Rosa’s presence had been a steady anchor for me during my cursed enclosure. When he wasn’t around, I fell fully asleep and became unable to even make the attempt to push past the curse. But sometimes, when he was with me, I would catch glimpses of Briar, of what he did and how he struggled to protect our children.
This was the seventh month since I’d been cursed, and I’d had no luck with breaking the curse from inside. I didn’t even know where to begin, in spite of Rosa’s help. Sheer strength of will obviously didn’t work, although Rosa had assured me that it could happen under some circumstances.
I was too weak to break it, too weak to protect Briar. “Stay with him,” I said. “Protect our children. He’s going to need you.”
Rosa nodded, and with that, he was gone. The world drifted away, just like it always did. As much as I tried to fight it, I had no luck, and I succumbed to my curse.
And then, something happened—something that awoke my cognizance. A hot drop of something fell on my hand, seemingly burning the skin. It wasn’t possible. I instinctively knew that, even when I was conscious in the void the curse had created, I couldn’t feel the outside world. I couldn’t experience pain or pleasure. Gods, I couldn’t even hear voices, and if not for Rosa, I would have never even known that Briar had been talking to me.
But Rosa wasn’t here now, and Briar…Briar was bleeding badly. Something had gone wrong. Briar, my children…No, it couldn’t be. I couldn’t let it.
The nothingness around me suddenly tasted like blood and death. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even think. Hot drops of coppery liquid kept falling on my arms, on my hands, and I couldn’t bear it, couldn’t bear the thought of what was happening to my beautiful mate.
I needed to be with him. Curse be damned, I had to hold him. What the fuck did I care about this enchantment anyway? I was the Arthurian prince Leonard. Most importantly, I was Briar Rose’s mate, lover and the father of his children. I would not be denied.
Wrath and desperation mingled inside me. Suddenly, I was holding a weapon, my faithful sword which I had once used in the battle against the witch. I ran forward, striking my weapon against the wall. Physical strength didn’t matter here, but the power of my emotions was the one that fed me—and finally, the barrier shattered under my efforts.
I would have very much liked to say that as the wall came crumbling down, I was freed from my prison. Sadly, this was not the first wall I’d broken in this void-like labyrinth. More than once, I’d done similar things throughout these seven months. Every time, I hoped that this wall would be the last one, but unavoidably, when I passed it, I ran into another dead end.
This time, as I stumbled through the dark, I didn’t seek a way out. Suddenly, I knew that Rosa had been right. The curse could be broken from the inside. But instead of trying to escape it, I had to embrace it.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. For the first time since I’d been taken by the curse, I didn’t try to fight it. Instead, I sat down and willed myself to fall asleep.
It was easier said than done. With every second that passed, I became more and more aware of the pain my mate was in, of the scent of his blood, and just how much I risked by being here. But willpower was a strong thing, and I felt myself falling into my nightmares and drifting off into that accursed sleep.
I knew what I risked. I realized that I could very easily damn myself through this. And yet, my devotion toward Briar won out.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the dark labyrinthine nothingness. Instead, I seemed to be in a round chamber of sorts. A tall platform stood in its center, and on it was the very same rose that I had once picked up in the dream world.
I approached it warily, lifting my blade and half expecting it would turn into a monster once more. It didn’t. “So you finally made it here,” it said.
“I did,” I replied, wondering if I’d truly fallen into a dream and I would never wake up. “What are you doing here?”
It was really a silly question to ask, but I received an answer nonetheless. “My master protected me,” the rose said sadly. “He wanted me to grow and live, but I cursed him.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I told it. The entire conversation was surreal. “It was the witch.”
I knew I just had to cut off the rose and the curse would shatter, but I hesitated. I had found the rose in the dream world. Always, it had been bound to Briar, and always it seemed to turn up wherever the curse existed. What if the rose was in some way linked to my mate? What if I hurt Briar by killing the rose?
