Cursed by Darkness (Once Upon A Curse)

22. Juniper

TWENTY-TWO

Juniper

The three siblings knew war. They’d seen it across different worlds between different species, but to insert themselves in such a manner was unheard of. And while the King of Gods did not approve, he did not stop them. For if they were foolish enough to behave as humans, they could stay among them until they remembered their place. Only then would they be welcome back to the stars.

W hen the messenger arrived the day before, Juniper had been so excited that she’d run to receive the letter herself. She’d ripped it open with a wide smile.

Until she saw Laurent’s signature instead of her husband’s.

Richard had caught her when her knees gave out and carried her to her bedroom. He and Nadine repeatedly told her Bodin was fine, only injured, but she could barely hear them. She just kept reading pieces of the note.

Bodin was knocked unconscious in an attack on the camp .

He’s alive but remains incapacitated.

She’d known something bad would happen. The moment the carriage had rolled away, Juniper had been plagued with a sense of foreboding.

He had told me of your agreement on the way here, so I’m sending this message in his place.

We are heading back early, but it will be slow traveling.

Juniper had never pictured herself as the kind of woman who would lie in bed, weeping over a man. Yet, she couldn’t stop. She hadn’t eaten or bathed. Nadine had forced her to drink water and had helped her out of her gown, but other than to use the lavatory, Juniper had not left her bed.

She was so scared. For Bodin. For their soldiers losing ground—though, they had managed to push back enough to save their camp, it seemed.

But she was also terrified of what this meant for her. If he died out there, where would she go? She didn’t think they would let her keep her crown here, but she couldn’t go home. She refused to return to a life in the shadows.

The door opened, but she didn’t turn over to see who had entered. She simply stared out at the mountains. Their massive size made them appear closer than a couple days’ journey. She could not see the war camp or valley from here though. She couldn’t see where her husband lay injured.

“All right, that’s enough,” a deep, familiar voice said as he rounded the bed to face her.

Her chest tightened as she looked up at her older brother. “Hugo?”

“Juniper,” he said, shaking his head as if disappointed. “Richard says you’ve been here since yesterday; it’s time to get out of bed.”

“I can’t,” she whispered. “It hurts too much.”

He let out a slow breath. “You’re the queen; you’re supposed to be leading in your husband’s absence.”

She scoffed. “Like you care? You don’t even think I’m capable of that.”

“Then, prove me wrong.” Hugo brushed her hair from her brow.

The gentleness was too much. It reminded her of how close they’d once been. He’d been her best friend. She’d thought the world of him. And then, he’d left her like everyone else.

When new tears started to fall, he sighed and said, “Fine, move over.”

As soon as she made room, he climbed onto the mattress and rolled to face her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Rafe and I might have stolen a battalion or two after Father got your request and refused to answer.”

“What?” Her traitorous heart thudded with hope.

Hugo reached over to swipe the fresh tears from her cheeks. “We’re leading them ourselves, and we agreed to send a hundred men here to help protect the capital. Rafe was going to come with them to check on you, but he’s better at commanding the soldiers than I am, so I promised to see you instead while he and Delroy continued.”

Of course it wasn’t his idea to visit her. He didn’t truly want to; it was just the better option. She lowered her gaze so he wouldn’t see how much it hurt to understand that. Then, his words registered. “Delroy? Why is he with you all?”

“Because he is one of the best swordsmen we have, and he wanted to help.”

She scoffed again in disbelief. Delroy rarely acknowledged her existence, even before her confinement to tower life. There had to be another reason.

“Believe it or not, your brothers do care about you.”

Her eyes burned. That wasn’t true. There were seven of them in total, and after Hugo stopped visiting her tower, the only one she ever really saw was Rafe. He was the only one who’d acted like he loved her over the last decade. Trying to focus on the rest of Hugo’s words, she said, “Nearly two battalions are marching toward Valétoi?”

“As we speak.”

“Good. That’s good.” She sat up against the headboard, and he followed. That would help Bodin. She looked down at the letter still clutched in her hand. Laurent had written about the attack that took place shortly after they’d arrived, and while it hadn’t lasted long and they’d made it out mostly intact, the frontlines weren’t faring as well.

“Juni?”

A sob ran through her. It had been so long since he’d called her that. She finally turned toward him, the question she’d longed to ask him bursting out, “Why do you hate me?”

To her surprise, Hugo put a hand over hers on the bed between them. He stared at their hands as he said, “I’ve never hated you.”

She rolled her eyes before she could help it, trying to pull her hand away from his. “For years, you’ve ignored me. The few times we did interact, you treated me like… like?—”

“I know,” he whispered, cutting her off. “But it wasn’t because I hated you. You were my best friend, Juni.”

