Page 4 of Vanish

Though a single carriage of people was nothing to the number of those who had already been swallowed into oblivion by the sinister vanishing force, this victim wasn’t some faceless stranger. Years of memories accompanied her name—most awkward and lacking any progression of our relationship, yet none meaningless.

I’d hoped my perceived indifference to her and her frequent visits would offer some form of protection, for the curse was a formidable foe that I often feared had invisible spies who targeted those closest to us…yet it had still attacked the victim I’d been most desperate to protect, leaving the years of effort in my charade utterly pointless.

The minutes dividing us from the location marking my fiancée’s gravesite were measured by my silent assaults against the Thorndale monarch, the sharp insults the only thing keeping me from going mad with worry. If I ceased the onslaught, I’d have no protection from the looming truth—that Lisette had only been in danger because of her arrangement with me, the crown prince to a doomed kingdom.

After what felt like an eternity we finally arrived at the location where the Thorndale carriage was said to have disappeared. Several soldiers remained to comb through the traces of magic left behind from the curse—though it caused everything it touched to vanish as if erased from existence, it sometimes left behind faint hints of what had previously existed, the only evidence to confirm that my fiancée had been here hours before.

I hadn’t been trained in this investigative art, so I could only look wildly around for any sign—not of a carriage, horses, or attendants, but of the shy, petite woman whom I had been expected to finally wed by month’s end. No matter how long I looked, I could find no trace of her. Even though I couldn’t see her with my eyes, part of me seemed to sense her lingering presence…yet I found nothing but the empty landscape that now served as a resting place for those who had just been erased.

“Prince Lucien?” The worry wrenching my guard’s voice compelled me to reluctantly meet his gaze, watching me in concern. Too late I realized that my usual stoic composure had faltered, just enough to betray a glimpse of the emotions I was desperate to keep hidden.

I clung to commands, my only order in the surrounding chaos threatening to drown me. “Finding the princess is our highest priority. There is a faint chance she somehow escaped the curse. Leave no stone unturned in trying to locate her.” Deep down I knew that no one who succumbed to the curse had ever been found, but I possessed so little hope that I didn’t want to give up the faint possibility that she was still alive.

The guards exchange dubious glances before they obediently bowed. “We will arrange for a search party.” The one who spoke held up a hand to prematurely silence my desire to join already burning my lips. “You’ve already spent too long in infected areas. In the meantime, you must get out of danger and return to His Majesty so that you can come up with another plan, now that it appears this one has failed.”

I couldn’t speak, my mind reeling. It made me sick to think that my sweet fiancée had been reduced to nothing more thana plan, despite that being how our relationship had all started. I reminded myself that marriage in the world of nobility was rarely arranged for love—even Ryland’s own union with Princess Evelyn of Estoria had begun as nothing more than a political contract between two nations. He was fortuitous that it had eventually developed into genuine affection, but with this development I now realized that despite my own hopes I would not be so lucky. Romantic love was not in my future, not with dutiful love for my people eclipsing everything else.

I clenched my fists and offered a rigid nod. “See to it. In the meantime, I will work to form a more beneficial alliance, anything to aid Brimoire.”

My tone was emotionless as I struggle to wrangle the last of the feelings I’d locked away in my heart into submission. I finally managed the difficult feat, but only barely, reminding myself they would only get in the way of the path before me that I must never waver from…lest the kingdom of Brimoire and all its inhabitants disappear forever.

CHAPTER3

Lisette

Iwas falling deeper into an abyss. I felt resistance, like I was trapped underwater, submerged in a sea of nothingness that engulfed my subconscious to erase every sensation. I tried to comprehend the situation, but my consciousness was hazy, my thinking clouded. I slowly opened my eyes, yet the only thing that came into view was pitch-black darkness. I stared into it absentmindedly, trying to find the place within this space where I began.

Casting away all of my thoughts and emotions, I continued my descent, feeling like I was floating, drowning in the air. After what seemed like an eternity I sensed a light somewhere, causing my fingertips to finally make contact with the bottom of the endless chasm. Still only vaguely conscious, I slowly came to my senses.

The first thing I noticed was the warmth of the amulet I still clutched, causing my body to lighten and my surroundings to blur. I struggled to escape their slithery tendrils but only managed to lift my now partially see-through hand.

I’m…fading.

My surge of shock that I was still alive and conscious along with my fear at the realization was fleeting as this emotion—along with everything else around me—became erased, allowing me to observe the condition befalling me with as much indifference as noticing a change in the weather.

Upon noticing my apathy, sadness pierced my protective walls—not for the fact that I was gradually disappearing but the accompanying relief that would finally lift the burden of worry and expectation constantly weighing upon me. Much as I feared the unknown, I couldn’t help feeling a slight draw towards the disappearing curse that would claim not only me but the burden of expectation brought by a father who viewed me as nothing more than a pawn to use as he saw fit, an indifferent fiancé who possessed no romantic feeling towards me, and the crippling anxiety that constantly held me back and prevented me from taking any true joy in life.

My fate seemed an inevitable conclusion to a life that had never been my own; it was impossible to mourn an existence forged by the dictates of others rather than of my own making. Yet midst my passive acceptance, a burrowed part of me yearned to fight against the fate gradually consuming me, although a lifetime of passiveness felt impossible to overcome in my last moments, especially when exhausted by regret.

My surroundings grew fainter as the curse pulled me further beneath its depths where nothing existed, not even darkness. With how quickly everything else had disappeared around me, the process towards its inevitable destination was surprisingly slow.

A final thought stirred by the wishes I’d previously buried in order to protect them from certain disappointment filled my mind as I finally gave up the fight and allowed myself to succumb:I’m not ready to disappear. Yet a second chance felt as elusive as my long-sought freedom from the duties and expectations constantly holding me bound.

I am not yet ready to disappear!

This buried yearning clawed its way to the surface, a single strand that kept me from going completely adrift. Though pliable enough to break at even the weakest resistance, it held firm enough to keep me tethered to the real world. I tentatively peeked one eye open a sliver. Though indiscernible, my surroundings remained, evidence I hadn’t been completely pulled into the alluring nothingness.

With concentrated focus, I pushed through the heavy force enough to lift my weighted hand. My breath caught: though I could sense where it should be, it had completely vanished, as had my entire body when I looked down at myself; my invisible fingers grasped at nothing when I tried to touch myself.

Even without a visible body my consciousness remained present, seeming to float above my surroundings, no longer bound to a corporeal self. I experimented with shifting around so that I might explore and managed to float through the air in order to begin searching for any clues about the curse that might remain after consuming me and my entire entourage. However, my efforts proved futile, whether because any lingering evidence was invisible or had been consumed along with everything else.

I knew little about the force afflicting the kingdom of Brimoire—Father rarely informed me of political matters, especially those of importance; anything I wanted to know I needed to discover for myself, ideally without his knowledge. I’d done my share of research about the kingdom I was marrying into, yet details about the curse remained elusive—whether because the kingdom carefully guarded the information or anything that escaped their borders had been erased by the blight slowly overtaking the land.

What limited information I possessed had been transformed to foggy wisps, impossible to capture. From the bits and pieces I gathered, the curse erased everything it touched from existence. With my current state, I realized this wasn’t entirely accurate, for though I could no longer sense my body normally, my awareness remained, tethered to my surroundings even if I couldn’t interact with them.

Time became swallowed up as I experimented to see how much I could maneuver the invisible chains trapping me, pausing when I noticed Brimoire’s royal guard approaching on horseback. I immediately recognized the one leading the charge, his silhouette familiar due to our many arranged meetings.

My fiancé, Crown Prince Lucien.

---