Page 58 of The Curse and the Silver Rose

“Please do not yell at me,” she whispered.

He shook his head, a low growl in the back of his throat, and promptly left the room. Moments later, she heard something massive and heavy being pushed in front of her bedroom door. Davron had meant it when he’d said he would barricade her in.

Trembling, she went to the washroom. As dizzy as she felt, she could not bear to sit or lie down until she had bathed away the blood.

The hot water gushed into the tub as she undressed. While she waited for it to fill, she inspected her body as best she could without a mirror. Dark bruises bloomed on her knees. Lacerations covered her feet and legs. She could only imagine the state of her neck after being strangled nearly to death. Her throat was too tender to even press on the skin to gauge the damage.

The cuts on her legs smarted like snake bites when she stepped into the water, making her grimace in pain. She brought the bloodied silver rose into the water to clean it. In a surreal daze, she watched as ribbons of red unfurled from the stem and leaves, like vapor. After giving the rose a shake, the metal came out of the water clean. She placed the rose on the soap holder, took a deep breath, and slid her entire body under the water.

Her traumatized lungs would not abide the submersion for long. She gasped and spluttered when she surfaced, irrationally fearful that she would never take another breath. Blood was still stuck in the creases of her hands and clung to her hair.

The water had turned a vibrant red. The rehydrated blood filled the humid washroom with its sickly, metallic scent, as strongly as it’d smelled in the Great Hall. The ghastly scent caused a sudden wave of panic to come over her.

Amelie felt around for the bath plug and ripped it out. She squatted in the tub sobbing uncontrollably while the water disappeared down the drain in a whirlpool of crimson. When the tub emptied, she turned the taps to refill it. This time, she added soap to her hair, hands, and body. She scrubbed hard with a cloth before submerging herself.

Again, the water turned a sickening scarlet color. She had to repeat the process once more until, finally, the water remained clear. Her panic began to ebb away, replaced by a fathomless despair.

There she stayed, hugging her knees to her chest, until the candles burned out and the water turned cold.

CHAPTER 25

Davron only stopped digging once the hole was as deep as he was tall. Throwing the shovel out first, he hauled himself from the grave, his fingers clawing at the dark, rich soil.

The cart carrying the raiders’ bodies was in the shade of a nearby yew tree. He had to work quickly, because he had many tasks to complete before sundown. Disposing of the bodies was the priority only after barricading Amelie inside her chambers with a marble plinth. It was summer, and the dead bodies would not keep.

The castle would clean the blood and mess, but the enchantments could not spirit away bodies. Human magic could only extend so far.

Davron dug the mass grave in the forest beyond the perimeter of the castle estate. Ordinarily, it would be dangerous to place himself within Levissina’s reach, but today it did not matter. Soon, he would present himself to her personally.

Burying the bodies was foul work, but the physical labor did provide a distraction from his turmoil. Once he’d finished the task, marking the grave with only a gob of saliva, he dragged the cart back to the shed. Before leaving for the village, Davron entered the castle to clean the filth from his hands.

On his way to his chambers, he stopped by Amelie’s room, putting his ear to the door. He regretted it at once, because her frantic sobs were audible even from the corridor. That sound hurt him worse than arrows and knives piercing his flesh. It hurt him worse than anything had in his life.

All he wanted to do was hold her and make it better, but he could not. The way she’d recoiled from him in the drawing room broke his heart. She was afraid of him, perhaps even disgusted by him, and who could blame her? He had turned into a beast, tearing men apart with his bare hands right in front of her. His actions showered her with blood.

The sweetest, most generous, caring, precious human in the world endured that horrific experience because of Davron. The pain consuming her was all his fault. He was the reason she almost died and was nearly violated, and would surely have nightmares from now until the end of time.

His transgressions were so great that nothing could atone for them. He could only do the next best thing:

Ensure none of this occurred again.

He tore himself away from her door and trudged to his chambers in a daze of despondence. His bed was upended and shredded, the room in disarray.

Earlier, when he secured the castle, he saw the explosion of ocean water on his bedsheets and realized what had transpired. The raider had cornered Amelie on the bed, and Davron had not saved her. She had to fend for herself.

Davron tore the place apart out of frustration and rage. He knew he would never sleep in here again. This room was tainted by her pain and his failure.

And to think that only last night he’d considered the same bedroom anointed and heavenly.

He bathed, ignoring his injuries, which had stopped openly bleeding. Hurriedly, he dressed, leaving the castle without giving himself time to second-guess his decision. He would not waver again in his duty to Amelie.

Outside, the golden afternoon sunshine was an affront to the day’s terrible events. Davron wished for rain and thunder and frigid winds. Instead, he walked down to the village surrounded by fluttering butterflies, singing birds, and even a fat white cat bathing in the sun.

The province had a reputation for gloominess and an underlying sinister presence. Davron knew he was the gloomy presence precisely because he did not notice it. The village seemed perfectly picturesque to his eyes. Levissina may have been the one with the magic, but he was the one with the curse.

In the village, everyone stared at him. Today, he did not care. They could look all they wanted. It didn’t matter anymore.

“Where is Oskar’s house?” he barked at a group of young adults in the town square.

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