The Duke's Curse (Legend Book 2)

by Kylie Stewart

  “I’ll be fine. No tears for me.” I stopped in front of Orla. “I will return.”

  The older woman tightly embraced me. Orla was the motherly figure I had missed all of my life. I hugged her. She always had understood me, exercised patience with me, and prayed with me and for me.

  “I promise, Mum,” I whispered to her. She always liked that nickname I had given her.

  “You’d better.” She gave my cheek a pat and stepped back.

  Lancer was a few feet away, still glowering at me. He wasn’t the one I was searching for.

  A small tug on my shirtsleeve, and I turned to look down.

  “Alexandria ...” There were so many things I wanted to say, to confess, to lavish her with, but we had shared those all last night.

  “Ready?” Pursing her lips, she nodded at Vivian. The Priestess looked at me, and I took the first steps down the hall.

  The servants and Orla wouldn’t attend. I refused to let them be witness to a possible nightmare. Lancer led us down from the second floor to the first and then down the back stairs to the dungeon.

  Candles lit the walls, and the fireplace glowed next to the rack.

  “I finally get to lay on this contraption,” I murmured, trying to keep the humor light.

  “Perhaps the ghosts of all those you’ve tortured will assist you.” Lancer’s sharp words alarmed me more than they usually would.

  “Lancer, don’t,” Alexandria hissed in my defense.

  I kept my pride intact as well as I could and jumped up on the device used for the cruelest of tortures. Merlin strapped my arms and legs in tight. He paused by my head.

  “I must tighten the slack a bit, sir.” His voice was low.

  “It's fine, M; do as you must to keep me down.” I swallowed hard, my chest starting to give away my nerves. A light sheen of sweat graced my brow. I closed my eyes as the creaking wheel was turned and I felt my limbs stretch just enough to hold them steady.

  “Lancer, I need you at his feet,” M instructed. “Vivian, you help Alexandria, and I shall keep the rope taut.” I couldn’t see M anymore.

  Looking down my body, I saw green eyes daggering me. Vivian’s face appeared above mine.

  “I’m going to open your shirt to make things easier.” Her cool fingers made quick work of the buttons, and exposed my flesh to the cool dampness of the cellar.

  “Alexandria.” I spoke quietly, knowing she would hear.

  “Yes, Avalon?” She was over me in moments, her blue eyes fighting back the tears.

  “Do not hesitate. Remember, you are doing me a favor. Set me free. Set us free.”

  “I promise.” She closed her eyes to steady her resolve, before looking at me one last time. I could hear Vivian’s soft chanting in Latin of ancient verses.

  That ringing noise that lived in my head now came from somewhere else.

  The sword—it sings.

  “With this sword born of Hellfire that has now been purified, I call upon God and his angels to guide your anointed prince home.” Alexandria spoke her words with conviction, and then I heard flesh being torn. Her gasp both worried and stirred me.

  What had she done?

  “With this, the blood of the one who betrayed you, I, Alexandria York, ask God to forgive me of my sins, of the sins of those who came before me, and that of my King’s sins.”

  The ringing grew louder, and I heard everyone in the room react. My heart thundered once, loudly and a reply came from next to me.

  My body shook. I tried to shield myself from fear, but it was a worthy foe.

  “I call upon you, Sinfonia, to unite these souls as one. In the name of the Father.”

  I saw Alexandria position the sword high above me.

  “The son ...”

  Her blood dripped onto my bare chest. Her eyes locked onto mine, cascading with tears. I had to do this for her.

  I nodded.

  “And of the Holy Spirit.”

  I opened my mouth to say, “Amen,” but a searing pain stole my breath. My chest was on fire. My head pounded with the ringing of this sword.

  I screamed as I felt the blade enter my flesh and tore through bone but also sunk into my soul. My arms tried to flail, and my legs kicked out. Neither would work as I felt blood fill my mouth. I was choking.

  Was I dying?

  My eyes failed to focus as they rolled back. I heard Alexandria screaming my name, the sword still driving itself into me.

