The Warrior's Curse

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

  Simon’s eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn’t quite read. Sadness, maybe. At least, that’s how he sounded when he said, “I would die for the Infidante, because I took an oath once to do so. I would die for Kestra Dallisor, because without her, there is no meaning to my life anyway. But I cannot sacrifice myself for a corruption that will eventually take over this land.”

  My temper flared. “You call it corruption, but it’s only a word. It could as easily be called power or progress, or evolution, for any of those are better descriptions.”

  “I describe it as rot, as decay, as an acid inside you. Look around, Kes, and see how it’s changed you! We’re in the dead of winter, and you don’t even have a simple cloak for protection. Does it make sense that you’re not even shivering?”

  I wasn’t shivering, but he must not have noticed my trembling. Whether from anger or from whatever feelings I still had for Simon, I didn’t know. But he was right about one thing: In any other circumstance, I should have been frostbitten by now.

  Simon took another step toward me, more cautious this time. “Please let me help. Before it’s too late.”

  My fists clenched. He just needed to understand what had become obvious to me. “If you’d seen the forest, seen what I did for Loelle’s people, you’d feel differently. I’ve taken the curse from the land, so they can leave now. And when I have the strength for it, I’ll take the curse from them. Your people were there too, Simon. Thousands of Halderians were trapped by Endrick’s curse and are able to leave now.” I stepped closer to him and watched him counter with a step back. With a tilt of my head, I added, “If you think that is a bad thing, then perhaps the true corruption is in you.”

  He frowned. “I think we have to remember the larger purpose in Antora.”

  “I am that larger purpose! Kings and queens will come and go, but if Antora is to continue to exist, then we need someone on that Scarlet Throne to preserve the peace.”

  “Like Endrick did?”

  My spine stiffened. “I am the Infidante and the Infidante is magic. If there is corruption too, then it’s who I am now. So if necessary, would you die for me or not?”

  He wouldn’t answer. “There must be a way to heal you—”

  “Why should I? Magic is leading me toward a throne to which I am the rightful heir. You are not that heir, but you want it for the Halderians, King Simon.”

  “You know that’s not true. You also know that your parents—your true parents—gave their lives to fight the very thing you are now embracing.”

  Simon didn’t know that Darrow was alive, but it didn’t matter. My true mother was not. Tears filled my eyes. “Don’t speak of my parents.”

  “I know that Darrow loved you. Your mother—”

  The first tear fell. “Stop this.”

  I lifted a hand and felt the coldness inside me, the corruption. For the first time, I was frightened by its presence.

  Maybe Simon didn’t realize how his words were affecting me, but if he cared at all for me, he would stop. Instead, he pushed further. “Your parents must have suspected what lay ahead for you, if you were ever discovered. If there were a way to return to who you were, what would they want you to do?”

  “What would you want me to do?” My voice became as serious as it had ever been. “Before leaving the forest, I saw your sister. She’s an Ironheart and probably somewhere here in Highwyn now. If I see her again, and if I can get close enough to restore her, shall I pull in her curse too? Save your sister, and lose more of myself?”

  Until that moment, Simon had been moving steadily closer, but he was frozen now, the only movement a stiff rise and fall of his chest as he took that in.

  “You saw Rosaleen?” When I kept my gaze steady on him, he said, “We’ll find a way to save you both. We’ll—”

  “Kestra!”

  Hearing Joth’s alarmed voice, I backed away from Simon, whose widened eyes looked as confused as I felt.

  “The Coracks are coming,” Joth said. “We’ve got to leave!”

  The Coracks? Angry, I turned to Simon, who was already shaking his head. “I swear I didn’t know—”

  “You tricked me!”

  “Kes, don’t go.” Simon reached for me, but I took his hand and instantly pulled enough strength from his body that he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

  As soon as Simon fell, I heard the screech of his dragon, which took to the air. It was coming to protect its master, which meant my mother’s grave was accessible.

