Cursed

by Emma Merrell

  "I would not do it while she is with the prince, but I will as soon as she returns."

  "Okay. As soon as you can though, really. I have news for you too." He went on to tell her what he had witnessed in the armory the night before.

  "Oh, Jude. That is big news. You were right not to tell my Uncle, he would either not believe you or he would and I'm not sure which is worse. He won't see what I do, and that is that this could be a large advantage. Their force is small, and the city walls are high. What Leona has done might be the thing that wins the battle."

  "I agree. But what does it mean if we win and she then takes the throne? She would be just another sorceress, willing to lie to her people. Who's to say that she won't win this thing and then turn around and stab Bran in the back?"

  "You'll have to watch things closely. I will too. Come back with my uncle tomorrow. Hopefully, we will both have more information to share."

  "All right. Good-bye, Petunia."

  "Good luck, Jude."

  Chapter Sixteen

  Luce

  It was back to reality and Luce hated it. Jonathan had kissed her good-bye at the gates and gone to speak with his mother. She was heading into the breach one final time before she settled into her apartment. Her room was empty, and she cursed silently. She needed to find Catherine. With a deep sigh, she realized that they were probably at the baths. That meant that she couldn't avoid a run-in with Marianne and her minion.

  Turning to leave she almost ran into the servant girl that had been shadowing her since this morning. Luce had forgotten. Jonathan had assigned her a personal servant girl to attend to all her needs. It was weird, and she was so silent that Luce often forgot that she was there. Luce hadn't asked for anything yet and so she just followed her around silently. Luce would have preferred if she wasn't there at all, but Jonathan had insisted. The girl stepped out of the way with a dip of her head and Luce fought off the urge to say excuse me, sorry.

  She found all three girls stretched out in the pool in the center of the room, but it was only Catherine that she wanted. "Catherine, I need you."

  All three girls looked up in surprise and Marianne's eyes narrowed in automatic distaste. "What are you doing here? I thought that you were off with the prince."

  "I was. I just came to say goodbye." Luce teased, relishing the bombshell that she was about to drop.

  "What do you mean goodbye?" Catherine squeaked.

  "Is the queen punishing you?" Diana asked.

  "I'm moving into the family courtyard."

  Luce watched Marianne's face carefully as she said it. She looked as if someone had punched her in the gut and all the air had left her body. She looked a bit hurt for a couple of moments as if she really cared for Jonathan and not just his power and position. Then it was washed away by a tide of anger and jealousy. "Excuse me?" Marianne whispered, "But why in the ever-living fuck, would Jonathan move you into the family quarters and not me? I am his number one, or I was until you came around and started drawing all of this attention to yourself."

  "You weren't his number one because he loved you the most. It was because he loved you the least and could trust himself not to give into you. He told me himself. Well, he can't really have the mother of his child living with the rest of you, now can he?"

  "You're not pregnant," Diana scoffed.

  "Shut-up. The prince wouldn't sleep with you. He wouldn't sleep with any of us."

  "I just spent two nights camping in the wood with Jonathan. What do you think we were doing that whole time?"

  "He wouldn't. I've been with him for two years, the only one that he saw regularly, and I couldn't get him past oral."

  Luce gave an exaggerated grimace. "Must hurt that I've managed to bed him in less than a month then."

  Marianne rose from the pool and stalked over to Luce with barely restrained rage. Her perfect body was blotchy and flushed all over and Luce knew that she was getting to her. "We'll see about this, Luce. You won't win. You will not steal him away from me."

  Luce laughed. "It's already done, can't you see that? I could be carrying his child at this very moment. He is moving me into the family courtyard. He's given me a personal servant. He allowed me to select any of the girls that I am fond of as live-in companions, which is why I'm here for Catherine. He is coming to me tonight, and every night thereafter until we have conceived a child. You lost, Marianne. He's mine."

  Marianne had reached her breaking point. With an ugly snarl, she snatched up a handful of Luce's hairs and began pulling her to the ground. "You are a fucking stupid whore."

  Luce had never been in a girl-fight before, but she could tell that it was going to get dirty. She reached out blindly and grabbed a handful of flesh, which turned out to be Marianne's breast and twisted hard. Marianne released her with a gasp and her hand went automatically to her chest and began massaging. She took a couple of steps back, out of Luce's reach, breathing hard. There was emotion pouring out of her. She was hurt, jealous, angry, and embarrassed. Luce could feel it as clear as day. She was also scared, of Luce and the fact that she could be the one to steal away everything that Marianne had worked for.

  What is going on with me? Luce asked herself. This wasn't normal, she shouldn't have been able to feel Marianne's emotions as if they were her own. It threw her off, left her staring and unmoving for a moment. Marianne took the chance and lunged for her again, but the servant girl stepped between them. "You will not touch her again."

  Marianne was pulled up short, looking mad enough to spit, but she saw that she was defeated. There was no way that she could go for Luce again and have it end well for herself. She still had some hope of winning back Jonathan's affections and she knew that if she went forward again it would damage that chance irreparably. Instead, she turned to Diana. "Are you coming? We're are fucking leaving."

