Page 32 of Vanish

Ryland appeared unconvinced.“Wouldn’t it be safer to maintain distance, just in case?”

“With my awareness of magic, I can sense Lisette’s location and would also be able to notice if the curse tried to move towards me,” Evelyn assured him.

Ryland’s shoulders relaxed and he fell back against the settee with a weary sigh. “Lucien, why didn’t you come to us sooner?”

It took a moment for me to push through my shock at his ready acceptance in order to find my voice. “You mean you’ll help me?”

His frown deepened. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because no one but me can see her, and…because of the way I’ve treated Evelyn.” I turned towards my sister-in-law, who was watching me with compassion rather than judgment. “I’m so sorry for my attempts to use your magic, and for persisting even after it was clear you didn’t have the power I sought.”

She smiled graciously. “I understand what it is to desire something so desperately that you find yourself in positions you never thought possible. I forgive you and I want to help, although I’m not sure what I can do.”

Ryland nodded in agreement with his wife. “You’re not only the future king of Brimoire, but my brother. Even if I can’t see Lisette for myself, I trust you and I’m willing to offer my assistance as well.”

I couldn’t say anything, but simply continued to gape in disbelief. He took in my expression with a mixture of exasperation and bemusement. “Of course you were determined to shoulder something so serious all by yourself, just like you always do. I’m certain you only finally swallowed your pride for Lisette’s sake.”

My brother knew me well. Even so my defensiveness swelled. “I tried to ask for help, but the situation involves an invisible fiancée whom only I can see. Even without knowing what was going on, you, Evelyn, and Father originally believed I was cracking beneath the pressure.”

“Because we had no other explanation for your behavior, giving me no reason not to fear that the stress had finally gotten to you.”

Ryland’s composure escalated my regret that I’d given so much power to the reservations that had prevented me from confiding in him sooner. “All the more reason for me not to admit something that seems ridiculous enough that even I experienced moments when I truly believed I was going mad,” I said. “What reason would you have to believe my claims of a magic our kingdom has never before witnessed?”

“Considering I survived almost disappearing myself, it’s not a stretch for me to accept that those who vanish don’t die, especially considering that is the outcome I’m desperately hoping for the sake of our suffering kingdom.”

Once again I’d failed to consider all the implications of my brother’s own experiences; perhaps I’d chosen to ignore them for the sake of the image I fought so hard to maintain.

The shield guarding my vulnerabilities faltered, preventing me from hiding these emotions from my brother’s scrutiny. He rolled his eyes. “You are far too uptight and obsessed with your perceived notion of what is expected of a crown prince, so much so that you’ve forgotten I’m not only a prince as well, but first and foremost a brother to you.”

Without further preamble, he and Evelyn wasted no time in offering their assistance, beginning with the letter addressed to the monastery. Her powers were sufficient to transport it and I readily handed it over—it shimmered before it dissolved in mid-air, leaving sparks flying in its wake. After promising to inform me the moment she received a reply, she turned her attention to studying the magical energy in the space where Lisette resided before her shoulders drooped.

“Even though I’m able to sense the magical energy she’s emanating from the curse, I still can’t see her, nor can I hear her responses whenever you talk with her. But though my current powers don’t extend to seeing invisible beings, now that I know of their existence, I will focus my efforts on finding something that can remedy that as possible.” She brightened as another idea occurred to her. “Since I haven’t felt well enough to travel back to Estoria, especially with the curse’s precarious influence, I’m unable to peruse our palace libraries magical tomes to see whether they contain information about invisibility curses and potential ways to break them. However, I can arrange for some to be sent to me.”

“When Father returns from traveling the kingdom, you can inform Father of this new development,” Ryland said. “Together we can work with this new realization that our subjects may not have died after succumbing to the curse. With time I hope we can discover a new angle in how to overcome it.”

I stared as their eager plans washed over me, feeling slightly dazed. Though they had their own affairs to tend to, they hadn’t hesitated in reaching out to me. Emotion clogged my throat, making it impossible to voice my gratitude. Ryland glimpsed it and leaned forward to rest a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“We’ll do all within our power to help you save the woman you love as well as our kingdom. You aren’t alone.”

Not alone. The hope reservation had made me afraid to harbor swelled, nourished by their words and Lisette’s encouraging smile from her place beside me. Together we would find a way to help her, so that one day I would finally be able to feel not the ghostly image of her, but the physical hand of the woman I loved.

CHAPTER15

Lisette

I’d long since grown exhausted from the silent war raging within me, a battle between the trust Lucien’s apparent sincerity made me long to bestow and the doubt my handmaiden tried to stir. Each side put my heart at risk—either I yielded it to him and risked him breaking it, or I withdrew and lost the connection that kept me from vanishing completely.

Aira had made her reappearance shortly after Lucien had begun his letter to the magical monastery, but rather than his efforts on my behalf persuading her, she only watched through eyes narrowed with suspicion. “How convenient that he’s trying to erase years of neglect with gallant gestures now.”

I knew she meant her words as cautionary, but instead they only made me pensive. The curse had claimed many things—much of the kingdom of Brimoire, countless lives, even my own body and memories—but this particular instance didn’t seem bad.

“If erasing the pain of my past allows me to build a better future, is that really so wrong?” I understood all too well the desire to free myself from the shackles brought by my background; it would be wrong to hold Lucien to his, whatever it was.

Aira opened her mouth to retort, but our whispered conversation had drawn Lucien’s notice. Thankfully he didn’t push the matter of having discovered me talking to myself, whether because he’d been caught in a similar situation several times since our reunion or because he understood how fragile my ability to confide in him was and didn’t want to force me to turn to him before I was ready. I clung to the latter reason, evidence that Aira’s doubts in our lack of relationship before the curse were unfounded…or that at least Lucien was showing true regard for me now, whatever our past may have held.

She didn’t give up, continuing to whisper her dissuasions as Lucien led me to the parlor to meet with his brother and sister-in-law. Her words were powerless in the face of his attention—the protective way he hovered near me, the way he kept resting his hand over mine even though we couldn’t yet touch, his efforts followed by his declarative promise to help me—all which made me reluctant to doubt him.

Yet Aira’s distrust slithered through the cracks rendered on my careful shield to work upon my heart, preying on my fears that desperately needed Lucien’s love to be true. I fought against doubt’s seductive persuasions as I allowed him to escort me to the gardens following our discussion, still behaving the proper gentleman by opening the door for me despite my ability to pass through on my own. The gesture only endeared him to me further.

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