A Curse of Gold

by Annie Sullivan

He examines the sign before pulling out something from behind it. “This was hanging on the back.” He holds a small cup fashioned out of clay.

  We both look from the cup to the water.

  My stomach feels about as calm as the rapids spilling ever forward. And I can’t imagine what I’ll feel like once I drink some of that water. But since it’s clear we don’t have a choice, I swipe the cup from Royce’s hand and dip it into the water.

  Royce stops me before the cup touches my lips. His eyebrows scrunch together. “Are you sure about this?”

  “What other choice do we have?” I ask.

  “What if it’s poison?” he says. “It could be a test to see if we drink it.”

  I stare at the sign. “It says to take a sip. We have to chance it.”

  Royce reaches for the cup, and I know he’s offering to do this. But I can’t let him. Before I can rethink my decision, I tip the cup toward my mouth.

  I don’t even know if I actually swallow any of the water, because my lips go numb the instant the liquid touches them, and I’ve lost all feeling in my teeth and tongue. I can’t even tell if my mouth is open or closed. I sputter to produce any sound, to cry out for help, but when I move my hands to my mouth, I discover my jaw hangs open, useless.

  The numbness slowly spreads. It seeps through my throat and across my shoulders, like it’s erasing my body as it goes, making it impossible to feel anything other than a cold, empty void. It spreads through my chest, heading to my lungs. I try to take a breath, to do anything that might stall the chill. But my body doesn’t respond. I can’t gag or choke. My arms lose sensation. Then my legs. And lastly, my heart. Curses always save that for last.

  It’s like being turned to gold all over again—the same iciness that clings to your soul and bleeds through it.

  My eyes meet Royce’s, and then I’m collapsing forward. His arms reach out, catching me before I plunge headfirst into the river.

  My eyes close, and when I open them again, Royce leans over me. I’m lying on the riverbank, jagged rocks pressed into my back. The water continues to rage, tossing thick waves into the air where water collides with rock in its race down the mountain.

  “Are you okay?” Royce asks.

  It’s odd. All feeling has returned to my body. I raise an arm to be sure. And that’s when I see it.

  I bolt upright.

  My skin isn’t gold anymore.

  I stare closer, certain what I’m seeing is a trick of the light. But no—that’s a freckle. And that’s skin. Skin that doesn’t look like liquid gold melted around it.

  “Royce, my skin—” I stare up at him in amazement.

  His eyes look just as wide as mine must be.

  “I think the water cured you,” he says, a smile spreading across his face.

  I turn my arm back and forth in the light, looking at skin that’s always been mine and yet seems so foreign. My fingers are the same length. My wrists the same width. And yet, I don’t recognize them.

  Royce draws my gaze to him by cupping a hand against my cheek. “You look beautiful. More beautiful than I ever could’ve imagined.”

  Then he’s kissing me, lips pressed firmly against mine. His hand wraps around my back, pulling me closer to him, anchoring me to him—a silent promise he’ll never let go.

  Warmth spreads through me, erasing any memories of the chill the water brought.

  Royce slowly pulls away. “If the water cured you, I bet it would cure your father too. We can take some of it to him, and everything will go back to normal. It’ll be like the curse never happened. Dionysus will have no reason to come after you then.” He takes my hands, wrapping his own around them. “Then you and I can be together—like we were always meant to be.”

  He pulls me to my feet, fills the cup with water, and leads me back the way we came. I stumble over rocks as I fight to keep up with the pace he’s set. I want to call to him to slow down, but every time he turns around, there’s this wild grin on his face that makes me falter. He looks so happy, giddy even.

  It’s a side of him I never thought existed, especially thinking back to all those times I thought him rigid and unfeeling when I’d first met him on the Swanflight.

  But maybe this is how someone is supposed to feel after they’ve finally broken a curse and have nothing else to worry about.

  Then why don’t I feel it too?

