Page 35 of Bride of the Fae Duke

‘There … there are stories with broken curses.’ Somehow, the suspicion on her sister’s face was only deepening. ‘Usually the cure is something like true love, though, which—’

‘Which is a problem here. Yes.’ Nellie jumped up again, unable to sit still for more than ten heartbeats. ‘Still, there needs to besomething—’

‘Nell,’ Anne interrupted, hoisting herself up on her elbows, squinting. ‘Nell, did you fall in love with him?’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ Nellie impatiently said, waving the question away. ‘This isn’t about me. Listen, if we can theoretically get rid of the curse, then—’

‘Nell,’ her sister repeated, and now there was no trace of sleep left on her round face, not a brush of softness. It had come outwith all the bite of a despairing governess twice her age, that one name. ‘What are youthinking? He’s not—’

‘I know he’s not safe,’ Nellie cut in, closing her eyes. Divines help her. Was this love, then, this unbearable need to move andfixthings – to fixhim? ‘But the curse doesn’t give a damn whatIfeel, does it? And either way, it doesn’t matter, because I’m going to break it. I just need to figure out—’

‘You’re going to need fae for that,’ Anne said hoarsely. ‘The fairytales don’t give any details. And there are barely any fae left in Elidian, because the Princeps banned them and their magic, did you forget?’

Nellie’s thoughts burst around another corner.

‘Lord Arragher.’ She almost gasped the name. ‘Lord Arragher has a fae wife, doesn’t he? Or well, a fae fiancée, because obviously they’re not allowed to get married …’

But the duke of Arragher was rich as sin and a prominent member of the Senate, and somehow the combination of decadent wine fountains at public festivals, generous charity to the poor, and a good dose of blinding charm had kept the populace of Elidian from voting him out when the affair had come to light a few years ago. Lady Eyestone had spent multiple days hyperventilating on the sofa when the news spread, declaring to all who would listen that she wouldn’t haveanyof those thieving liars anywhere near her home.

Nellie had not dared to point out that while fae may occasionally be thieves, they weren’t evencapableof lying.

‘So then send her a letter,’ Anne was saying, rubbing her face. ‘I’m sure she’ll reply in a few days, and then—’

‘I’m going to visit her,’ Nellie declared.

Anne stared at her as if she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. ‘Nell, it’s midsummer day.’

‘Yes, so?’ Restless impatience was taking hold of her feet. ‘Surely she won’t be at the festival yet. It’s still pretty much the middle of the night.’

‘All servants have their day off!’ Anne protested. ‘You can’t send them with a note to announce you, and—'

‘I’ll just go by myself.’ Who cared about etiquette when there were lives at stake – when there wereheartsat stake? ‘I’m a duchess now, after all. And she’ll probably forgive me for trying not to die, don’t you think?’

If Anne didn’t think so, Nellie didn’t wait for her to make the point. She had already hurried out of the room again.

Arragher Manor – grand, glorious, and shining like the summer sun itself – lay alongside the Rope Canal, a mere stone’s throw from the Iron Hold and the market square where executions took place. The same places where the duke’s not-quite-wife would have ended up if not for the considerable influence her not-quite-husband wielded; Nellie couldn’t help but wonder, walking past the grotesque façade of the city’s prison, how often her ladyship thought of it, the threat of what her future might have been.

Then again …

She’d found herself forgetting about the dratted curse more and more often, these weeks. Perhaps even looming death could become comfortable routine when surrounded by enough money and—

Love?

She hurriedly pressed that thought away.

Around her, all of the city was preparing for the midsummer festival, building bonfires and decorating the streets with flower garlands and laurel wreaths. Yet somehow the Arragher gardens were more summery still – exotic flowers and lush greenery wherever Nellie looked, their sweet perfumes enough to mask the marsh smells that hung over the city in these warmest months. Bumblebees buzzed. Fountains gurgled. Oh yes, she could imagine it was hard to think about death in a place like this.

Had the Locke gardens been like these, once?

Was that why Othrys had allowed them to die and wither after Isaure was gone – because he could no longer stand the sight of so much life without her?

She couldn’t shake off the look in his eyes even here, the hint of a thaw in that frostbitten heart of his. The fear, most of all.I’m poison, Eleanor…

She walked a little faster.

A haggard-looking housekeeper received her, made an attempt to send her back home, then gave up when the title of Lady Locke was mentioned. Nellie was left waiting in the gold-and-marble entry hall while the lingering servants went looking for the lady of the house – a search of a few minutes, and yet it felt like an eternity until at long last a door flew open at the top of the stairs.

‘Lady Locke!’ a bright and decidedly inhuman voice cried out.

---