Cursed by Darkness (Once Upon A Curse)

12. Bodin

TWELVE

Bodin

Love, it turned out, was a weakness. Ronna had finally given in and married the human she cared for dearly, giving him half a dozen children. She had grown to cherish her life with them, ruling her peaceful kingdom as her brothers continued their war for power. She loved her husband, her children, and her people more than she ever thought possible. Which only made it that much more painful when it was all taken away.

T he sight of so many hurt and dying in the street broke Bodin’s heart. He couldn’t hesitate though. There wasn’t time to waste.

“Get soldiers at the entrances to the city,” he told Laurent as they made their way along one of the main roads. “River and road entrances.”

Apparently, a group of about a dozen soldiers charged the city and caused mayhem. They’d set fire to a few homes and shops, attacking unarmed villagers with swords and the gods knew what other weapons.

His friend had explained what happened with the attack on their way out of the palace, and Bodin was glad Laurent had thought to bring Nadine and Richard to stay with Juniper when he came to find him. As much as Bodin hadn’t wanted to leave Juniper, he needed to be here. He needed to be the king first.

Laurent took off without needing any more directions from him. That was why Bodin relied on him for so much. He wasn’t officially a guard, and he refused to hold any real title, despite his birthright, but he was good at this. At taking the lead and directing people, at handling day-to-day tasks as much as diplomatic situations. They worked well together, and Laurent knew how Bodin liked things done. But more than that, there was no one in this world he trusted more.

He still remembered finding out about Laurent’s parents. When they passed, Laurent decided to join the army. He’d been so hopeless, so worn down by grief, that he felt like he had nothing left. But Bodin knew how that felt. He’d lost his younger brother just a couple of years earlier. And he’d refused to lose another, knowing how bad the war was getting in Valétoi. There was no way he would let Laurent go there to fight and die.

His own parents hadn’t hesitated to take him in. They had always cared about him, and they understood how devastating it would have been for Bodin to lose another person. Little did he know he would lose so many more over the following years.

He paused in the middle of the street, staring in horror at villagers trying to help one another. Wounded and dying citizens lay scattered along the cobblestones, changing the stones’ coloring from gray to rust from so much blood.

Seeing his people wounded and dying never got easier. The moans and cries ate away at Bodin’s soul. The war in Valétoi had gone on for so long, but more and more often, the smaller villages throughout the kingdom were being attacked.

Now, they had struck the capital. His home.

This couldn’t stand. He would need to join them at the front lines soon to help however he could. It had been too long since he visited the Valley of Stars himself.

More like the Valley of Death.

Bodin ran into the chaos and knelt by a man lying in a pool of blood. The man’s eyes were shut, but his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. Bodin searched for the cause of the bleeding.

“Can you tell me where you’re wounded?” he asked. “What’s your name?”

“Jonathan. My back,” the man whispered between labored breaths. He appeared to be a villager who’d simply been going about his day by the looks of it. This never should have happened.

Bodin looked around for help. Spotting a woman finishing with another injured citizen, he called out to get her attention. She rushed over with a bag of supplies. Seeing him up close, she hesitated, her eyes widening. Whether it was shock from seeing the king out here helping or fear of the ruler they called a monster, he didn’t know. He couldn’t think about it at the moment though. They needed to focus on healing this man.

“I’m going to roll him over. Can you see what’s wrong with his back?” Bodin reached for Jonathan’s shoulder and hip. The woman nodded, and he pulled. Jonathan shouted in pain, but neither stopped.

“It’s a gash, sliced through his tunic and everything,” she said, grabbing strips of cloth from her bag. “I think he needs to be stitched up, but I… I don’t really know how…”

That was when Bodin realized just how young she was; she couldn’t have been older than twenty. Nodding, he asked for her name too. His father had once told him and Elias that it was vital as a royal to ask for names. It made people feel seen and heard.

“Inaya.”

