putting my people in more danger.

  “You’re not going to lose everything.” Royce steers his horse so his leg is touching mine as we ride. “You’re a great leader. You’re willing to face down the Great Oracle for them.”

  “Only because I’m the one putting them in peril,” I point out.

  “You’re protecting them,” he replies. “If it wasn’t Dionysus coming after you, it would be some other power-hungry person hoping to take over the throne. There will always be threats, but you’re willing to face them. Don’t forget that. Everyone wants a leader who fights for them.”

  “They want a leader who wins those fights,” I reply.

  “We haven’t lost one yet,” he counters.

  “We haven’t gone up against Dionysus before,” I say.

  His brow scrunches. He pulls one hand free from my reins, examining the golden skin visible in the gap between my sleeve and glove. “Haven’t you been facing him your entire life?” He gives my hand a squeeze, “If anyone can beat him, it’s you. You know the power of words, of how they can be twisted. If anyone can think of a way to outthink him, it’s you. And when you do, the nobles will see how powerful you are.”

  He sounds so confident, and I can’t help but wonder, would the nobles accept me if I stopped Dionysus? If I show them I can defeat the very god who’d placed the curse—the curse they all think is bringing the kingdom down—then maybe, just maybe they will see me as capable of ruling, of leading them.

  Stronger than the god who cursed my father. Stronger than the curse itself. Strong enough to rule.

  The thought energizes me, and I offer Royce a small smile.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll show them you’re a great leader. It’ll just take a little time. But I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

  His bright blue eyes are darker in the shade of the forest, more mysterious, and they draw me toward them.

  His hand is on my cheek before I even realize how close I’m leaning toward him.

  But his hand drops suddenly. He tenses.

  Then something hard smashes into me from behind, sending searing pain through my body.

  CHAPTER 4

  Before I know what’s happening, I land facedown with a thud on the ground. My shoulders throb.

  My horse stamps around me, sending up a cloud of dust. I cough and choke, trying to roll out of the way before I get crushed.

  I throw myself to the side and tumble into a large rock, which must be what knocked me to the ground.

  “Get her saddlebags,” a voice calls as I fight to get air back into my lungs.

  “There’s nothing of value in there,” Royce calls.

  I’m about to rise to my feet when I realize it’s probably safer on the ground where no one can see my face. I’ve learned what greedy men will do to get to the girl with golden skin—the one who can turn things to gold.

  Judging by the number of feet I hear scuffling around in the undergrowth, we’re far outnumbered. Worse, rough hands pull me to my feet, gripping the arm that still throbs from breaking my fall.

  “Well,” says a bearded man, “what about her? Is she valuable?” His dirty fingernails dig into my arm. I bite my lip to keep from crying out. My hood is still pulled low, and I hang my head as far as I can. My heart is beating too fast for me to take calm, collected breaths.

  “Get off your horse, drop your sword, and toss over your purse, and we’ll let her go,” the man says.

  “No,” Royce replies.

  “No?” the man repeats as though no one has ever refused him before.

  I try to judge from the heavy breathing behind me how many men there are. I think I hear four, but I can’t be sure.

  The large rock is still at my feet, but the bearded man is holding me too tightly. I doubt I’ll be able to grab it before he reacts. Which means the only weapon I have left is the one that I really don’t want to use.

  With my free hand, I rip back my hood.

  A patch of sunlight reflects off my golden skin. The man’s instant recoil is exactly what I need. He loosens his grip, and I duck down for the rock. He grabs for me once more, but by the time he pulls me back I use his momentum to pull me up, smashing the rock into his chin along the way. He goes down in a heap.

  I turn as three other men leap into action. Swords and daggers are drawn, including Royce’s.

  “Take one step closer and I’ll turn you to gold,” I shout, removing a glove.

  The men backtrack and fall over themselves to get away. A man drops from the tree above us, arrows dribbling from his quiver as he stumbles after his friends. For a few moments, the only sound is them crashing through the undergrowth as they disappear into the forest.

  For once I’m glad for the rumors about me.

  “Are you okay?” Royce asks, getting off his horse and rushing to my side.

  “I’m fine,” I reply, ignoring the tightness in my side every time I move. I collect my horse from the side of the path.

