Page 1 of Degradation

CHAPTERONE

Alone,I leaned back in the tub and watched the steam curl up from the water. My limbs ached, but I knew the bath would help.

Outside, near the cooking fire, the others conversed quietly and prepared breakfast. Liam asked a question loud enough for me to hear.

“Do you think she’s angry?”

He was sweet to feel concerned, but surely he didn’t believe I would hold any of them to blame for what happened. If anything, they should be angry with me. Because of my presence, Maeve had appeared and had caused the cave-in that could have cost them their lives.

No, I found no fault in their actions to free me from the curse that Maeve had cast. And though I didn’t regret how we’d broken the curse, I regretted that I hadn’t been able to speak freely, which caused them all to doubt their contributions. Even now, I could feel Brandle’s lingering guilt as he fetched another pail of water from the well.

“How long must we leave our Lamb alone?”

I opened my mouth to tell Daemon I didn’t want to be left alone when Brandle entered with the rinse water.

Tipping my head back, I looked up at him.

“I’m not angry, and I don’t want to be left alone.”

He smiled, kissed my brow, and sat on the stool beside the tub.

“Then I won’t leave you alone.”

He unwound my braid and worked the tangles out of it in silence. His expression remained troubled, like his thoughts. I caught his chin with my wet fingers to draw his gaze.

“I don’t want to be treated any differently than before, Brandle,” I said softly. “I’m neither damaged nor fragile. So please release the guilt you feel, or I will be burdened to feel the same.”

“How so?”

“Without me, Maeve would have had no reason to appear in your glade.” I dropped my hand. “She caused the cave-in so she could speak with me alone. Will you choose to hold her to blame, or will you blame my presence here?”

“I hold her to blame. Never you.”

“And I do the same. I don’t regret what we shared, Brandle, only that she forced your hand.”

He nodded, and I felt his guilt lift as he wet my hair and soaped it.

“Why do you call her Maeve?” he asked.

“It’s the only name she gave us. Why did Edmund call her the Foul Queen?”

Brandle was quiet for a long moment. “I’m uncertain how to answer your question until you answer a few of mine. Has the spell binding you to silence broken? Are you able to speak of what happened to you? Is Maeve the caster who cursed you?”

I tilted my head to study him.

“She is. This time and before I ran from home.”

“Will you tell me everything?” He nudged me to lean back so he could scrub my hair.

Closing my eyes as he worked, I thought back to how everything started.

“I already told you that my father was a merchant. He loved my mother dearly, and though he left us often to travel and trade, she was never far from his thoughts. He would often send trinkets home for her. Eloise and I, as well. Ribbons and such things.

“When a beautiful necklace arrived, we thought it was from Father and put it on Mother. We saw a flash of green in her eyes but didn’t understand its significance until much later.

“Knowing what I do now, I believe the necklace was bespelled to consume the wearer’s energy. It was likely meant to do so over time. However, Mother had so little that she died immediately.

“She had only been gone a few days when Father arrived. He didn’t act like the loving man I knew. I thought it was due to grief, though, since he only stayed long enough to see Mother buried before saying he was off to trade. However, when Maeve appeared several days later, Eloise and I began to suspect something more.

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