Page 66 of Magic Cursed

I sheath my sword before retrieving my dagger. “What’s it look like? I just saved the day.”

His eyes are fire, and he grabs my arm forcefully. His fingers bite into my bicep and he pulls me away from the others. “What you did,” he says like a growl, “was directly disobey the Regent. You are not to interfere unless the shadow demons come.”

His hand squeezes harder and I gasp at the pain, completely in shock by his reaction. I’ve never seen him like this before. I’m about to put him on his ass for daring to lay his hands on me when Daimis seems to appear out of nowhere. “Unhand her now,” his voice is low and threatening, his large hand wrapped around Kellan’s that’s holding me. Daimis is not much taller than Kellan, yet he seems to tower over him in this moment. His jaw twitches, his face hard with restrained fury. “That is an order.”

For a moment, I think Kellan might protest, then he seems to think better of it and he opens his hand, releasing me from his vice-like grip. Daimis shoves Kellan back, putting distance between myself and Kellan.

“Do not ever lay your hands on her like that again,” Daimis threatens, his voice a low rumble.

Kellan rubs his wrist, staring at Daimis like he doesn’t know him. Daimis turns his attention to me, a question in his gaze. I dip my chin as if to say, I’m fine, and his shoulders seem to relax. But also, what was that? I’ve never seen Daimis so much as throw an angry word at Kellan, but a moment ago, he looked ready to kill him. As much as I’m grateful to have Daimis on my side, I can fight my own battles.

I face Kellan. “I think what you were trying to say is, thank you,” I say. “I stopped the fight.”

The rattling of chains and grunts lets us know the ogres are starting to wake up. We glance at the Steel Guards who can contain the ogres securely now that they have the ash-steel chains on, blocking the ogres from accessing their magical strength.

Kellan turns back to me. “Do you want to spend the rest of this quest in chains like them?” The guards pull the ogres along and we follow them back toward the camp.

Heat flushes my face as my anger grows. “For helping?” I ask incredulously. “You’re really going to chain me up for helping?” I knock a branch out of the way. “That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“Not me, damn it!” He shakes his head. “I’m not the one in charge here. Don’t you get it? The guards will report to the Regentexactlywhat happened back there.”

“And what is itexactlythat they’re going to report?” Daimis asks. That’s a good question. If it’s evident that I was trying to help the ogres in any way, then my going against the Regent’s orders will only be the start of my problems.

Kellan lowers his voice so only Daimis and I can hear him. “If you were only trying to help our men, then why didn’t you kill the ogres?”

“Because I didn’t need to,” I say. “They—”

“They’re ogres,” Kellan snaps. A vein in the center of his forehead is sticking out and his face is red. “You always need to. They attacked our men onourland.”

As if it’s that simple? “It’s obvious that the ogre shrine has been here a lot longer than the boundaries that were put into place,” I say through clenched teeth. “The ogres were performing a ritual to ensure the safety of their children, and the Steel Guard came along and defiled it. So what? I should massacre them because they were trying to ensure the safety and well-being of their babies?”

“Our laws are clear.” Kellan hits his fist into his palm to emphasize his point. “They were in Thaaryn territory, and they attacked my men. They shouldn’t be left alive just for the next encounter to end in the tragic death of a human.”

I step over a stone. “And what of their traditions, which have been around for a lot longer than our laws? We should try to understand them, that’s how we can avoid situations like this in the first place. If the guards had just left the shrine alone, there wouldn’t have been a fight in the first place. Both parties would’ve gone their separate ways, inpeace.”

He looks at me like I’ve gone mad. “I don’t give a damn about their traditions, and neither should you. You don’t try to understand them, you don’t try to reason with them. It’s kill or be killed. Why can’t you see that’s the only way Thaaryn is going to survive? It’s how humans will survive.”

He’s choosing ignorance over reason, over coming to a peaceful solution? A burning stirs deep inside of me as my anger grows. Daimis reaches out and gently squeezes my hand. Surprisingly, it seems to calm the magic stirring in me. Perhaps just knowing he’s there, my ally, my friend. But I also know if I stay in this argument with Kellan much longer, I’ll be risking exposure.

We walk into camp and the guards find a tree to tie the ogres to before running off to talk to the Regent, who is safely in his tent, like the coward he is. And again, I wonder why no one is guarding the prince.

“Kellan,” Daimis says. “Sky has a valid point. If we could educate the people on what to avoid, then perhaps we could coexist with the other races and prevent violent altercations.”

“Our people shouldn’t have to avoid anything in Thaaryn.” He points at the ogres. “They shouldn’t have to bend to these monsters in any way. There is no coexisting with murderers.”

“Ogres aren’t murderers,” I snap. “They’re actually the most peaceful of all the—” Daimis pokes me before I can continue. Kellan’s body is rigid.

“This isn’t about your mother, Kellan,” Daimis says, placing himself between us.

His mother? Kellan’s mother was killed by ogres? That surprises me, and it explains why he’s so passionate, but it doesn’t mean he’s in the right.

“EverythingI do is to ensure tragedies like my mother’s never occur,” Kellan says.

Daimis nods. “I know, and we have the same goal, but be open to the possibility that there is more than one way to achieve it.”

Kellan contemplates his words. His eyes shift from Daimis to me, then back to Daimis again. “I will if you will,” he says. He turns his attention back to me with a glare. “I was put in charge of you, so the only thing that matters right now, is that today you made a mistake. It’s like you’re determined to make everything more difficult.”

I feel like I’m seeing a side of Kellan that had I known existed, I never would have let him touch me. “Yes, well you’re right about one thing.” I let all my disgust show on my face. “I certainly made ahugemistake.” I gain a sliver of satisfaction the moment his eyes widen, and he understands my meaning. I don’t allow his hurt expression to soften my heart. I’m too angry. I turn on my heel and storm off to my tent, eager to put as much distance between myself and Kellan as possible.

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