Page 97 of Curse of Darkness
With everyone distracted, I ease across the room, settling on the far side of Vi.
The very far side.
Grimm suddenly looks interested in his paw. “Oh, look. A furball.”
And he starts licking at it.
Amaya reaches down and hauls him onto her lap like a shield. It’s almost laughable, because he’s nearly half the size she is, his expression momentarily disgruntled as if—
“This is so undignified,” Grimm mutters.
But he settles on her lap.
And turns those knowing eyes toward me.
“The Mother of Night sent him to watch over me,” Amaya tells us. “He owed her a debt—”
“Amaya,” Grimm warns. “Not another word.”
She actually grins. “Something about a wolf. And getting caught in your own trap.”
“That wasnoordinary wolf,” Grimm seethes. “And technically, I killed him once we were stuck in there together. I just couldn’t get out again.And of course, that know-it-all goddess just happened to be walking those particular woods at the time.”
“What is the first rule we abide by, Amaya?” Amaya mocks his proper tones. “We do not make deals with fae creatures.”
“Poor little Grimsby,” Vi teases. “I can understand why you’d want to keep that one quiet. Your own trap?”
Grimm vanishes, reappearing with a sniff on the bed, where he turns three times and then settles into a little nest he’s made himself. “You’re on your own, traitor.”
Instantly, Amaya tenses.
Moving slowly, I lift one knee, draping my arm over it in a relaxed pose. The itch travels up my spine like icy fingers trailing over the muscles. “What were you reading?”
“It’s a fairy tale,” Vi admits, her watchful gaze noticing Amaya’s sudden tension. “About a beautiful young fae princess whose father sold her hand in marriage to a vicious king. She, er, denied the king her affections, and so he cursed her heart to turn to ice. She would know no love, nor pity, nor happiness. So the new queen promptly used her new powers to freeze the king and set herself free.”
Curses. Always wretched curses. “That sounds like an uplifting tale.”
“It is,” Vi smiles. “No love can touch her. No charm can break the curse. Her entire kingdom is besieged by snow and her loyal guards are transformed into polar bears. Every member of her court is slowly struck with the same curse, their sense of empathy bleeding out of them. Until finally, one of her guards—the same lowly servant who was once her childhood friend—challenges her to a set of tasks in order to break the curse. Each is a good deed done, and inch by inch the Snow Queen’s heart melts until she finally realizes what she’s done to her kingdom. Her curse is broken, she proclaims her love for the guard, and her abusive father receives his just reward.”
“The evisceration?” I ask dubiously.
Vi scowls. “That is Grimm’s idea of a happily ever after, not mine. No. He stumbles into a glacier and is frozen himself, body and soul.”
“Uplifting,” I repeat.
That earns me the Eyebrow of Death. “I think it’s uplifting,” she sniffs. “True love sets her free.”
“Can wepleasefinish the story?” Amaya asks in the most aggrieved tone possible.
Vi turns back to her page, her voice settling into a storytelling lilt.
It’s somewhat peaceful to watch them together. Sunlight streams through the window, painting highlights of gold in Vi’s dark hair. The light softens her high cheekbones and full mouth. Her relationship with Amaya hasn’t been an easy one, but I can see the foundations of it strengthening with every word she speaks and every page turned.
Motherhood has changed her, giving her a strength and confidence she previously struggled with. It’s a little breathtaking, to be honest.
Vi finishes the story, snapping the book shut. “And thus, they lived happily ever after.”
Amaya’s fingers stroke the colors on the cover. Vi told me she’d never been taught to read, and the way she holds the book is akin to a priestess cradling a bowl filled with the sacred flame of Maia. “Another one, please!”
