Page 34 of Blood Curse

The simple question loosened a tight place inside me. “You may.”

“I’ll need to touch your hair, scalp and the metal. I won’t use magic or attempt to move it.”

“Thank you for telling me.” I sat in the nearest chair. “Go ahead.”

Elias washed his hands with water from the bedroom jug, dried them and approached from the side where I could see him. Stellan remained near my chair. Ready to help if the curse reacted, but leaving the choice mine.

Elias separated the hair around the first black point. His touch was light and clinical.

“It’s fused,” he said.

“Lenora reached the same conclusion.”

“Lenora always was irritatingly competent.”

Mara leaned against the wall. “Tell him she survived before he begins mourning everyone in alphabetical order.”

“She’s downstairs,” I said. “Securing a broken heartblood dagger.”

Elias’s fingers paused. “Of course she is.”

He continued with the patience of someone used to frightened patients. Each point had sunk through skin without leaving an open wound. Fine red lines ran from the metal and disappeared into my scalp, too neat to be natural. Elias pressed near one and watched the colour change under his fingertip. He didn’t prod, pull or pretend curiosity mattered more than pain.

The Crown noticed him. Cold gathered along the band while he worked, following his hands from point to point. It felt less like fear than a creature tracking a possible threat. I kept my breathing steady and paid attention to what belonged to my body: the chair under my thighs, Stellan’s hand resting near mine and the faint ache left by a very long night.

He checked each point and the dark band buried under my hair. The Crown tightened once when he touched the back of my scalp. I raised two fingers, using the signal Stellan and I had chosen.

Elias removed his hands immediately.

The pressure eased.

“It disliked you touching the rear point,” I said.

“Did it hurt?” Stellan asked.

“Pressure only. It stopped when Elias did.”

Elias returned to stand in front of me. “May I continue from this side?”

“Yes.”

He finished without touching the rear point again, then closed his medical case.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A weapon built to look like a royal object.” His tone remained plain. “The first Blood Court made it to take royal blood and turn authority into command. A crowned ruler spoke, and anyone bound to the court felt the order in their blood.”

“Felt it or had to obey?”

“At first, felt it. The early Crown Bearers could resist. That knowledge passed from one court physician to the next.”

Stellan folded his arms. “Cecily couldn’t resist it.”

“The Crown had changed long before Cecily wore it.” Elias’s expression hardened. “Adrian changed it further.”

“How?” I asked.

Elias answered. “Compelled blood. Adrian ordered people to open their veins, then poured what they gave over the metal. The Crown issued a command, obedience completed it and blood rewarded the result.”