Page 57 of The Dark Prince
“Alright, we should be fine. We’re next to the cellars, and it’s between mealtimes so no one should be around. But be quietor this ends and I take you back to your rooms. Got it?”
I nodded, wiping my nose with my sleeve.
“You need to tread lightly around the princess, my lady,” she quietly pleaded, taking my hands in her callused ones. “There are things at play here you don’t understand. I don’t want to see you hurt. I—”
She cut herself off, and I gave her hands a squeeze. “You what?”
It was hard to make out her features in the dark, but I detected a hint of a wry smile, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.
“I didn’t expect to like you.”
A choked laugh escaped me, and I hurriedly stuffed it down as Bessy made another shushing gesture at me.
“Were … were you not supposed to?” I whispered back, feeling like this definitely had something to do with the curse.
“We … Maddeus and I are the only ones in the castle who know what the curse entails. His closest men do, so they can control him and possibly kill him if it comes to it. The others on staff and in the village suspect something, but they trust Lord Tyr to handle it.”
I kept silent, not wanting to distract her.
“Let’s just say … I know why he went in search of a wife. I was prepared to stay distant from you,” Bessy admitted sheepishly.
I raised an eyebrow. “Similar to how Tyr tries to stay distant from me?”
Bessy’s shoulders slumped. “Just so,” she said quietly. “He does not know how to break the curse. None of us do. But we all know how he can pass it on.”
“By me giving birth to a son,” I clarified. “What if it’s a girl?”
Bessy shifted on her feet, obviously uncomfortable.
I sighed. “Where did Tyr get his scars from?” I asked. “He … he said the beast gave them to him. But if he’s the beast, then … he gave them to himself?” I squeaked out.
“In the beginning, he tried to live with the curse. He didn’t truly understand what it meant. It gave him skills that made him valuable to the king. Then, as he got older, he understood. He went to the witch and pleaded for a cure. She pinned him down, forced him to shift, and watched with glee as he attacked himself.”
Bessy paused, sniffing. “Those were dark times. He tried to kill himself once a day for a while after that. He figured if he died, the curse died with him. The witch visited Tyr here in this castle as he lay abed with his face torn open and gloated about how it would only infect everyone else faster if he died by his own hand. He stopped trying after that.”
My heart felt like it was breaking all over again. I knew Tyr well enough to know he’d do nothing to endanger his people. He loved them with a ferocity that took my breath away.
It also confirmed what I already knew; the witch was wicked, inside and out.
“Maddeus shot Tyr with an arrow,” I accused, putting a few final details together.
Bessy rubbed her face with her hands. “Maddeus has gotten quite good at wounding him seriously enough that he shifts back, but not seriously enough to kill him. It’s a fine balance that’s taken years to perfect.”
That meant he’d nearly died before. Multiple times. My heart filled with sympathy for everyone.
“How do we stop it? What does marrying someone have to do with any of it?” I demanded.
“It’s not my place to say,” Bessy said apologetically, tears shining in her eyes. “Tyr has to tell you. He … he was very clear on that point. Otherwise, we have no hope of breaking it. The witch told him that.”
My lips thinned into a straight line. “She mentioned something similar before I stabbed her.”
Bessy went still. “And here I thought Maddeus was telling tales again …”
I pushed forward, not wanting to shift the focus to me. “And if he doesn’t do this thing to pass on his curse, will everyone around him also fall victim to it?”
Bessy nodded. I tried to imagine all the friendly villagers turning into terrible beasts; men, women, and children.
I couldn’t.
