Cursed by the Phantom Prince (Once Upon A Curse)

Chapter 21

21

RHAN

I was still reeling from what had just happened. My heart was in my throat while it felt like a flock of birds were flying around in my stomach. I’d imagined being kissed, but nothing in my wildest dreams could compare to what I had just experienced. Lir had kissed me with a need that I hadn’t realized I’d felt until his lips were caressing mine. There were other things that needed to be addressed, but that was all secondary to being kissed like I was the very oxygen needed for survival.

“Gods,” Lir cursed, running a hand through his short black hair. “I got carried away.”

He looked sheepish, which warmed my heart. I smiled up at him, still pressed against his chest, like I belonged there.

“Me too,” I replied, sounding breathless to my own ears.

He looked down into my eyes as a corner of his lips lifted into a self-satisfied smirk, obviously picking up on how much I was affected by him. I was tempted to press my ear against his chest, wondering if his heart was beating as fast as mine was. These feelings were completely new and fabulous but also confusing.

“So….” I began then trailed off unsure what to say.

“So…” Lir parroted back with the same smirk on his face. He was enjoying watching me flustered.

“You’re the Moon Court Prince.” It was a statement but I meant it as a question. For a moment I thought that maybe this was all a prank and that Lir was Lir.

“Yes, I am,” he answered, making my stomach twinge. This whole time he hadn’t been a guard but the prince in disguise.

I gently but firmly pressed against his chest while taking a step back. I needed space in order to catch my breath and gather my thoughts. Touching him was a distraction I couldn’t afford at the moment.

His arms tensed for a moment like he was unwilling to let me go. My heart climbed up into my throat, wondering if I’d have to force some distance, but his arms dropped the next second. Stepping back, I was surprised to find that I instantly regretted it. Being in his arms had been revolutionary. I felt protected and powerful all at the same time which was something I’d need to analyze at a later time.

“Is your name even Lir?” I asked, the question sounding harsher than I intended. I was slowly coming back to my senses. The implications of what we’d just done was hitting me all at once.

“No,” not Lir replied, then paused like he was waiting for me to ask what it was. I remained silent, waiting for him to offer up the information. “My name is Toren.”

“Toren?” I said the name out loud. It felt foreign in my mouth and I wondered how I was ever going to call him by his true name when he was cemented in my mind as Lir. What have we done?

I felt the color drain from my face as shock took over. This was real. Lir was actually Toren the Moon Court Prince and my almost betrothed. Maybe my future husband.

“Whoa, whoa,” Lir… err Toren said, walking closer and putting his hands on my shoulders. “Come with me.”

I wanted to say no, I wanted to push him away and fight, but his touch was distracting me from the fact that my life could very well be falling apart.

He led me to a chair and guided me until I was sitting down. My vision tunneled as visions of the queen disowning me, of my future being washed away by the underhanded actions of this Moon Court Prince. What was the purpose of this deception? What could he have gained? Questions and scenarios were popping up wherever my thoughts went.

Toren squatted down until he could look up at me; his face was open and full of concern. It was a face that I had come to rely on, to trust. It was the face of Lir who had done nothing but protect and support me. The memory of him carrying me and staying with me all night was something Lir would do. But he didn’t exist.

Was this why he was called the Phantom Prince?

“It was all a lie.” It hurt my heart to think that everything that had happened in the past few days had been an act but what else did I expect from the Fae. Right when I thought I had them all figured out, they were manipulated in a way that I wasn’t expecting. That’s why I couldn’t let my guard down.

“Just my identity.” He sounded sincere but so did every other Fae.

“I don’t…I don’t believe you. I can’t believe you.” Why did my chest hurt?

“Rhan, everything that Lir told you, everything that I told you was the truth.”

“How do I know that?” It was a rhetorical question.

“Because I might have been deceitful about my identity but I have never lied. What Larek told you about me in the garden is true. I don’t play these games that every Fae does. I’m tired of it but I can’t change the way things have been for thousands of years. Sometimes I have to play the game to get what I want.”

“What do you want, Toren? What do you want from me?” I looked into his black eyes, trying to read them, trying to figure him out.

“My court needs help. We’re divided. Father against son. It’s been like this since my mother died. The throne is mine but my father and his supporters refuse to abdicate unless I’m wed. I’ve refused for years but things have escalated. You are the only eligible maiden in the realm and with your influence I could force the issue with my father, but he was correct in one thing, I need to wed.” He paused and looked away so he could gather his thoughts. “It’s not what I want, but it’s what I’m faced with. Either I abandon my court or I marry.

“What about the sickness, this black rot? Did it come from your court?”

“It’s something my family has been fighting for millennia. It’s gotten worse and is spreading because I’m not on the throne. I can’t protect my people or the realm unless I am ling.”

“I see.”

I could definitely see his predicament and a part of me wanted to help stop the rot from spreading but a small part was hurt that he hadn’t said that he wanted me. I was the only eligible female in the realm. That’s the only reason why he sent a proposal in the first place. He needed my influence from my court and by extension my family's court.

I thought of the boy from the night before, infected by a sickness that was spreading. Not to mention the mad presence I had fought and barely made it out alive. I felt its hunger, felt its driving need to devour all magic and knew it would only get worse unless it was stopped. The only way to do that was to marry the Moon Court Prince and pray to every god that existed that with Toren on the throne he could stop this cursed rot from spreading.

Was this what my mother had foreseen? Was marriage the only way I could save the realm?

I wish you were here.

I’d grown up with memories of my mother and stories about her from Flora. She was fierce, powerful, had a problem with authority, and she trusted her abilities.

That last one was something I’d always struggled with. In the human realm, the ability to use magic had to be hidden. If found out you’d be carted off to the castle and forced into Uther Pendragon’s service. He used magic users to lie, cheat, and steal from everyone. His knights were just as bad. They raided, raped, and blundered everywhere they went. It didn’t matter if it was inside their kingdom's borders or not. Two knights came through the village I grew up in. Thankfully knights avoid orphanages like the plague so we never got any unwanted visitors.

I’ll never understand why I was destined to save the Fae realm when the human realm was the one that was royally messed up.

“I have conditions.” I began, holding up a finger so he couldn’t interrupt. “Whoever or whatever it was that I encountered last night can not be allowed to roam freely. The last thing we need is to create a power struggle. I’ll help you save your court if you help me stop this sickness.”

“I accept your terms,” Toren replied, quickly his dark eyes seeming to see more than what my words ever could.

“I want you to ask for my hand, publicly. In front of the queen and your father. I want to show everyone that this is our decision and not a political one.”

“Alright,” he agreed quickly, making me suspicious but I was too tired to pick apart his response.

“Save the court, save the realm.”