Page 19 of Of Curses and Beauty

The scent of her clung to him, driving him mad as he went about preparing breakfast. There wasn’t much to prepare since the cottage did most of the work for him, but he asked for dishes she seemed to prefer, and a vase of roses.

“Forget the roses,” he whispered to the cottage. They weren’t courting after all.

The roses were slow to disappear, as though the magic disagreed with his choice. He supposed no excuse was needed to do something nice. He scrubbed a hand down his face as he reconsidered. “What do you think?” He’d never spoken to the cottage as something with a consciousness, never expected a response, let alone an opinion, other than the completion of a task, but when the roses rematerialized, he considered them thoughtfully. “Good choice.”

“Are you talking to yourself?”

He jumped, looking over his shoulder to see Alaine fully awake and watching him from the sofa, a coy smile playing on her lips.

“I was speaking to our cage.” No sooner had he responded then the entire house began to tremble. The windows rattled, the furniture rocked, and the roses spilled onto the floor, the vase shattering into tiny pieces.

Daric sprang into action, rushing to shield Alaine from any falling debris. The quake stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. In a whir of movement, the furniture righted itself. The vase and flowers became whole once more and sat serenely at the center of the table. Daric stood from his place over Alaine, his mouth agape, unsure what to do for fear of it happening again.

“I don’t think the cottage likes it when you call it a cage,” Alaine whispered out of the side of her mouth.

In answer, Daric’s plate crashed onto the floor. Alaine’s answering laugh was instant, bubbling out of her like steam from a boiling pot. For once, she tried to capture it in her hand, attempting to spare him the humility no doubt, but the sight of her doubled over, shaking and wheezing into her hand, had a barking laugh bursting from him before he could think to contain it. This sent her into a proper fit. She flopped back on the sofa and promptly slipped off the edge, landing on the floor with an ungracefulthud.

As tears began streaming down her cheeks, Daric rushed to check on her, thinking she’d managed to hurt herself. She waved him away as her laughter subsided and brushed the tears away with the back of her hand. His cheeks hurt, but he couldn’t fight the upward tilt of his mouth as he helped her to her feet. Placing her hand in the crook of his elbow, he led her to where their breakfast awaited.

“The roses are a nice touch,” she said, sending him a conspiratorial grin over her shoulder as he pushed in her chair.

He winked as he took the chair opposite her, feeling the start of something new and hopeful take root in his chest.

They spent the rest of the day together. Alaine talked with him as he chopped wood and he sat with her while she read. They didn’t speak of curses or regrets, but sometimes their eyes would meet and she’d burst out laughing, and every single time, Daric felt the world shift beneath his feet. Change was coming and he held no hope that it would be good, but he vowed to cherish the time they had together, however brief it may be.

That night, they settled again on the sofa before the fire and spoke into the dead of night. It was no surprise when Alaine drifted to sleep and Daric fought the urge to sleep beside her again. He considered waking her, or carrying her to her own bed, but decided it was best not to disturb her.

“Blanket,” he whispered and the cottage obliged, leaving a small quilt folded beside her rather than over her as he’d intended.

Now the damned house was playing matchmaker?

With more force than intended, he snatched up the blanket and gently draped it over Alaine’s still slumbering form.

“Well, this is cozy.”

The words echoed in his ears like the memory of a nightmare. It was the voice of the one that had cursed him, and the effect it had on him was instant. He froze, a chill racing down his spine and wrapping around his innards. He’d never learned her name, only called her what she was: the witch. In a flash, fear became anger, thawing his frozen limbs.

Daric whipped around, piercing his enemy with a stare that expressed all he wished to do to her. She’d never dared to appear inside the cottage, always waited for him at the fringes of the forest.

This time she appeared as the maiden, exactly as Alaine had described, exactly as she’d been the first night she’d come to him. Her long red hair swayed in a breeze he couldn’t feel and a cruel smile slashed across her face. Every time since he’d been cursed, she appeared to him as the crone; a hunched, wicked looking creature that haunted his nightmares. Skies help him, it took everything in him to contain the rage he felt at seeing her in this form yet again.

“What do you want, Witch?” he growled the words as much as spat them out. “Haven’t you done enough meddling in recent days?”

“I’ve just come to check how your new arrangement is faring.” Her voice was dripped in honey; a fake sweetness sure to poison the ears of anyone who heard it.

“Is that what you call this?” He gestured to Alaine, lowering his voice as he remembered her sleeping state. “An arrangement?”

“I grow weary of you, Prince Daric.” She inspected a blackened fingernail, feigning boredom when he knew he was her favorite form of entertainment. “You’ve just been so… dull. I thought I might liven this place up a bit. Have a bit of fun, if you will.”

Daric clenched his fists, annoyed at being reduced to the witch’s personal jester. “And? Are you thoroughly entertained?”

“Well I might be if you two would actuallydoanything.” She threw her hands up in exasperation and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Before Daric could breathe a sigh of relief at her departure, he sensed her at his back. He whirled reaching for the blade sheathed at his side, but her focus was on the still sleeping Alaine.

“She really is a pretty thing, Prince. I wish you could see.”

Her hand reached out as though to caress Alaine’s cheek and he lunged without a thought, catching the witch by her wrist and throwing her back.

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