Cursed by the Phantom Prince (Once Upon A Curse)

Chapter 17

17

TOREN

A nger simmered in my gut, making my stomach churn unpleasantly. Witnessing what Rhan had just been through caused a visceral reaction and I suddenly found my spear in my hand. I’d thrown it at the boy just as he was reaching to touch the Princess. Guilt and shame ate away at my rage, turning it into a bubbling pot of confusion.

I didn’t have a choice.

The dark presence had devoured the poor boy’s magic, making him just an empty husk. There was no way to save him once the black veins had reached his head. There was nothing I could do, just like all the other times.

Rhan rested her head on my shoulder, her exhaustion plain to see. She’d pushed herself too far tonight. She’d only just recovered from touching me that morning, which honestly felt like a lifetime ago instead of a few hours.

Watching her struggle because of me made me want to punch something. This was all my fault. I should have figured out a different way. Involving her had been a mistake and I had to figure out a way to put a stop to this. What had I been thinking? This wasn’t her responsibility. It was wrong of me to bring this to her doorstep.

I needed to call it all off.

I’d get with Larek and see if we could come up with a different solution, one that didn’t involve the Court of Dawn’s princess.

We walked back to the castle in silence, following the same pathway that we’d taken leaving the castle. I’m not sure how they managed to leave without anyone noticing but I had a theory. They either paid off the guards to abandon their posts or they paid off the captain who ordered his soldiers not to patrol a certain area. Both options were plausible, but judging from the lack of obstacles on the return path, I would bet coins that it was the latter.

“I’ll see you,” Larek spoke softly when we’d reached the entrance to the hallway that led to his room.

I nodded curtly, knowing he couldn’t see it, then turned down the opposite corridor and headed for the Princess’s room.

“Is everything all right?” The princess asked, looking up at my face with concern.

She was too perceptive for her own good. It was something I admired but at the moment it was irritating. The last thing I wanted to do was tell her the truth, but neither did I want to mislead her. Taking an honesty vow was proving to be more difficult than I’d been anticipating.

“I’m fine.”

“Your heart is racing,” she pointed out, obviously not believing my words.

“It’s been an eventful night,” I deflected, hoping that she would drop it.

“I suppose…” she agreed then fell silent.

I let out an exhale, thinking I’d gotten lucky and she’d decided not to push any further.

“Who was the woman?”

“What woman?” I asked, thankful for a subject change.

“The woman in a bed of white linens that had the same black veins as the boy had?”

I stopped in the middle of the hallway, every muscle tensed to the point that I thought they might burst from my skin.

How did she know about that?

“I saw her, or rather, I saw your memory of her.” Rhan bit her lip, distracting me from the horrible memory. “I’m sorry. That was intrusive.” Red tinged her cheeks, making her look even younger and more innocent.

How could I force this upon her? She had no idea what was about to happen.

“She was my mother,” I managed to speak before my throat closed, cutting off anything else I wanted to say.

“I’m so sorry,” Rhan replied, her eyes wide with sorrow and understanding. “I lost my mother too.”

I cleared my throat, wanting to say something, to tell her that I knew how she felt, but I couldn’t. Instead I started walking again, ready to deliver her to her room so I could put an end to this conversation.

“My mother was…an extraordinary woman. She gave her life to save mine and my father did to save us both.” She smiled as her eyes glazed over, lost in her memories. “My father was the brother to the Sun Court King and my mother…well, she was incredible.” Tears glistened in her eyes as she thought of them both. “Fate had other plans.”

“Yes, fate,” I agreed, knowing that fate had nothing to do with any of this.

“Grief still weighs heavily on me at times but I know they’d want me to live my life. They may be gone from this world but my memories keep them alive.”

“How old were you when the queen adopted you?”

“Thirteen,” she replied simply, her eyes still glazed from the earlier memories.

“Do you ever wonder how things would have been if our mothers were still alive?” I wondered, curious if she ever got lost in her imagination like I did.

“I used to,” she began, then sighed resting her head back on my shoulder. “I’d get so caught up in the world I imagined and forget to live in this one.”

She understood my pain better than anyone else, maybe fate did have something to do with this. Maybe I was meant to be here at this exact moment.

The thought had me chuckling mentally. I’d never put much stock into the concept of fate but being here with her made me want to reconsider.

Her bedroom door appeared, annoying me. In the space of a few seconds I went from wanting to be away from her to never wanting to leave her side. I couldn’t make sense of my flip flopping feelings.

I had to talk to Larek tomorrow, he’d know how I could put a stop to everything that I’d stupidly put into motion.

I managed to turn the handle and push her door open. Her bed was pristinely made while a night dress was laid at the bottom. Lua, the princess’s maid, really was an exceptional Fae.

Setting the princess on the mattress was an exercise in self control. I wanted to keep her close and chase away all of the madness I knew she was still feeling. I had no right though and that made me want to say fuck the consequences, get on my knees and beg her to accept me and everything I came with it. There was no way I could without telling her everything and while I longed for companionship, I couldn’t ask her to take it all on, not when she knew nothing.

“Will you be alright?” I asked, wondering if she could handle being alone.

“Lady will be back soon and Lua is staying in my receiving room. I’m fine.”

Her reassuring words couldn’t hide the fear I could see in her eyes. She was terrified to be alone though she did her best to conceal it.

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep,” I said, turning around so she’d have privacy to change into her night dress.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she tried to reply tersely but couldn’t quite keep the trepidation from her tone.

“It might not be but your comfort is my number one priority.”

“You take your job very seriously, don’t you?” she asked, as the sound of cloth ruffling told me that she was removing her armor.

“I was given very specific orders,” I shrugged, like I wasn’t the one giving the order.

More rustling than light footsteps before the sound of the covers being pulled back reached my ears. I waited another few seconds before turning around. Rhan was lying in bed, her ebony hair unbraided and laid out on the pillow. There were only a couple candles lighting the room, making the mood drop to something more intimate. I cleared my throat, doing my best to ignore the fact that she was wearing nothing but a night dress with a flimsy blanket hiding her from my eyes.

I moved to the head of the bed and sat on the floor, my back to the stone wall behind me. Rhan readjusted her position so that she was laying with her head tilted back so she could see me. I grinned, then realized that she couldn’t see it because of the cowl covering my face.

“That doesn’t look comfortable,” she frowned, obviously worried about my comfort when she shouldn’t be.

“I’ll leave once you fall asleep,” I assured her, stretching my legs out in front of me and leaning my head back.

“I appreciate it.”

“It’s no trouble.” Little did she know that I was willing to sit here all night long if my presence eased her mind enough that she could slumber peacefully.

“I have a request,” she stated after a few minutes had passed. I jerked my head in a clear message to go ahead and ask. “May I hold your hand?”

Without hesitation I extended my hand toward her. She reached out and slid her palm against mine, intertwining our fingers. The touch was supposed to be platonic but feeling her skin slide against mine was the erotic thing I’d ever experienced.

I nearly jerked my hand away, not expecting the reaction I had to touching her. She sighed contentedly, and I knew that I would be happy to sit here and hold her hand all night.

“Good night, Lir.” She pulled my arm up so it was resting on my mattress beside her head, inches from her face.

“Sweet dreams.”

She smiled at the endearment, before closing her eyes and relaxing her face. I sat there until I could feel her heartbeat slow and her breathing even out. Then I sat there even longer, unable to pull myself away.

My last thought before slumber pulled me down was how soft her skin was and wondering if she was soft in other places too.