Page 12 of The Prince's Curse

“You’ve had them, too,” Haldric demanded. “Haven’t you?”

A scowl tugged at the corners of Benjin’s lips. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “Like you said, it’s been a confusing few hours. I’m not surewhatexactly I’ve experienced.” Haldric tensed as Benjin stepped back into the room and clasped his hand with both of his own. “But what Iamcertain of is our love. Maybe you’re right, maybe there issomething strangegoing on here. But whatever it is, we’ll figure it out and deal with it together. Now come on, before they find any of the bodies I left in my wake.”

Benjin tried once again to tug him toward the door, but Haldric resisted, yanking his hand free with a spike of alarm. “You didn’t hurt anyone, did you? Those guards were just doing their jobs.”

Benjin fixed him with a flat look. “They’ll live, if that’s what you mean. My apologies if I wasn’t exactly gentle with my true love’s captors. Now, comeon—we need to go.”

Haldric hesitated, staring at Benjin’s proffered hand. He wanted so badly to place his faith in Benjin and their shared history—to take his hand and escape all this madness. Those guards had caught them by surprise before, but as two semi-trained mages, he and Benjin should be able to handle themselves just fine.

But…what about Duchess Janelle and the Grand Magus? What about the ritual to restore their tainted memories?

What about the truth?

Slowly, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Benjin, but I can’t leave. Not yet.”

The mix of hurt and betrayal that crossed Benjin’s face tore at Haldric. “You believe them, don’t you? You believe those strangers over me.”

“All I want is the truth.” Haldric’s voice cracked. “Don’t you want that, too?”

Benjin stared at him for several heartbeats, his expression unreadable. Then, his face hardened, twisting with a harsh determination Haldric had never seen there before.

“If you won’t come with me willingly, then I’ll drag you out of here by force!”

The fierce glint in Benjin’s pale gray eyes sent a prickle of fear spiraling down Haldric’s spine. Could everything the others claimed be true? Was Benjin really some dark wizard who’d cursed them both in order to steal Haldric away from his life and force him to love someone against his will?

Benjin stepped toward him, and Haldric reacted on instinct, scampering away until his back pressed against the cool stone wall. Benjin froze. They stared at each other for a long moment, neither of them moving.

Sudden shouts echoed from the corridor outside, accompanied by the heavy thud of boots. The guards had arrived.

Haldric wasn’t certain what he’d expected Benjin to do—to keep coming for him, perhaps, or else to turn and try to fight his way free. Instead, Benjin simply stood there, lowering his hand and releasing his grip on runeflame as armored soldiers poured into the room.

Haldric’s erratic pulse thrummed.This is for the best, he told himself as the guards bound Benjin’s hands and gagged him to stop him from casting any spells.They won’t hurt him. Theysaid so themselves: they needbothof us to break the curse. We can get to the bottom of this and clear this mess up.

But no matter how he consoled himself, he couldn’t stop the hollow feeling growing in his chest. The entire time, Benjin’s gaze never once left his face, and as Haldric watched the guards drag Benjin away, the silent tear he saw trailing down Benjin’s cheek broke his heart in two.

five

Benjin

Benjin huddled against thewall, bound there by the thick chains bolted into the stone. He’d long since lost track of how many times he’d been moved about, his face covered by a heavy woolen hood to render him blind.

Wherever he was now, it wasn’t Gerald’s Spring. There’d been several days of bumpy travel via wagon before they’d dragged him out and chained him here.

Not that it mattered much to him where he was. He had no intention of attempting to escape. What was the point? Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was that look of fear on Haldric’s face right before he’d pulled away. As if he thought Benjin was actually capable of hurting him, let alone messing with his memories or kidnapping him.

And what of all these people convinced that you did? What about those spells you shouldn’t know or the recognition you felt when you saw that mage?

To that, Benjin had no answer. He’d experienced that strange prickling in the back of his mind several more times during the journey while half-remembered dreams haunted him in what scant sleep he’d managed.

Then there was his troubling lack of details when he tried to remember anything further back than a few months ago. Everything became hazy, as if nothing but a dream itself. Had it always been like that, or had the nobles done something to him and Haldric when they arrived—some form of enchantment to make their ruse more believable?

Lost in his own thoughts, he barely registered thecreakof the door to his cell opening. It wasn’t until he spied the older man bedecked in jewels and garish silks completely at odds with the dank dungeon that he realized it wasn’t the usual stoic-faced guards coming to deliver his next meal. Benjin sucked in a breath, recognizing the mage he’d glimpsed on his way to rescue Haldric.

“Greetings, young Benjin,” the mage said. His deep voice held a surprising note of melancholy. “I’m sorry it took me so long to visit you, but as you can imagine, things have been rather hectic since our return to the palace.”

The palace. So that was where they’d brought him. Unless this was another lie. Benjin’s head began to spin.

The man peered at him, studying his face. “You must be terribly confused by all this—accused of committing a crime you have no memory committing? I’m sorry for that, as well. If there’s anything I can do to ease your pain, let me know, and I’ll do it if it’s within my power.”

---