  “Are you sure?” Royce steps closer and pulls my face up to look at him. “I know you’ve already used your powers several times today—”

  I lean into his chest. He knows
I hate the way the metal always feels when I absorb it. “It’s not as bad as it used to be.” His hand rubs up and down my back.

  I want to stay there, to enjoy this moment with him in the woods like any normal couple would do. But we aren’t a normal couple.

  I pull away from him. “We should go before those thieves decide I might be more valuable than dangerous.”

  Royce nods and helps me climb back onto my horse.

  I inhale sharply when I land astride it. I can only imagine how riding will feel, but I know we have to keep moving, so I dig my heels into the mare’s sides as Royce mounts up next to me.

  Eventually we cut through the tree line and Mount Yellek races above our heads.

  “There.” Royce points to a small, rocky path twisting up the side. One that looks far too steep for the horses to take.

  We tie the horses off at the base of the trail and begin our ascent.

  The sun beats down on us from above as small rocks threaten our balance from below. Thin weeds push through the rocks and sway in the wind racing down the mountain.

  After making it up a rocky incline, sheer white cliffs press against my right side. On my left, a thin patch of grass leads to a steep drop-off as we climb ever higher. Even the slightest breeze tugging at me makes me tense. I keep one hand on the cliff wall to maintain my balance.

  I grew up locked away in the palace. I’ve explored all of its towers, so I’m not exactly afraid of heights. But I am afraid of falling to my death. Especially after what happened on the balcony with my uncle, when he fell to his death trying to kill my father and me. I’d nearly fallen with him.

  I close my eyes as the memory surfaces. He’d said I was as cursed as my father and that he should’ve been king. He’d charged at me, knocking us both over the crumbling balcony railing. I can still remember the air surging to claim me, the panic that rose in my throat, the way my stomach seemed to plummet inside me in the same way my body was about to do.

  “Do you need a break?” Royce’s voice shatters the memory.

  I press against the cool rock and into the small bit of shade the overhang above us offers. I take a few steadying breaths.

  The forest is laid out at the foot of the mountain. I can just make out the fields past it. Maybe the speck I see past all that is the palace—I can’t tell from this distance.

  But it’s the reminder I need to push off the rock and keep going. Because I can’t let Dionysus destroy my people. So I follow Royce up the path.

  “Kora,” Royce calls, “over here.”

  I climb over a pile of fallen rocks, and as I round the corner, the path diverges in several directions. Royce stands in front of a signpost up ahead but doesn’t move in any direction.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, coming up beside him.

  He points to the faded lettering etched into the weathered wood.

  If it’s the Oracle you seek,

  You are very near.

  You can only choose one path.

  All others disappear.

  “This must be what Tilner meant.” I’d been hoping he was wrong, that there’d only be one path leading directly to the Oracle.

  Royce’s brow furrows in concentration. “If I had to guess, we probably only get one shot at picking the right way.”

  I stare down the three paths. They look identical: gray pebble pathways leading toward jagged boulders that block the rest of the trail from view. I run my fingers through my hair, catching them in my braid.

  How are we ever supposed to know which path to choose?

  I scan for anything that might make one route look different from another. A flower, a bird, a breeze.

  Anything.

  But they’re all as still as the landscapes woven into the palace tapestries.

  I swallow. I know how much rides on this decision. I stare more intently at each path. As I do, small wooden signs appear at the base of each pathway.

  I move toward the first. In the same jagged lettering as the other sign, it reads:

  Wisdom can be given out

  For a certain price.

  But do not take a single step

  If it’s not worth your life.

  It is worth my life, I think. And my father’s. But I move toward the next sign.

  Changing fate is hard indeed,

  But it can be done.

  Look not to the past you’ve trod,

  But to the future that you’ve won.

  I definitely want to change things, but something about the wording scares me. I move to the final sign.

  Picking your path is not easy;

  It may puzzle your mind.

  Choose this one if you’re ready,

  To seek what you can’t find.

  I run my hands through my hair—through where my crown should be—and press against my scalp, where a headache is forming from trying to make sense of these riddles.

  I turn back toward Royce. He’s busy studying the other riddles.

  “If she doesn’t want anyone to find her, why does she even have signs?” I say when he finally lifts his gaze. Any of these could lead to her.

