Page 15 of The Prince's Curse

“I thoughtIwas the prince?”

Despite Haldric’s imperious manner, she snorted and shook her head, appearing more amused than intimidated. “So,nowyou accept your birthright? You can’t have it both ways, Haldric, denying the responsibility except when it suits you.” Her fierce grin cut off his attempted protest. “Besides, your father named me your guardian. Until you ascend the throne, I technically outrank you.”

His shoulders slumping, Haldric sighed. “Fine. If you insist.” He fixed Benjin with a strained smile. “I’m not sure if anyone’s told you yet, but Grand Magus Dexil is almost ready to perform the ritual. It’s set to take place first thing tomorrow morning. We’ll get our answers then.”

Haldric began to walk away. He reached the center of the room and hesitated, his fists tightening at his sides, before suddenly spinning around and striding back to Benjin.

Benjin’s breath caught as Haldric leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, lingering long enough for Benjin to feel the warm caress of his breath. The skin there burned as if set ablaze by Haldric’s touch. Had Benjin’s hands not been bound, he’d have reached up to touch the spot.

“When this is over, I swear I’ll make you eggs just the way you like them,” Haldric murmured. He held Benjin’s gaze for a span of heartbeats, his face a reflection of Benjin’s own inner turmoil, before finally turning and following his aunt from the room.

Benjin mulled over Haldric’s departing words long into the night. While he couldn’t deny his relief at an approaching end to this horror, the truth terrified him almost as much as not knowing. Would he even recognize the person he became once he regained his memories? He hoped so.

At least this would all be over soon. Either he’d be vindicated, found innocent of everything they claimed…or he deserved whatever fate they condemned him to.

six

Haldric

It was a surrealexperience to walk through the elaborate suite of rooms Duchess Janelle had told him used to be his quarters in the palace. Any one of the half-dozen chambers could have fit his and Benjin’s entire cottage within it. He had far more tables and chairs and sofas than he knew what to do with, not to mention heaps of unfamiliar clothes, a luxurious soaking tub, and a bed so massive he feared he might lose himself in it.

Flopping onto the plush mattress after his visit to see Benjin in the dungeons, a wave of homesickness washed over him. Goddess’ mercy, how he longed for his simple life near Gerald’s Spring, where his biggest concern most days had been coaxing Benjin out of bed or thwarting wild animals from ravaging his garden.

His life there had been perfect…even if ithadall been some elaborate lie.

Exhaling a deep breath, he forced himself to rise, firming his shoulders and straightening his back. He wouldnotspendany more time sitting here feeling sorry for himself. There’d been quite enough ofthatthe past few days during the trip to Revesole and his arrival at the palace.

Tomorrow morning, Grand Magus Dexil would perform the ritual to undo the alleged curse, and Haldric would finally have the answers he craved. All he could do tonight was try to relax.

The tub seemed a good enough way to take his mind off things. He considered asking the guards to have someone bring water, but if he’d ever been used to such a thing, he certainly wasn’t now. The thought of forcing anyone out of bed to come wait on him left him unsettled.

Instead, he drew upon his runeflame, relishing the buzz of magic along his fingertips. A simple Conjuration filled the tub with water while an Alteration heated it until wisps of steam curled from its surface.

He probably shouldn’t waste his strength on such frivolous things when Goddess only knew what tomorrow might bring. But as he sank into the near-scalding liquid, he let out a contented sigh. If his lack of restraint cost him, it would have been well worth it.

Undoing the cord binding his long black hair, he set about washing off the grime from travel. As he scrubbed himself clean, an image of Benjin’s dirty, forlorn form flashed before his eyes, and fresh guilt soured his gut.

While Haldric was here enjoying the lap of luxury, Benjin was suffering in some cell, all but convicted of a crime he had no recollection of committing. Staring into his familiar pale eyes tonight, Haldric was certain of at least that much. If Benjin really had cursed him, it was adifferentBenjin than the one he loved.

That was a small comfort though. Guilty or not, Benjin was suffering, and Haldric’s inaction had put him there. He’d betrayed the person he loved the most.

The person youthinkyou love the most,an insidious voice whispered in the back of his mind. He dunked his head beneath the water, intensifying his scrubbing. If only he could wash away his thoughts and doubts as easily as the grime from the past few days of travel. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

Once he’d finished in the tub, he channeled more runeflame to clear away the used water and dressed himself in the simplest set of nightclothes he could find. Back in Gerald’s Spring, the soft cloth likely would’ve fetched enough silver sestas to feed Benjin and him for a month or more.

Putting out the torches and candles lighting the room with a gust of wind, he settled into bed, doing his best to cast Benjin from his mind. Sleep proved slow to come, and when it finally did, it was plagued by half-remembered nightmares and forgotten memories, the two nearly indistinguishable.

Haldric awoke the next morning to insistent rapping on his door. “I’m awake, I’m awake!” he called irritably, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and stumbling out of bed.

“Glad to hear it,” his aunt’s gruff voice called through the closed door. “Make yourself decent. It’s time.”

Apprehension curled through Haldric, his pulse quickening as he grabbed the first set of clothes he could find. He went to tug on the awful blue dress tunic, then thought better of it and scoured his room for something a bit less garish.

Dressed in a respectable leather jerkin embossed with an acceptable level of swirling filigree, he emerged into the hall to find Janelle there along with Marshal Fendrel and a fresh set of guards he didn’t recognize.

During the trip north to Revesole, he’d learned that Fendrel was the head of the palace guard. He seemed to have taken the prince’s disappearance as a personal failing. Now that Haldric was back, the stern man rarely let him out of his sight.

“Is all this really necessary?” Haldric gestured to Fendrel and the guards. “Surely, I’m safe now here in the palace, and I believe I’ve proven by now that I’m not going to run.”

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