I had thoroughly examined the inside of the carriage by this point, of course, and had been unimpressed to find my betrothed had failed to include any supplies. Thank goodness I had packed myself a generous supply of food and water before fleeing Marin.
As I munched on another cold meal—each one was becoming more unappetizing than the last—my thoughts dwelt on my betrothed. The Beast. Just the thought of him made me shudder—with revulsion or fear, I wasn’t entirely sure.
I shouldn’t be surprised at the lack of provisions. Why would a cold-hearted monster consider my comfort at all? Millie, Jon’s cousin and a new friend, had told us all about how each Princess Tourney was shaped by the ruler or heir who called it. It made sense since its purpose was to find his perfect match and true love. And our Tourney had been frightening and dangerous—a terrifying glimpse into the dark nature of the crown prince of Palinar. So powerful was his curse, that it had reached out through him to corrupt the Tourney itself. What awful acts had he committed to bring such a curse upon himself?
I knew I couldn’t possibly be the true love for such a man—if man he still was. The truth was not that the Tourney had chosen me, but that I had cheated, using the secret connection between Lily and me to circumvent the rules and gain an advantage. She had planned to sacrifice herself to save me, but it was a sacrifice I wasn’t willing to let her make. I had never tried to work against her before, and my victory had been hard won. A hollow victory if not for the look on Lily’s and Jon’s faces at our joint betrothal ceremony. I would sacrifice myself again for my twin’s happiness.
Except I was determined to make it a short-term sacrifice. As I had knelt beside the Beast’s proxy at our Betrothal Ceremony, I had promised myself that I would travel to Palinar and find a way to break our betrothal. A way that didn’t violate the ancient laws. Then I would find out what the Beast had done to curse his people, I would defeat him, and I would free them. I would make sure that he could never hurt me again. And then I would return to Marin.
It was an excellent plan, except that I had no idea whatsoever how to do it, and two full days of travel hadn’t brought any enlightenment. When I fell asleep for the second night, I didn’t let my mind listen for any voices—I didn’t want to know what my subconscious thought.
Sophie. Lily’s grim-sounding projection woke me even before the carriage began to move the next morning.
What is it? I came awake quickly having only been half-dozing.
We’ve just received word from Marin’s prison. Cole has disappeared.
What!? I gasped. What about Sir Oswald and Corinna? I asked, referring to Cole’s father and sister.
They’re still there and claim to know nothing about his escape. Lily sounded tired. The sky had barely begun to lighten—how early had she been awoken with the news? The duke has turned out all the guard, and they’re searching the city. He seems confident we’ll find him.
Lily didn’t sound like she shared her future father-in-law’s optimism, and I understood her concern. The duchy of Marin was a city-state—by far the largest city either of us had ever seen. It must have a great many hiding places. And that was assuming he hadn’t made it across the border into southern Talinos, or across the straits to one of the other kingdoms.
I groaned. The duke was never going to find him. And who knew what danger Cole would stir up? Every indication suggested he had been deep in his father’s plot to steal Jon’s father’s throne—a plot we had only just managed to foil. And his treachery against the duke was actually the smaller concern.
The darkness we had defeated in Marin, had started in Palinar. The locals assured us that a curse so large and so devastating could only be the result of a kingdom turning their backs on the godmothers and breaching the ancient laws.
Except no one knew what laws had been violated. Or even the exact nature of the curse. They had simply noticed one day that no one had been seen leaving Palinar in weeks. Weeks that became months. Travelers and merchants who attempted to enter turned back with tales of desolate wastelands roamed by wild animals. A new feature in the once prosperous kingdom.
The last group had turned back after rescuing a man who had been mauled by a bear. I had sought out the man after winning the Tourney, but the rumors had been true. While his physical injuries had been healed, his confusion of the mind remained. He raved about a curse and a beastly prince, but his words made little sense. Of the other royals, Prince Dominic’s parents and younger sister, he would say only that they were gone.
Palinar was cursed along with my betrothed. Emptied of people and full of wild beasts. Shrouded with darkness which had begun to infect the other kingdoms. Its power had even reached out through Prince Dominic and twisted the Tourney he had called, nearly destroying Marin.
And Cole and his family had originally come from Palinar, moving to Marin long before the curse had cut Palinar off from the other kingdoms. But Jon, Lily, and I believed they had not escaped the reaches of the curse. The pride and greed in their hearts had provided fertile ground for the darkness that had already spread so far out of Palinar.
So, if Cole had escaped, that meant the curse had another agent roaming free, spreading the seeds of destruction further afield.
Let me know how the search goes, I projected, desperately wishing I could be there with Lily and Jon instead of riding alone in a strange and magical carriage toward a strange and terrifying fate.
She agreed, but she sounded distracted, and I knew I wouldn’t be hearing any more of the story today. I wished I had been able to pack one or two books, but my saddlebags had been full to overflowing with basic necessities. There had been no room for such luxuries, and I hadn’t expected to have the opportunity to read. I didn’t know if a book would be enough to distract me right now, with yet another worry chasing around in my mind, but even the feel of one in my hand would have been comforting, like a little taste of home.
My sister-in-law, Alyssa, had been largely responsible for the education of Lily and me, and she had a never-ending love of books. Lily had never stopped grumbling about it—although I noted she spent a lot of time in the library studying between Tourney events—but I had come to share Alyssa’s love. Or at least her love of fairy tales. Stories were exciting, since you never knew what you might find, what answers they might hold. But, at the same time, books were also solid and dependable; once you found a favorite, it never changed.