  In the wake of their departure, it was silent for a few moments until Catherine broke it. "Wow."

  "Yeah, that went about how I thought it would."

  "Are you really going to be the next queen?"

  "Let's hope so. So, did you hear what I told Marianne? You can get out of here if you like."

  Catherine beamed and shook her head vigorously. "I would love to get out of here. It's a blessing."

  There were no personal belongings for Catherine to gather, so she merely got dressed and they followed Luce's servant through the next courtyard, the one where the prince entertained. Then they drew up to a set of gates that Luce had never seen. There was a guard flanking each side, and the girl went and had a rapid, whispered conversation with one of them before they opened the gates. It wasn't much different than the rest of the palace, but then Luce paid attention to the layout. It was lined on all three sides just like the others, but it was as if each side were a distinct residence.

  "Which one is mine?"

  "Straight to the back, mistress."

  Catherine's eyes were wide when she looked at Luce. It was all a bit over the top and they hadn't even seen the inside yet. The courtyard was so quiet compared to the other, there were no girls whispering or giggling. All Luce could hear was the sound of running water and it was very soothing. When they entered the home that was to be hers, she had to fight back the urge to gape. This looked like Norrick's. It was decorated just as lavishly, just as expensively, and she didn't know where to look first. There were acres of marble stretching the length of the entryway. Lanterns were hung every few feet making it incredibly bright.

  Throughout the tour, Luce didn't say much, nor did Catherine beyond the occasional whispered, "Oh my Gods, look at that." There was a living room, a library, an entertainment slash music room, her own private kitchens with her own private cook, a wardrobe already filled with garments that had been custom made for her, and her very own miniature bath. That was a relief, she had worried that she was going to run into Marianne every time that she wanted a bath. This place had absolutely everything that she could need, including a fully equipped nursery. She would never n
eed to leave these four walls, and she supposed that that was kind of the point.

  Her servant led them back to the living space and seated them to wait for lunch, as soon as she was gone Catherine turned to Luce. "This is crazy. I can't believe that you want me to live here with you."

  "I would never have left you there with those witches. Besides, I think that we'll have a lot of fun together."

  "I think so too. Speaking of fun, fill me in on your romantic trip?"

  Luce smiled and spent the next few minutes giving Catherine a slightly dumbed-down version of the events. She didn't want to spill too many intimate details and she was pretty sure that Jonathan would have felt the same. The food had arrived by the time she had finished, and the servants took extra to care to ask if there were any things that she didn't like so they could avoid bringing them in the future. It was all getting to be a bit much, but nothing that had come yet compared to what happened next.

  Petunia entered the room and dipped her head at Luce. Hot on her heels came a guard with his hands firmly clamped around the upper arm of Marianne. She looked furious, was, in fact, spitting daggers with her gaze. A wave of negative emotion swept over Luce like broken glass and she felt herself sway on the spot. Luce's head was filled with images of herself lying on the ground broken and bleeding and she knew exactly where they were coming from.

  Luce snapped back into her own head as Petunia began to speak. "Luce, the prince was informed about what happened earlier in the bathhouse and has insisted that Marianne make an apology to you."

  "I see."

  "May she approach you?"

  Luce nodded, and the guard brought her to the table and pushed her onto her knees. Luce almost opened her mouth to say something, as much as she disliked Marianne it wasn't right for her to be abused. But before she could say anything Marianne's head rose, and her blue eyes met Luce's hazel ones and the world dropped away.

  Luce was in Norrick's chambers, wrapped up in his arms in bed. He was running a hand through her hair and speaking passionately, "It is a waste, a disgusting waste. All of those girls, all of those opportunities to save the kingdom, and he squanders them by being such a frightened, weakling."

  "I'm working on him, I swear." The words came out of Luce's mouth, but the voice was Marianne's.

  "You need to try harder. I don't know how he's resisted you for so long as it is. If he only knew what he was missing."

  Luce's lips curved in a self-satisfied smile. "I will turn up the heat, but he's very stubborn, your brother."

  "He is an idiot, is what he is. It makes me sick. I should be the future king, it is my birthright, but he stole it from me. Stole it and shit on it."

  Luce rubbed a soothing hand over his stomach and then allowed it to travel lower. He moaned as she took him in hand and began playing with him. "I will get pregnant eventually, and once the baby is born and the curse is broken, you can take your birthright back."

  Norrick grew harder in her hand at the thought of it. "A knife in the dark, or poison do you think?"

  "As long as I end up queen, I really don't care how you get rid of him."

  "And you're not worried about dying yourself in childbirth?"

  "I'm not afraid of anything."

  Norrick's chuckle turned into a grunt of pleasure as her hand worked more quickly. "You'll be a fine queen, Marianne."

  Luce's vision swam and blurred, she rubbed her eyes and when she reopened them, she was back in her dining room and in her own body. What in the world had that been? Everyone was looking at her strangely and she realized that Marianne had said something to her. "I'm sorry, I don't know what just came over me," she addressed the room.

  Marianne spoke from her knees, "As I said, Luce, I am very sorry for the way that I acted earlier. I could not be happier that Prince Jonathan has chosen you for the mother of his child."