“All right, Inaya, I need you to come on this side and take my spot.” Bodin shifted to give her room. “Hold him over like this and try not to let him move. Do you have a needle in your bag?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. These were my mother’s supplies; she was a healer.”

Bodin didn’t miss her use of the past tense. Once she had a solid hold on Jonathan, he searched for what he needed. Grabbing the needle, he looked for a way to sterilize it. The Shadow Star Inn was a few buildings away. That would have to do.

“I will be right back. Don’t move.” He ran to the inn and straight to the wall of liquor in the tavern area. Snatching a bottle of a clear alcohol, he returned to the two in the street. He would pay the innkeeper for it later.

Lowering to the ground, he uncorked the glass bottle and poured some of the alcohol over the needle, making sure not to use too much. He had a feeling he would need more by the time the night was over.

One after another, he helped bandage, stitch, and move his injured people. These weren’t soldiers prepared for battle. They were shopkeepers, bakers, elderly, children. They were families. His stomach twisted as he came upon a father crying over his dead wife and young daughter.

Grief coursed through Bodin. He could practically feel the sorrow of his people consuming his own heart. It was too much. They hadn’t expected this, and now they were suffering. Because of him. Because he hadn’t been prepared. He hadn’t been able to end this war.

And Gilarn hadn’t shown any amount of mercy today.

That was why, when he spotted one of their soldiers alive and lying at the mouth of an alley, he didn’t hesitate to go make sure the man survived. He wanted answers. His wounds weren’t too bad—broken ribs and a slice in his arm. Bodin waved over a couple of his own soldiers. “Take him to the dungeons to be questioned.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As they hauled him away, Bodin crossed his arms and exhaled. He hated this part of the job, but if it meant protecting his people, he would do it. He would make sure the enemy lived long enough to be interrogated. Even if it blackened his already dark soul more.

“Your Majesty,” a rough voice said.

Bodin angled toward an older man, ready to lend his aid.

But the man surprised him by saying, “You shouldn’t be out here. It’s too dangerous.”

It was rare that anyone spoke to him as such. While those here in Kehlir were better than the rest of the kingdom because they knew him better, too many still believed the worst of him. They didn’t care what happened to him. So, it surprised him that a villager would voice this concern.

He opened his mouth, but the man cut him off.

“Neither should she.” He looked over Bodin’s shoulder.

His stomach sank, knowing who he would see before even moving. He’d been so consumed by his surroundings that he hadn’t noticed her leaving the portal she had entered with Nadine and Richard. But sure enough, he whipped around and caught sight of his wife wringing her hands as she took in what had happened.

“Burning hells,” he groaned, storming toward Juniper. At least Richard had followed her. Still, he didn’t want her to see this. He didn’t want her holding the burden and weight that he did. And he really didn’t want her in danger.

Before he could reach her and insist she go home, she moved to kneel beside a young man who sat on the edge of the street holding his bleeding head. Bodin stopped in his tracks. She didn’t appear to care that her dress skirts lay in the dirt beneath her, nor did it seem to bother her to see the cut in the man’s brow when she pulled his hand away. Juniper simply turned, searching for something.

“I need water, cloth, and bandages,” she shouted as Inaya walked by her. The girl handed over her satchel then ran off, presumably to get water.

Bodin watched in awe as Juniper comforted the man while they waited. Richard lowered beside her. The entire scene had Bodin frozen on the spot, staring in awe. His first wife, Camille, had been the daughter of a duke—raised prim and proper. She’d enjoyed nature and the simpler things in life, but she was still a lady. His second wife was born to a noble family as well, and she had a habit of thinking she was better than everyone. Never would she have knelt in the dirty street to help a dying man. Camille might have tried, but she wouldn’t have known what to do, and the blood would have nauseated her.

Yet, Juniper acted like she didn’t even notice the filth and grime.

When Inaya brought the water a moment later, Juniper didn’t hesitate to clean and wrap the man’s head with her aid. It wasn’t the best job, but it would get him through the night. Then, they were up and carrying the supplies to the next person.

