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“Oh?” Her tone matched the rise of her brows and the light of amusement in her eyes. “Are you one such ruler?”
“Hardly.” I grimaced. “This whole curse situation has seriously undermined my confidence.”
“I am sorry.” She fell silent for a moment. “Can you tell me more about the curse, or are you restrained from speaking about it?”
“I can speak of it. But I am the only one among those trapped in the curse who can.” And there were some aspects I would discuss with only one person, the one I hoped would help me break the curse.
I watched the play of thoughts across her delightfully open features. Unlike most elves, Kate did nothing to hide her emotions, which was a pleasant contrast to the constant restraint of the rest of my life.
“Can you leave?”
I shook my head. “We—my servants, courtiers, and I—are confined to the borders of my estate.”
“Do you miss your freedom?”
“I do.” Wraithwalking through the night to my destination of choice, actual conversations with those of my kind beyond the stunted signed communication we had developed. “But more than that, I miss my sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“Half sister.” The familiar ache of grief accompanied the memory of Alora. Beautiful, vibrant, and vivacious, she had filled my life with laughter. “She is the daughter of my father by his second marriage. Until a year ago, she lived here in the castle with me.” I missed her teasing. No one ever dared to annoy me the way she did. Her pranks and jokes had lightened my otherwise dull life of meetings, duties, and unnecessary pomp.
“What happened?”
I stared down at my half-eaten food. “She fell in love with a minor Unseelie prince, or so he told her. He refused to meet me, filling her ears with lies about how I would hate him for his heritage and forbid her to see him. She believed him. So, when I asked after him, she acted defensive and elusive.” A dull ache settled in the middle of my chest. Worry had been my constant companion in those weeks as I watched her accept the liar’s poison and turn her back on me. “There was nothing I could do or say. If I spoke, I was prejudiced. If I didn’t speak, I was being sullen.” Emotion clogged my vocal cords, forcing me to stop and clear my throat.
Something touched my arm. Kate’s fingers rested against the silver-shot silk of my tunic. Soothing warmth radiated from the point of contact. When had someone last time offered me comfort? When my sister hugged me years ago? Kate’s hands were so small yet so affecting.
Letting my right hand hold the full weight of my bowl, I caressed the back of her fingers with my left. I pressed them beneath my hand, strengthening the connection.
“Alora gave him her names, all of them.” I blinked back tears. “I don’t know if the giving was a free choice or coerced from her, but that sealed all of our fates. A magus used her heritage connection with the land and her familial connection to me to trap me, my household, and innocent humans into this farce of constant celebration.” I groaned. “If I could free us, I would, but I can’t.”
“Do you know how to break the curse?”
“In part.” I reluctantly released her fingers, moved my bowl to the tray, and stood. Pacing a short distance, I turned to face her. How to put it into words? “My spymaster has been searching for the key for as long as we have been cursed. I and my advisors keep dissecting the magic, examining its parts, and trying to understand how the curse is constructed. We need to know how the curse has corrupted our—my sister’s and mine—connection to the land and how it has bound me to this place, hindering my personal magic. But the threads are slippery and difficult to unravel. One of our wisest advisors has proposed that a greater bond between me and another might overwrite the hold the curse has on me personally. But healing my magical connection to the land and the people will be more difficult.”
“What kind of bond?”
“Marriage.”
Her eyes widened. “Ah, so that is the reason for the unmarried princesses.”
“One can only guess, but yes, that is the thought many of us have come to as well.”
“But why offer a means of escape? What does the creator of the curse hope to accomplish?”
“We can only guess, and nothing we have thought of so far makes sense. We can only continue to try to escape.”
“That complicates things. Have none of the princesses shown interest?”
I snorted. “If it were that simple, I would have proposed to all of them by the end of the first week.” I flashed her a self-deprecating smile. “No one wants to marry a man who looks like a nightmare.”
“I never said that,” she protested. “It’s just that stories of shadow elves have been used to terrorize human children into obedience for generations.”
“I am sure they were creative tales.” I grimaced. “Soul stealing, mind erasing, replacing children with changelings, and doing far worse to innocents. I have heard it all.” Suddenly more weary than angry, I sighed, “You aren’t the first I have startled by accident. Only Marilla allows me to escort her anywhere.”
She gave me a sad smile. “That is because Marilla is the wisest one of us all.”
“She is.” I studied the grass at my feet. “If it takes a human eighty-five years to recognize that I am not a monster, we are all doomed.”