  She didn't sink back into a vision, but she felt the flavor of the words on her tongue. Marianne was still insanely jealous and hateful, but she was also beginning to realize how lucky she really was. Luce could be the one to bear the risky pregnancy, and she and Norrick could still carry out their wicked little plan.

  Luce sneered at the fake apology she had just been offered and stood to her full height. It gave her perverse satisfaction to have Marianne kneeling at her feet, especially after what she had just learned. "I think that you owe Catherine an apology as well, for putting her through what you have."

  Catherine started to stammer that she didn't need it, and Marianne's skin went purple at the suggestion, but the guard gave her a sharp nudge with the back of his hand. Luce could tell that she was choking on the words as she said them, but she made it through in the end. "Good enough. Get her out of here."

  The guard jerked her to her feet and began leading her away. She threw one last heated look Luce's direction and then she was gone. Catherine hooted out loud. "Well, that was about the best thing I've ever seen happen in this place."

  But Luce wasn't in the mood to gloat over things with Catherine. She had about a million and a half other things on her mind and she felt like the other girl in the room was the only one who could give her any answers. She eyed Petunia pointedly and the other girl straightened. "Luce, I must speak with you privately if you are done eating."

  Luce nodded and turned to Catherine, "Can you manage on your own for a bit?"

  "In this place? Absolutely.”

  Like magic, Luce's new servant appeared and led Catherine off in the direction of the bedrooms. A few others came forward to clear the table, but Petunia dismissed them with a wave. "Guess that's something I'll need to learn if I'm going to be a queen one day."

  "You have time. Do not forget, you will be a princess for a long time first. I do not think that her majesty has plans to relinquish her throne anytime soon," Petunia replied with a twist of her mauve lips.

  "I need to speak with you."

  "Later, Luce. For now, please allow me to massage your back. You look so tense."

  It was a weird thing to offer, but it only took Luce another second to realize Petunia's actual intentions. They would talk, but there were ears everywhere, especially now that the queen was looking for the traitor in her mist. Asking what she had to ask out loud probably wouldn't do her, or anyone else, very much good. She sat down and felt Petunia settled in behind her, slowly beginning to work on the muscles in her neck. It felt good, Luce had been tenser than she realized, and she felt herself sinking into the feeling for just a moment. Then Petunia brushed at her mind and Luce brought herself back to their true purpose in doing this.

  "How's Jude?"

  "I spoke with him earlier and he is well, they are preparing to march on the palace as we speak. For good or ill, you will be reunited soon."

  That was a relief, and Luce immediately turned to the next question that was burning through her. "Listen, Petunia, I don't know what happened earlier, but I think that somehow I saw into Marianne's memories. And I can pick up her emotions as well."

  "It is a privilege to be the one that tells you this, Luce. It means that you are with child."

  The entire world rocked on its axis. "Excuse me?"

  "When a woman of this kingdom falls pregnant, if her child is going to be gifted with magic, she manifests it while her child is growing within her. It is how my mother knew that she was going to have me. This is a happy thing, even if the resistance fails, you still have the power to return life to the people."

  It was the whole point of her being brought here. The whole point of her tryst with Jonathan, but somehow, it came as a complete shock. Pregnant. Pregnant with the baby that could change the fate of a whole kingdom. Pregnant with the future king of that land. Pregnant with a child that might kill her on its way out. "Oh, Petunia."

  "Are you happy?"

  "I think so. It's just really overwhelming now. Do you think that they should still march, now that I'm pregnant?"

  "There is no certainty that you will come to full term, and even then, the
queen must be brought down. They will come still."

  Luce had thought just a couple of days ago that there was nothing she wanted more than for Jude to come to rescue her, but now she was pregnant with Jonathan's child and things weren't so clear. If she had a healthy baby, the curse would be broken. She knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Jonathan would make an excellent king. If the resistance came and won, they would crush that future to dust. "Would they just kill her, but allow Jonathan to take the throne?"

  "I doubt it very much."

  Upset, Luce broke contact and stood up out of Petunia's reach. They regarded one another from opposite sides of a brand-new split in opinion. Before they had the chance to say anything about it two guards entered the room and Jonathan himself was right on their heels. Both women dropped into curtseys automatically, and Jonathan bid them rise just the same. Petunia excused herself and left without a backward glance.

  Left alone with Jonathan, butterflies began floating around in Luce's belly. "Thank you for sending Marianne to apologize."

  "Of course."

  "When she was here, Jonathan, something else happened." Those luminous, green eyes showed concern, and she felt it as well. She stumbled on before he grew more worried. "I saw into her mind, felt what she felt. Just as I'm feeling your emotions now. Petunia told me that it's because I'm pregnant."

  A wave of joy washed over her, immediately tempered by one of worry. It was coming from Jonathan of course. He was terrified that this would kill her while it was a dream come true. "Luce," was all that he said before sweeping her into his arms and off her feet. She couldn't resist giving in to the moment and she turned into him for a kiss, but she kept it brief. He set her back down on her feet and smiled in a way that she had never imagined he could. She hated to be the one to wipe it from his face. "Wait. There’s more, and you're not going to like it."