Page 58 of The Curse Between Us

As the door shut behind them, Edric moved swiftly to Zephyr, his gloved hand resting lightly on his husband’s. The touch was barely more than a whisper against his skin, but it carried with it a thousand unsaid words.

Zephyr’s attempt at a smile was fleeting, but there was a sadness behind it that Edric couldn’t ignore. “We knewthis might be coming,” he said quietly, his voice heavy with something unspeakable. “And yet now that it has—”

“Shh,” Edric whispered, his heart aching for him. He could feel the weight of Zephyr’s pain, could see it reflected in the quiet grief in his eyes. Edric removed his hand slowly and began to remove his glove, his gaze never leaving Zephyr’s.

“Edric—” Zephyr began, but Edric shook his head, determined.

“I need to know,” he muttered fiercely. He flexed his bare hand, squaring his shoulders as he looked at his husband. “May I?”

Zephyr met his eyes, no trace of fear in them, only trust. “Yes.”

Edric reached out, his fingers brushing over Zephyr’s thumb.

They both flinched as the familiar sting hit them. The pain, though less intense than before, still coursed through their veins, sending a sharp jolt through both of them. Edric withdrew his hand immediately, pressing it to his forehead as he fought to keep his composure.

“I’m sorry,” Zephyr whispered, his voice laced with guilt. “I had hoped—”

“So had I,” Edric admitted quietly, his chest tightening. “Whatever blessing was on us in that meadow does not extend this far, it seems.”

Edric stood in silence for a moment, his mind racing as he replayed the events of the past few hours. His gaze flickered from Zephyr to the window, his thoughts swirling. Surely, after all the months of cordial relations, of cautiously rebuilding the connections between their two kingdoms, they had touched at least once—some innocent handshake, perhaps, or even a gesture of solidarity. But no one had reported anything out of the ordinary. No one had complained of feeling ill or having strangereactions when in proximity to one another. And yet, something wasn’t right. It gnawed at him. He remembered the conversation Zephyr had had with Clara, where the High Priestess explained her theory that the royal bloodline made the incompatibility between him and Zephyr stronger. Edric let out a quiet sigh, shaking his head as he replayed the moment in his mind. For a brief, fleeting moment, he wished he had never become king. His life had been simpler when he was not responsible for the wellbeing of others, when he didn’t carry the burden of a prophecy he didn’t fully understand.

Zephyr’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. “I do not understand any of this,” he said, his tone tight with frustration. The king stood up suddenly, his chair scraping noisily against the stone floor as he moved toward the window, the weight of his thoughts pressing on him. “How does this all relate? What is the ultimate plan here?”

Edric watched him, feeling the heavy weight of his own unanswered questions pressing down on him. He slowly rose from his seat, moving to stand beside Zephyr. From this angle, he could see the rise and fall of Zephyr’s chest as he tried to steady his breath, the visible frustration in every part of him. “I wish I knew,” Edric murmured, trying to match Zephyr’s intensity, but knowing all too well that he didn’t have any more answers than his husband did. “I don’t know anything more than you, Zephyr.”

Zephyr swung around sharply, his gaze piercing and full of concern, the frustration still hanging in the air. “Indeed, you know less,” he said, his voice laced with quiet disbelief. “There is something I have not yet told you.”

Edric felt a chill creep up his spine, and his stomach clenched. “What is it?” he asked, though he feared the answer.

Zephyr hesitated, his face briefly going blank before he returned to the table. The weariness that Edric had seen earlierdeepened, and Zephyr sank heavily into the chair, shoulders hunched as if the weight of his own thoughts was too much to carry alone. He stared at the table for a moment, his hands resting on the wooden surface as if searching for the right words. Finally, he looked up at Edric, his eyes darker, full of an emotion Edric couldn’t quite name. “I rode out to investigate the springs in the mountains. I took guards with me, and we collected samples to bring back to the academy.” He paused, exhaling slowly, and Edric felt the tension in the room grow thicker. “I bent down to gather some of the polluted water at the last spring... and Abyss spoke to me.”

Edric’s breath caught in his throat, his knees suddenly feeling weak. He reached out, grabbing the back of a chair for support. The words barely registered as he made a strangled noise of surprise. “What did it say?” he forced out, his voice hoarse with a mixture of disbelief and fear.

Zephyr’s gaze dropped to the floor as he ran a hand through his hair. “It knew me. It knew my name.” He swallowed heavily, the words catching in his throat as he looked out the window toward the distant mountains. The storm within him was obvious, his eyes haunted. “It thanked me for weakening the bars of its cage.”

Edric’s mind spun, his thoughts failing to keep up with the implications of Zephyr’s words. He couldn’t move, could hardly breathe. “We did that together,” he whispered, his voice trembling. He needed to grasp onto something solid, something logical. “Hadley and Clara told us, the prophecy... our marriage—”

Zephyr met his eyes then, his expression dark and resolute. “Yes. We did.”

Edric’s mind reeled. He could barely process what Zephyr had said. Abyss, the force they had unknowingly unleashed with their union, had spoken to him. That thoughtalone sent a ripple of terror through Edric. He felt a deep, irrational sense of dread, and yet beneath that fear was a gnawing need to understand. The pieces were coming together, but they didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense anymore.

As the initial shock ebbed away, replaced by a cold, hard understanding, Edric found himself standing beside Zephyr, his gloved hand reaching out to squeeze his husband’s shoulder. “That must have been terrifying,” he said softly, trying to keep his voice steady.

“It was.” Zephyr’s rueful smile only added to the weight Edric felt. He could see it in the lines around Zephyr’s eyes, in the way his shoulders were slumped with exhaustion. “The guards thought I was going mad. They heard me scream, but couldn’t hear Abyss’s voice. I haven’t told anyone else what I saw. I was afraid they might think me weak.”

“You are not weak,” Edric said quickly, the words tumbling out without thought. His eyes softened with empathy, and for a moment, the world outside seemed to fade into the background. “I would have swooned, had I been in your position. I think you were entitled to a good scream.”

Zephyr’s smile widened, and for the briefest moment, Edric could see the flicker of warmth that had been missing from his expression. “I would have caught you had you swooned,” Zephyr replied, the teasing light in his voice bringing a small measure of comfort.

“I know,” Edric said with a half-smile of his own, his heart lightening slightly despite the weight of their conversation. He squeezed Zephyr’s shoulder once more before reluctantly pulling away. An idea was beginning to form, but Edric didn’t want to act on impulse—not when everything was still so uncertain, not when they didn’t even know the full extent of the threat they faced.

“Would you be willing to ride back that way with me tomorrow?” Edric asked, his voice quiet but determined. He met Zephyr’s gaze with a clear, unwavering intent.

The smile slipped from Zephyr’s face, his expression shifting to one of concern. “What?”

Edric shrugged, trying to appear more nonchalant than he actually felt. He was tired of tiptoeing around the issue, of waiting for something to change on its own. “I’m tired of sitting back and waiting for this to come to us. I wish to meet Abyss head-on, or at the very least, witness its effects here,” he explained, his voice gaining strength.

Zephyr shook his head slowly, his eyes narrowing with concern. “You are reckless,” he said quietly, his voice filled with a mix of worry and reluctant admiration. “But I admire you for it.” He sighed deeply, his gaze drifting toward the window once more. “Very well. I will show you where I had the encounter, but under no circumstances are you to touch the water.” The note of kingly authority in Zephyr’s voice was unmistakable, and despite the gravity of the situation, Edric couldn’t help but smile.

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