Curse of Blood and Shadow

by J. M. Kearl

  Curse of Blood and Shadow

  Allied Kingdoms Academy 1

  J.M. Kearl

  Independently Published by J.M. Kearl

  Copyright © 2020 J.M. Kearl

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design by: J.M. Kearl

  I want to say thank you and dedicate this book to my sister Brittany, she bounced ideas around with me and helped make this book a reality.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 1

  A bead of sweat rolled down the back of my neck as I gripped my sword tighter. The weight of the shiny metal grew heavy in my fatiguing grasp. Slowly, my breath pushed past my lips. I took a step, watching my opponent for his next move. He outweighed me by at least fifty pounds and was a full five inches taller but his speed, tired or not, didn’t match mine.

  I struck out. Our swords hit. He shoved me back. Side step, swing. I brought my blade across his shoulder and the blunted metal tore through the fabric of his shirt but didn’t cut skin. He winced and jerked away. It would bruise but on a real battlefield he’d lose the use of that arm.

  “Come on, Visteal, finish it!” Shouted a girl on one side of the sparring circle.

  The fifty or so boys hollered from the opposite side to their teammate. They didn’t want to lose this week’s tournament to a girl again. “You’re good, Princess,” Finnick said with a smirk. “But you won’t be victorious today.”

  He rushed me, bringing his sword down hard. I blocked it but the weight of his body was too much. Ducking to the side, I rolled, ending up on one knee in the grass. Staying low, I turned toward Finnick, swinging my sword at his legs. His foot collided with my arm sending my weapon flying through the air.

  Grinning, he brought the point of his blade to my neck and the professor let out a whistle, signaling the end of the match, and my defeat. The boys cheered, the girls groaned in disappointment. I punched the ground in frustration. That was a loss for the girls’ team this week and it was my fault. Bragging rights would go to the boys. To make it worse, a palm-sized, blue-haired pixie with purple iridescent wings, marked an “L” next to my name on the board.

  Finnick held out his hand to me. “You can’t win every time.”

  Looking at him, I grew nervous. But if I didn’t take it, people would think I was being a sore loser, and as Princess, I had to be amiable. Reluctantly, we clasped hands, and the moment our skin touched, my mind was invaded with a scene that took my breath away... Finnick walking down a darkened hallway, the only source of light came from a torch on the wall. His footsteps echoed loudly, then I heard a second set—My body tensed in anticipation of what this vision would bring. Out of the shadows a figure jumped onto Finnick’s back. Screams of pain, an animalistic growl, then Finnick hit the floor and the attacker ran. Blood oozed from his neck, and his eyes stared soullessly toward the heavens.

  Taking in a sharp breath, and nauseated, I jerked from his grasp and stared into his face. Finnick was going to die. I knew this because I was born with a curse. Some people would say it was a gift, but seeing the end of one’s life was anything but gifted. My parents told me to keep my ability a secret. Father thought if people knew, they’d seek me out for this knowledge so that they could try to prevent their unfortunate fate. People would kill to stop it. The problem with that was, I’d never once been wrong. I’d tried to save people before.

  “What’s the matter?” Finnick asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

  I swallowed down the lump in my throat and walked away, saying nothing. If I told him what I saw, it wouldn’t change anything. The people in these visions always died exactly as it played out in my mind. I only viewed death if it was tragic—violent, if the person’s life was cut short. Which in itself was tragic. Couldn’t I watch someone die as an old woman in her bed after a long life? Not a murder.

  Thankfully, the sparring match was the last class of the day so I could escape. I fought back tears. Finnick and I weren’t close, we hadn’t spoken more than a few words of banter but I didn’t want him to die. For his life to be cut short like that… and who would kill him? What sort of person growls like a beast? There was no war, no battles to be fought. With the low lighting, I couldn’t tell from the vision but I assumed the person slit his throat; there was so much blood.

  Earlier in the day, before I saw Finnick’s death, I was worried about what my parents, the King and Queen, wanted to talk to me about at dinner. If they called me to dine with them instead of allowing me to eat with the other students, that usually meant I was in trouble. Hopefully they didn’t find out I put a spider the size of my hand in Old Man Cooks’s bed. When he berated me for taking an extra brownie in front of everyone, he should have known there would be retaliation.

  ∞∞∞

  Once I got to my room, I dressed in a fresh academy uniform. Both the long-sleeved top and pants were black with a splash of crimson in the phoenix on my chest. I combed through my straight, dark-honey colored hair. My mother always complained about her beautiful golden curls but I wished I had them. Flat and sleek wasn’t nearly as alluring. A knock on my bedroom door told me it was time to go so I pulled the brush through the last of my tangles and set it down on my vanity.