“How do we break the curse?” I asked it. The cursed bloom seemed cooperative, so it might know. “Is there a way to completely defeat it?”
“You’re very close already,” the rose said. Was it my impression, or did it slump forward, like it was close to withering? “All you have to do is chop me down.”
“But won’t it harm Briar?” I asked, vocalizing the same question I had asked myself earlier.
“You’re very clever,” the rose replied. “Yes in fact, it will. The truth is that the curse is directly bound to Briar. If Briar’s heart stops, it will fall, and so will the witch’s power. Similarly, if I am killed altogether, Briar will die.”
“What are you?” I asked, shaken beyond measure by what the so-called flower was telling me.
“Why, I’m Briar’s soul,” the rose answered in a tone that suggested I should have known all along. “A soul the witch entrapped.”
I was already shaking my head in disbelief. “That can’t be right. I fought you. I defeated you. I know Briar’s heart, and it’s not like that.”
“What you fought was Briar’s power,” the flower corrected me. “Did you ever wonder, Prince Leonard, why the curse endured all this time in spite of the witch’s defeat at the hands of her children? Did you ever ask yourself why people awaken from it in full health? A curse doesn’t have that sort of power individually, especially not one of this magnitude. Besides, an evil witch wouldn’t bother to make sure the cursed people wouldn’t die because of the enchantment’s nature.”
“Are you telling me that you are Briar? Somehow, I have trouble believing that.”
“Well, I am a part of him,” The rose’s petals slumped forward like it was sighing. “You see, prophecies have a way of being self-fulfilling. When the king and queen started destroying roses for the purpose of avoiding the curse, Briar was in terrible pain. At one point, his mind was in danger of shattering. He retreated into a corner of his private garden, and as he lay there and wept, I appeared from his pain, from his tears. A blood-red rose, the color of death, not of passion. A rose created out of that part of him that couldn’t forgive them for what they’d done.”
I was beginning to understand. “Briar knew, didn’t he? That’s why he kept blaming himself.”
“In his heart, yes, he knew,” the rose confirmed, “although never intellectually.”
“What about Rosa?” I asked. “Why didn’t he do anything?”
“Rosa’s power is bound to the flowers. When the king and queen destroyed the roses, Briar also lost his godfather. But in any case, this will all become irrelevant if you don’t act now. The only way to save Briar, to save us all, is to cut me down.”
“Are you telling me to kill my mate?” I inquired in disbelief.
“Yes,” the rose confirmed, “but I’m sure you realize that he’s dying anyway. Aloe is doing her best, but Briar’s bleeding too badly. Not even Rosa’s power will keep him alive at this rate.”
“And how will destroying you help?”
“Not destroying me,” the rose amended. “Picking me. Once you do so, once you cut me from here, the curse will shatter and you will be thrust back into the real world. At that time, you will have a few moments in which you will have to reunite me with my master. The witch’s curse largely feeds on Briar’s true power, and if Briar has that power back, he’ll be able to heal himself.”
I didn’t know if I should believe this strange fl
ower. But that same part of me that had once kept me from crushing it and destroying other roses here in the kingdom, that instinct told me that it was telling the truth.
My mate had suffered through terrible trauma when his parents had destroyed his plants. He was too pure and too kind to lash out, and that was why a part of his soul had detached itself from the rest of him and had ended up feeding the witch’s curse.
“Very well,” I said. “What am I supposed to do once I’m back with him?”
“You’ll know when you’re there,” the rose replied mysteriously.
I was tired of mysterious answers, and it angered me even more because of the circumstances. Alas, I didn’t have time to argue. Briar was dying. I could see it plainly in the drooping leaves and petals of the rose in front of me. If I didn’t pick it now, there would be nothing left to pick.
Praying that I was doing the right thing, I gripped the very base of the stem and pulled. The rose thorns bit into my hand, but it came free from the pedestal with striking ease—more so than I had expected.
