Page 9 of The Dark Prince
I bit back my first response, which was anger. I knew he wasn’t asking out of insubordination.Maddeus was a good, loyal steward.
“You know my handisforced,” I argued quietly. “If we have no way to break the curse, the only thing we can do is carry it forward.”
Maddeus’s lips thinned into a line. “And you’d wish this life on your son? The life that your father foisted upon you?”
I gripped the reins harder. Now it felt like insubordination.
“Would you rather I let everyone else die?” I grit out. I knew my anger was born of frustration, but why couldn’t he see this was the safest path? I’d sworn to never have my own children before, but in the end I had a duty to my people to keep them safe, regardless of my own wants and needs.
Just like my father had before me.
“I think you need to at least be honest and tell her before,” Maddeus continued, his face deadly serious.
“Why? So she can dread every moment she spends in my presence?” I bit back, trying to keep my voice down.
Maddeus sighed and clicked his heels against his horse’s flank. He sped off ahead of me, no doubt to complain to Arne about how I was being impossible again.
In the end, it didn’t matter what Maddeus or any of the others thought. The curse I was under would bring blood and death to every town and vassal under my protection unless one of two things happened: I either figured out how to break my curse, or I passed it onto the next generation.
And I was running out of the time to make the latter happen.The beast was becoming more ruthless—more out of control. That could only mean one thing: soon it wouldn’t be able to be contained at all. I had to address the curse head-on before any more of my people suffered.
I gazed down at the smattering of strawberry blonde hair below me. Isadora may be thankful to me now, but it was best if I kept my distance and gave her reasons to hate me. She’d end up despising me once she learned about the curse, anyway.It was best I remain aloof and distant.
“Has the king given you any new assignments?” Arne guided his horse in Maddeus’s vacated spot, his silver eyes bright and fresh.
“No. I suspect the king won’t give me any until the matter of the curse resolves,” I offered.
Arne made a noncommittal noise. “He is as eager to see his people safe as you are yours.”
I huffed. “He won’t stop shoving Aella in my face.”
Arne lifted a dark eyebrow. The sun gleamed off his bald head. Despite being from the south, Arne never seemed to feel the cold like the rest of us. “He groomed the princess since birth for this role. It would make it easier for both of you.”
“She’s my half-sister,” I scowled. “Any child from such a union would hold their own curse without my help.” I paused, my voice rough. “And I would not give her a child only to have to rip it away. Not to her.”
Arne’s eyes continually scanned the horizon as trotted along, always on guard. “Ah, I see. You wish to hurt someone you do not know as opposed to someone you do.”
His tone made it clear precisely what he thought of that.
“Wouldn’t you?” I shot back, exasperated. I continued on, not wanting to hear his answer. “All I do is hurt people I don’t know, all on the orders of the king. What is one more to add to my list?”
Arne gave me a long look; the one that expressed disappointment without saying it. “At this pace, it will take a week to return home.” His eyes lingered on Isadora accusingly.
“I’ll take it under advisement,” I grunted.
“You didn’t rescue me from the fighting pits for my charming, good looks,” he said mildly, then clicked his tongue. His horse raced off to join the others toward the front.
Inwardly, I fumed. What good was being the Dark Prince if all your men were worse naggers than the washerwomen?
I wasn’t doing this girl any favors. They needed to get that out of their heads. The only reason I’d taken her over the blonde was because she would be easier to manage. That was all. It certainly had nothing to do with the way she’d clutched to my cloak at the manor, as if I was the only port in a storm.
I kicked my heels and we sprung forward, picking up the pace from a trot into a canter. He was right; we needed to keep moving, especially while the girl slept. I wouldn’t put it past her to run away or call out for help the moment we approached a town.
I grinned wickedly just imagining it; the poor, innocent maiden would stumble house to house, begging for mercy or sanctuary. No one would give it to her, because my people were loyal to a fault tome. We would pause at the monk’s house further up the road to marry, then push onwards.
I wanted to be back in my castle and among my people as quickly as possible.
Five
