Page 7 of To Wake a Kingdom

And thus, I grew up under the shadow of not one, but two curses.

For many years, my parents pretended nothing would happen. That it was all a cruel trick and none of what Mare or Kianna had foretold would come to pass. And for a while, I believed them. I think we all did. We became masters of disassociation, separating the truth as it was from the truth we all hoped for.

The twelve Fae remained at my side in the castle, declaring themselves a line of defense wrapped in gossamer. Perhaps it was a misplaced sense of guilt that kept them here, feeling responsible for Mare’s actions. Whatever it was, they stayed to ensure I grew up fit to rule Ravalyn as they tried to find a way around their sister’s curse.

We never heard from Mare again.

A tear ran down my cheek, weaving an itchy path down my skin. It splashed into the bath with a resonant plop. The Fae hadn’t been my friends. Not really. Their job had been to protect me from Mare. But they had also been a constant presence in my life and losing all but one today punched a hole in my heart.

Finished with the bath, I wrapped myself in a towel and padded into the bedroom. From the closet, I dug out a pair of buttery calfskin leggings and a dark tunic. I braided my long black waves into a single plait and pulled on a soft pair of brown boots.Too restless to sleep, I picked up the bottle of wine I’d brought from the kitchen along with my father’s sword and stalked through the halls. It was fully dark outside now, but the torches were lit—thanks to Kianna, I presumed.

Tomorrow, I would have to figure out what to do next. I had killed a man, and his clothes and his horse suggested he would be missed.

But tonight, I needed a moment to breathe.

I entered the throne room and kneeled before my mother, arranging her midnight curls over the bloodstains I’d left so they were no longer visible. The only other sign of today’s violence was the dark stain of blood against the far wall. Tomorrow, I would have to clean that up, too.

Like a scared child cowering from ghosts, I leaned against my mother’s legs, wrapping an arm around her calves. She was warmer than I’d expected. Sitting like this, so still and lifeless, it was easy to forget she wasn’t dead. Though our relationship was complex, my parents had always been loving, even if they’d expected a daughter who was more of a proper princess than the one they’d gotten.

Still, they’d never made me feel too bad when I couldn’t quite master the correct dance steps or figure out which fork was which. Maybe it was because they knew none of it would matter in the end. They had accepted my flaws in the face of my cursed existence. My mother had wanted me so much, and I loved both of my parents, whatever their faults.

The wine warmed my blood, my head spinning in a languorous arc like a pinwheel through fog. I wasn’t accustomed to more than a small glass with dinner, but after waking from an enchanted sleep to be assaulted and almost murdered by a feral stranger, I was allowed to indulge tonight. It felt good to let myself release. Increment by increment, the fist clamped around my ribcage slowly relaxed.

My grandparents stood off to the left of the dais, leaning against each other, my grandmother’s head tipped against my grandfather’s shoulder. I missed them, too. Some of my happiest memories were in their chalet, deep in the woods.

Most of my family had come for the occasion. All here to bear witness to my eternal slumber. There were aunts, uncles, and cousins, and the heads of noble houses, too. I wondered what had become of the rest of their families.

On the steps off to my right lay Adrian, his head cradled in his arms. A small smile crossed my lips as I remembered the last time we’d kissed, hidden in the forest. How different everything had been then.

Soft footsteps drew my attention to Kianna. She, too, had found a bath and a clean dress. The green layers of chiffon floated around her like layered tulips. Her opalescent wings twitched as she approached. Tight black curls stood up around her head, forming a halo that framed her delicate round face.

“Kianna, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been—”

She held up a hand. “Your Highness, do not worry about it. It has been quite a day.” She sat down on the step next to me, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

“How long has it been?” I asked her.

Kianna slowly studied the sleeping bodies, her mouth pursed in a bow.“One hundred years,” she said with a sigh. “To the day.”

“How do you know?”

She shrugged her slight shoulders. “It’s my magic. I can tell.”

I pondered that for a moment.“What happened? Why is everyone asleep, Kianna?”

“That, I don’t know. I must have made a mistake when I cast the spell.”

“What about the brambles? Where did those come from?”

“Another side-effect of the curse. A protection from the outside.”

I huffed out a derisive laugh at that, and Kianna winced.

“Do you think they were all broken?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, your sisters said I was to be poised and patient and elegant. I am none of those things. I was never any of those things. Maybe none of it worked the way it was supposed to. That’s what you said this afternoon, wasn’t it?”

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