Page 34 of Of Curses and Courtship

My good friend, Spark, rests by my feet, taking up too much space. Even if it means my legs are cramped, I’d prefer to keep him around. He is the only comfort to be found in this frigid garden.

I bend low to pet him, my hand gliding against his sleek, black fur. He’s a common beast fae, the sort often used as guardians, and he has been a loyal companion to me for decades. Electric magic and a silent nature make the large beast the right company for me.

Spark’s long tail swishes as I pet him, but he doesn’t appear pleased. If I didn’t know better, I would think he’s glaring at my betrothed. Soft electricity zaps against my fingers, and I swiftly pull my hand away.

How strange. He is not usually so moody.

“Emyr?” Minetta’s voice is a ringing bell, yanking me back to my senses.

Spark lowers his head.

I tear my attention from Spark and offer her the only smile I can muster—forced but polite, just the way I’ve been taught. “Yes, my dear?”

That’s what my father calls my mother, and I’ve never taken after him, but the artificial pet name feels appropriate for my sham of an engagement.

“I get the sense you’re not listening to me.” She pouts and leans forward. “Is there anything I can do to capture your attention once more?”

There’s a hint behind her words, a sparkle of somethingthat would usually send a thrill rushing through me, but I feel nothing, even as her soft purple wings flutter behind her. Those wings had seemed so endearing when we met.

They look the same, don’t they? A little darker. I’m unsure.

There’s something wrong with me. My stomach turns, and I’m rendered silent, looking through my fiancé rather than at her.

My parents are watching. I must remain calm. I must?—

I clear my throat. “You have my full attention. Apologies. I was only thinking about the garden.”

“It will bloom again someday, you know.” Her deep, violet eyes sparkle. “Our marriage will bring life to this dead place.”

“Yes. I suppose it will.”

But how could it, if we are not in love? My shoulders slump under the weight of the burden my father left me with. I inhale, nearly wheezing.

Pull it together, Emyr.

We can’t break the curse if I can hardly sit through a brunch with her, but it’s too late to call off the wedding. She’s already wearing my grandmother’s quartz ring; the sight of it resting on her delicate finger nearly makes me tip over.

Did my parents give it to her?

“Emyr?” My name echoes. I hardly hear my betrothed speak.

Something is wrong. This is all wrong. There must be another way to break the curse—my studies. I can’t give up on my studies until it is done. We cannot wait for another generation. Not with the possibility of my future child dying, just like…

Just like my brother.

“I need a moment.” The legs of the metal chair scrape against the ground as I rise.

I run through the garden before I can see my parents’disapproving glare or hear what Minnetta has to say—words of comfort, surely, but I don’t want them. My court shoes slam against the marble floor as I enter the palace.

My vision blurs. Tears threaten to spill.

Forty years ago. I lost my brother forty years ago, and the rest of my life followed him into the pit of the Hells. When Carwyn was taken by the corrupt fae, the ones who gouged his eyes out and ate him whole, I became next in line for the throne.

The only thing they left was his bones. Bones can’t sit on a throne. He needed flesh. He needed a heart. They took it all. They took him from me.

My hands twist together, and I dig my nails into my wrists; the bones poke through my thin frame. Oh, to tear them out. To be somewhere else. To disappear. To give the corrupt fae my bones instead, as an offering, and get my brother back.

No. Do not.