“Then, why?” she asked, finally succeeding in snatching her hand away. She’d pondered that for so long. They had been nearly inseparable, and then one day, he just vanished from her life. He had never shown any signs of being afraid of or disgusted by her magic until one day he suddenly told her he couldn’t stand it. At first, she thought he was teasing and jealous, but he’d treated her differently after that.

She’d been so sure that he would be the one person to never care. His abandonment hurt worse than anyone else’s, even their mother, who’d started keeping her distance years earlier.

“Because Father threatened…”

She straightened and turned to face him more. “He threatened you?”

“No.” Hugo met her gaze, and she saw it then. The sincerity. The pain . “He threatened you .”

Her brow creased. “I don’t understand. Why?”

“Because I started looking into magic and questioning things,” he said in a soft tone, seeming almost relieved to finally be talking to her about this… explaining things. “He kept insisting it had to have come from an ancestor, but I went through the family tree and the histories. In every bit of research, I found two consistencies: that amount of power has to come from the lake itself or a parent or grandparent; anything further out is too diluted to be that strong, and neither side of our family had anyone from Gilarn as far as I was able to trace back to.”

The strength of the magic depending on close relations was exactly what Bodin had said too. Her head reeled. Before she could ask more, he continued.

“And since it’s hereditary, if it’s that powerful in you, then we should have it too. At the very least, I should have it.” The last few words were quiet, like he didn’t want to speak them.

She swallowed. “What are you saying?”

Hugo took her hand again and rubbed his thumb against her knuckles, relief evident when she didn’t pull away. “I started questioning your lineage, and that’s when Father forbade me from speaking of it again. When I wouldn’t, he told me I could no longer visit you, especially since I’d already been demanding for years that he let you out of that damned tower.”

“You had?” How had she not known this?

“Of course,” he said as if it were obvious. “But… well, you know me. I couldn’t just stop. I even went to Mother privately, and she begged me to drop it for all our safety.” After a moment, Hugo added, “And I think I figured it out.”

Juniper wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the truth at this point. What good would it do now? Swallowing, she asked, “What?”

“I have no proof, only what I’ve gathered from maids and putting things together. Mother and Father wouldn’t confirm or deny it?—”

“Hugo.” She tried to stop his rambling, but he went on.

“But after voicing the theory, he told me that if I ever spoke of it again or told anyone, including you… he… would get rid of you.”

Her eyes widened. “Get rid of me?”

He nodded. “At that point, I didn’t know if he meant he’d send you somewhere or…” Sighing, he leaned his head back on the ornate wood. “I was only fourteen, so I believed him, and I wasn’t willing to chance it. Even when I was older, he would remind me of the threat to get me to fall in line and do whatever he wished. He knew how much I cared about you, and he’s used it against me for over a decade, Juniper.”

Stifling a sob, she pulled her hand free and scooted closer to hug him. His arms wrapped around her without hesitation.

“I thought that by being mean to you, you wouldn’t want me to visit anymore. I thought it would make it easier and keep you safe.” He put a hand to the back of her head, holding her like he had when she was a little girl. It broke her heart. “Then, when we found out that Bodin was wanting to trade riches for men, I went to Rafe with the idea of the arranged marriage.”

Juniper leaned back. “It was your idea?”

“Yes. I ended up telling him everything; I trust him more than just about anyone in the world, especially when it comes to you. He’s always loved you so much, and he used to shout at me for not visiting with you anymore, knowing how much it hurt you, but I just couldn’t tell him the truth… I couldn’t risk you like that. After I explained, he agreed it was the perfect way to get you out of there, but we wanted to find out more about Bodin first. We doubted the stories were true, and we were lucky enough to speak to a former worker from the palace. They confirmed that he was closed off but never cruel, so Rafe went to Father and proposed it as a way to receive more money.”

She’d been aware that her father sold her, but to hear it out loud still hurt.

There was a question she had to ask though. He’d skipped over a detail she desperately needed.

“What did you find out about me?” She held her breath, afraid of the answer. The possibilities were endless.

“Remember, it’s only based on hearsay.”

“Hugo.” She’d started to piece it together, and she knew what he’d been implying, but she needed him to say it to make it real.

Taking a visibly deep breath, he said, “I think our mother had an affair… with someone from Gilarn.”

She closed her eyes and leaned against him.

“That’s why they hid you away when the war started,” he whispered. “It would have been bad enough that his wife had another man’s child, but in that case, he could have thrown the two of you out and moved on.”

“But no one could know that the princess had the blood of the enemy,” she said, piecing it together. “They would have spread rumors about the royal family working with Gilarn, like he planned the entire thing to have children with magic.”

Hugo nodded against the top of her head. “It would have brought war to Forosse.”