  I held onto her voice.

  The pain ...

  I spit blood and gasped, unable to breathe.

  Then it was just her hands covering the wound on my chest. The sword was gone.

  I saw Lancer’s hand cover his mouth and Vivian’s chanting continued stronger this time. M was shouting at me to do something, but do what? I just wanted to focus on the beautiful blue eyes above me.

  The sky, yes, I was looking at the sky, at heaven.

  My heart slowed, and my hands uncurled. I felt the darkness calling to me, to give in, to come home. I wanted to obey, but I had to obey something else, someone else.

  “Avalon! Fight!”

  Fight what?

  Fight who?

  My eyes grew heavy, and my heart beat one last time.

  Darkness met me with silence. I blinked and looked around. I pushed myself off whatever I was lying on. The ringing sound was still present, but it wasn’t unbearable. It was rather soothing now, a melody.

  I followed that melody down a dark passage of twists and turns until I saw a sword glowing with light. I remembered then what I had to do. Reaching for the handle, I was roughly pushed back by an unseen force.

  My back slammed against a wall, and I crumpled to the ground. I coughed, my head snapping up.

  “After all of these years, we finally meet face to face.”

  That voice.

  That was my voice.

  Out of the darkness stepped a man with blond hair and emerald eyes. His skin was pale and held no imperfection. His mouth was cold, and his face set in a sneer.

  “You are supposed to be our future.” He snorted. “I think not.”

  “Your time is up.” I stood, positioning myself ready to defend.

  “Avalon, is that what they call us now? You’ve fallen to a lowly duke?” He mocked me. “Who was that madman who succeeded you? A war chief, I believe his name was ... Offa of Mercia, I believe. He fashioned himself after our name; did you notice that?”

  Inching closer to the sword that suspended between us, I scoffed.

  “What does it matter? We are here now.” I kept him in my sights. He had fashioned himself as a friend, but I knew him better as a foe now.

  “What does it matter?” Arthur put his hand on the sword, and it made a horrendous sound, almost like screaming. “It matters because you didn’t rise when you should have! The throne belongs to me! You are nothing but a misplaced soul in a wretched body, and I will fix that.”

  He pulled the sword to his side and pointed it at me. It wailed. I heard it in my soul. The wrong hand wielded it.

  “Even you can’t believe someone wouldn’t have sealed us away. A king who doesn’t die? That’s impossible to humans,” I shouted at him.

  “It wouldn’t have been if you had just done as I would have!” He emerald eyes blazed with rage.

  He attacked first. Chasing me around the sealed room, cutting, slicing, trying to bring me down.

  “I should have done many things, but you know why I could not.” I danced, avoiding the blade’s blows.

  “You were afraid! A coward for a king always loses!”

  A sting across my chest wrung a cry from my throat. Blood dripped from the cut.

  “You are my faith, why have you forsaken me?” I decided to come right at him.

  “I didn’t forsake you—you forgot yourself!” He swung again, this time hitting my left arm.

  I watched the blade’s tip come through the other side of my forearm. Pain ripped down the limb, paralyzing me.

 
; “Now, you will die in me, and I shall be you! I will rule in your place. I am the King of England, and I must take revenge on Mordred. I must take my queen.” His madness was consuming him. It was consuming me!

  “No ...” Tears stung my eyes when he pulled back. My wound made the arm useless. Holding it to my chest, I begged.

  “I have to do this for Alexandria. You love her too! I know you do; you can’t help but want her.”

  I watched his green eyes dilate at the sound of her name.

  “And you listened to me. When I said to go to her in her dreams, you believed me. You did and look what I have accomplished for YOU!” His rage was deafening. “You held her in your arms; you made love to her while I waited! If she loves anyone, if she belongs to anyone, it’s me!”

  I felt my gut contract as the sword impaled my core. I coughed blood, gasping for air.

  “She belongs to no one ...” My hand gripped the blade and pulled Arthur closer to me. I walked into his thrust and gripped his throat.

