Cursed by Darkness (Once Upon A Curse)

30. Bodin

THIRTY

Bodin

6 YEARS EARLIER…

Ronna thought she knew pain, but it was nothing compared to the loss of her brother. It tore away a piece of her very essence. But it also gave her something she never expected. Immense power to punish the one who hurt her.

B eatrice rambled about her findings in the market as Bodin stared out the window. She’d been talking nonstop since they left Terian. After about an hour, he quit listening. He watched the trees in passing, the sunlight flickering down between the branches heavy with green leaves.

“Bodin?”

He looked at his wife, who shook her head in the exasperated way she tended to do only toward him.

“You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?”

Guilt wracked him. They might not love each other, but she didn’t deserve to be ignored. Clearing his throat, he moved to sit on her side of the carriage and took her hand. “Forgive me. I’ve been preoccupied.”

“By what?” She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he was grateful that, in the end, he’d at least gained a friend in this arrangement.

“The war. My father’s choice to send so many men to the front lines and leave our villages unprotected.” The fighting had begun nearly a decade ago, and while it started small, it had grown with each passing year. “The fact that we can’t…”

Beatrice squeezed his hand. They’d been married for over a year now and still hadn’t been able to produce an heir, despite trying as often as they could. In a kingdom plagued by war, where anything could happen, that was more important than ever. Yet, he failed with every attempt. And he struggled to understand why when he and Camille had conceived so quickly.

But the thought of succeeding also terrified him. Every time they discussed it or she thought she might have been pregnant finally, memories of Camille haunted him. The blood and screaming… He couldn’t go through that again. He couldn’t lose another wife and child.

“It’ll happen,” she whispered. “I spoke to one of the healers in Terian, and she gave me a tonic to take. It is supposed to help.”

He focused on her again and kissed the top of her head. “I didn’t know you were doing that today.”

“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I was going to take it without telling you so that if it didn’t work… you wouldn’t be angry.”

Bodin sighed and released her hand to drape an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close. He opened his mouth to tell her he would never be angry with her for something like that—he knew it was beyond their control—but the carriage jerked to a halt. Shouts rang out, followed quickly by the sound of clanging swords.

He pushed aside the curtain in the window, hand already on the pommel of his sword. One of his guards stepped in front of the door, and Bodin asked, “What’s going on?”

“Highwaymen, Your Highness. Stay inside until we’ve cleared the?—”

The man’s words cut off as an arrow pierced his throat.

Beatrice let out a shriek, and Bodin whipped around to cover her mouth. He all but shoved her off of the bench to duck down on the floor. “Stay here. Do not come out until I tell you it’s safe. Here, take this extra dagger.”

She nodded and grabbed it with a trembling hand, fumbling with it. “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’ll be right outside this door,” he said as more men yelled in pain. “I need to help them.”

“Be careful.”

Bodin nodded and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek before slipping out of the carriage. He unsheathed his sword in the same breath and looked around at the mayhem. It was chaos. His well-trained men were dying around him.

Taking a deep breath, he stood with his blade held high.

One of the highwaymen charged, and Bodin easily twisted out of his path. Stabbing the man, he moved on to the next, working his way to where the majority of the fighting was taking place. There were at least two dozen against his handful of guards.

Bodin darted left and right, striking as fast as he could in his attempt to take out as many thieves as possible. He used his shadow magic and extra strength to fight back, but many of his men didn’t have magic. And they were completely surrounded and outnumbered. He couldn’t fight every one of them by himself.

A scream ripped through the commotion, and he whirled around to find Beatrice being dragged out of the carriage.

“No!” Bodin tried to reach her, but with each attempt, he was thwarted.

“Stop,” the man who held her yelled. When the fighting continued, he pulled up the same dagger Bodin had given his wife and pressed it to her throat.

Bodin stilled. To his guards, he shouted, “Stop!”

It took a moment, but they obeyed. Each was grabbed by the criminals except for Bodin.

“Ah, the prince.” The man smirked. “I thought it was a royal carriage, but I didn’t think the sole heir would be foolish enough to travel with so few to protect him.”

“Let her go.” Bodin put his hands out to his sides, showing he wouldn’t fight. “Take me instead.”

“Jasper,” he said, nodding for one of his friends to move closer. He then pushed Beatrice into his arms. “Hold her while I negotiate with His Highness.”

“My pleasure.” Even his voice was slimy. Jasper’s malicious grin made Bodin sick. Beatrice gasped as he gripped her hip and pulled her back against his chest. She struggled, pushing to get away, but that only put more determination in his eyes. With one hand around her throat and his other arm across her stomach, he whispered something that made her whimper and stop moving.

Bodin’s blood boiled. “I said, let her go.”

The man seemingly in charge raised a brow. “What could possibly make you think you have any power to give commands in this scenario?”

Shadows swirled around his hands, but he didn’t know how to use his magic without her getting hurt. Could he move faster than the man holding her? Faster than the man who could snap her neck in an instant? The leader looked down at Bodin’s hands and shook his head in disapproval. Glancing behind Bodin, he inclined his head.

Bodin turned just in time to see blades slice the throats of two of his remaining guards. “No!”

“Now, here’s how this is going to work,” the leader said, ignoring him. “I am going to keep killing them until you cooperate, and you should know, more than one of my men have magic too. If you still don’t do as I say, I will drag out the last of their deaths in front of you in the most agonizing way I can think of. And if that still doesn’t convince you, just imagine what I’ll do to your dear wife, here.”