Juniper’s eyes caught on Bodin as he finally closed the distance between them. She held up a hand. “Don’t.”

“What?” he asked, kneeling to help her roll a woman onto her side so Inaya could see the wound in the back of her shoulder.

“You can yell at me for coming down here later.”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t going to yell at you, June.”

The nickname just slipped out, but she didn’t seem to notice.

She glared at him. “Fine, but after we’re done, I’m going to yell at you .”

Inaya gasped, likely in shock that someone dared to speak to him that way. He just chuckled. “And why, my dear wife, are you mad at me?”

“Because you said we were in this together,” she hissed. “But instead of trusting me enough to tell me what happened and where you were going, you and Laurent used Nadine to distract me. How am I supposed to stand by your side if you don’t even let me know these things?”

Bodin stared at her, his smile slipping. She was right. About all of it. He might not have known about the attack when Laurent first arrived, but he’d known something was wrong. He should have, at the very least, asked for the details while she was there. It had been a long time since he’d let anyone in like that. Since he trusted someone other than Laurent and Nadine.

He’d never let Beatrice in that far. Even Camille, who’d been his friend first… he had kept information from her to protect her, and because she simply didn’t want to be involved.

Bodin had always considered her the love of his life, his one chance at true happiness. But minute by minute, Juniper was creeping into his heart. And he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe people were given more than one chance.

If maybe they were given a chance at more.

Whatever this was with Juniper—this magnetic pull toward her—it was different than anything he’d ever felt. He’d loved Camille, but it hadn’t consumed him like June’s mere presence did.

They finished patching up the woman and got her on her feet, and then Inaya helped her get inside the inn, where many of the injured were sitting to rest before finding their way home. Juniper started to turn, but Bodin put an arm out to stop her, hooking it around her stomach.

He pulled her back to his front and lowered his voice, his lips brushing her ear as he spoke. “I’m sorry. You’re right; I should’ve kept you with me while finding out what happened.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Sighing, he turned her to face him, still holding her close, and said, “Because I’m not used to having another person in my life that I should share things with. It’s not that I don’t trust you.”

Though, he didn’t fully trust her. Not yet. He wanted to, but how could he? They’d only known each other for a few weeks.

But he trusted her more than he ever imagined possible.

He didn’t say any of that though. There was no need. She probably felt the same.

Bodin swept a thumb across her cheek. “I also wanted to make sure you were safe because I wasn’t sure what we were dealing with.”

“If you’d just told me that?—”

“You would have argued your way into coming with me,” he said, interrupting her. “I might not know you well, but I know that much. I’ve seen that spark in you. And if that didn’t work, you would have snuck away from your guard to come here on your own.”

Her eyes narrowed, and he leaned down further with a smirk.

“Thank you for letting him come with you.” Bodin didn’t miss the way her hands rested on his chest or the way her fingers curled in ever so slightly. For nearly three weeks, he’d slept in a separate bed and kept his distance, but Juniper was slipping past his defenses so easily. It was impossible not to be drawn to her. He knew from that first morning after the wedding that he wanted to let her in. After all, that was why he’d given her his keys without hesitation. There was just something about her. It felt as if they had known each other for much longer.

His heart screamed at him not to do this. He needed to keep her at a distance for both of their sakes. Everyone he loved had a habit of dying. He couldn’t fall for her only to lose her; he didn’t think he would survive another loss like that. And he had a feeling that losing her would be worse than anything he’d ever experienced before. Just thinking about it churned his stomach and made it hard to breathe evenly. The only reason Laurent and Nadine remained close to him was because they were stubborn and wouldn’t let him push them away. He’d tried.

“Contrary to popular belief,” Juniper said, “I’m not an idiot. I didn’t know if there was still fighting going on either, and I wasn’t about to run head first into battle without any real training.”

“I never thought?—”

“Help! Please, someone!” a man shouted, and they both turned toward the commotion. He was carrying a young woman in his arms who appeared unconscious.

And just like that, they were jumping back into the fray to help their people.

Side by side.