Cursed

by Christina Bauer

  Rowan didn’t look up from examining his maps. “Forget it, Uncle.”

  Their easy manner made me feel right at home. Turns out, it wasn’t so hard talking to a King after all. As we continued making plans, a bubble of excitement formed in my chest. This could really work. In fact, I almost forgot about how I might die a horrible death in just a matter of hours.

  Almost, but not quite.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The sky was starting to lighten by the time I left the tent. Rowan, Rex, and I had spent the entire night planning. I knew I should feel exhausted, but today was too important for me to be anything but buzzing with energy. After so many years of hard work, the time had finally come. I would either defeat the Tsar… Or suffer forever in fire. I rubbed my arms, imagining the flames licking over my skin.

  And all this in a matter of hours. The time had finally come.

  Rowan gently touched my shoulder, making me jump.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.

  I forced myself to look calm. “I’m a little restless today.”

  Rowan leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “I am, too.” His grin was all things open, honest, and encouraging. It helped me to relax a little.

  “Will Rex come to see us off?” I no longer thought of him as a ruler, but as a smiling man who overflowed with positive energy. I could use some of that this morning.

  “No, he’s being forced to stay in his tent.”

  The way Rowan said ‘forced,’ I got the idea there was more to the tale. “Don’t tell me you put an armed guard on your King?”

  A mischievous glint shone in Rowan’s eyes. “I most certainly did. I’ve sent a double to the Cloister in his place. Now Rex is pouting like a six-year-old who must miss out on his own birthday party.”

  I smiled at the image of Rex in a party hat. “We need to get moving. Dawn will be here soon.”

  Rowan scanned the sky. “Agreed.”

  The thought of leaving for the Cloister made my pulse quicken. I reached into my pocket, grabbed my ring from the Sire and Lady, and stared at it questioningly. We’d spent most of the night discussing battle tactics. I still wasn’t sure how the whole ceremony worked. “Do I just put this on?”

  “Not yet.” Rowan reached into his own pocket and pulled out something else that glittered. My totem rings. The silver bands shone like stars in the pre-dawn light. Since I left the Midnight Cloister, my life had moved at a non-stop pace. In all the excitement, I’d forgotten about my rings. Now that I saw them, my hands positively itched to have them back. As long as I didn’t use them, they wouldn’t alert the Midnight Cloister about where I was. And if all went well with the leveling spell, I could use them very soon without fear.

  “Here’s where they belong.” Rowan set the bands onto my palm. Wherever his fingers touched me, a charge of heat drew across my skin.

  Be careful, Elea.

  My control over my emotions was already paper-thin, and we hadn’t even broken into the Cloister yet.

  I stepped back and quickly slipped the rings on. It felt like a limb had been returned to me. “Thank you, Rowan.”

  “You’re welcome. I almost forgot about them.”

  “Same here.” And I spent five years making them. It has been quite the week.

  Rowan pulled out his band from the Sire and Lady. “Now, we come to these.”

  At those words, two tiny mounds of sand appeared on the ground between Rowan and me. The scarab beetles peeped out from the tops. It was a little unsettling for them to show up now, but I suppose it was all part of the magick that Rowan has spoken about before.

  Rowan lifted his ring. “The ceremony is pretty simple from here. You set your ring onto my right hand and say the following spell.”

  My bond, my life, my one.

  “That’s it, eh?” I asked. “You Casters have very short incantations.”

  “True.” The rugged lines of Rowan’s face softened. “Do you want to start?”

  “Yes.” I gripped the ring tightly. I knew this wasn’t a real bonding, but somehow, it still felt huge to me. I mean, I’d never kissed a man before, and here I was, going through a marriage ceremony. “Have you… Have you ever done anything like this before?”

  “No.” Rowan’s answer was immediate and firm. For some reason, it also made me feel better. This was a first for him, too. I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the palm of Rowan’s right hand. His skin was so warm, firm, and distracting. I centered myself with a deep breath.

  This isn’t real, Elea. Stay focused. It’s just to finish your quest.