  “Visteal, dinner!” shouted Bindy, my attendant and guardian. After slipping on knee-high boots, I threw the door open and Bindy stood with her arms folded atop her voluptuous belly. She thought no one noticed her sneaking treats but anyone with eyes could see the truth. Although, no one should be fooled by her out-of-shape appearance, Bindy was as deadly as they came with a blade and magic.

  She reached for my head. “Why isn’t your hair braided for supper?”

  Ducking out of her grasp, I said, “Because I didn’t want to braid it,” and brushed past her.

  Bindy took a black pair of gloves from her apron and fell into step beside me. “Do you want your gloves?”

  I glanced at them, eyes lingering for a beat too long. “No. You know if I wear them often people wonder why. Then I’m the strange girl who won’t take off her gloves.”

  Contact with skin triggered my curse. If I wore the gloves then I didn’t have to see anything. Usually I just avoided touching people even if they thought I was rude for being closed off.

  She tucked them away and patted my back. “Don’t be too u
pset today.”

  I paused and turned to her, staring into her friendly face. By that statement, she was hiding something and it had nothing to do with the gloves. “Upset about what?”

  “You’ll see soon enough.”

  “Bindy,” I chided. “Tell me. You know I hate surprises.”

  “I’m not even supposed to know. Just overheard the Queen and King talking. Don’t get me in trouble now. You’ll find out.” We descended the steps. My heart hammered with anticipation. What could they possibly want to talk to me about that would make me upset? Did someone get hurt?

  Bindy pulled the door open to the small dining chambers for the royal family and went on her way. Inside my parents already sat at the long rectangular table, but my two brothers hadn’t been brought in by their guardians. At least dinner would be less annoying tonight.

  The smell of honeyed ham and some sort of fruity pie filled the room, making my mouth water. Training always made me ravenously hungry.

  Mother looked up at me with a smile. Her curly hair was pulled up to show off her dangling gold earrings, adorned in small rubies. Her sharp blue eyes gave nothing away.

  Father stood and pulled out a chair for me. “Good evening, my little darling. How was your day?”

  I forced a smile, not wanting to talk about Finnick. I also didn’t want to snitch on Bindy for giving me a heads up so I gave him a hug without mentioning it. “Oh, it was a typical day.” I sat as if I knew nothing was amiss. As I reached for a biscuit, my mother set her fork down, and it clinked loud enough to draw my attention.

  “The new academy in the Gap of Freeole is finally ready,” she said.

  “Yeah, I know, everyone keeps talking about it. All three kingdoms going to school together in no man’s land, yippee.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure the Hesstian illcasts are thrilled.”

  My father batted my arm with the back of his hand. “Enough of your sarcasm.”

  “And stop calling the non magic-born illcasts. It’s derogatory,” Mother said. “Some of them are better fighters than you. They don’t have magic to fall back on so they try harder.” She grew up thinking she didn’t have magic—it was a long story—so I understood her sympathies but we all knew the ability was better. And if it weren’t for her powerful magic, she wouldn’t be Queen Daelyn. She won the title in a Queens Challenge before I was born.

  I took the large, warm biscuit into hand and chomped into it. “I didn’t make up the term ‘illcasts’. It’s what everyone at academy says. And there are few better fighters than me at my age.” The statement made me think of how I lost today, which led me to think of the person I lost to and his fate.

  “Don’t speak with your mouth full of food,” Father said and took his glass of honey mead into his hand. “I hope your manners are better in public.”

  Heat rose into my cheeks. Being scolded by my father was always worse than when my mother did. Although he was a caring man, he had a way of making anyone feel half-witted. He was good at pretty much everything.

  I cleared my throat, made sure there was no more food in my mouth, and said, “Is there a reason I’m not downstairs eating dinner with my friends?”

  My parents exchanged a look, a look I knew all too well. Whatever this was, I wouldn’t like it. “Your mother didn’t bring up the new academy for you to make fun of it, you’re going there,” Father said. “In two days.”

  My mouth dropped and I looked back and forth between them. “You can’t be serious.”

  Mother nodded. “We spoke with the other three royal houses and it’s been decided that the royal children should set the example and go to the new academy.”

  “It will make the unity between our kingdoms stronger,” Father said tapping his fingers on the table.

  I threw my biscuit on my plate and shot to my feet. “There is nothing wrong with our unity now! I don’t want to go there. I want to stay here with my friends.”

  My mother’s face pulled into a frown. “Visteal, it will be good for you—”

  “No, it won’t! I want to go where Father went!” With my nails digging into my palms, I took a calming breath. I’d never gotten anywhere with them by arguing like a child. So I changed my tactics. “Here in the capitol is where the best of the best attend. Am I not worthy?”

  “Of course you are,” Mother said with a sympathetic gaze. “It has nothing to do with your talent or skills. We know you’re good.”

  “You don’t understand because you never went to the academy, Mother,” I said, angry tears stinging my eyes. “Father, please. This is my home. I don’t want to go.”

