Curse of Blood and Shadow

by J. M. Kearl

  She beamed and her friend looked at her like, what did I miss?

  “Thank you, Princess Visteal. I wanted to impress everyone since I was first up,” she said, still smiling and I wondered if it was because of what she did or that her princess was giving the compliment. The students at the academy in Delhoon, where I’d gone since I started, lost their sense of awe unless they were new, though they were still respectful. Here it was starting all over. Most of the students didn’t know me personally, even from my own kingdom.

  “You’re Warlord Asger’s niece?” I asked. I was surprised I hadn’t met her already if this was true.

  “Yes, one of her many nieces. Aunt Athena has four brothers and two sisters. My father is the youngest sibling.” She slowly sat back in her armchair. “I always wanted to go to the capital Delmar for a festival or party but Aunt Athena always took a cousin of mine. I’m one of the youngest.”

  “Maybe this year we can go. I plan on going home for the Fall Festival which usually coincides with my birthday.”

  “That would be fun,” she said, her big brown eyes seemed to light up. “This is my friend Freya, by the way. From Arohem as well.”

  “Nice to meet you, your highness,” she said. She was short like Lora, really thin unlike either one of us, and had shoulder-length golden brown hair.

  Legacy came up beside me and tugged on my braid. “What ya doin’?”

  After that the small group of us talked for an hour about anything and everything. I had a feeling we’d all be close this year. The conversation ended when cats roamed in to fetch us for dinner.

  ∞∞∞

  I sat on the opposite side of the table this time so I didn’t have to turn to see the other two kingdoms. With my glass of water in hand, I found myself searching for Zyacus again. I couldn’t help myself. And there he was talking with that same girl he had been flirting with last time. She kept touching his arm and I’d seen that look in her eyes before. Were they a couple? From an outsider’s perspective it certainly seemed like it. I tore my gaze away wondering why I even cared… I didn’t care, I decided.

  When I turned my attention to Taz across the table, I froze in surprise. That boy from the infirmary who helped me, sat beside him. I’d removed my bandages earlier and had since healed but I noticed his eyes roaming over my arms.

  “You two know each other?” I asked, trying to keep the disdain from my voice but failing.

  “I met Vyce in class today,” Taz said. “He said none of his friends came here so I told him to sit with us.”

  How convenient. I managed to not say the words aloud but it was a struggle. So I turned to Legacy who was making googly eyes at Aric from across the room. I noted that he wasn’t looking at her though. I didn’t know why but I felt like she should keep it cool, slow, with him for now. We really didn’t know anything about him, and that skull mark on his wrist disturbed me, even if he was polite and a gentleman thus far.

  “We’re meeting tonight,” she said with a stupid grin.

  “When?”

  “After dish duty,” she said, pushing food around on her plate. “He only had dish duty yesterday, unlike us.”

  “Have you asked him about the mark?”

  She glared at me as if I was suggesting something terrible. “No.”

  “Don’t fall too hard for him just yet,” I said quietly.

  Narrowing her eyes, she shifted slightly away from me. “Are you jealous or something?” She asked a little too sharp for my liking. “You’ve always wanted to meet him and now he likes me.”

  My cheeks flushed and I set my glass down. “No, it has nothing to do with that. Do whatever you want.” I pushed away from the table and stamped out the side door into the warm evening air. The red sun drenched the sky in pinks and purple as it lowered toward the horizon. With no destination in mind, I walked along a red-brown dirt pathway. The crickets chirped and evening birds sang in the treetops.

  I didn’t understand why Legacy would suddenly get snappy with me. If she liked the prince I wouldn’t go near him in that way even if I found him charming. She was my best friend and I would never hurt her feelings or risk our friendship over a boy.

  Lost in thought, I was near the end of the property before I knew it and came up on the lake. Have I really walked over two miles already? The sun was almost down; darkness and the cool crispness of night lingered in the air.