  “Which one sounds the truest to you?” Royce asks.

  I go over the signs again, ignoring the pounding coursing through my head. Something in me says to go for the first one. I need wisdom no matter the cost.

  “That’s what I was thinking too,” Royce says after I reply.

  We move to the base of the path and stand there a moment, shoulder to shoulder. I can’t think about what happens if we take this pathway and end up being wrong.

  I won’t think about it.

  “Remember,” Royce says, holding his hand out to me, “we’re in this together.”

  I slide my hand into his.

  With a deep breath, we step forward. We haven’t even taken two steps when the other pathways and their signs melt away, disappearing from view.

  Our path is sealed.

  CHAPTER 5

  After nearly an hour of walking, the path hasn’t changed. I can’t even be sure we’re actually moving. I swear I’ve kicked the same pebble at least three times now. Not to mention I’m pretty sure the same breeze washes over us at exactly the same moment over and over again when we pass the small rock overhang. Even the tufts of grass sticking out of the gravel are starting to look the same—five blades pointing straight up and three blades bent to the side. I shake my head clear and take a deep breath. We’ve only just started. I can’t let the mountain get to me, because we could be here for days. Still, I kick the pebble again and send it reeling down the mountainside.

  As we pass beneath the now-familiar rock ledge, the same breeze comes tearing toward us, tangling my cloak around my legs and trying to trip me up. I rip my cloak free and try to enjoy the last of the breeze. At least it provides a little relief from the heat. Sweat drips from my brow. Even my hands are sweating inside my gloves. I clench them into fists and keep going.

  The next time we pass the overhang, it’s only been a few minutes.

  Royce’s shoulders slump, and he turns back to face me. “We’re going in circles, aren’t we?”

  My throat is too dry to respond—not to mention I don’t want to say the word out loud.

  Royce scans his jacket, pulling a loose thread until it unravels a length or two. He rips it free and ties it to a small plant sheltering beneath the overhang, which has three small white bulbous flowers bobbing in the breeze. He ties the string around the middle one. “Now we’ll know for sure,” he says.

  He offers me his hand as we move forward. We each take deliberate steps, both afraid our suspicions will be confirmed.

  My heart drops when I see the pebble I’ve kicked down the mountain countless times appear on the path before me once more.

  And then the overhang comes into view. Three white bulbous flowers nod eagerly in greeting. And on the middle one is a string.

  I stop in my tracks, trying to convince myself the string isn’t there. But I can’t deny the fac
t.

  Royce pulls it free from the plant and lets it float down the mountainside. We both stand there, watching it disappear on the perfectly timed breeze that again whips my cloak around my body. Only this time, it feels like it’s trying to pull me over the edge too, after the string.

  I kick my legs free and cross my arms.

  I’m ready to tell Royce we should give up, that we must’ve chosen wrong. That I chose wrong.

  Then I think about what that means. It means going back with no answers. It means abandoning Lagonia to Dionysus. It means giving up on my people. And I can’t give up—not with so much at stake.

  I charge forward.

  “Kora,” Royce calls behind me.

  But I don’t stop. Because I can’t. I’ll walk this path until my legs give out. Or until I find that Oracle. Or until I think of a better plan. I just can’t go back.

  “Kora, wait,” he calls again.

  I don’t wait. I keep going, and just as I round the next bend, the sound hits me first. Water. And lots of it.

  I skid to a stop at the bank of a wide river. The water is an opaque, icy color except where white rapids toss into the air like horse manes as they collide with sharp rocks. It’s so unlike the deep, steady blues of the ocean that I can’t help but take a step back, lest I be sucked into the tumult.

  Even still, I release a breath. This is the first different thing we’ve seen on this path, the first thing that doesn’t make me feel like we picked the wrong direction.

  Royce’s boots crunch to a stop at the edge of the water as he comes up next to me. As he stops, another small signpost appears.

  The same small letters slowly scrawl across the wood.

  If true wisdom

  Is what you seek,

  Learn if your mind

  Is strong or weak.

  “What do you think that means?” I ask Royce. Before he can answer, the sign changes before our eyes.

  Take the cup

  And press it to your lip.

  All it will take

  Is just one sip.