The Black Moon's Curse (The Stellara Trilogy Book 1)

by Alicia Restucci

  Asher’s eyes seemed to blaze as his anger got the best of him. “He mocked me! He and his friends, they were always quick to remind me of my place. He hated that his mother loved me more. That I was a better fit for the throne. My father and brother just couldn’t see past their own greed and power to see that.”

  King Ivan, she noted, was not present for this big reveal. He wasn’t present during the fight on the ships either. “Where is your father, Asher? Where’s King Ivan? I’ve never known him not to partake in a battle before, especially one he won.” She asked, her eyes searching the surrounding tents for any sign of the King or her father. Where one stood, the other usually was close by.

  Asher chose to ignore her question and instead chose to make her suffer more. “It was one of your pirate friends who finished Cassius off, you know. That hooded pirate who’d shot him with the arrows. She slit his throat and left him to choke on his own blood. Your lover has known who finished my brother off since the night they took you.”

  He’d said she. She had killed Cassius. The hooded pirate in the hallway, the one who’d held Cassius back with that same blade while Sebastian got her on the ship, they were not a he as she had originally assumed, but instead he was a she.

  Her eyes turned toward the other cage, her teary glare landing on the only two females he kept aboard his ship. The twins. One of them had killed her friend and then they had pretended to be hers all the while knowing that. She’d never heard of anyone being that cruel before, but these were pirates she was dealing with. They were known to be cruel.

  Asher didn’t give her a chance to ask which one it had been. “As for my father, he died as the disgusting bastard he always was. When you and Malia went to refresh before the toast, he snuck away for some private time with his newest mistress. Unfortunately, for him that is, she liked the way I spoiled her with more coin than she could count better. She poisoned her lips so when they kissed, he would die a slow, painful, death. In the minutes before he took his last gasping breath, he signed a paper that declared I was to be legitimized under the condition that if he and Cassius were to die before my brother was able to produce an heir. I’m to be crowned the next king of our kingdom.”

  It was so silent, not even a fly buzzed around them. Not only had Asher had his brother killed, but he had convinced some girl to kill his father as well. If things went as he wanted them to, he would be the next crowned king of Iron Kress. If he wanted a peaceful, successful reign, he would need to follow through with the curse and kill her.

  Had he found out about her curse as he prepared for the attack on his family on accident? Had Cassius seen him with that cursed book that had started all of this? His plans had probably been moved up when Cassius wanted to sneak Ember out of the kingdom to find out how to break the curse. When he’d met Sebastian, the pieces probably fell into place from there and so then the plan was put into action that night.

  Her attention returned to Asher when he started to speak again.

  “I was there to see the life leave his eyes. My face was the last face he saw as he died. I’ve got admit to you, Ember, it was very satisfying to know even after death, he will be forced to remember that I was the one who beat him.” He said, his smirk appearing across his face. It was in that moment Ember realized he was truly proud of what he’d done to his family and to her.

  Ember held her head as she tried to process everything that was being revealed to her. She didn’t want to believe Sebastian could have been behind her friend’s death, or that one of his crew members had actually done it. It was no wonder Sebastian had kept Asher locked in those cells for so long. He didn’t want to risk him telling her as soon as he was free.

  “You both let me believe Cassius was alive. I wrote him letters telling him about my great adventure. I told him I had made friends with the crew. You both must have had a good laugh at how stupid I was.” She said, the anger fueling what little energy she had left.

  She wasn’t even sure she could process Asher now having claim to the throne just yet. So, she was starting with what she could stomach first.

  Asher’s glare cut across to Sebastian, his frown twisting with annoyance. “Unfortunately, the good captain double crossed me when he took you with him. He was only supposed to cause a distraction and the only one who was supposed to die by his crew’s hand was the kingdom’s favorite Prince Cassius Montanari. Malia was not supposed to play hero, but unfortunately she did and she became a casualty of war.”