  “She is free!” I tried to cut off his air supply, but he only ripped the sword upward. My hands grew weaker and weaker, scrambling to grasp at his cloak to stay standing.

  “She is mine!” Hissing into my face, he shoved me back to the floor and pulled the sword from inside me.

  I fell to the floor, clutching my stomach, convulsing. The sound of the wailing sword matched my hearts aching.

  I lost.

  He’s going to kill me.

  Alexandria ... forgive me ...I never told you ...

  “You are not my future.” His words were harsh, cruel. I closed my eyes and braced myself for whatever end he planned to give me.

  God, forgive me. I have failed you.

  Twenty-six

  Alexandria

  I didn’t know how long after his heart stopped beating that I continued to scream his name. Lancer held me as Vivian held fast to her chanting. I was hysterical. He couldn’t be dead.

  You promised!

  I heard Vivian cry out, and her chanting stopped. M rushed to her, supporting her crumbling form.

  “The sword ... it’s crying.” Her eyes were wide, terrified.

  “What does that mean? Vivian! What’s happening?” I tried to escape Lancer’s hold, but he held me firm.

  M looked at me with a dire expression in his eyes. “It means he’s losing.”

  “No!” I felt my knees give out, and Lancer finally let me down gently. I froze. There was no way it was over that quickly. No way.

  My mind slowed, and everything came to a grinding halt. I heard people saying my name, but it was muffled. All I could see was red.

  Red, the color of the blood that stained my hands and the rage that burned in my soul.

  Red was our color.

  The color necklace that Avalon first gave me.

  Rubies ... the gems inlaid in the ...

  My brain plotted faster than I could speak.

  “Give me the ring.” I held out my hand to M.

  His eyes scanned my face.

  “Give me the ring!”

  “Allie, have you gone mad; there is nothing we can do.” Lancer gripped my shoulders, and I hadn’t realized I had jumped back to my feet.

  “Give me the bloody ring, M. It’s our only chance.”

  I held out my hand to the sorcerer, and he dug into his pocket. Pulling out the ruby ring with the newly formed crack from the last time Avalon used it, he hesitated.

  “You must know that if you do this, you may never come back.”

  “I know the risks. I have to.”

  “Allie, no! I refuse to let you do this.” Lancer spun me to face him, and I struck. Something came over me, and I actually hit him.

  “I am done with men telling me what I can and will do.”

  His forest eyes were wide with anger and hurt, but he shut his mouth. “I just hope you know what you are doing.”

  Yes, the ring wouldn’t fit snug on my digits, but I only needed its power. I took it from M, casting Avalon’s cold body one last look before slipping it onto my finger.

  The ground beneath me jolted, and I was thrown forward into darkness. My stomach turned at the sudden movement, but once my feet hit solid ground, I took off.

  “Avalon!” I screamed running down a dimly lit passageway of twists and turns.

  “Avalon, please! Tell me where you are!” I paused and heard yelling echoing through the stone walls.

  “Avalon ...” I took off in pursuit.

  The light grew brighter and brighter until I squinted as I stepped into an empty room. Only, it wasn’t empty. I saw the blond man from my dreams, his arm holding back Sinfonia, ready to strike. And then I saw raven hair on the ground, a pool of blood creeping past Arthur’s feet.

  “NO!” I ran as fast as I could toward Arthur. Holding back his arm, I wrapped my hands around the handle and pulled.

  “Stop this! You’re going to kill him!”

  Wild emerald eyes darted toward me. For a moment, I thought I would be the next one stabbed, but his mouth hung open.

  “Alexandria ... what are you doing here?” He dropped the sword, and its crying ceased to a low hum. He took my face in his hands and kissed me roughly, over and over.

  A dark part of me wanted to give in; he felt so much like Avalon, but I couldn’t.

  “Stop!” I wasn’t able to free myself from his hold, but I was able to halt his lips on mine.

  “Alexandria, I have missed you. I’ve been starved for you.” His voice was thick and heavy with need. “Let me finish with this imposter, and then I shall take you over and over, just like before.”

