by K. M. Shea
“Severin, what is wrong?” Angelique said. “You are human again, every joy in life should be yours. Why is your heart heavy?”
Severin looked away from Angelique, unable to face her. “Oliver, find Bernadine and report in to her.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Oliver said before leaving the study, glancing over his shoulder.
“You have a loyal servant in that one. It takes a lot of courage to track an enchantress across two countries,” Angelique said.
“He has more courage than I would wish for him to possess,” Severin dryly said.
Angelique smiled. “Perhaps, but it speaks loudly of his love for you… and for this Elle he has told me so much about.”
Severin briefly shut his eyes.
“Severin, what happened? Something must have gone terribly wrong to make you so miserable. Please, explain.”
“Elle, the girl Oliver told you about. She won over my servants before attempting to befriend me.”
“And that is a bad thing?”
“She is a liar. Everything she told me was a lie.”
“Everything?”
Severin hesitated. Once Elle was revealed to be an intelligencer, Severin doubted everything. He didn’t think she was indentured, or that her family lived in the country. But his conversation with Lucien had proved she was telling the truth in all those instances. “No, not everything. But she did not tell me she was employed by my brother.”
“And what does her livelihood have to do with your curse?” Angelique gently asked.
Severin was silent for a long time. “She didn’t love me,” he finally admitted. “She was just like every other woman who loved my wealth or family.”
“That cannot be.”
“But it is!” Severin said. “Her love was nothing but a lie.”
“But your curse—,”
“The curse broke because I fell in love with her! My servants know it, I know it. Our curse was removed not because Elle loved me, but because I loved her, and she does not return my love,” Severin said, clenching his hands. “I didn’t fall in love with any of those other women, although Heaven knows I tried. But Elle…I knew I loved her the moment before I realized she was a liar.”
“Oh, Severin,” Angelique said, placing a warm hand on his shoulder. “I am so sorry.”
“Yes. Now you know,” Severin said squaring his shoulders, putting his emotion behind him.
“No,” Angelique said, shaking her head. “I am sorry. I must not have explained your curse well enough. In order to break the spell that doomed you to live as a beast, you had to fall in love with a girl and she had to fall in love with you. It was not one or the other.”
Severin hesitated. “You mean…?”
Angelique nodded. “Because your curse broke I know not only do you love Elle, but Elle deeply loves you.”
Angelique’s explanation shocked Severin to his core. He had never thought Elle really loved him. It was like the floor had fallen out from under him. “What have I done?” Severin said.
“Oliver tells me she has gone on a journey?”
“A mission. She’s a Ranger, an intelligencer,” Severin said.
“You don’t know where she is?” Angelique asked.
Severin shook his head. “I know what she was sent to do, but I’ll never be able to find her.”
“Ridiculous. Of course you will. You have a magic mirror,” Angelique said, walking up to the full length looking glass.
“I’m not certain it works anymore. I tried having it display Oliver, but it wouldn’t.”
“That’s because he was with me, and I shield my presence from all kinds of magical tools. But Elle will not have that same protection. Mirror, show me this Elle girl that Prince Severin is in love with.”
Severin held back a scoff at the description of Elle, but he was at Angelique’s side in a second when the glass swirled before displaying a disheartening image.
It was Elle, clutching the leg she had broken and leaning against a bare tree. She turned to peer around it, buffeted by snow and wind, before darting to take cover beneath a bush. She reached into a small pouch tied to her belt and took out bandages, wrapping a nasty looking wound on her arm.
“Is that her?” Angelique asked.
“Yes,” Severin tightly said. “But how can I find her? She could be anywhere.”
A tiny frown spread on Angelique’s lips. “You mean you don’t know how to use this?” she asked, gesturing at the mirror.
“I apologize, I don’t understand.”
Angelique turned back to the mirror. “Mirror, show me the area this Elle girl that Prince Severin is in love with is in.”