  “I was keeping a promise I made to my brother the last time I saw him. I wasn’t about to left history repeat itself and break that promise.” Sebastian said, his eyes never flickering away from Ember for even a moment.

  Ember refused to meet his stare for longer than a moment. Her stomach twisted with everything being thrown at her. She wasn’t sure her heart could break any more. It was safer not to meet his gaze. “What do you plan on doing with us now?” She asked, her gaze lifting only to see what Asher replied.

  “You and I are going home. We’ll go through the mourning months together as husband and wife. We’ll be a united front in the eyes of the kingdom. Once I’m crowned king, we will return here to go through with the ritual. This lot will stay behind. We’ll see if any of them survive when we return.” Asher said, only sparing the second cage a disgusted glance before his attention returned to Ember.

  Ember felt her blood run cold in her veins. “You’ll be crowned after the mourning period? That’s only months away, Asher. My bloodline will end with me if you kill me before I have any children of my own.”

  His hands slid back into his pockets, a knowing smirk twisting its way onto his lips. He knew something she didn’t, which at this point, didn’t surprise her. Apparently, there was a lot she didn’t know and it wasn’t just him keeping all of the secrets either. “Your father’s favorite witch is doing research on that issue. Ophelia will join her once she’d strong enough. She’ll be returning to Iron Kress with us as well.” Asher explained with a shrug of his shoulder.

  Ember fought the urge to see how Ari would react to that news. She didn’t want to care if she was upset. Not when she might have been the one to kill Cassius.

  “You can’t make a baby out of magic, Asher. Even if your witch finds a spell or some kind of loophole, you and I? That’ll never happen. I won’t share your bed. Not after everything you’ve done. I told you earlier, we’ve never had a future together. We were never going to happen, we still aren’t.” She said, gritting her teeth as she moved to the end of the cage.

  It was a harsh truth, but it was still that. The truth.

  Her entire body tensed as he closed the space between them. Only the metal bars stood between them, but it felt like it wasn’t enough as he reached up and grabbed her chin tightly between his fingers.

  Sebastian smacked his hands against the bars of his own cage. “Don’t touch her!”

  Asher ignored him as he leaned in close. “I told you things would have been different if Cassius wasn’t a factor. He isn’t now. We can be together and there isn’t anyone who can come between us.”

  She made the mistake of looking to Sebastian. He was panting, his grip so tight around the bars his knuckles had turned white. The fear in his eyes weren’t for himself, but instead it was because he couldn’t save her. He couldn’t get free, and even if he could, she knew he was in no shape to do any saving. He was hurt from the battle on the Obsidian and no doubt from the torture her father probably put him through on the way here.

  Asher’s chuckle was what alerted her of her mistake.

  “Do you think he’ll save you? You were a joke to him. Just another high stationed stuck up girl he saw as a challenge and you let him win. Another day and you would have been in his bed like any other girl he’s charmed. Did you think you were special to him? He didn’t even trust you enough to tell you his name, Ember. Don’t be so pathetic.” He snarled as he pushed her chin away, acting as if he was scolding a misbehaving child.

  Ember
still felt too weak from the spell. Her legs weren’t able to steady quick enough and she found herself back on the ground when her knees buckled.

  “Why don’t you push around someone your own size, bastard? I can promise you, if you ever think of touching her again? I will kill you myself.” Sebastian snarled, his eyes narrowing as his glare burned into Asher.

  Her old friend didn’t even look worried by the threat. He merely chuckled, finding it more amusing than anything else before he left for his tent.

  When he showed no sign of returning, Sebastian finally pulled his attention away from his retreating form and lowered to his knees as his eyes roamed Ember’s body for any sign of new injuries. “He’s not going to take you anywhere, Ember. I’m going to get us out here and to somewhere safe. I won’t let him take you away from me.” He said, his eyes never leaving her even as she refused to look back.

  She wondered briefly if he realized what he said, but it still didn’t entice her enough to turn toward him and his crew. Her body felt exhausted, her emotions drained from crying so much in the past twentyfour hours. She wasn’t sure she had any tears left at this point. Nor was she sure her heart could survive anymore hurt or betrayal.