Suddenly, the world began to swirl wildly. The strange room with the rose vanished into a whirlpool of power. I steadied myself, seeking out my mate bond with Briar, trying to use it as a guide for me to return to his side.
When I opened my eyes though, I realized with a gasp that there was no mate bond to guide me. That place in my heart and mind where I could once feel him was now silent and empty. Most importantly, I lay in a bed that was covered in Briar’s blood.
He was dead. I knew this, because he had died by my hand. I was still clutching the rose, though, and I wouldn’t let grief push me off focus.
Moving as fast as I could, I pressed the rose to his lips, then crushed our mouths together. The petals crumbled in the fervor of the kiss, one I hadn’t even planned to give. The thorns on the stem scratched my neck and my chin, and probably Briar’s. I couldn’t taste him, at least, not at first.
After a few dreadful moments during which my mind screamed “gods, I failed him, I failed him,” Briar’s distinctive flavor came to me from the broken petals on my lips. My mate inhaled deeply, and his eyes shot open.
I didn’t immediately pull back, largely because I still couldn’t believe I had succeeded. But then, the rose between us dissipated into small reddish particles. As they entered Briar, a wave of power exploded over us both. The world itself seemed to shake, and our bond flared to life. My mind was invaded with his thoughts and feelings, stronger than ever before.
There was pain, fear, uncertainty, but also a shy hope and a desperate need to know, to understand. “Leonard?” he asked, tentatively reaching out to me through our connection.
“I’m here, Briar,” I replied.
Briar’s arms came around me in his trademark tight embrace. I wanted to hold him forever, but then, he gasped and pulled away. “Our seedlings!”
Feeling the same urgency he did, I turned away from him and toward the rest of the people present. Rosa stood next to the bed, holding two wailing infants. He was staring at us, but as soon as he registered what we wanted, he approached and handed the children over.
“Congratulations,” he said, his voice choked. “You have two beautiful seedlings, a boy and a girl. May the Goddess bless them forever.”
They were beautiful, indeed, and they stopped crying once they were held by Briar and me. Both of them were pretty small, but that wasn’t surprising given that they’d only had seven months to grow inside Briar. I was holding the boy, and when I looked into his innocent emerald eyes, it finally struck me.
My son cooed and squeezed my finger with his small ones. It would have been cute—his small body almost fit in one of my hands—and it really was, except I couldn’t quite enjoy it, because his hold on me was so tight my bones nearly snapped.
“Fuck!” I cursed, pulling away. When Briar blinked at me in surprise, I explained, “He almost broke my finger.”
My son gave me a puzzled look, and his lower lip trembled like he couldn’t understand the reasons of my anger. I held him close and smiled, offering my son my finger back as my anger drained away. “It’s okay, baby,” I told him. “You can break as many bones as you want. I’m hardy.”
Meanwhile, my daughter was lavishing in Briar’s affection, giggling and pulling his long hair. I took the opportunity to feast my eyes on Briar, to make sure that he really was there and his recovery hadn’t been a dream. There was so much blood on the bed, all Briar’s, but I couldn’t see a scratch on him. Truly, it was a miracle.
Even Rosa seemed to think the same. He joined us on the bed and gently touched Briar’s cheek, like he was afraid my mate would shatter. I knew exactly how he felt.
“You died, Briar,” he said. “For a few moments there, you were dead.”
“I came back,” Briar said, although his voice trembled a little as he spoke. “I came back because of Leonard.”
My daughter softly petted my mate’s hand, as if she understood his pain and wanted to soothe him. Perhaps she did. It certainly seemed like my children had a lot of hidden talents.
I wanted to hold my mate forever, kiss him all over, claim him and touch him and make sure we were never separated again. I wanted to rock my children in my arms, play with them, and watch them as they slept. But the time for that hadn’t arrived yet. Outside, a storm was brewing, literally.
As I stole a glance out the window—or the strange gap in the tree trunk that served as one—I noticed the sky had darkened. The plants were writhing restlessly, and loud explosions sounded in the distance.
