Page 14 of Heirs of the Cursed

‘Help’ was a euphemism for what Conrad could do. Over the years, her stepbrother had earned a reputation as a con man, due to the number of connections he had made throughout Laivalon, who hired him to settle debts. But he did more than that: he found weaknesses and secrets, and used them to his advantage.

Like her, Conrad was a much more dangerous and lethal ghost.

Darcia dropped a sugar cube into her coffee and stirred it quietly.

“And what kind of service do you need?” Gion asked politely. “My son arrived last night, and is now at work, but I can pass the information on to you when he’s back.”

Harg took a sip from his steaming mug and cleared his throat. “Don’t worry, I will find a way to communicate with him. Still, I would also require your help, Mr. Voreia. From what I understand, you’re one of the best scholars known in all of Laivalon.”

Gion coughed in surprise. “Those are titles that shouldn’t be mentioned lightly, young man.” He waved a hand to play it down. “But years ago, I was a scholar specialized in alchemy, yes.”

“Was?”

“Age takes its toll, I’m afraid.”

“Shame,” Harg said. “Would you see yourself qualified to do a consultation?”

“It can be assessed. Tell me, General, what is this about?”

“The curse of stone and shadow,” the general said with unflappable seriousness.

The curse of Ro’i Rajya.

A roaring panic assaulted Darcia’s nerves as her father said in a serene voice, “I don’t know how much help I can be in that field, but let’s see what can be done.”

Harg nodded in gratitude and extracted a tiny object from one of the many hidden pockets in his armor. When he held out his hand, Darcia narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Little one, would you do me a favor and hand me the monocle on the shelf, please?” her father asked tenderly. She stood up to grab the wooden and glass monocle from one of the shelves and handed it to him with shaky hands. “Thank you.”

Gion adjusted it to his eye and brought his face close to . . . a stone. It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand and had a few uneven indentations, some darker than others. It was covered with something.

Darcia wrinkled her nose at the stench.

“How odd. It has a strange smell, somewhere between rotten and musky. What is this?”

“It’s a stone from the kingdom of Ro’i Rajya,” Harg revealed. “What covers it is . . .”

“The holly of death,” Gion finished for him, taking the stone between his fingers. “A hint of decay and dark magic.”

“Indeed.”

Her father furrowed his brow. “What does this all mean?”

Still standing by the couch, Darcia clasped her hands in her lap and slyly bent down to appreciate the stone from the Fallen Kingdom.

She’d read many books recounting the horrible curse. Fallen into disgrace, Tavarious and Erlina Boreaalinen’s kingdom had been doomed to oblivion after a wicked bargain had been struck between a daimon and a sorcerer.

Darcia was fascinated by stories, especially those of eerie words and veiled in mystery. Upon seeing her father holding a poisoned stone from Ro’i Rajya, she wished that particular story had never existed. Because it wasn’t just a tale—it was the past.

“It’s something we’re taking care of at court,” Harg replied sparingly. “But we needed confirmation from an expert.”

“Mr. Koller, if your question is whether there’s some kind of dark magic rising in the cursed kingdom, the answer is yes. But I didn’t need to see the holly of death to know that.” Gion looked at the Chaser. “What was the price to pay for extracting this stone from Ro’i Rajya?”

“As far as I know, none.”

“Yet the curse yearns to spread. Dark magic cannot be contained for long. Only someone with the right ability can control it and wield it; just as only someone with incommensurable light magic can destroy it,” the old man explained. “Especially if it’s covenanted magic.”

“Because of the bargain . . .” Harg finished his line of thoughts.

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