  Sebastian didn’t give up. “I know you feel hurt and you have every right to feel that way. I know your world was just tipped on its head and it’s partly my fault for that. He’s right. I made some mistakes. I wish I could take it all back. Especially ever making that deal with Asherin the first place.”

  He paused, but she knew he wasn’t done. She was surprised he was even saying this in front of his crew, but she knew the cages didn’t give him much choice. “I should have convinced you to leave with me a different way. I waited too long to approach you. I should have come looking for you years ago, but I-I was afraid. I could have chosen to tell you the truth, but I didn’t because that scared me too and for that I’m sorry. Please, Ember. Please, just look at me.”

  Still, she didn’t even turn her head. She couldn’t risk looking at him and completely breaking. Her stare had locked on a shell sticking out of the sand a few feet from her cage. It was so beautiful, so untouched from this world. It was how she was only a few weeks when she didn’t know about any curses and her friends were alive and they were all together. She wasn’t happy, not truly she realized after being free to explore these past weeks, but Cassius was alive and he was next to be king. She was going to be his queen, and itjust …. made sense.

  This reality she’d woken up in didn’t, and she wasn’t sure she could handle the world she’d been thrown into. Maybe her father was right to keep her locked away in the palace? Maybe he knew the real world was too cruel for her to accept? Closing her eyes, she just wished she could go back in time to when things made sense again.

  It was Ari’s voice that woke her from her fall into depression. “You need to get up and brush this pity off, little beasty. Tomas, your prince, Ophelia, they didn’t risk their lives and die to save you so you could curl up in a ball and cry. You are the daughter of Liliana Leblanc from the island of Stellara. You are a Stellarian witch, Ember. I know you can feel that power buried deep inside of you. You are strong and you can be powerful, but you need to get up. Get up, Ember. Get up!”

  Ember felt her anger spark to life, erupting from her as she finally turned, waving her hand as she twisted. “Stop talking! Just stop! Stop it!”

  A screamed erupted from her throat as a bright light exploded from her hand, sending them all falling back to the floor of their own cage as they covered their eyes.

  Ember’s eyes widened, frightened over what she’d just done.

  Her eyes lowered to her shaking hand, her brows knitting together in confusion as she tried to make sense of it.

  “I knew it.”

  Ember’s eyes lifted, confused as she took in the satisfied smirk on Ari’s face. How could she have possibly known about Ember having any powers? She didn’t even know her mother was a witch herself until a week ago. It couldn’t have been possible.

  Yet, with a look to her glowing hand, it was.

  Chapter 32

  The others were believably a bit freaked out after the magic incident, but they knew better than to cause a scene. Scenes attracted unwanted attention, something they didn’t want nor need. It still didn’t stop Reid from pacing. Whatever injuries he had didn’t seem to slow him down much either. “What the hell just happened? Did you know she had powers? Because I know I sure ashell didn’t.” He said, only keeping his voice low now so he didn’t wake James, who by some miracle, was still fast asleep.

  Sebastian hadn’t taken his eyes off of her since it happened. It unnerved her with just how intensely he was watching her. “No, I can’t say that I did, but clearly Ari had her suspicions and didn’t think to share with the rest of us.”

  Ember was curious to know how she had come to that conclusion too. “Did Ophelia suspect it too?”

  It was the first thing she’d said since her explosion. Her voice was small, quiet, but she knew the blonde had heard her.

  Ari brushed sand off her arm, her eyes shifting from her Captain to Ember before she rolled her eyes, knowing she’d have to answer the question. “Yes. She’s the one who first mentioned it to me. She wanted to know what you were like when we first brought you on the ship. I told her you glowed when you were holding Tomas’s body. She didn’t want to say anything to anyone else in case she was wrong. Obviously, seeing as the little beasty over there nearly blinded us and knocked us all back on our asses, she wasn’t wrong.”

