Page 61 of Vanish

With a shuddering breath we stepped forward and were instantly enveloped in the cold, invisible fog that had descended upon me once before. It gradually pulled us from the tangibility of the visible world into the sea of nothingness awaiting us, but unlike the last time I’d felt this ocean of endless darkness that threatened to drown me, I no longer felt adrift; instead I was securely anchored by the presence beside me.

I watched as the curse began to blur Lucien’s form, traveling down his body to our connected hands. The entire time our locked gazes didn’t waver, nor did our connected grip falter—his palm warm against mine—even as the curse engulfed us.

Suddenly the magic erasing the details of the realm we’d left behind shifted, causing our surroundings to no longer dissolve but to gradually take shape. Structures and buildings appeared in faded black and white outlines absent of color, as if they were being drawn on the empty canvas that had once surrounded us, yet they were distinct and tangible. Next the ghostly shapes of dozens of people came to life, followed by our own bodies once more taking the translucent form that had accompanied my invisibility.

Upon finishing, the magic slithered away, leaving us standing in this new environment. We exchanged shocked glances before Lucien slowly lifted his transparent hand. “We’re still here.” He wriggled his fingers experimentally, his reaction reminiscent of my own when I’d first discovered my new cursed form.

“As is the village.”

I slowly looked around, taking in every detail of the place that back in the visible world had become nothing more than a barren landscape, brought to life once more—the cluster of houses, the tidy rows of crops, the bustling market stalls, and most of all the crowd of villagers watching us with wide-eyed confusion. Each faint face was foreign, save for one standing closest to us, her intent gaze fixed on me.

My breath hitched. “Aira?”

Strain tainted her greeting; her eyes shifted from my face to narrow first at Lucien, then down to and our intertwined hands. I braced myself for her poisonous onslaught of disapproval, but to my surprise her expression softened as she reached for my free hand. “I’ve missed you, Your Highness.”

I released Lucien to pull her into a hug. “No more than I’ve missed you. I’m so glad to see you face to face once more.”

Aira smiled and then turned her attention to my fiancé, her face solemn. “I’ve been watching you closely, Prince Lucien.”

He startled and squinted at her, as though trying to identify her. I hastened to introduce her. “This is my handmaiden, Aira. She was with me in the carriage when the curse struck, and she’s the one I’ve been able to communicate with at times while invisible.”

“Ah, of course.” Lucien gave her a polite nod. “I thought you looked familiar; I believe I’ve seen you accompanying Lisette during her visits.”

Aira tilted her head in silent appraisal, raising her eyebrows as though pleasantly surprised that the serious, focused future king had noticed a servant. “I admit I was mistaken about your intentions. You’ve not only changed from the stoic, unfeeling prince I believed you to be, but seem to truly love Lisette, especially considering the sacrifice you just made on her behalf.”

There was so much I wanted to share with her, particularly all the special moments Lucien and I had experienced together that would assure her that the affection between us was real. But not only was time pressing, my attention was distracted by another woman standing a short distance away. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her before, though something about her felt familiar—a recognition from my heart rather than my mind. She watched me as if she knew me, her expression one of such love and tenderness I was left breathless.

Upon my noticing her, she hesitated, inching forward. “Lisette.” Adoration cradled her soft Brimoirian accent, not a reaction I would have expected from someone who for all my knowledge was merely a stranger.

“Who are you?” I asked.

Sadness tinged her affectionate smile. “I’m your mother.”

I stared in disbelief, unsure whether I’d heard her correctly. “My…mother?” I searched her features, straining to recognize the face I hadn’t seen since I was a tiny child.

She extended her arms and I stepped into the loving parental embrace I never imagined I’d ever experience. I tipped my head back to hungrily take in every detail of the woman who’d been shrouded in such mystery that part of me wondered if she’d ever been real, even as my heart knew that her words were true.

I took in her common attire that never would have been allowed in the royal court where I’d grown up, lingering on our similar facial features—particularly the shape of our eyes, colorless in the cursed land, but which stirred a dormant memory of being a tender-filled green, connecting with the mother I’d just met.

I retrieved this recollection from the foggy forgetfulness shrouding my earliest memories, brushing away the cobwebs that obscured the details—the gentle lullabies she used to sing to me, snippets of the stories she’d told to entertain me, the feel of her protective arms cradling me, the memory of her fastening a necklace around my throat with trembling fingers on the last day I’d seen her. Even when these details had faded with time, I could still recall the love I’d felt and the precious knowledge that she’d cherished me. By the look filling her eyes now, time and distance had done little to erase her devotion.

There was something familiar about her loving gaze, a look that somehow felt as though I’d seen it more recently than my childhood. It took me a moment to recognize it as the feeling that had sometimes accompanied me even before I succumbed to the curse—moments I felt I was being watched over. Only now did I recognize it as my Mother, supporting me from afar even when I hadn’t known she was there.

Her village must have been one of the first consumed by the curse, allowing her the privilege of watching over me that she hadn’t been granted after our separation…further evidence that no matter how alone I sometimes felt, there had always been someone who cared for me.

As sweet as it was to finally meet the mother I’d spent so much of my life without, there was still so much I didn’t understand. She noticed the unspoken questions and lingering confusion and hastened to explain the particulars about my birth I’d never been able to ask.

“My family owned a mine in a small Brimoire village near the Thorndale border that processed phanite, a mineral His Majesty coveted. We met when he was researching its properties; eventually he used me to obtain information on how to excavate it. Unfortunately someone of my station cannot refuse a king, even a foreign one.”

Heartache filled her eyes at the distant memory that still clearly brought her pain.

“I suppose I must be grateful that despite tossing me aside after forbidding me from contacting you ever again, he at least took you in when you were a few years old, providing for you in a way I could not…though I fear it came at too high of a cost and it would have been better for you to have been raised in physical poverty rather than with the neglect you undoubtedly experienced within his household.”

I would have once agreed with her, but my royal title that used to only be a measurement of my perceived inadequacies had granted me the opportunity of meeting Lucien, so I could no longer regret it. Now that I had endured my past and risen above it, I could better appreciate the love and joy awaiting me in the future I’d chosen.

“What compelled him to take me in when he’d never shown any prior interest to me?” I asked.

“I believe it was shortly after the death of his sickly daughter who was around your age, all for the prospect of a valuable future marriage. The daughter had spent much of her life in seclusion due to her illness, so it was relatively simple to replace her with you so that they still had a valuable bargaining tool for a marriage treaty…simple for them, but with unimaginable consequences for you and me. I was devastated to lose you, yet powerless to fight against the fate he’d designed for you.”

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