The image zoomed out, as if they were watching through the eyes of a bird who suddenly took flight. It showed craggy mountains smoothing into white plains before hitting a thick woods.
“Ah-hah. I recognize that area. It’s in Verglas, a dozen or so miles from your border. That mountain on the horizon is called Gelus. She’s heading for Frigus Forest,” Angelique said.
Severin was already placing folded clothes in a pack by the time Angelique finished identifying the landscape. He moved swiftly, wasting no movements but remaining controlled and tidy.
“You are going after her?” Angelique asked, watching Severin select two waterproof maps.
“Yes,” Severin said, opening a chest on the far side of the room to unearth a crossbow, three hand axes, and a rolled cloth case of daggers.
“Bring clothes for her as well,” the enchantress suggested, smoothing the shimmering skirt of her dress.
Severin nodded and opened the door to tell Burke, “Send for Emele, and have Fidele and a spare mount of similar build and temperament saddled. Also ask Bernadine to make up a saddle pack with provisions to last two people a week.” Severin shut the door before his valet could bow. “Will you remain here long?” he asked Angelique as he strapped his saddle pack shut.
“I will be here when you return,” the enchantress said. “I am interested in meeting this Elle girl.”
“I will inform a steward who will have a room cleaned out for you.”
“No need, I have friends in the area I wish to stay with. I would appreciate it if you did not alert your family of my arrival,” Angelique said, a pained expression briefly flickering across her lovely face.
Severin paused for a moment. “Lucien recited poetry about you for some time after you left,” he said.
“Lucien is a toad. Or he will be if you tell him I am here,” Angelique promised.
Severin cracked a half smile before hanging the pack over his shoulder and picking up his weapons. “Then I apologize for my abrupt exit. I cannot thank you enough for your help. Is there any way to repay you?”
“Seeing you with Elle will be enough.”
Severin bowed. “If you need anything seek out Burke. He is discreet and will grant you whatever you desire.”
“Thank you, and take care, Your Highness. I look forward to your return.”
“Thank you, for everything, My Lady,” Severin said before leaving his room. He stalked to Lucien’s study, moving with a feline grace he hadn’t lost with his transformation.
The guards outside Lucien’s study eyed Severin but made no move to stop him when the obviously displeased prince threw the door open without knocking.
Lucien looked up from the couch he was dramatically sprawled across. “Oh, Severin, it’s you. Perfect timing. Mumsy just sent me a note that father is intending to hold another ball this week. Since you did nothing but stand in a corner at the last four I thought you might want to escape it and run off to—.”
“Lucien.”
“What? Are you going somewhere?” the golden haired prince asked, finally noticing Severin’s pack and accessories.
“Yes. I’m going after Elle.”
“Ranger Seventy Eight?”
“No. Elle.”
“I fail to see the difference, they’re the same thing.”
“No, they aren
’t. Elle is a person, not a numbered, faceless servant. When she returns she will no longer be subject to your fits of fancy,” Severin said, resting the butt of the crossbow on the back of a chair.
“I know that. You paid off her contract,” Lucien frowned.
“Also we will not be going to war with Arcainia. It will ruin our foreign alliances, place undue stress on our citizens, and sacrifice soldiers who did not join our army for the purpose of getting you another toy. It’s a foolish idea. I won’t support it, and I will fight it with every piece of power and influence I possess,” Severin vowed, his eyes almost glowing with anger.
Lucien briefly pursed his lips. “Okay,” he agreed.
Severin blinked at the unexpected reply. “What.”
“If you don’t want to go to war we won’t. I don’t know why you’re reacting so. All you had to do was say no,” Lucien said, pillowing his head on his arms.
“I’ve spent the last year telling you why we shouldn’t go to war.”
“Yes, but you never said no. I’ve told you before, Severin, you’re my brother. If you don’t want to do something, we won’t do it. You’ve got better judgment than I anyway. Except for your taste in women,” Lucien said, wrinkling his nose.
