Page 91 of Of Curses and Courtship

I’m gone before he can respond, or even grace me with a flicker of his beautiful smile.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

EMYR

I’ve only been home for a few hours, and someone is already scolding me. Not by my parents, who are upset at me for yet another disappearance. Not by my dearest friend, Tibalt, who has come to expect this from me. It’s not even from my betrothed, who has every right to be upset with me…

It’s Ophelia, a fae I’ve now kissed twice. Two times is all I need to memorize her soft lips against mine, and how sweet she sounds when she exhales, forcing herself to pull away. Two times is too many, yet it is not enough to satiate the gnawing hunger in my soul.

Five days away from her is five years, it’s five centuries, and though she leaves me alone, I know I can’t stay away for much longer. No shadows in my dreams can keep me from her. No looming curse may.

She’s the one I love, and the one I should have agreed to marry all along.

If only… if only…

A night of rest does nothing to cure me. She’s still on my mind the next day. My soul still belongs to her. This is love,a tearing at the base of my throat, begging to break free with words that belong to only her. Ophelia has already liberated herself; she’s spoken so clearly, and I owe her more than I can give…

But I will give her more than I’ve been able to give anyone, in honesty.

In the morning, I write her a simple letter. It’s still not enough.

Meet me in the garden. You know where.

Midnight.

I must pen a letter to Minetta, too. She’s off with her family, and what an inconvenient time to be gone. No matter how long I sit at my desk, I can’t find the words.

It may not be meant to be done in a letter.

Dearest Princess Minetta,

We agreed to our betrothal too quickly. I cannot do this.

I am sorry.

I stare down at the etched ink and feel only dread. Unease. I’m precisely what her parents believe I am. Never good enough.

With a sigh, I scratch the letters in dark ink and throw the parchment into the fire. Perhaps I should speak with Ophelia first—a proper talk this time.

The curse has been heavierof late, but when midnight strikes, it feels lighter. Finally, I can speak my heart to Ophelia, and by the end, she will no longer be upset with me.

Perhaps… perhaps we can truly break the curse before my parents learn about how it’s worsening. I still haven’t told them, and I wish to avoid it for as long as possible.

I can already imagine their responses. No, I must take care of this on my own.

Rain pours on my head, drenching me to the bone and rendering my white shirt translucent. I don’t care. She’s all I care for. Her lavender wings light up the darkest of nights. My heart clenches as I step toward her, my hands balling into fists.

Hunger. One touch. That may be all I need to satiate it.

“You told me I must be the one to move to you,” I say, “so I am. I’m here.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” She lifts a brow. “Yet, you are unmoving. The letter you wrote me was quite vague.”

“I didn’t wish it to be intercepted—and you knew it was from me, did you not?”

“Of course. I would not expect an invitation from anyone else in this palace, nor outside of it.” She tilts her head to the side. “Or perhaps I hoped it was from you.”

I let out a shuddering breath. “Hope. The very thing you’ve awakened in me. I was born in a cursed land and life. For the first time in a century, I feel hope as well.”