  Slowly, I drag my feet against the ground, sending loose rocks scattering away.

  “What’s wrong?” Royce asks, his smile never faltering as he slows and turns to face me.

  “This is too perfect—too easy. What about the Oracle?”

  Royce cocks his head to the side. Then some sort of realization dawns on his face. He pulls me closer to him. “I know after all you’ve been through that it’s hard to believe good things can happen. But they can, and you deserve to be happy. To not have to fight for something for once.” He pulls me to his chest, wrapping me in a hug. “It’s okay to believe you’re cured.”

  I shake my head and push him away. “We’re missing something.” Nothing is ever this easy—especially when it comes to my life. And I can’t believe he thinks it could be this easy.

  I keep Royce at an arm’s length. “I’m going back to the river to see if we missed something.”

  Royce shakes his head. “You won’t find anything back there. Everything we need is right here.” He points to the cup and the water jostling around inside. “I’m right here.” He reaches toward me, but I scamper backward.

  His smile drops. “I thought you wanted me. I thought you wanted us.”

  Heat rises in my cheeks. “I do, but this just seems—”

  He scoffs, cutting me off. “Can’t you just believe something good can happen to you once in your life?”

  I open my mouth and close it again. I want to believe. I want to think positively. But this is all too unbelievable. “There’s no harm in double checking.”

  He waves his hand dismissively. “Go check the river. Just know I won’t be waiting here when you get back.”

  I take a step backward as though he’s slapped me. There’s a threat to his words and a tone I’ve never heard from him before. A tone I never thought he’d use.

  “You can’t mean that,” I manage. I reach out to him, but he recoils as though I am a snake.

  His face stills. “I’m giving up a lot to be with you. Do you think I like being locked away in that palace like you’ve always been? Do you want me to go back to sea?”

  “No, Royce—” I stammer, but he cuts me off.

  “Everything you want is right here.” He gestures around himself. “You have your skin back, we can cure your father, and I’m right here.”

  “What about Dionysus?” I plead.

  “Once we cure your father, what could Dionysus want with any of you? Besides, your father will be strong enough to take care of everything. You won’t have to worry about the kingdom. You can step aside.”

  “Step aside? These are my people,” I say. Even if they don’t want me to rule, I am still their ruler. I still need to protect them. “Dionysus was after me. I can’t leave them open to his attacks.”

  Royce slowly shakes his head, sending a few blond strands out of place. “Kora, they don’t want you to lead.”

  I balk in amazement and blink to fight back tears that have sprung in the corners of my eyes. “You said I was a good leader—” The words are hollow, and they mirror the hollowness spreading inside me.

  “Now you might be, since you’re not cursed anymore.” He moves forward and takes one of my hands in his. “I’m telling you we can finally have it all now.”

  I withdraw my hand from his. “No”—I shake my head—“we can’t.”

  “Kora,” he pleads, “don’t be like this.”

  “I’m going back to the water. You can come or not.” I turn on my heels before he can see any tears slip down my cheeks. I march with my shoulders straight back toward the river, not giving him the satisfaction of kno
wing he’s affected me.

  In the distance, I hear his footfalls receding back down the mountain.

  I hang my head and wipe a tear from the corner of my eye.

  What happened to him? What happened to us?

  Is there even an us anymore? The thought slides through me, breaking something loose inside me. I try to stare back down the path, but too many tears clog my vision.

  Had I really been unreasonable to ask to inspect the river again? I wipe at my tears and scan the banks, but nothing happens. The rapids rage on, and no signposts appear. Everything else is eerily quiet. No birds chatter. No bugs flit by. Not even the wind blows.

  There’s nothing here.

  I was foolish to insist on coming back here. And now I’ve lost Royce in the process.

  I close my eyes to try and stop the tears, but it doesn’t help. I kick at the rocks at my feet, but as I do, I lose my footing. Rocks shift beneath me. I fight to stay upright. My arms fly outward, but I’m already falling forward. Straight toward the river.

