Blessed Cursed Love

Chapter 4

Information on the group had arrived before me at the castle. I looked over the things that had been found out. According to the group, they were on a crusade to rid the curse from this land. They would be petitioning the ruler of this place for help. That was me. I had also heard that it seemed they would assume I had cursed this place if I refused. I had to be tactful about this then. To figure out how to make myself seem like a proper threat to them. An attendant approached me as I was reading over my notebook in search of the name.

The storm had rolled in by now and lightning flashed and lit up the whole place like daylight. What was the storm to even do? Was it to give them that ominous feeling that storms could? To make them rethink their plans? Or perhaps it was to prove the curse was real and hope they left? I couldn't possibly know what he was thinking. He hardly used his powers to affect the world as it was. Yet today he was meddling. The attendant before cleared his throat to remind me he was awaiting my attention. I motioned for him to go ahead.

"Mistress Vivian. The knights have requested an audience." I flinched and shut the book. Already? I had not expected them to show up so soon. I frowned deeply and waved over a maid cleaning the floor.

"Return this to my room please." I handed her the notebook, being careful her fingers came nowhere near mine. "Fetch me my gloves," I told the attendant and he nodded. "Clear the room. You can continue when the guests have left." I told the other maids. They all gathered the things they had been cleaning and returned them to their proper places. The attendant returned and placed my gloves on the arm of my throne. I pulled them on.

Do not invite him in.

I ignored the voice in my head and waved to the man to let the group in to see me. I got a growl in response that made my entire body shudder in fear. I sighed and shook my head softly. As the door opened once more and the group walked in, I took in their features. My eyes caught the black hair of his witch companion with a frown. So she was here too? Then Wyatt was in love with the princess by now. As I swept the group my eyes went wide. Thorn. Now I remember. Thorn was the princess's alias when she traveled with Wyatt. She was the only non-blessed in the group. So they were engaged by now.

"Welcome," I said as they stepped close. Wyatt stepped forward and gave a short respectful bow to me. "What may I help you travelers with?" I looked at the other members of the group. Each is blessed by a different god. Wyatt is the highest rank among them as well as the highest blessed. He had been blessed by the ruler and god of creation himself. The opposite of me. He was life and light. How nice that must be. As he looked up to meet my eyes, I took in his features. Dark purple hair just long enough to hang in his face and those golden eyes that I had imagined more than once in my head. They glowed softly for a moment.

"You are Mistress Vivian, yes?"

"You can just call me Vivian. I have no proper title. It is just how those who live here refer to me." I had no noble blood or earned title. The castle was a remnant of an old kingdom that I had revived and taken as my own. I had no actual ownership of the place other than living here for so long.

"You are a blessed," Wyatt pointed out, which made the group stir. They could not see what he could so clearly. I frowned softly for a moment. This was late in the story then. More importantly, it would be before Wyatt retired as a knight to marry the princess. My eyes swept towards the woman with long pink hair tied up in a bun, her blue eyes hidden with magic to be bright red. Her distinct blue eyes gave her away. Princess Rose. Her alias was a joke made by Wyatt at first because of her name. I looked back at Wyatt.

"As are you. Does that matter?" Tactful. I reminded myself. I had to be tactful. I still had no clue how to make him view me as a villain, but I was working on it. His eyes swept down to my neck and then my wrists. My back stiffened. Right. Wyatt had established a way for the blessed to be registered that the king enforced. He looked back up into my eyes.

"What god has blessed you?" He asked as his brow furrowed softly in suspicion. Great. My idea to live away from the story meant that I had failed to follow the order of the king. How was I going to get out of this? I glanced at the princess and the others. With a deep sigh, I stood to make my case.

"I did." The voice came from nowhere as his power filled the room. His form materialized at my side and the whole group took a step back when they looked up at his black eyes. They knew what he was the moment they laid eyes on him. All mortals do. The first time you looked at him, you felt the fear of death so strong it felt like your heart would stop. I glared at him.

"I told you that you were banned," I said, and he turned those black eyes on me.

"You do not command a god." I shrugged lightly and stepped over to the group.

"Ignore him. He's throwing a fit. Would you all kindly tell me what you need?" Wyatt's gaze shifted to me and then down to my hands. His eyes widened softly, and I tucked my hands behind my back. He knew. He must have heard of the woman blessed by death then. Great. This made things harder. Rose stepped forward to the god looming in the room.

"Are you really a god?" She asked with a sparkle in her eyes. As someone who wasn't blessed, she had never interacted with a god. He crossed his arms over his chest at the mortal before him and gave a single nod. "Would you bless me then?

"No!" Both Wyatt and I shouted at the same time. I flinched and Rose frowned at us.

"You don't want that. Trust me." I said with a sigh and I turned. "Please leave. Come back tomorrow." I looked at the brooding god. "You too. Leave. You are not invited back either. You've done enough." Without another word, I left the room. I felt drained. Today has been a lot. I just wanted to return to my room and lay in bed until the sun went down. I was tired of all this excitement already. I just wanted a quiet life or death. Nothing in between.