“It’s the witch,” Rosa said. “She’s angry that the curse has fallen. She’ll hit the Arthurian armies hard.”
I nodded, clenching my jaw as I took in what had happened in the time that I’d been asleep. Briar winced, but I brushed my thumb over his lips. “I don’t blame you for any of it,” I whispered. “I never have and never will.”
“Not even the curse?” Briar asked through our bond. “Not even now?”
“Not ever,” I repeated. Out loud, I said, “I must go now. My family needs me. You stay here and recover.”
Briar shook his head. “Rosa, watch over our children. I need to follow my mate. I need to face my enemy, and that of my people.”
He handed our daughter over to his godfather, and I did the same with our son. Thankfully, our children didn’t protest, but I immediately started to argue. “Briar…”
My mate silenced me with a glare. “No, Leonard. We’re in this together. Besides, I owe it to your family to fight back. I couldn’t help your brother then. I’ll damn well do it now.”
My brother. Kirril was still cursed, and judging by Briar’s memories, he had been for over a month. I couldn’t imagine what kind of anguish that had caused Dineiro. Wait. I could, far too well.
Swallowing around the sudden knot in my throat, I replied, “Very well. Just…Be careful, and always stay by my side.”
“I will,” Briar promised as he finally climbed out of the bed.
The petals that regularly covered his body swirled around in a hypnotizing dance that would have been arousing under different circumstances. Soon, his entire body was completely clean, with no sign that there had ever been an incision over his abdomen. His cheeks were rosy with health, even more so than they had been when we’d first met and mated.
“I have the full extent of my powers back,” he explained through our bond. “I didn’t even remember how it felt…It’s so strange.”
For some reason, it was unbearable for me to watch him prepare for battle, especially in this room that still smelled like his blood. “Wait,” I whispered as I embraced him. “Not yet.”
I realized I was being weak and selfish, but I couldn’t help it. Briar just hugged me back, and for once, didn’t argue against me. Instead, he closed his eyes and drew me in closer into his soul.
An intense sensation of pure magic flowed over me. Suddenly, I felt life in a way I had never experienced it. Outside, I heard the voices of a milli
on flowers calling out my name. Beneath my feet, I could feel the vibrations of the tree’s soul. In this very room, I sensed the beauty of the power the dryads held.
It was like my eyes had been opened to a whole different world. For a few beautiful moments, I saw through Briar’s mind and felt through his skin, through his magic. I had never truly understood what he’d meant when he’d said that the roses were a part of him, but I did now. It was truly like they were his limbs, and all of them were out there, the entire land filled with them. They had been waiting for him to come back, all this time. And now, Briar could finally return to them—hale and whole.
The pain that Briar had felt upon their destruction was in my mate’s soul now, a jagged wound much like the one the huge thorn had created on my side. But it was a wound Briar accepted, and one that came with a promise.
“I won’t allow it ever again. We won’t allow it, for anyone. No one should have to lose something that is so precious to them.”
I couldn’t agree more. And because of it, I just had to say, “I love you, Briar.”
It wasn’t by far the solemn oath Briar had made, but it must have been the right thing to say. The wave of magic settled into a comforting buzz at the back of my mind, and Briar finally pulled back. “I love you, too.” Out loud, he added, “Now come. Let’s free my people, and help yours.”
Chapter Ten:
In Which the Rose Is a Thorn in a Witch’s Side
Ever since the witch had taken control of the Dryad Kingdom, I had been forced to imprison countless men and women, mostly Arthurians, but some Merlinians as well. The first thing I did after Leonard and I left the room was to order for them to be freed.
The curse had broken, so I gathered my parents would awaken soon, but for the moment, most of my people didn’t know that, so they complied. Aloe and Belladonna obviously wanted to go to their daughter, and while I understood that, I needed their help with this.
Briar Rose and His Not-So-Charming Prince [A Tail Like No Other: Book Five] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 12