  By the time I returned there, Joth was already digging a hole, beneath what looked like a fresher area of dirt than the rest of the grave. I knelt beside him to help, and within seconds, my hand touched a canvas bag.

  The Olden Blade.

  I pulled it from the ground, still in its bag, and then leapt onto my horse. I had barely grabbed the reins, when pain seared through my shoulder. I cried out and looked back to see a silver disk lodged in the flesh. Behind me, Harlyn was reaching for a second disk, this one black—it would kill me. As much as the others wanted me dead, Harlyn would have twice the motivation. She wanted Simon for herself.

  Well, she could have him. I felt like a fool for how easily he had duped me. Never again.

  Joth mumbled something under his breath, and behind me, I watched the Coracks suddenly collide into a barrier I could not see.

  “The half-lives,” he said. “They are protecting us.”

  We rode until we left the cemetery behind and found a quiet place to stop. Joth dismounted, then helped me off my horse. The blade was still stuck in my shoulder, and I was dizzy with pain.

  “If I pull this out, will you be able to heal yourself?” he asked.

  “Not unless I can pull strength from you to make it happen. It will hurt you too.”

  He knelt beside me. “I can handle it.”

  I wasn’t sure that he could, but I also knew this wound was deep enough that if I didn’t do something for myself, I’d be in serious trouble. So I gritted my teeth while Joth pulled out the disk, one firm, awful tug that made me cry out.

  I collapsed onto all fours, but he took my hands in his and I began to pull strength from him.

  The instant I did, he gasped and his face twisted, but he held on to me and made no effort to resist what I was doing, what I had to do if I was going to live. I took no more than what I needed, but even then, when I released him, we were both exhausted.

  We lay in the snow, which should have felt colder than it did, and as I recovered, anger seethed inside me.

  “Simon tricked me. He was stalling until the Coracks arrived.”

  “Weren’t they always going to try to harm you?”

  “Not Simon. I didn’t think Simon—” I sat up, unable to finish the rest. Unwilling to face the truth about Simon, but knowing I had to do it.

  Simon had never cared for me; he was just better at using me than any of the others. I’d been blind to that for so long, but no longer.

  That cold center within me began to burn. The Corack rebellion wanted to see itself as the hero of the people, as the defense against Lord Endrick. But they were worse than Endrick had ever been, for they wanted the same tyranny and masked themselves as the guardians of freedom.

  The ideas that had been unsettled in my mind until now began to come together at last. I knew what I had to do.

  I turned to Joth. “What is required for us to unite our magic?”

  He sat up, taking a moment before answering. “I still am not certain it will work. If it does, we each will have twice the strength, twice the abilities. You will know what I’m doing before I do it, and I’ll know the same. But arriving at that place requires your whole heart, and you will take mine.”

  I faced him directly. “How is it done?”

  “It’s simple, really.” Joth looked around to be sure we were alone, then stood and helped me to my feet. He led me deeper into the trees and said, “You must understand, if this works, we will do more than share magic, we will share ours
elves with each other. It is a very … close relationship. If you still have feelings for Simon, that may interfere—”

  “I don’t.” No positive feelings anyway.

  “Then take my hand.”

  He held it upright near his chest, and I clasped his hand with mine, bringing our bodies close together. Already I could feel the pulse of his magic wrapping around my fingers, but he only gripped my hand tighter.

  “Your magic is powerful,” he said. “When it surges inside you, your eyes deepen in color. Grass green to emerald.”

  I smiled. “Now what?”

  “Offer up your magic as a gift, sincerely given, with all your heart. In return, I will give my magic to you, as much as you wish to take. If we give of ourselves fully and freely, we should—” His voice broke off there, and his eyes widened.

  I wondered if what he felt was anywhere near what was happening to me. For his magic was flooding through me, more than I could contain. I knew he was pulling at my own magic too, but even as I gave it, I felt my powers grow as never before, blending with his and binding themselves into one.

