Page 83 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
He had never been told why he’d been cursed, just that his father had angered an enchantress, and she took out her wrath on him, the only heir.
What if there was more to it than that?
“Your father grew desperate,” the fortune-teller continued. “He turned to magic for a solution, made a deal with an old creature, a dark fairy, in return for another heir.”
“But he didn’t get one.”
The fortune-teller shook her head. “No. Because he did not fulfil his side of the bargain, and you paid the price for it.”
Dimitri’s limbs grew heavy, a coldness iced his veins. “And my mother? Did this creature—”
“I do not know if she was intended to die, or if that was just an unfortunate side effect. I’m not even sure if her miscarriage was unnatural. But the curse… it is your father’s fault, and no one else’s.”
The floor seemed to sway, growing closer to his head. He gripped the side of the table.
“You did not kill your mother, Dimitri Von Mortimer.”
He’d always thought, always suspected that it was his fault, that even if he hadn’t killed her with his hands, the curse had, and he’d invited that upon himself with some great fault of his own, some defect.
His father had told him as much. Screamed it at him.
“Tell me,” he whispered hoarsely, when he finally found his voice. “Is there a way to break the curse?”
“All curses can be broken,” she responded sagely. “But I cannot tell you how. I can tell you other certain things, like how you cannot raise the dead. I can tell you that, despite what you think, you are not alone in this world. I can tell you that you care less about the curse, and more abouther.That you would endure all this twice over to be with her, or just to make her happy.”
Dimitri trembled. “I don’t need you to tell me that.” He paused, collecting himself. “Can I make her happy? Is there even a chance of that? Does she feel the same way—”
“Some hearts are too hidden for even magic to reach,” she paused, waiting. “I will tell you one more thing, and one more thing only.”
“Go on.”
“Your love for her will crumble houses.”
Dimitri stumbled from the tent in a daze. Adeline was waiting for him, bright and carefree, quite recovered from whatever the fortune teller had told her, when he was certain he would never forget.
“Are you all right?” she said. “You look—pale.”
No, he was not all right. He doubted he would ever be all right again. He clutched at her arm, ready to mumble all manner of things.
Take me home.
I didn’t kill my mother.
I think I’m going do bad things because of how I feel about you.
Hold me, hold me, hold me—
“Dimitri,” Adeline seized his arms. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to tell you something,” he said.
Adeline steered him towards a nearby bench, kneeling beside him. “You can tell meanything.”
He could, and he would, just as soon as he found the words, and soon as his heart stopped beating so fast, as soon as his lungs stopped hurting—
Adeline pressed a hand to his chest. “Breathe,” she said, “take your time.”
“I, I have to…”I have to calm down. I have to find a way to explain…
