Page 126 of Castle of the Cursed
“Do you see that?” I ask Sebastián.
“Yes.”
The garden is rearranging itself, the plants coming together to create a passage that ends in darkness.
“I think it wants us to follow,” says Sebastián, and I nod in assent, too awestruck to speak. I feel the thrill of adrenaline, but I’m not afraid because I can’t imagine anyone more powerful than the shadow beast. I feel safe at his side.
As we step down the passage, the foliage begins to entwine, until the lattice of body parts looks more like a cave wall.
There’s light up ahead, and we approach a bonfire with the reddest flames I have ever seen. They look like they’re made of blood.
“Welcome.”
I look up in alarm as a tall hooded figure appears. Yet when I see them, some part of myself relaxes, as if they are intimately familiar to me.
“Who are you?” asks Sebastián.
They pull their hood back, revealing silver hair, and I gasp on recognizing my ancestor. “Brálaga!”
“Estela,” they say, beaming. “Prince Bastian. It is an honor to make your acquaintances.”
“The honor is ours.”
I stare at Sebastián in shock. He sounds and even looks humbled. As if he knows who Brálaga is and respects them.
“Happy eighteenth birthday, Estela,” says Brálaga. “I have met your twin, and I hoped to also meet you. It had been a few Earthly centuries since the last human crossed over to the other castle, and my curiosity was piqued.”
“Centuries?” I echo in surprise.
“Your ancestors ended this tradition generations ago, after collecting enough data to determine this path led only to chaos and destruction—in the short run. Yet your uncle understands the need for sacrifice and was willing to continue the experiment.”
“You mean he cursed us,” I say, crossing my arms.
“From your perspective it seems like a curse. From mine, it is the price of evolution—and his gamble has nearly paid off. Your sister has come the furthest in re-corporealizing on Earth as a human-caster hybrid.”
“That’s what you want?” I ask. “For her to pass on her power to the next generation of Brálagas? You’re trying to colonize humanity with your blood—”
“I already have. Now all that is left is for one of my children to reach up for my fire and bring it down to share with the others.”
“You think Antonela is your Prometheus?”
“She has been most impressive,” they say. “Using a Bleeder to cross dimensions? And of all Bleeders, she convinced the prince? The plan itself is quite ingenious, but that Antonela actually executed it merits great admiration.”
Their expression reminds me of how Sebastián—Prince Bastian—looked at my sister in her memories, and it makes me feel the same way I did then. Jealous.
“Of course,” Brálaga goes on, “Antonela could not have predicted, nor could anyone, that in lieu of killing you, the starving Bleeder would fall in love!”
They chuckle, and the temperature in the air seems to rise, like they’re beaming solar heat into the room. “It is quite a delightful tale.”
I look around at the walls, wondering how Brálaga plans to crush us. I get closer to Sebastián to signal him to get us out of here. “If your hopes ride on Antonela’s plan,” I say to them, “then I assume you have come here to help her?”
“I do not interfere.”
“I don’t buy that. You could be waiting centuries again for the next human, and they might not even make it this far.” I nudge Sebastián, but he doesn’t move. I look up at him, and he frowns at me like I’m a misbehaving toddler in a movie theater.
“You assume Earth’s linear timeline, and the pressures of a ticking clock,” says Brálaga with a sympathetic smile. “I do not experience existence that way.”
They come closer, and a bench grows in the center of the cave, large enough for the three of us to comfortably share. They sit first and pat the spot beside them for me to join. Sebastián remains standing, but I take a seat, if only to see my ancestor from up close.
