Cursed by Darkness (Once Upon A Curse)

11. Juniper

ELEVEN

Juniper

It wasn’t easy for Ronna to give her heart away. She feared showing her love after being taught for a millennia that it was a weakness. But the man she’d grown to care for didn’t believe that was her only reason for not letting him in. He accused her of thinking less of humans. Because how could a goddess love a simple man? Yet, he never gave up. He fought to be by her side, trying to show his worthiness.

J uniper stood in the circular room, debating on which door to try next. Bodin had told her to pick, and then he would explain how they worked inside. They had decided to refer to them as numbers, starting with the meadow portal closest to the stairs as the first and moving counterclockwise. That way they could easily discuss them and explain which were being used.

Each place was unique and breathtaking, but one thing had started to stand out to her.

There were never people.

She hadn’t seen a single person in her exploration. It hadn’t dawned on her until she and Laurent ended up on the beach a couple days earlier and there was a gazebo set up for a picnic. Laurent had picked that one, but she’d been with him the entire day, and he’d never snuck off for any period of time, so she knew he wouldn’t have been able to get that ready without her noticing. The food had been fresh, yet no one was around. There weren’t footprints in the sand to show that anyone else had been there either; there weren’t any homes or shelters as far as she could see. It just didn’t make sense.

Looking through the keys Bodin had returned to her, she stilled. She’d noticed each matched their door with a similar design, but one seemed to be missing. She counted the keys—eleven—then the portals. “Bo?”

“Yes?”

“There’s a missing key. There isn’t one for that door.” She pointed to the last one. It had bare trees carved into it, making her think maybe it was a wintery forest. “There is a key for all the others. Where’s that one?”

“That one is not to be used,” a different voice said as footsteps echoed on the stairs.

She whirled around to find Laurent descending the last two steps. Nadine appeared behind him with a smile, and Richard followed behind her. But something was wrong. Laurent knew how much she’d wanted this time with Bodin; they’d spoken about it at length. He was the one who encouraged her to finally ask. And Richard had promised to stay upstairs.

“Why not?” Juniper asked.

His gaze flicked to Bodin’s, so she faced her husband too. Bodin’s jaw twitched. “Because it leads to a forest that’s too dangerous to wander into.”

“Can’t you change the location? Make the portal open up in a different place?”

“It’s not that simple,” he said, shaking his head. His eyes remained on his friend, as if he too sensed something was off. “But I don’t think I have time to explain right now.”

Laurent nodded. “I need to borrow you for a little while, so I thought maybe Nadine could continue with Juni.”

Juniper stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Is everything all right?”

“I’m sure it is,” Bodin said. “But I need to find out what’s going on.”

She nodded, but she didn’t like the look in his eyes. Instead, she turned toward Laurent. By now, she knew him well enough to see that whatever was happening was more serious than he was letting on. She didn’t question either of them though. At this point in her life, she knew better. Even if they had treated her well since her arrival. She wouldn’t push it. No matter how much she wanted to remind him that he’d said she would stand at his side.

Turning to Bodin once more, she whispered, “Be careful.”

“I always am.” His hand went to her back as he leaned in to kiss her forehead. “I’ll meet you upstairs when we’re done.”

When he and Laurent left, Juniper faced the doors again. A thought struck through her worries, and she looked at Nadine. “You know about the portals?”

“I do. Bo showed them to me when he first created them a few years ago. He and Laurent would often bring me here with them, but then Bo stopped. Eventually, we did too. Until…”

“Until I got here?”

Nadine smiled. “He knew your past, about being kept hidden away, so he told us before you even came that he would share them if he came to trust you.”

Juniper sucked in a breath and then swallowed past the lump in her throat. “He gave me the keys the morning after the wedding.”

“I know.” Nadine moved closer to her side. “I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I can already see a difference in him. He’s been so reclusive for so long, even with us. It’s like meeting you brought him out of the shadows.”

“She has a tendency to do that,” Richard said in a soft tone.

Juniper turned toward him and, not caring how improper it was, moved to hug him, needing the comfort as she hid the tears welling in her eyes. He chuckled but wrapped his arms around her. After a moment, she pulled away and cleared her throat.

“Nadine, which is your favorite?”