  I gasped, unable to take enough of a breath to absorb everything as it came to me, unable to comprehend how even my own magic seemed to have doubled in strength. With the next wave of his magic, I suddenly realized that I was kissing him, or he was kissing me, I wasn’t sure how it had begun.

  I only knew that he had become so much a part of me that he was in my mind and my every thought was of him. I didn’t fully understand what was happening, only that our magic had crashed together and was one united power now.

  For the first time since we began, he released my hand and wrapped his arms around me, but the kiss between us continued. I was feeding on his strength to build my own, and as I became more powerful, I knew he must be pulling strength from the half-lives around him to continue to give to me.

  His hands were on my neck, and for the first time, I realized how warm they were. Too warm. I pushed away, separating myself from him, my eyes widened.

  “Joth, you took in my corruption too.”

  When it had only been mine, I had not thought it to be too dangerous, that it was something I could control, but the change in his eyes made me nervous. The bright blue had turned silver, like molten steel now, flaming with emotions I could not understand, even as he worked to slow his breathing.

  “At first it felt like taking in poison,” he said. “But then I began to understand it isn’t corruption at all. It’s power, and together, we will take all of it.”

  “I …” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, whether I wanted what he was now suggesting. But his next kiss seemed to dissolve any concern I might have had. By the time we emerged from the woods, hand in hand, my resolve was clear. I was ready to kill Lord Endrick.

  No, not simply ready. I was eager for it.

  Trina shook me awake, and I sat up in a bed, disoriented, until I realized we were back at Woodcourt. At first, I didn’t know how I had gotten here, but the pit in my gut told me something had gone horribly wrong. Then I remembered, and it was worse than horrible. We may have ruined everything.

  “Did she escape?” I asked, not certain of how I wanted Trina to answer.

  Trina nodded, but said, “Harlyn shot her with a disk, so she couldn’t have gone far. If we follow the trail of blood, we should be able to track her down.”

  “That isn’t the plan anymore,” Tenger said, walking up to join me and Trina. “The few of us Coracks who are here aren’t enough to fight those two. Kestra retrieved the blade, so we can assume they’re going to begin preparations for an attack on Lord Endrick. We need to be there when it happens, and with a force strong enough to demand their attention. Hugh and I are returning to enter negotiations with the Brill.”

  “The Brill, who want Kestra dead?”

  Tenger’s eyes sparked. “The Brill, who have both the numbers and weapons that we lack. Their technologies are better than anyone else’s in getting around magic, whether it’s Endrick’s or Kestra’s, or this boy with her. Like it or not, Simon, we need their help.”

  “Are you sure of that?” In my head, I heard the echo of Kestra’s question to me, of whether I would still give my life for her. How could I possibly have answered that?

  I cursed and tried to stand up, but Kestra had taken more from me than I had realized at first. I was having a hard enough time simply sitting there.

  Harlyn sat near me on the bed to check the bandage she had wrapped around my side earlier. As she did, she said, “You’re lucky to be here. Kestra nearly killed you.”

  “And you tried to kill her,” I countered. “Do you think there’s any chance she’ll work with us now?”

  “You must stop pretending that is even a possibility.” Gabe had been leaning against the far wall of my room, but now he stood taller. “We all know how you feel, but you’ve got to see her as she is. Simon, if she is not stopped, she will be a greater enemy to us than Endrick ever was.”

  “I do see that. But I won’t allow you to kill her. We must weed the corruption out of her.”

  Tenger and Gabe exchanged a look, which was easy enough to read. Then Tenger said, “You warned me against giving her magic and were obviously right to do so. I thought we could keep control of her magic better than we have, delay the onset of corruption.” Then he straightened up, scratching his trimmed beard. “Loelle betrayed us and, in doing so, has already destroyed Kestra. Blame her for Kestra’s troubles, not me.”

  It was a nice speech, and I did agree that Loelle had brought great harm to Kestra, but that didn’t mean Tenger was blameless. We wouldn’t be in this situation but for him.

