Page 28 of The Curse of Ophelia

“Eight hundred and twenty-two,” I whispered into the empty cell. I leaned my shoulder against the wall, my back still too raw to rest against the cold stone.

Eight hundred and twenty-two days since life as I knew it ended. Eight hundred and twenty-two days since I had kissed her goodbye.

I brushed my sweat-soaked bangs out of my eyes to view the moon better, imagining her skin bathed in its glow somewhere out in the world. Her eyes would reflect its light like a pearl placed in a sea of deep magenta flowers. I thought of the things we had done beneath the moon in our clearing. The way her body felt against mine all those nights ago, holding her to me. Protecting her. Protecting us. I could still feel her, like she was pressed against me now, our bodies rising and falling and releasing together.

My head sank against the wall, giving into the sleep my body craved as thoughts of her danced through my head. I hoped she was happy tonight, the radiant smile gracing her face, softening her exquisite features.

“Happy birthday, Ophelia,” I breathed into the still air.

I’d like to think she felt it.

-PART TWO-

MEGAERA

Chapter Twelve

Ophelia

Two Years Earlier

The gate to the Blastwoods’ sprawling property—the largest estate within Palerman—creaked slightly when I nudged it open. The silver gilding along its metal spikes glinted in the sunlight as it swung inward. The scent of freshly trimmed grass and sun-warmed gravel wrapped itself around me as I strolled up the pathway to the house, shaded by the willows.

I smiled at the memories of Augustus and myself tearing through the winding trails as children, ducking in and out of cyphers with screeches and laughter, using sticks as pretend weapons. The rule had always been that we were free to roam, so long as we stayed within the gates—which was easy considering how much land the Blastwoods owned.

As we’d grown older, the games had matured with us. It was within the willows of their property that we learned to trust each other both with our blades and our hearts.

The stone columns of their home loomed through gaps in the trees, but I turned left. Should I have knocked, the grand front door would have been opened immediately by a member of their staff, but I preferred my personal side entrance.

The gold handle was warm beneath my hand as I turned it. Though the shutters on the double doors were still closed, they were never locked to me. I entered into one of the house’s smaller rooms, with dark wood floors and a simple set of couches and chaises arranged around a small glass table. Akalain Blastwood, Augustus’s mother, sat upon one of the settees.

“Ah, Ophelia!” She jumped to her feet, her Mystique blood making her as silent and spry as a mountain cat. “I was hoping to catch you before you and Malakai took off for the day.”

She gestured to the couch across from her, handing me a cup of tea, and I settled into the worn gray cushions, letting the familiar scent of the Blastwood home wrap itself around me in a cloud of cinnamon and vanilla.

“Good morning, Akalain.” As a Mystique over the age of sixteen, I had the honor of referring to all ascended warriors by their first names.

“How are you?” she asked, handing me a cup of my favorite tea, a blend she made sure to always keep in the house.

I stirred in a spoonful of sugar and sipped it, the sweet herbs washing across my taste buds, and contemplated her question. With the war over and the treaty signed, there was much I should be grateful for. There was still so much wrong, though.

“I’m…recovering.” I chose the word carefully.

“As are all of us.” Akalain nodded, and I could tell there was more she wished to say.

I set my teacup on the table, running my palms down my skirts. “Is there something you wished to discuss?” Though I enjoyed the company, there was a gleam to her blue eyes that I couldn’t ignore.

“As you know, Malakai’s eighteenth birthday is approaching.” That sparkle in her eye—it was pride. Utter delight at the prospect of her son reaching his destiny.

“I can hardly believe it.” I curled my fingers into my skirts, the soft velvet absorbing my anticipation.

In a few short days, Augustus would be embarking on the journey to the mountains to complete the Undertaking. In three months, it would be my turn, and we would become the most powerful Mystique Warrior partners in history.

But the potential power didn’t matter to either of us, nor did the fact that we were an Alabath and a Blastwood merging our lines. Even if we had not chosen to speak the Words to each other and received the Bind, we likely would have been pushed together. But we had chosen, and for us, the Undertaking was the obvious next step down our life’s path. The fact that we were to take it together was what mattered.

“I’m overjoyed for the two of you. It’s been over a century since I completed my own Undertaking, and it was a…formative journey.” She fidgeted with the teacup, refilling it until it nearly overflowed.

Questions buzzed through me, but I bit my lips against them. By law, we were not allowed to discuss specifics, no matter how long ago she had completed the Undertaking.

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