  I spoke the incantation, set the band onto Rowan’s finger, and waited. Nothing happened. “Did I do it right?”

  “You did. The magick shouldn’t begin until both rings are on.” Now, Rowan took my right hand in his. His green eyes met mine as he slid on the ring.

  My bond, my life, my one.

  This time, everything changed.

  The desert disappeared. The world became nothing but Rowan and me surrounded by white light. Every aspect of Rowan seemed to be brighter and wrought with more detail. I could sense the weight of his muscles as he heaved in every breath. How the warmth of his body built out from his chest. And the way the green in his eyes shone in an intense color all their own. It was too much to take in, and not enough, all at once.

  The scarab beetles flew onto our bands and hardened into tiny stones. Our mating bands were complete.

  After that, our bodies transformed. Colored lights glimmered beneath Rowan’s skin, like he was lit up from the inside. With every fiber of my being, I knew that I was witnessing the man’s soul. I saw the red of passion, grey shades of determination, and deep amber hues of pain and loss. And it was so beautiful, I found it hard to breathe.

  I looked down. My skin shone with the same colors. What did that mean? Was it some side effect of the spell?

  The illusion disappeared. Rowan and I were back on the desert once more, standing nearby the Caster encampment. I’d never experienced anything like that before. A long moment passed before I could speak.

  “So that placed our magick on the same level as Viktor.” I raised my left arm and pulled some Necromancer energy into me. “My powers don’t feel any different.”

  Rowan raised his right hand and did the same. “Mine don’t either.”

  “Is that… Is that how a typical bonding works?”

  “Not that I’ve ever heard of. Normally, the rings empower you to cast major spells beside your partner without any worry that your magick would interfere with one another.” His gaze locked with mine. “That was extraordinary, Elea.”

  There were a thousand things to talk about in this moment. How did the leveling spell work? What were the Sire and Lady really up to? Would any of this change our friendship? Only one topic really mattered, though.

  Whatever stops me from burning alive.

  “We need to try and cast some spells now,” I said. “Test out our magick against Viktor’s.”

  “Right.” Rowan shook his head, like he was waking up from a dream. I suppose we both were, a little. “Which one do you want to start with?”

  “I’d like to destroy that snake ring Sophia created when I walked into the Cloister. That’s the one that tracks my magick.”

  “I’ll do it. That way, you won’t risk alerting them.” Raising his arm, he quickly cast the incantation to destroy the snake ring. His veins glowed red and faded as the spell ran its course. “You’re free. Go ahead and cast.”

  Rowan didn’t need to say that twice. Although it had only been a week, I felt like years had passed since I last drew on my magick. I reached out with my senses to the Necromancer power all around me. This desert had once been a mighty ocean, and all the echoes of those sea creatures surrounded my soul. I pulled that energy into my body, concentrated it into my left hand, and spoke the words for an invisibility spell. Meanwhile, Rowan cast a counter-spell to void Viktor’s wards on the Cloister.

&nb
sp; When we finished, Rowan and I looked ghostly to each other, but we couldn’t be seen at all by anyone else. The invisibility also extended to our magick—no other mages could feel our castings. Perfect.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Rowan.

  “Strong enough for a transport spell. You?”

  “The same.” He raised his right hand. “See you on the Basilica roof.”

  We began our incantations. Soon, a swirling cloud of red and blue mist surrounded us. I finished my incantation, and the transport magick began. Darkness instantly enveloped me.

  This transport spell was for a short distance, but it still hurt like blazes. I fell through the darkness while magickal energy tore at my limbs. All the air was squeezed out of my lungs. Seconds later, I reappeared on the roof of the Basilica, which was a large and flat space. I set my hands at my waist, leaned forward, and gasped in huge lungfuls of air.

  Rowan appeared beside me. Sunbeams reflected through his ghostly body.

  We were both still invisible. Good.

