Page 104 of Heirs of the Cursed

Naithea waved goodbye to her sisters and headed to the library in search of more knowledge. It was a long shot, but she’d promised herself that she’d find a way to decipher it.

Libraries were sacred places that guarded the knowledge of the world. Some said that many of these even hid information from other worlds, not as far away as one would believe. Naithea supposed that such knowledge would be protected in remote and impenetrable places, not in a common city like Bellmare. Still, if she was lucky, she’d find something about the curse.

Naithea turned down the alleys of the market, heading for the library. She knew how risky it was—especially now that Madame Dimond’s spies followed her closely.

She ignored them all and instead focused on her mission. Dyron expected to hear from her soon. Yet a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks as she walked among the stores that had been built in a circular shape near the square.

“Do you have news for me?”

Her blood warmed in recognition, but Naithea hid behind one of the small wooden stores. The only thing that veiled her was a curtain of gauze that danced in the icy wind drifting in from the harbor.

Behind it, stood Ward. Despite wanting to approach from behind and surprise him, something stopped her from doing so. He had company: two men in uniform that she’d never seen before were standing in front of him.

“We met one of your soldiers on our way here,” one of the men reported. “He thinks the compass revealed a trail about the lost princesses, sir.”

“We’ve been searching for weeks and that bloody artifact hasn’t been of any help.” Ward massaged the space between his eyebrows, wearily. “How do I know we weren’t fooled?”

“The magic that protects the princesses is powerful and ancient. You’ve been doing research on it yourself.”

“A dead end.”

“Since your letter arrived at the capital, we’ve investigated every dryad and Two Blood that possesses black magic devices,” he replied. “Everything brings us back here.”

Ward sighed. “What else did Soldier Pyre say?”

“The compass has pointed west of the city, toward the shores of Salismar Ocean.”

Naithea’s heartbeat quickened at that, because there, by the harbor, was the brothel. That was where her sisters lived, the only family she had.

An icy feeling of fear ran through her.

Fear for her sisters and the fate that awaited them.

Fear for the city that had become her home.

Fear for her own survival.

“Anything else?” the commander pressed.

“The curse is spreading. Princess Davinia’s condition has worsened and the twins began to show symptoms.”

“I need you to be more specific.”

“Ginebra and Gideon became ill last night,” he said quietly, as if he feared the commander’s fury would be unleashed upon him. “The healers are already treating them, of course.”

Ward tensed his jaw, controlling his emotions, trying to keep them at bay. Even from a distance, Naithea could see the tears that had begun to sting his eyes, as if he was suffering in silence from the news the heralds had delivered him. But the tears were replaced by a mask of rage and fury, so quickly that Naithea wondered if she had imagined them.

“Why on the Akhirat are you telling me this?”

“I . . .”

Ward grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket. “You made a week’s journey from the capital, wasting resources, not to mention my time, to give me news that could have been delivered in a letter,” he snarled. “Get out of my sight and don’t you dare show yourselves around the camp.”

“As you command,Your Highness.”

Killian Allencort had lost his temper.

Despite his relentless efforts to find the lost princesses, his father had controlled his every move, barely allowing him to breathe without permission. The delay had cost precious time—time they didn’t have, not with his sister’s life hanging by a thread. The heralds’ presence was an irritating distraction. If it weren’t an act of defiance against the king, with punishments too hard to bear, he would have snapped their neck and left their remains for the wolvers in the forest to finish.

---