Page 28 of Of Curses and Courtship

The path to her home is familiar, ingrained in my mind. I remember exactly how it feels to rap my knuckles against the wooden door of her little cottage.

To my great relief, Ethel answers. She looks the same as she did weeks ago—with dark eyes and hair, as straight as can be, trailing down the middle of her back. I used to wake up with her hair in my face. She is the beekeeper’s daughter, and the smell of her honey musk once lulled me to sleep.

A tear spills down my cheek. “I’m sorry. I have nowhere else to go.”

We didn’t leave things on the best of terms, and she doesn’t understand why I had to leave her. I suppose from her perspective, it may seem like an abandonment, and the reaction I receive is to be expected.

Her eyes narrow. Not in suspicion but in pure hatred.

Did I truly hurt her so much?

“And you think you can come here?” she spits. “You think anyone in this town will take you in?”

I startle, stepping back. “I—I did not think?—”

“No. You did not.”

This was a mistake. Ethel has been dear to me for so long, and I thought those feelings of warmth would survive past the end of our courtship, but it appears I was wrong. I still care for her so profoundly, still see her as my dearest friend, but she looks at me as though I am a bug beneath her shoe.

“Y-you’re still heartbroken,” I whisper. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come.”

“Will it make you leave faster if I say that’s the case?”

Ethel does not understand what I am, but she knows about the pain my stepmother has caused me. She will understand. Shemust.

I shake my head. “Ethel, I know you and I are no longer courting, and I didn’t come to reconcile with you. My stepmother?—”

“She told me what you are. Iknowwhat you are.” She leans in, her eyes flashing. “She told everyone. You’re the halfling, the bringer of evil, and you lied to us all. You lied tome.”

My blood runs cold.

How? How did Lady Ashbridge get the news out to the town so swiftly? Bloody stares from snooping neighbors turn to me from every direction, cutting me down. My nails dig into my palms.

These people once loved me. They once cared for me. Now, they do not even fear me.

They despise me.

“I don’t…” My words are weak. “I do not know what you mean.”

“There you go.” She scoffs. “Fibbing again, and right to my face. Typical. You lied to me for years. We’ve known eachother since we were teenagers, and younevertold me this. How could you keep such a secret for all this time?”

“Exactly.” I wipe hot, furious tears on the back of my hand. “We’ve known each other for so long. You know I’m a good, kind person. Ilovedyou. You loved me.”

“I don’t know anything about you.” She doesn’t frown, nor does she shed a tear. Her face is expressionless. “Now go.”

It’s as if my ex-lover is under a spell—underherspell. Somehow, Lady Ashbridge is to blame for this.

There is nowhere else to go, but I can’t stay here a moment longer.

My heart pumps as I sprint from the cottage and run past the sneering, glaring people who were once my neighbors.

Fear. Wide eyes.

I must go. Somewhere. Anywhere that can bring me safety.

But there is nowhere. I’m alone.

CHAPTER SEVEN