  I stood up and scanned the roof. Giant skeleton statues were everywhere, each one of them at least three times my height. I paused, wondering what would happen next. What if Rowan’s spell hadn’t really broken Sophia’s snake ring? If it didn’t work, Marlene would know that I had just cast a spell and someone would appear on this roof within seconds. Every muscle in my body tensed, ready to cast or fight. I counted down the time.

  Four.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  It was still only Rowan and me. I exhaled a relieved breath, turned to Rowan, and smiled.

  “It worked.”

  He returned my grin. “That it did.”

  I meant far more than the invisibility spell, though. The leveling spell from the Sire and Lady had come through for us in general. Enduring all their tests and conditions had been worth it. We were in. Part of me wanted to wrap my arms around Rowan’s neck and cheer, but I needed to control my feelings. Emotion was a danger to the Necromancer.

  Raised voices carried through the air. A man and a woman were talking somewhere nearby, and it wasn’t going well.

  “That noise came from behind us,” whispered Rowan. I was glad that Rowan kept his voice low instead of casting spells for privacy or silence. We both needed to save our energy. My limbs were already rubbery from my last casting, and all I’d done was transport here.

  Rowan and I strode over to the opposite edge of the Basilica’s roof, leaned against one of the skeleton statues, and looked down. A small courtyard stretched out below us. Veronique was there in her black robes, tugging on the sleeve of a lean man who was dressed in a yellow long-coat. Round timepieces dangled from his pockets and his mustache and beard were tinged with gray.

  And so I see the infamous Vicomte Gaspard. Veronique had cornered him at last. I should have guessed that’s what was happening.

  “I’ll scream unless you promise me right now,” said Veronique. “Say you’ll free me from this thing and send me home.” She hissed in a breath and clutched at her left shoulder. To approach Gaspard like this, Veronique must be breaking about a dozen rules.

  Gaspard stared at her, his gray eyes as calculating as the watches he wore. “Never. You go where Viktor puts you. And that won’t be back in Royal society.”

  “But I’m your ward.”

  “You’re nothing to me.” He sneered. “No, you’re less than nothing. I only adopted you into my family because I thought you could help with my work. Turns out, you’re one of them. Necromancer filth. You disgust me.”

  Veronique stared at him for a long moment. “I should have known. Amelia warned me about you. Why didn’t I listen?”

  Gaspard pointed to one of access corridors. “Speak to me again and I’ll see you peeled like a pear. Don’t think I won’t do it.”

  Veronique shuddered and ran off.

  Watching that interaction made my blood boil. In truth, I never thought Gaspard would do anything to help Veronique, but the way he treated her was chilling. I turned to Rowan, who was leaning against one of the statues, his arms crossed and jaw tight.

  “I underestimated him,” said Rowan.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I thought he was a sniveling toady, but that man’s scheming to be a power.” A door to the courtyard opened and the Tsar stepped through. In the classic Necromancer style, he was tall and broad-shouldered with long black hair, pale skin, and high cheekbones. The hood of his black robes was pulled away to reveal a circlet of gold around his head. His hands were loaded with totem rings.

  I watched him with morbid fascination. Here was a mass murderer and torturer. Yet nothing about him looked particularly extraordinary. I could easily see a younger version of Petra approaching him at a Sanctuary Fair. He seemed like the kind of typical mage who prayed over the dead and joined in on feast days, not someone who destroyed whole Cloisters full of people.

  The Tsar stalked toward Gaspard. Instantly, the Vicomte’s shoulders slouched forward. “Greetings, my Tsar.” The look on Gaspard’s face took on a look that could only be called sniveling.

  Viktor eyed Gaspard with the same calculating glance that had just been used on Veronique. “I saw you eyeing the merchandise.”

  Merchandise. That’s how the Tsar saw the Brothers and Sisters that he led? I turned to Rowan and mouthed one question. “Now?” I pointed right at Viktor’s nose. I didn’t want to wait to take this bastard down.

  Rowan shook his head. “My instincts tell me they’re going to talk about what they’ve been working on.”

  “I don’t think we should wait.”