  I became hyperaware that I was utterly alone, even the birds and bugs had gone silent. The hairs on my arms stood on end as a feeling of icy dread crept under my skin. Or was I alone? Rustling in the trees nearby drew my eyes but nothing appeared. I had my practice sword, not my real one I realized, but I had daggers and magic.

  “Is someone there?” My quiet voice loud in the silence.

  A feral noise unlike any animal I’d ever heard before, ripped from the shadows of the trees. Something wild—lethal, a creature not of this land. I took a step back, drawing the dagger from my boot. It was thirteen inches and sharp enough to slice through bone.

  Maybe it was the creature that killed the horse. Sweat beaded on my back as my eyes searched the darkness. My magic surged under my skin, reacting to my pounding pulse.

  “What are you doing out here alone?”

  My heart nearly seized and I whipped around, slashing at whoever stalked me.

  Zyacus jumped back, but my blade sliced through his top, exposed his skin and a thin red line developed from his sculpted chest to millimeters above his navel. He sucked in air through his teeth which sounded like a cat hissing.

  “Prince,” I breathed. I waited for the blood to pour down his—ugh, totally perfect body, but it didn’t. We both stared at the cut, me shocked and him assessing the damage. “What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that?” I demanded my chest heaving up and down. “I could have killed you.”

  Touching his chiseled abs—er, stomach, his fingers came away bloodied. “I came to—” the softness of his face hardened. “What are you doing attacking me with that dagger?”

  “I didn’t know it was you!” I still gripped it tightly. “There’s something…” I looked into the trees where I’d heard that growl. “I heard something—thought there was something deadly out here. That’s why I struck without looking.”

  His eyes lifted to the shadows several yards away but he was more concerned with the slice I’d given him. With his palm glowing, he slowly moved it over the wound and I watched it close up. Magic-born do not do this type of healing often. It takes too much energy to heal a wound which is why we have potions and salves but his magic stone made it easier for him. With it, spells didn’t drain the user’s energy, the stone had a power of its own. It had its limitations; some stones were stronger than others.

  With his body healed, he turned his attention to me. “There could be something dangerous which is exactly why you shouldn’t be out here alone.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know you’d suddenly become Bindy.” I put a hand on my hip. “How did you even know where I was?”

  He sneered at me, and even that was beautiful. “I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who saw you storm out of the dining hall pissed off.”

  “I didn’t storm out,” I said, slamming my dagger back into the sheath in my boot.

  “And Bindy should be the one out here,” he said, his eyes flicking toward the academy. “But I didn’t see her in the dining hall.” His voice was soft, lovely.

  It hit me that Zyacus might actually care about me. I arched an eyebrow. “Is that concern I hear in your voice?”

  His mask of calm and arrogance returned. “It sure would be shitty if the Princess of Delhoon got herself killed on day two and this place was shut down. My people wouldn’t get the training they need. We don’t have enough magic professors.”

  I guess I’d been mistaken about his caring. “Oh, that’s right,” I drawled. “Because your kingdom murdered most of their magic-born.”

  Anger flashed in his too-blue eyes and then it disappeare
d. “Not most, and that was before my time. You can’t hold that against me.”

  His father had embraced magic, only when my mother convinced him to change their laws. Something Zyacus and I never talked about was the bloody past our parents shared. The killing, the deceit, the hatred. My father assassinated King Rolland, Zyacus’s uncle and that was just scratching the surface. I guess we thought it best to let those weapons stay buried. That there were some lines that if we crossed, we might not be able to come back from.

  Without saying anything else, I started toward the academy. Whatever lurked in the shadows was still out here and I didn’t think it was wise to linger just to bicker with Zyacus. I could do that anywhere.

  He caught up to my side in a couple strides. “So what pissed you off?”

  I kept my gaze ahead. The last thing I wanted him to know about was that Legacy and I got into an argument about his cousin. “Not your business.”