  I hit the surface, and icy water swallows me, sending a shock through my body. My skin turns to ice. My lungs seize shut. I can’t breathe. I can’t move.

  I try to struggle to the surface, but my arms won’t respond. The current whips me away from the shore, and then it drags me down, down, down, until I can’t even see the surface.

  My lungs continue to burn as the rest of my body goes numb.

  Inky darkness clouds my vision, and everything goes black.

  CHAPTER 6

  When I open my eyes, I’m slumped against Royce’s chest.

  “You came back for me,” I mumble.

  “What?” he says. “We haven’t moved.” His eyebrows scrunch inward, and his eyes scan my face.

  The clay cup falls from my hand and smashes into pieces on the rocks. Immediately, the raging river shrinks back down into a crossable stream.

  Royce slowly lowers me to the ground.

  My body feels frozen.

  But not wet.

  “What happened?” I ask. I stare down at my arm. My skin is as gold as it ever was.

  Royce shakes his head. “You took a sip and collapsed. But you were only out a moment or two.”

  “A moment or two?” I puzzle. “But—” I stare down at my golden skin, and I’m relieved that it’s gold once more. Because that’s normal. That’s how it should be.

  And as I shake my head to clear away the remnants of the vision, I realize I’m not the same girl who once wanted the golden hue of my skin to fade faster than a sunburn. I’m the girl who wants to save her kingdom. And maybe I don’t understand everything the vision meant, but I at least know that.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Royce asks.

  The numbness recedes slowly, and I let Royce pull me to my feet.

  Where the river had once raged, clear water trickles gently around gray rocks, and larger stones grow out of the water, creating a perfect pathway.

  “I feel better than ever,” I finally reply to Royce once I take in this new path. Whatever had happened in that vision, I proved I wasn’t giving up. “Let’s keep going.”

  I jump onto the first stone jutting out of the water. I wait to see if the pace of the water quickens or if the river will expand, but nothing happens. Then, I hop across the stones the rest of the way and turn to face Royce on the other side.

  He’s standing there with a puzzled look on his face. “Are you sure we should be moving on?” He scrutinizes the sign. “I’m not sure we’ve passed any test yet.”

  If I had any doubts I was back in reality, they’re gone now. Because this is the Royce I know. The one who questions and thinks things through. The one who’s always pondering what could be ahead and if we’re prepared to face it. The one who’s always willing to look deeper.

  “I—I had a vision,” I say, “after I drank the water. It said—” I look away, not wanting to remember what he’d said to me during it.

  “Was it bad?” he asks.

  I nod. “Although I think it was supposed to be good. I didn’t have gold skin anymore, and the vision tried to tempt me to go back to the palace.”

  “But you didn’t,” Royce says. “And I wouldn’t let you.” He shoots me a smile that makes my heart remember this is my Royce.

  After that, he doesn’t hesitate before leaping easily across the rocks.

  We continue forward. But we don’t walk far before we find a cave waiting for us. As we near the entrance, two lit torches appear on either side of the jagged opening. The flames snap and crackle.

  Something like hope leaps in my chest. Could this be the Oracle? Finally?

  But as we get closer, another signpost materializes.

  The most valuable thing

  You must soon find.

  Now figure out what

  You can’t leave behind.

  I groan. Another test.

  Or maybe it’s not a test. Maybe it’s a series of unending obstacles the Oracle created to prevent people from ever making it to her.

  Either way, I don’t have a choice. It’s forward or failure.

  Royce and I take the torches and venture inside.

  Cool dampness surrounds us, reminding me of the smell of earth after it rains. Our shuffling footsteps echoing off the walls is the only sound.

  The glow from our torches reflects off giant damp stalagmites and stalactites that grow at odd angles all over the cave. They distort our reflections as we move past. We stick close to one another, and I pray this isn’t some sort of maze. I have no desire to get stuck in these dark depths.