Bodin faced him once more, nauseated. “What do you want? We don’t have much with us, but if it’s riches you want, take it and go.”

“We have no use for your coins, Prince.”

He looked around at the different men. The leader said they had magic too, but not what kind. Bodin swallowed. “You’re Gilarnian…”

The man made a disgusted noise then spit on the ground. “Don’t you dare compare us to those heathens.”

Any miniscule hope Bodin was hanging on to vanished. “Umbra.”

“Good, you’ve heard of us,” the leader said with a smirk. “That makes this easier.”

Bodin shook his head, not understanding. If the rebels wanted to cause more strife between the two kingdoms, killing Bodin and making it look like a Gilarnian attack would be their best bet. But he didn’t need to know who they were for that to happen. A sinking feeling overcame him. “What do you want?”

“Damien.”

“What do you want, Damien ?” he snarled.

“This war to end by means of conquering Gilarn, once and for all.”

Bodin almost laughed. Was this man serious? If it were that simple, someone in the last thousand years would have accomplished it by now. “And how do you propose we do that?”

“We want your father to order all citizens over fourteen to go to the valley if they are physically able,” Damien said. “And I want him to make an arrangement with Forosse to get their army too. They will sail to the western shores of Gilarn so that we may attack from both angles.”

“I… I can’t do that.” Not only because his father wouldn’t listen to him, but also, it went against everything Bodin believed in.

“Wrong answer.” Damien nodded, and the thump of another body hitting the ground sounded behind Bodin. “You’re running out of men.”

“You don’t understand,” he tried, but the man shook his head.

Damien stepped closer, running a hand through his thick black hair. “No, I think it’s you who doesn’t understand. We got the war started, and now, we’re going to win it.”

Bodin couldn’t breathe. “What are you talking about?” he managed to whisper.

“The dagger was really meant for you, you know.” Damien lifted the blade he’d been holding against Beatrice’s throat. He twirled and flipped it around, like he didn’t have a care in the world. It wasn’t the same one, of course, but Bodin didn’t need to ask what he meant.

Knees growing weak, Bodin fell to the hard dirt. Overwhelming grief consumed him. Flashes of his brother’s smile filled his mind, echoes of his laughter ringing in his ears. The assassin had confessed to being from Gilarn, but something about it had always seemed off to Bodin. Like he’d given in too easily and told them what they wanted to hear.

Because it wasn’t true.

The king had set out on a mission to avenge his son, blaming an innocent kingdom. Thousands of soldiers from both sides had died because of Umbra’s actions. Because they killed Bodin’s little brother, their prince, for their own gain.

He hung his head low, leaning forward to brace himself on both hands, not caring when tears dripped onto the ground beneath him. His shadows tumbled across the dry grass. An invisible band gripped his chest tightly, squeezing his lungs and heart. Pain ricocheted through his temples.

Damien sighed. “Fine, let’s start with the princess instead. Maybe that will motivate you more.”

Beatrice sobbed, and Bodin raised his head. Another man moved closer to her, running a finger down her cheek.

“Don’t touch her,” Bodin growled. That same pressure increased, making it hard to breath, the lack of air making him dizzy, but still, he focused on his wife.

“I’m going to make you watch as we have a little fun, give her a reason to scream.” The man in charge got in his face. “Then, we’ll come back to this conversation to see if you’ve changed your mind.”

“If you hurt her, I swear?—”

The man backhanded him and headed toward Beatrice. “We’ll send you on your way to talk to the king, and once the decrees are made, you can have her back. Sound like a deal?”

Bodin’s vision darkened around the edges.

“Please don’t,” Beatrice begged. “Please don’t do this.”

Bodin’s magic pulsed through his veins, begging for a release. Along with a new sensation burning inside him. The pressure continued to build in his chest, as if something was trying to burst out of him. With her next scream, darkness covered him. Shadows spread around him, rolling like fog across the forest floor. He’d always had strong magic, but nothing like this. Fear gripped him at this unknown.

Between one breath and the next, that brewing rage inside took over. His body ripped apart, shifting into a new form. Bones shattering to bend in different directions, his skin peeling away. He yelled in agony, but what came out of his mouth wasn’t sound.

It was fire.

Wings flapped, and suddenly, he was in the air. He torched the rebels, the evil men who’d threatened him and his wife. Who’d worked with those who killed his brother. Who’d planned it.

But he didn’t stop there.

He couldn’t.

Everything was ablaze, and he tasted iron and copper as he tore into the screaming men. He couldn’t even tell who he was attacking at this point. None of it mattered. Nothing outside of his fury. He would destroy everything. Or rather, the creature he’d become would.

It’s all mine now, it whispered in his head, pushing Bodin to the back.

It had fully taken control. And try as he might, Bodin couldn’t stop it. He shouted in his mind to cease, but it did no good. He watched as if trapped in a prison while he killed and maimed.

Until the screams ended. Until there wasn’t a soul left alive in that clearing. Not. One.

Apart from the crackling flames, the only thing he heard was his own sobbing in his head as the grief and guilt consumed him.

But then, the monster flew toward the castle, wanting more blood.

Bodin thought that he’d known fear until that moment. He begged and pleaded to no avail.

After witnessing the deaths of so many more, Bodin gave up. He gave in to the darkness, wanting it to consume him if that meant not seeing anything else. If it meant forgetting he’d killed his wife, his parents, and so many of his people.

He no longer wanted to exist in this world with so much tragedy.

So, he let the monster have free rein and tried to disappear.