  Though to be fair, Kestra wouldn’t be alive today if she hadn’t received magic. We had done that to her.

  And to be even more accurate, if I had not captured her that night, and forced her into the betrayal of her family, someone else would have become the Infidante, and Kestra might have had the simpler life that she had wanted.

  Tenger nodded at Trina. “I need you to assist Basil in his recovery. Try to find out anything you can about his time in captivity—perhaps we’ll learn something to help our cause. Even if we get the Brill on our side, it won’t be enough. You must convince him to send for his armies from Reddengrad.”

  “They were nearly destroyed in the last battle,” I said. “They won’t come to help us fight here.”

  “We saved Basil’s life—they’ll come.” Now Tenger addressed me. “And what orders will the king of the Halderians give to his people? Is it not his obligation to retake the Scarlet Throne?”

  If I didn’t care to occupy the Halderian throne, why should he think I would seek out the throne to rule over all of Antora? Especially because I knew at what price I would obtain that throne.

  I started to shake my head, but Gabe said, “Can you all leave us alone for a minute?”

  Tenger muttered orders for everyone else to leave, and when they had gone, Gabe sat in the chair across from me and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. For a long time he remained silent, waiting for me to begin.

  Finally, I did. “If she had wanted to, she could have killed me. There is still more good in her than bad.”

  “For now.”

  His words hung in the air. I couldn’t ignore them.

  “You’re a blind fool,” he said. “Here you have Harlyn, who hangs on your every word. She’d marry you yesterday and would be a partner you could trust and rely on. You’re losing her, and for what? The nicest thing you can say about Kestra is that she could have killed you but didn’t. Not for the first time, I might add.”

  For some reason, that made me smile, but Gabe continued. “From the moment you first saw Kestra, you lost your reason and logic. It’s time to claim it again, my friend, and it starts now. I’m going to leave and send Harlyn in here so that you two can talk. Remember that everything is on the line. The future of Antora, our lives, and the entire purpose for the rebellion. Do what you must to preserve all that we h
ave fought for.”

  I hated that he was right. Having to admit that, even to myself, tore at my heart, yet the same thoughts had been weighing on me for weeks. It was time that I finally listened. I gave him a brief nod; he smiled grimly and stood up, leaving the room. A moment later, Harlyn entered. For her, I forced myself to my feet.

  We faced each other awkwardly, then Harlyn said, “What are the orders of the Halderian king?”

  I drew a slow breath. “I’ll send you with Rawk back to the Hiplands. I want every soldier of our armies, or everyone who wishes to join in this fight against Lord Endrick, to assemble here as quickly as possible. Can you bring them here?”

  Harlyn straightened up. “You intend to fight Lord Endrick, then?”

  “The Halderians will be there when he is destroyed.” Forcing the words from my mouth caused a deep pain within me, but they had to be spoken. “And we will celebrate when the Scarlet Throne is ours again at last.”

  Harlyn tilted her head. “Ours?”

  “Yours and mine.”

  Harlyn smiled. “I’ll return with our cavalry, Simon, I promise.”

  She gave me a kiss and a warm embrace that left me feeling colder than before, and finally excused herself to make preparations to leave.

  Gabe entered again and smiled at me when he saw how happy Harlyn looked. Once we were alone, he said that Tenger and Hugh were on their way to meet the Brill. “I don’t like a foreign army joining us,” he added. “Don’t we have enough strategies of our own? Remember that binding cord from Lonetree Camp?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’ve still got it. If we find Kestra, maybe it’d work to keep her with us for more than a few minutes.”

  If only we could. “I think we’re beyond that now.”

  He encouraged me to sleep, but I couldn’t. I only sat at the window, gazing out at a chilly day in which lazy snowflakes drifted listlessly in the air, lit by a waning sun.

  I heard the trouble before I saw it, the sounds of marching in perfect step. Ironhearts. They were loud enough to awaken Gabe, who joined me at the window.