  Ahead, there’s a light. But it’s not the soft light of day. There’s something off about the illumination; it’s a little too golden.

  We slow our approach as we near a bend in the tunnel. When we peer around the curve, our jaws drop.

  A lit room bigger than the palace’s main hall is packed floor to ceiling with more treasures than the Temptresses had when we once raided their trove. Golden thrones. Bejeweled crowns. Rubies the size of my fist. Everywhere I look, a treasure more ornate than the last rests.

  Royce and I gawk as we stumble forward.

  A golden peacock, its tail spread wide behind it, sits atop a table whose entire surface is made of emerald. Where feathers should be, thousands of gemstones rest in a blue-and-green pattern. Past that is a sculpture as big as any fountain back home. It’s made of a diamond surface that’s meant to represent a pond. Several swans made from glistening pearls float upon it, their necks intertwined.

  The room stretches on and on. I think I even spot a ship made entirely of gold buried under statues dripping in diamonds and clustered with crystals.

  “Everything in here is valuable,” Royce breathes. “How are we ever supposed to choose?”

  “We need to think like the Oracle,” I say as I peer under tables and over stacks searching for anything that stands out from everything else. “What would she value?”

  “Time? The future? The past?” Royce picks up a gold platter, looking at his reflection before tossing it back into the pile. “I can’t imagine any of this stuff holds the same value to an immortal being who can see all things.”

  He’s right. Besides, any of these things could have different value based on who you ask.

  There’s another sign at the far end of the cave where the tunnel continues. I move toward it and read:

  Decide what you value

  And take it in hand.

  Then venture forward

  To see where you land.

  I go over the words again and again. Since my father was cursed by Dionysus using his words against him, I’ve always thought I’d be better at figuring out riddles, that when needed I’d be able to figure out all the ways words could be twisted to have different meanings and results.

  This sign makes it sound like I have to choose what I find most valuable. But the first sign had also hinted I should take the one thing I wouldn’t want to leave behind. I scan the items. Is there something her
e I couldn’t live without?

  “Maybe it’s water or food,” I say, scanning a table laden down with silver dishes. “Humans can’t live without that.” But there’s nothing edible on the table.

  “Breath?” Royce ventures. “Can’t live without that either.”

  “How are we supposed to hold that in our hands?” I ask.

  He cups his hands, blowing into them before sealing them quickly together.

  I eye his hands, but it just doesn’t feel right. “But what about everything else we need to live. Like a heartbeat? Like blood? There are so many things besides breath.”

  He releases his hands and points at me knowingly, a smile spreading across his face. “See, this is why I brought you along. You’re full of good thoughts.”

  I laugh. “I’m pretty sure it was me who made you come.”

  He steps closer, looping his fingers through mine. “You didn’t make me do anything. I would’ve come no matter what.” He leans his forehead down against mine.

  I’ve just closed my eyes, relaxing against him, when he gasps and pulls back.

  “That’s it. I’ve got it,” he says.

  “Got what?” I say, opening my eyes to find a gleam in his.

  “I know the answer,” he says. He brings our clasped hands up between us. “It’s you. You’re the most valuable thing in the room to me.”

  I can’t help the smile that slides across my face or the feeling of elation that lights up my heart. And after the vision I had and coming back to find my real Royce, I know deep down that he’s right. I don’t need any of these treasures. I simply need him.

  I give his hand a squeeze. “How come I didn’t think of that?”

  “I can’t let you have all the good ideas,” he replies, smiling.

  And while I would love to stand there staring at him, at the way his eyes hold mine, I know we need to keep moving. I give his hand one last squeeze. “Ready to test your theory?”

  He nods, and hand in hand, we approach the sign and walk past it into the tunnel.

  Our torches cast small puddles of light around us as we move onward. We don’t let go of each other’s hand, and the warmth of his fingers around mine is welcome in the cold of the cave.