  “Look, Elea. We can’t take down Viktor just to leave Gaspard alone to become a bigger problem. I’ve been watching them both for years and have never gotten this close to the truth of their plans. I don’t know when we’ll get another chance.”

  It took all my control to tamp down my rage. Rowan had a point. The way Gaspard was acting, he was more than a mindless follower. The man had plots of his own, and we needed to know what they were. “Fine, but soon, right?”

  “Right.”

  I turned my attention back to the courtyard below just as Viktor stepped closer to Gaspard. “Who was the girl? The one you were talking to before I arrived?”

  “She approached me, my Tsar.”

  Viktor twisted the totem rings on his fingers. The mindless rhythm of motion made me think that this was something Viktor did when he was thinking or scheming. “And is she strong?”

  “No, my Tsar.” Gaspard forced on a fake smile. “She’s quite weak, as a matter of fact. You were inspecting the other new sisters, though. What did you think of them?”

  “Weaklings, every last one.” Viktor’s upper lip curled with disgust. “Well, there is one girl who goes by the name of Nan. She may be suitable to drain.”

  His words shook me to the core. Nan. He’d seen my dear friend and wanted to drain her power and life away. We needed to stop him. I glanced over to Rowan. “Now?”

  “Not yet, Elea.”

  I gritted my teeth and waited.

  “So,” Gaspard said slowly. “You want only want the one girl.” He leaned in closer. “And the rest?”

  “All the others you may have for your machine.”

  My gaze snapped over to Rowan. His eyes were as wide as mine felt. Machine? What was that man up to?

  “To be clear,” said Gaspard. “I can have any girl I want from this Cloister?”

  “As I said. Take whatever you wish.” Viktor sniffed. “Marlene has clearly outlived her usefulness.” He scanned the courtyard with a disgusted look. “Time to close this place down. I have other Cloisters who are producing far better stock. It’s past time I drained Marlene, anyway.”

  Gaspard bowed rapidly. “Thank you, my Tsar. You’re so generous, my Tsar.”

  How disgusting. I knew that Viktor had connected all the Necromancers together and was gathering power to him. But to hear him speak of my Brothers and Sisters as if
they were no more than cattle? No, it was far worse than that. I treated all the animals on my farm with much more respect. This man was brutal.

  Viktor raised his fist, showing off his totem rings to Gaspard. “I’m giving you what you ask for, but mark my words. My patience isn’t endless.” Viktor’s amber eyes gleamed with rage. “I need more Necromancer power. I’ve drained every decent body I can find and I still have nowhere near enough energy to control the Changed Ones. You promised me a machine that would turn someone with barely any Necromancer energy into a fountain of power. You need to deliver.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. Gaspard was taking Necromancers and putting them into some kind of machine. Is that what happened to some of the Sisters from the Midnight Cloister? If so, wouldn’t we have heard about it? I looked at Gaspard’s fancy yellow jacket. If you have enough money and resources, you can hide just about anything.

  No question about it. Some of my lost Sisters and Brothers were out there. If Gaspard had them, then they might still be freed. It was something to consider tomorrow… If I lived to see that day.

  “Patience, my Tsar.” Gaspard grabbed one of the watches from his pocket. “My work is just like one of these watches. All the little gears and pendulums add up to something greater. I’ll get you the power you need. I swear it.”

  Viktor bared his teeth. “You and your useless inventions. I’ll give you one more month. That’s all. After that, I drain every last soul in your silly machine. And once I’ve done that, I’ll throw your sorry soul into eternal fire.” Viktor smiled in a way that was both sickly-sweet and evil. “Like the idea of my curse, Gaspard?”

  My curse. He’ll throw Gaspard into the fire, same as he’s doing to me.

  Focus, Elea.

  “No, my Tsar.” Gaspard was visibly shaking. “I’ll deliver what you need.”

  “Good.” Viktor steepled his long fingers under his chin. “Tell me. What have you found out about the Caster delegation?”

  “The King awaits us in the courtyard arrived.” Gaspard kept bobbing in miniature bows as he spoke. “He genuinely wishes to parlay with you.”