  “I don’t want you. Don’t you understand? If you kill him, you’re killing me!”

  He was silent for a moment, looking over my shoulder at the silent man on the ground.

  “He’s weak, my love, so weak. He isn’t fit to be the future king. So you may stay here with me as my queen.” His lips curled into a smile. “We will stay locked in time forever, together.”

  “I don’t want that. Please, we can still be together, but you must allow him this victory.” If he was driven by his passions, I’d play his passions.

  “How so?” His brows furrowed.

  “If you allow him this, the both of you can be together again. He won’t be split, and you and I can be together. We can break the curse. Don’t you get it, Arthur? The curse is bigger than we are. It’s so many of our friends.”

  He sneered, pushing me away.

  “I should have known he’d gotten under your skin. I should have known him having you in the flesh would mean more than what we had!”

  This man was insane. He was partially mad.

  Because he’s not whole.

  “Arthur, I love you! You know that, but I love Avalon just as much because to me you are the same.” I pleaded with him.

  “So let me kill him if we are equal! Allow me to have you all to myself for once, Guinevere!” he snapped.

  It felt as if he reached out and slapped me. I saw the regret in his eyes at saying her name over mine.

  I choked.

  “So ... that is who you really see when you look at me? Her? That harlot of a queen?”

  Arthur began to backtrack. “Alexandria, it was a mistake.”

  “No!” This man, the one who made me see something in Avalon, didn’t see me at all. He just saw his dead queen. “You see her! All you want is her!”

  “I want you!” He grabbed my shoulders and shook me, but all he did was help shed my tears.

  “You want her.”

  “God, woman! I should have burned you when I had the chance!”

  My body tensed.

  Burned me ... he wanted to kill me?

  “Burn me?” My voice was quiet.

  “No ... I would never want to cause you harm.” The guilt was clear. He was lying.

  “Did you try to burn me? In a previous life?” I pressed.

  He shook his head, but a cough behind me interrupted.

  “Yes
...we did ...because Guinevere was caught in adultery with Lancelot, and we sent her to the pyre in rage.” Avalon spat blood. “We didn’t save her ... Lancelot did. We are guilty. We share sins.” He clutched his stomach on bended knee. “And I am the only one who can claim them to wash them clean.” His breathing was ragged.

  I didn’t know what to think.

  “It doesn’t matter now, Alexandria. I want you. Only you.” Arthur cupped my face.

  “I see you ... Alexandria ... I see only you.” Avalon’s voice caressed my soul.

  “Arthur.” I raised my chin. His eyes followed mine, brows knitting against my defiance.

  “Yes?”

  “You will do this for me. You will allow this moment to go to Avalon. You will die in him, and he will return to the living with me.” My chin trembled. “One cannot live without the other. I cannot live without either of you. So I command you as your queen to just come home.” I reached up my own hand and brushed fingers through soft hair. “Just come home, Arthur.”

  His eyes darted around my face, his lips twisted in rage. His nostrils flared in anger.

  “You are nothing but a girl; you are no queen. You cannot command me like that. I command you; I rule you.”

  “And you are not God!” I screamed at him. He winced at the sharpness in my voice. A sudden rush of courage gave me the words to speak.

  “No. I am a queen. And I am your queen. Who is the most important piece on a chess board? A king can only take one step at a time, and a queen can soar anywhere she pleases.” I smiled. “You are nothing without me. This curse will never be broken, and even if you take me and keep me here, I will hate you for eternity.”

  Yanking myself from his grip, I rushed to Avalon’s side. His gray eyes were dull, his breathing shallow.

  “This is my king, and he is the one I am willing to sacrifice myself for. Not you. You were the once, Avalon is the future!” I found strength and clung to it. “If you are faith, then have faith enough to give it to yourself! Don’t deny the world this chance ...” I held Avalon close. “Don’t deny us this chance.”

  I watched Arthur’s face fall at my words. I saw him contemplate. When he looked back up, his eyes were harsh.