  “Fair enough.” And that was all he said. From then on our conversation consisted of the sparring matches during Advanced Swords. He was particularly interested in my grandmother Madison, our instructor, since he’d heard so many stories about her—ruthlessness. I wondered if he’d taken her up on her invitation to the students to find her after classes.

  By the time we got back to the dining hall it was cleared out save for a few students who hung around to chat. Taz and Legacy were probably nearly finished doing dishes but I didn’t care. She owed me an apology.

  I could feel an angry gaze on me; it was almost like a hot poker hitting my chest. When I searched the room, my eyes fell on a girl—Zyacus’s girlfriend. When I peeked over at him, he’d noticed her watching us too. Her eyes slid to his ripped shirt and her cheeks flared red. I gave her a feline smile, one that dared her to come to say something to me.

  As I headed toward the kitchen, Zyacus caught my wrist. I was so surprised I couldn’t even muster up a glare when I turned. “I know you hate me,” he said quietly. “But if you need to go out for a walk—blow off some steam. Come get me. Don’t go alone.”

  “I’m not a breakable doll.”

  He didn’t release me. “I know.”

  My heart began to race and I didn’t like the way he was making my stomach flutter. The way his eyes stared into mine without pause, without expectation, without that careful hesitation many others had in my presence. I pulled from his grasp, and hurried to the kitchen. I thought I heard him laugh.

  When I stepped through the kitchen doors the dishes were already done. Now I’d have to owe them an apology, Taz at least. Before I opened the door to my room, I took a deep breath. Then a bump against my legs stopped me.

  “She’s not in there,” Atticus purred.

  “Where is she?” Though I already knew the answer.

  “With the Collweyan prince.”

  A bit of relief settled on my shoulders. At least we’d both have time to cool off before talking about what she said. Lying in bed I watched the stars twinkle on the ceiling. It looked so real I would have believed I was outside if I didn’t know it was bewitched.

  Chapter 11

  For three days Legacy avoided me. Zyacus wasn’t even in either of the two classes I had with him, and my grandmother made sure that Aric and I didn’t fight during sparring.

  I’d taught that Hesstian boy a lesson on how to actually fight with a sword and not cheat, like Madison had told me to. Simply by beating him in a couple moves. Over four different matches. He was embarrassed, as he should have been.

  While in Magical History, of course when I was already upset, Professor Deg had to call on me. I wasn’t sure what it was about me that he disliked so much but he sure brought out the worst in me. “Visteal, when was the portal spell first created?”

  Like anyone knows that. “Some time in the age of magic.” I tried not to sound overly sarcastic but I did. For the record, I wasn’t always a smart ass to him and all my other professors seemed to like me.

  Taz chuckled beside me. A few other giggles escaped the students and Deg gave them the evil eye that was usually reserved for me. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you?”

  I shrugged. I was poking his nerves today. “Not particularly.”

  “When was the first unicorn tamed?”

  “Is this going to be on the test?” I asked.

  More laughing from the class.

  His face flushed a deep shade of pinkish-red and I thought he might get a nose bleed. “Just answer the question.”

  “The year six hundred forty-three.” Take that Deg. “Better write that down everyone, it will probably be on the test.”

  “Five miles.” He whipped his hand at me and a blue glowing band appeared around my ankle. “Go run right now. I’ll know if you’re short a single foot.”

  Five miles?! I pushed up from my seat and walked out without another word. I needed to run off some frustration anyway.

  I came back sweaty and dirty after running the perimeter of the property until I hit the five-mile mark. I wasn’t the only runner but everyone else was out on their own volition. Deg thought it was a punishment but I usually ran to keep my endurance up anyway, just not five miles.

  When I busted through the door, Legacy was curled up on her bed. I shook her awake.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, groggily rubbing her face.

  “This nonsense stops now.”

  She sat up and folded her arms. “What nonsense?”