  Ana jabbed her elbow into her sister’s ribs, silently reminding her that this was not the time for sarcasm. Ari just shot her a glare in return.

  “Does anyone else find it odd there’s supposedly this cursed man-shredding beast trapped on this island every night and we haven’t even heard a howl? Your brother’s been on this island alone for over a decade and he chooses to sleep through the only night an army of people are camped out on the beach? Something doesn’t feel wrong to you about that?” Patch said from his spot at the end of the cage, his eyes never straying from the line of trees.

  Ember felt the blood drain from her face at the reminder they weren’t the only ones here on this island. Sebastian’s brother was cursed to change into a horrible beast every night at sunset. He’d killed her mother without thinking. Klaus didn’t remember who she was to him, or how much he loved her. What if he couldn’t remember Sebastian either? He’d kill him without a moment of hesitation.

  Klaus had been with them when the attack on the beach happened. He’d run away when she begged him to help her. Perhaps that was why he’d run. He couldn’t risk being locked in here with them in these cages at nightfall. It still didn’t change the fact he did run when she needed his help.

  You need to trust Klaus. He will keep you safe.

  Her mother’s warning replayed in her head on repeat. Her eyes drifted to Sebastian and wondered if she could truly trust him like her mother had told her to. Klaus ran when she needed help, she didn’t see how he could make up for the mistake that might have cost Ophelia her life. Even if his reasoning made sense, he still left them to die.

  As for trusting Sebastian, there was only so many times he could lie to her before she learned not to trust him.

  She watched as Sebastian stood and moved across the cage to where Patch stood guard. He still had a limp as he grabbed the bar for support, his other arm stayed wrapped around his middle. Her guess was his injury had to do with his ribs. “You’re right. He should have attacked the camp by now. The guards don’t even look worried.” He said as his eyes scanned the tree line before shifting his gaze to the guards walking around them.

  Ember pulled herself up onto her feet, moving to the other side of her cage to try and see if she could see something they couldn’t. “What’s stopping him from coming onto the beach and tearing everyone apart up and down the beach?” She said, her eyes shifting to the dozens of tents all around them.

  Sebastian was r
ight. None of the soldiers even looked nervous.

  “My coin is on the witch Asher has hidden away somewhere in one of these tents.” Ari said from her spot beside Ana and James.

  The three were so caught up in watching the trees, they didn’t hear the sound of footsteps approaching the two cages. “Your little pirate wench would be rich is there was an actual bet going.”

  Ember’s head turned so quick at the familiar voice, her eyes widening. “What are you doing here?”

  Standing there with a smug smirk was a man only a few years older than her. He stood tall, his shoulders straight with his hands hand behind his back. His uniform was similar to the one Asher had been wearing, only not as shiny. Even in the dark, she could see the man’s crimson colored hair tied back at the base of his neck, though a few rebelling strands had come loose. His deep blue, almost purple, eyes sparked with mischief as he studied the miserable group in front of him.

  Regardless of his not-so-perfect hair and his mischievous eyes, he was a soldier through and through.

  He was no friend of hers, but she wasn’t sure he was quite an enemy against her either.

  “What a mess you’ve gotten yourself into, cousin. I’m not sure even I can get you out of this one.” The man said as he scanned the surrounding area.

  No other guards were paying them any attention, something he was counting on.

  Ember was finally starting to feel her strength return. That burst of magic had helped a lot it seemed. She managed to cross the length of her prison with no struggle. “Who says I want your help, Theo? For all I know, you’re on my father’s side.” She said, ignoring the questioning looks she was receiving from the pirates.

  With another glance around the beach, he must have deemed it safe to close the gap that stood between him and the bars of her cage. His hand wrapped around the metal as he leaned in close. “Only because you forced my hand. I can’t protect you when Asher brings you back to Iron Kress if I’m his enemy. You’ve made a big mess, Ember. I can’t punch our way out of this one like when you were younger.” He whispered, his eyes softening as he tried to get her to understand the position that she’d put him in between her and his best friend.