“You know that I love Elle?”
“Of course I did. I figured you were sunk after our last meeting in the lodge—before this commoner girl you would have more self awareness than to purchase a pony.”
“Then why did you send her on this mission? Why did you let me rage against her?”
“Because I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. I mean really, brother. A commoner?”
“And I’m an illegitimate son. What of it?”
“Oh come now, that’s hardly the same,” Lucien protested. “Ranger Seventy Eight—,”
“Stop calling her that. Her name is Elle.”
Lucien sat up and studied Severin. “You’re serious. You plan to marry her, don’t you?”
Severin pinched the bridge of his nose. “If she’ll have me. I was the one that enslaved her, and then I insulted her and stormed at her. I’m not certain she’ll forgive me.”
Lucien gave an aggravated exhale. “She will. She isn’t stupid, she’s an intelligencer. So I’ll have to get along without her, then? Fine. If you see something redeemable in her I’m sure I will. Eventually. I’ll make myself grow to love her too,” Lucien reasoned.
Severin stared at his brother as he adjusted his grip on his crossbow.
“I mean like! Just like, I promise!” Lucien said.
A smile eased across Severin’s face, cutting the tension. “Thank you, Lucien. I am blessed to call you my brother.”
Lucien made a shooing gesture. “I know it. Now get out of here, you have a woman to rescue.”
Elle shifted in her makeshift shelter, shivering with cold and pain. Her leg ached and the dagger wound on her arm throbbed, but she had the papers. Elle obsessively felt through her clothes for the hidden pouch cinched around calf. It contained orders for the Verglas assassin’s guild. When Elle delivered these papers to the palace Severin would be safe. Hopefully.
The guild had chased her across the country; she lost them just before Frigus Forest in the Obitus Straight. She doubted they would catch up—she had purposely made her presence known in a mountain range, prodding dozens of mountain hags to investigate.
Thankfully she had managed to get away, but Elle knew there was still a good chance she would be killed before she reached Loire’s borders, horseless and injured as she was.
Elle briefly shut her eyes, leaning her head against the tree truck she was wedged against. She was exhausted, and needed to rest for just a few minutes before pushing on. After she rested she would leave Frigus Forest.
The howling wind sounded strangely like someone calling her name.
“Just another sign of exhaustion,” Elle said, flexing her numb fingers.
“Elle.”
It was with a pain to her heart that Elle realized the voice sounded like Severin. “I miss him,” she said.
“Elle.”
“I wish he would forgive me,” Elle sighed, her head lolling on her neck. She was so cold it hurt.
“Elle!”
Elle opened her eyes and peered out of the bush-like shelter she had constructed. Someone was standing a few feet away, their back was to her but it sounded like… “Severin?”
The figure turned around, revealing amber eyes and a chiseled face. “Elle,” he said, a smile cracking on his lips.
He was at her side in an instant, pulling her out of her shelter and into a warm embrace. “You’re safe,” he said, his voice heavy with relief.
Elle briefly leaned her head against his chest. Was this a dream? She felt warmer in his arms; he blocked the wind better than her terrible shelter had.
Severin brushed frost from her hair, jolting Elle from her frozen stupor.
He was real, even though he was so cursed good looking. He wasn’t a hallucination. “Are you mad? What are you doing here?” Elle said, pulling away from the prince.
Severin held out a folded blanket. “I’m here for you.”
Elle stared at the blanket before raising her eye to Severin’s face. “Did an assassin get to you and pound your head in?”
Severin stepped closer, attempting to wrap the blanket around Elle. “No.”
“Then what in the name of all things smart and intelligent prompted you to come to Verglas? In case you’ve forgotten the assassins guild here is trying to KILL YOU!” Elle shouted, dodging the blanket.
“I’m aware of the risk I took in coming, but you needed help.”