  “You’ve been avoiding me or ignoring me for days. Even when I tried to talk to you during dish duty and class. Short one-word answers and I’m sick of it.”

  Her face fell with guilt. “I haven’t been entirely avoiding you. I’ve just been hanging out with Aric in the morning and after dish duty. And since you don’t want me to, I didn’t tell you.”

  A long breath parted my lips. “I never said not to hang out with him. I said don’t fall too hard for him just yet. Hang out all you want but be careful not to get your heart broken. That’s what I meant.”

  She ran her fingers through her dark hair, taming the tangles. “I didn’t know that’s what you meant. But he’s so nice and fun and Vis, I am falling hard.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at her excitement. If it was inevitable, no sense in me saying anything against their budding relationship. “Have you kissed?”

  “Not yet,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t know if he’s shy or waiting for the right moment. Should I kiss him?”

  I laughed. “I’m not experienced in the love area but if it were me, I’d wait for him.”

  With an arch of her brow, she looked me over. “Why are you so sweaty?”

  I wiped my forehead with my sleeve. “Professor Deg made me run. I guess I should be glad it wasn’t more dish duty.”

  And just like that we were back to being best friends. I told her about the thing I heard by the lake and how I unknowingly attacked Zyacus with my dagger. She laughed so hard she almost fell off the bed.

  The next morning when I got to class, I was in a great mood, smiling as I sat down at my empty desk. Many of the students in Fifth Year Spells were still working on transfiguring the spoon and I was basically the helper and getting bored of it. After I’d transfigured several spoons and my fingers were beginning to fill with rings, and my neck, with small charms on a chain, I hoped today would be different.

  My eyes kept drifting toward the door, wondering if Zyacus would show. I didn’t dare ask my professors where he might be, but I was a little worried. Not about him specifically but that something was wrong. I hadn’t seen his death on the occasions we touched so I knew he was alive at least.

  When Professor Tessam walked in, Zyacus trailed behind her and slid into the seat beside me. He pushed my book over, the one he was supposed to return to me days ago but said nothing and looked at Tessam. So we were back to this… I clenched my teeth and listened to Tessam talk about what we were moving onto. Maybe his girlfriend was so mad at him that he went after me outside, he’d avoided me
entirely, even skipping class. It sounded ridiculous but I couldn’t think of why else he didn’t so much as look at me the rest of the class. Thankfully we didn’t have to do anything with our table partners.

  When Advanced Swords came I was ready to crush Zyacus in a match. I got there early—even left my previous class early so I could talk to Madison. But when I arrived Aric was already there and mentioning Zyacus in front of him might stir up drama.

  “Hey,” he said with a smile as warm as the sun. “What do you think we’re doing today? Professor Magnevera looks cheerful and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” I couldn’t help but look for that skull mark on his wrist but ever since I’d said something about it, he’d worn a leather band to cover it or had on long sleeves no matter the temperature. Today the brown band covered it up.

  I shrugged it off, convincing myself it meant nothing and thought about his question. The last few classes consisted of sparring matches so Madison could assess our skills. But the sly smile on my grandmother’s face while she spoke to Papa made me say, “My grandmother likely has something else planned for today.”

  “If your mother is as fierce as her, I can see why she bested mine in the Queens Challenge.”

  I chuckled. “They’re nothing alike.”

  The other students arrived within minutes and Madison took the center of us. “We’re going to change things up a bit today. A little game called ‘capture the flag’.” She folded her hands behind her back and turned slowly as she spoke. “Two teams. We will move further down the property to a more wooded area where the flags have already been placed. Myself and my husband Jordane will supervise.” Papa nodded at us. “You may use magic but no attacking spells. If I see fire or the like, you’re out. You cannot use the appearus spell. That would be no fun. You may use your practice sword should you come up against someone stealing your flag. Do whatever you must to stop them from stealing it without critically injuring your fellow students, and if there’s a little blood...” she shrugged.