Page 65 of The Forgotten Life of Ella Moon
Aurora walked over and sat down next toPain.She, too, had thought love and sex were the same thing once.Buther mother, an expert on sex, had explained the difference. “ButwhyThane?”
“I was lonely.ThaneandIdid everything together.Wetrained and ate together.Wesat through council meetings and dealt with his father’s desire to kill everything together.Itold him about my mother, and he told me of his father’s cruel ways.Ithought that was love.”Painshook away that thought. “Butthen he saw you, and that was all he could talk about.Heeven forbade his father, knowing the consequences of doing so.Foryou.”Painsnorted out a laugh. “Itried.Buthe wanted nothing more than a friendship.Iwas stupid.”
Aurora couldn’t picturePainas anything other than the confident god that stood next toDeathor followed mortals around. “Thanecould’ve… well,ThaneisThane.Andsometimes he can be a bit callous.”
“A bit?Heis also arrogant.”
Aurora rested her elbows on her knee and her chin on the palm of her hands. “Iagree.ButIlove that about him.Idon’t know why.”
“You’d love him if he had a horn growing out of his head and lost all his teeth.”
Aurora thought. “Ahorn might be useful.Andif you’ve ever eaten the food here, you’d know he wouldn’t need teeth.”Aurorasat withPainin the quietness of the room.Thesouls crept in and out of the room. “Whya curse?”
“I thought if he could feel what it felt like to have a broken heart, he’d come back.Ithink my father was just looking for a reason to get back atDeathand your father.Heused my heartbreak as an excuse to curseThane.Thuscausing you both pain.”Painlooked at her empty glass. “Didyou know a curse is two-sided?Whatyou give is what you get?”
“You have a broken heart too?”
“No.ButIwon’t find love until the curse is broken.Whichis fine.Lovelooks like a painful affliction thatIdo not want.”Painnodded to herself.
“The right love isn’t an affliction.It’sa…”Auroratried to put into words what lovingThanewas like.Itwas misery and joy, contentment and chaos, pain and pleasure all wrapped up in the form of a god.Agod her body ached to be with when they were apart.Agod she would risk everything for.Itwas selfless and selfish at the same time. “You’reright, it is an affliction.ButIdon’t want the cure.”
“Says the god that has two curses to break.”
“Right.”Aurorawatched a couple shadows creep closer, sniffing the whiskey. “Sowhat is the curse?”
“The kingdom ofCasseis a fairy tale.”Pain’svoice was low.
Aurora turned toPain. “Areyou serious?”Fairytales existed in a place neither here nor there.Aworld that fed off mortals’ hopes and dreams, which was why gods were not allowed.Theyhad neither. “HowdidDeathget into a fairy tale?”
“How wouldIknow?He’sDeath.”Painshrugged.
“A fairy tale.Godsabove,Ihate this!”Aurorayelled up to the sky full of stars.Shehated fairy tales.Nothingwas ever as it seemed.Animalscould talk, the sky could be the sea.Plateswere made of dreams and food out of sand.Butthe worst parts of the fairy tales were the curses and how they needed to be broken. “HowdoIget to a place that is made of smoke and nothing?”
“You should be more worried about figuring out what caused the curse in order to break it.”
Aurora groaned. “Idon’t have time to find a shoe or turn straw into gold.”Thereason for the curse was always buried in some task or riddle.
Pain stood and walked over to the whiskey. “Maybeyou’ll have to slay a dragon.Anotherdrink?”Painheld up the bottle.
Aurora stood and walked over toPain. “Thatwould be better than…”Auroratook the glass. “Whatif it’s love?”Thatwas the most common problem in a fairy tale.Someunrequited or forbidden love.Andthe only way to break it was a kiss. “Thatwould mean…”
“You’d have to kiss a prince.Oran ass.Youshould wish for an ass since you are well-versed in kissingThane.Cheers?”Paintipped her glass toAurora’s.
“IfThanefinds out…”Aurorafelt the tears burning.Sothis was how her curse would break her andThanethis time.Itwas more than a simple kiss.Itwas love’s true kiss.
“Make sure he doesn’t.”Painrefilled her glass.
“But he’ll know.Heknows there’s a curse.”
“He’s never gotten close enough to know what it is.Youcould say you had to find a shoe or a golden egg.”Painlooked down at her glass.
“Why did he never get close enough?”
“The castle is guarded by the seven virtues that gods lack.Thanehas never made it past them.”
“And you thinkIwill?”
“Yes.Becausea fairy-tale prince cannot resist a fair maiden in distress.Iknow.”Painlooked down at the glass.