Elle shook her head. She knew she was on the verge of hysteria. She had spent the last two months creeping among assassins, trying not to think of her broken heart. She had been injured and chased across the country, and now Severin chose to come prancing into a territory that was dangerous—if not downright deadly—to him? “You told me to leave. You said you never wanted to see me again,” Elle said, tossing her head.
“I was wrong. We can talk about this later, Elle. We need to get you to civilization,” Severin said, still brandishing the blanket as he sidled closer.
“No, no, no! We will not talk about this later! You need to leave, now.”
“I’m not leaving without you.”
“SEVERIN! I broke your curse, I put up with being yelled at, and I conned my way into an assassins’ guild for you. Isn’t that enough? Can’t you just leave me alone?” Elle said, covering her eyes with her gloved hands.
“I’m not asking you to do anything more for me, Elle. I’m asking you to let me serve you,” Severin quietly said. “I said it before, but I will say it as many times as you need to me. I was wrong. I was too pigheaded to see the truth. So now will you let me protect you?”
Elle lowered her hands. “The assassins—,”
“I can take care of a few ragged attackers. Even if you haven’t shaken all of the assassins off your trail—which I suspect you have—they will be in no condition to face me, as frozen and unprepared as they are. Trust me, Elle. You have done much for me, let me protect you,” Severin calmly said, holding out the blanket.
Elle’s shoulders heaved as she stared at Severin. She abruptly tipped forward, falling against him. “You broke my heart you big cat,” she muttered as he wrapped the blanket around her.
“We shall see,” Severin enigmatically said, scooping Elle up in his arms.
Elle pressed her face against his cloak, shielding her face from the stinging wind. “How did you find me?”
“Magic. And an enchantress,” Severin said, boosting her onto Fidele’s back.
Elle shivered as Severin mounted up behind her. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Can Fidele carry us both?”
“For a time. I brought an extra mount, we’ll switch when we have to. Sleep, Elle.”
Elle didn’t have the strength to protest. She fell asleep listening to Severin’s beating heart, joy warming h
er from the inside out. Severin had come for her.
Chapter 15
Partners in Life
Hunger woke Elle, gnawing at her stomach like a crazed animal.
Elle slowly opened her eyes to find there were three people in her room. A woman stood at the fireplace at the far end of the room, a second woman stood at the door, and a man stood at Elle’s bedside.
Elle blinked blearily at the man, who was stirring some sort of tea concoction. He was stout with a jolly face and warm eyes. “Duval?” she said, her voice rusty.
Duval smiled, a gesture that lit up his face. “The Mademoiselle is awake,” he announced.
The woman at the door ran into the hallway. “Elle is awake!” she shouted.
The woman at the fireplace, Emele, flew across the room. “Elle!” she said, crying and laughing at once.
Emele hugged Elle, barely giving her time to sit upright. “I’m so glad you’re here! I’m sorry for what I said,” Emele said, squeezing her tight. “I missed you so much.”
“And I missed you,” Elle laughed
“If I could intrude for a moment, but Mademoiselle Elle has been through much. If you would drink this restorative tea—,” Duval started before he was plowed over by Bernadine.
“Elle!” Bernadine said, her voice as warm and inviting as her morning pastries. “We’re delighted that you have returned.”
“Where am I?” Elle asked, looking around the room. She didn’t recognize it. It was a bedroom for certain—one larger and even more lavish than her chateau room—and it was decorated in golds and sedate reds.
“You’re in Chanceux Chateau, darling,” Bernadine chortled, affectionately smacking Elle as if she were the silliest thing in the world. (The smack jolted Elle with its force.)
“But this isn’t my room,” Elle said.
“It is now,” Emele said, seating herself on the edge of Elle’s mattress.
“But, what about my old room,” Elle stammered.
“It’s still there,” Bernadine nodded.
“I don’t understand,” Elle said.
“What these two ninnies aren’t telling you is that His Honor himself ordered this room cleaned for your use,” a strong voice drawled from the door.