She indicated the second portal. “This one is absolutely magical.”

“Then, let’s go there.” Juniper found the corresponding key.

Richard dipped his head in agreement. He glanced at the stairs, but not before she saw the concern in his gaze, and she knew he was thinking the same thing as her. Bodin and Laurent’s behavior had been suspicious.

She faced forward and went to unlock the portal, a plan forming in her mind. Opening the door, however, all thoughts fled from her. “Oh…”

“Exactly.” Nadine patted her on the shoulder and walked into the forest on the other side.

Juniper followed, stepping through to the deep green path. She’d never seen anything like this. With the sun filtering down, everything seemed so vibrant. Then, she heard it. The sounds of birds and running water, of small creatures living in the wild plants and trees. She reached for one of the bright pink flowers then paused. “Is this safe?”

She’d read about poisonous flora in the past.

“Everything here is safe,” Nadine said with a smile.

Juniper let out a sigh as she touched the soft petals. “And there are animals? Most of the others so far haven’t really had any, nor have there been people. The last one had fireflies, and I heard birds in the meadow but never saw them.”

“Only a couple have living creatures.”

“But why? How?”

Nadine hesitated, but before she could respond, something moved in the closest bush. Richard was there in an instant, pushing Juniper behind him. When he started to pull out his sword, Nadine said, “No, wait.”

A small animal appeared. It looked like a rodent but much, much bigger, with long brown hair. Juniper’s heart melted, and she moved around her guard to kneel. She slowly held out a hand. “Hi.”

It crept closer after a moment, letting her pet it.

“Oh goddess above,” she whispered as it sniffed her. “It’s so cute.”

“He is my favorite part about this place.” Nadine lowered next to them and ran a hand over the creature’s back. “When I was younger, I traveled with the royal family overseas to a kingdom in a similar jungle, and I saw one of these. I tried to convince my mother and Bo’s parents to let me keep and bring him back with me, but they said no. Bo was the one who told me it needed to stay in its home, and then when he discovered the ability to create these portals, he brought it to me.”

That seemed as good of a segue as any. Juniper continued stroking the animal that was now lying down, seemingly enjoying the attention “So, you’ve really known Bodin a long time, then.”

“My whole life,” she said. “My parents worked here—my mother is still the chef, but my father died when I was a child. Bo and Laurent kind of took me under their wing—Bo is ten years older than me, Laurent seven. Despite our age differences, they never acted like they didn’t want me around. They… treated me like a little sister they both cared for.”

Juniper couldn’t stop the burning in the back of her throat. Instead of focusing on the difference in their upbringings though, she said, “So, you must know you’re here to keep me distracted.”

It wasn’t a question, but Nadine nodded. Yet, she wouldn’t look at Juniper.

Her stomach twisted with unease. “Nadine, what’s going on? Do you know why they left?”

“He wouldn’t want you to worry?—”

“Well, not knowing is just going to make that worse. What is it?”

Nadine finally met her gaze. “There was an attack in the village. A group of Gilarnian soldiers made it—Juniper, don’t!” she yelled as Juniper pushed to her feet and stormed toward the door before either of them could stop her.

“Juniper!” Richard shouted, making her still. He never used that tone with her, rarely did he call her by name in front of others.

Whipping around, she couldn’t hold back her frustration. “He said we were partners. That I would stand at his side, but the first time something major has happened, he left me behind. He’s hiding me away just like everyone else.”

“He’s not hiding you,” Nadine said. “He wants to protect you.”

She scoffed and pulled the door open. She’d heard that before too. Waiting for them to exit, she locked the portal then moved toward the stairs. “Is there an ongoing battle right now?”

When Nadine didn’t respond, Juniper paused to face her. Nadine shook her head. “Laurent was going into the village to help with the wounded and needed Bodin to know what was happening and to make a plan to build up our remaining defenses.”

She knew a lot more than Juniper expected.

“So, there’s not a threat currently?”

“There’s always a threat,” Richard said.

Juniper took a deep breath. “Then, come with me.” He looked like he wanted to argue, so she added, “Or I’ll make my way there alone. Your choice. Am I running from you or with you? Because either way, I’m going to find my husband. I will not sit by when I can help. Not anymore.”