  He stood, towering over me, and his green eyes softened. “Things will be different. We won’t see you every day and we’ll miss you, but all other academy students leave their family for training.” My father pulled me into his burly chest and surrounded me in his firm grasp. “You can come home for celebrations and holidays. You’re only a portal away.”

  I breathed in his woodsy scent, knowing I would miss it, and the threatening tears fell. I’d been lucky to have my family so close through my nearly seventeen years of life. To protect me. To keep me safe. To console me when my curse made itself known… Now I’d be like every other student who must leave their parents. It’s not as if I’d have much more freedom, a princess was always closely watched.

  I sat down and dabbed my eyes with a napkin. There was no use in arguing any further, they’d made up their minds. I hadn’t even had time to think about what else my mother said until now. “Did you say that the other royal children will be going there? Zyacus and Aric?” Zyacus, the Hesstian prince was such a pompous ass, I hoped he wasn’t. But Prince Aric… I’d never met. The dethroned former Queen of Delhoon wasn’t allowed to set foot in our land and we didn’t go to Collweya, the Northern kingdom because of her. Mother hated that she married the Collweyan prince and was still in a position of power even if it was far away.

  “Yes, the princes will be there,” Mother said. “Be nice to Zyacus, Visteal. I know you two don’t exactly get along.”

  “I’ll be nice if he is,” I said, knowing full well that wouldn’t happen. The last time I saw him he put something in my drink that turned my mouth and teeth black for hours. At a dinner party. Everyone saw.

  I took a deep breath, if commanded to leave, I would refuse to go alone. Stomach already in knots thinking about leaving, if I didn’t have my best friend by my side, I’d really cause a scene. “Please tell me Legacy is coming. I can’t go to a new academy without her.” Even with peace between our three kingdoms there would still be a rivalry between us; it was only natural. Considering the kingdom of Hesstia where Prince Zyacus lived, was our enemy for a thousand years. They used to enslave or execute magic-born. And Collweya sided with them during the war with us eighteen years ago. It was a miracle that my mother negotiated peace.

  “Legacy is going as well,” my mother answered.

  With a growing smile, I asked, “May I be excused?”

  Not long after, I burst into the grand dining hall. Loud chatter, the smell of fresh pastries and savory meats filled the room. Half of the hundred or so students turned to watch me as I strutted inside. I began to wonder how many of them were recruited to go to the new academy. When I spotted Legacy sitting at one of the long tables, I hurried over to slide into the bench next to her. “Have they told you yet?”

  Legacy pushed her dark wavy hair behind her ear. “That we’re being sent to go to the academy of outcasts?” She let out a sigh. “Yeah. We better cause some mayhem here while we have the chance. I mean, we should at least give them a reason to kick us out of here. Tomorrow?”

  I nodded, the anticipation of whatever reckless plan she had fluttered in my gut. “I’m in.”

  Chapter 2

  During the first class of the day my eyes threatened to stay closed while Professor Deg prattled on about the history of griffins. Not that I didn’t find this interesting but his voice was so monotone it could lull a crazed pixie to sleep. I’d m
uch rather be in Advanced Swords or Dueling class, anything to get my mind off going to the new academy, and the impending death of Finnick.

  A nudge against my arm, and my eyes popped wide open. I turned and my table partner and friend Taz nodded toward the professor. “He’s talking to you,” Taz whispered.

  I looked to the professor, then around the class. Everyone stared, a few giggled. “Uh, can you repeat the question?”

  “It wasn’t a question,” Deg said pushing his glasses higher on his nose. “If you can’t pay attention, Visteal then leave my class. It doesn’t matter to me in the least that you’re a princess. In fact, you should be the most attentive.”

  Having already been kicked out of one class this week, I was walking on thin ice. Another strike and my father would punish me in the form of running miles upon miles until my legs turned to mush. “I can listen, sir.”

  He glared and then said, “Now, as I was saying, there will be a test this week and I hope all of you have been taking notes.”

  I didn’t do it on purpose but tuning out his voice had become a habit. I’d definitely have to peek at Taz’s notes later because I hadn’t paid attention. Instead of listening, as he suggested, I zoned out, watching the smoke rise from an incense stick. The wisps swirled and moved in a dance. With magic humming under my skin, I forced the smoke into a phoenix whose wings spread wide, slowly flapping. Taz smiled, moved his fingers and took a strand of smoke from the wing of the bird, forming it into a dragon.

  Some of the other students whispered about it, until Professor Deg clapped his hands. “Silence!”

  Both Taz and I released our magic and the smoke returned to its natural state before he noticed. Soon Professor Deg finished his lesson and left us with five minutes in the class. Taz turned to me with a sly smile. “So Legacy says we have some mischief to cause.”

  “Are you coming with us to the new academy?”