Bound by Curse

The Guest

Draven's POV

I was still angry when the guard came to find me.

"Your Majesty, a visitor has arrived at the gate. Princess Isabella, the Queen's sister."

I leaned back in my chair. The fire made a crackling sound. I thought about Rebecca locked in her room. My chest felt tight in a way I really didn’t like.

"Why has she come?"

"She says she wishes to see her sister, my king."

I almost smiled. Wishes to see her sister. I knew better. No one traveled that far because they missed a girl their whole family called cursed. She had come to see whether Rebecca was being treated well, or badly. She wanted to know how her sister was suffering.

"Bring her in."

***

She walked into the hall like a woman who knew every eye would follow her.

Golden hair. A dress the color of wine. A slow, careful smile on her red lips. When she stopped before me, she sank into a low bow, and her gaze rose to mine, soft and bright.

"Your Majesty. It is an honor. I have heard so much about you."

"Have you?"

"Everyone speaks of King Draven." Her voice was warm and a little breathless. "They say you are the strongest man in all the kingdoms. I did not think the songs were true. But now that I see you..." She looked down as if she was shy.

"They didn’t say enough."

I felt my mouth curve before I could stop it.

Flattery. I knew it was flattery. I had heard it from a hundred lords. But it was a long time since it had come from such a face, and it was a long time since it had sounded so sweet.

"You flatter me, Princess."

"I only say what is true." She looked up again. Her eyes moved over my face slowly, then to my shoulders, then back. "My sister is very lucky."

Lucky. The word hit a place in me that was already sore.

"Is she?" I said.

"Of course." She tilted her head. "To be married to a king like you."

I stood. She didn’t move back. She stayed near me. I could smell her perfume, sweet and strong. I thought about another smell, cedar and rain of a girl in the dark.

She was beautiful. She was nothing like Rebecca. Rebecca argued, and her eyes burned, and she cried in front of me and never once asked for mercy. This one smiled. She bowed. She praised me every time she spoke.

It was easy. It was so easy that I was almost grateful.

"Come," I said. "You wish to see your sister."

***

We walked through the halls together. Guards bowed. Servants were standing against the walls. Isabella was walking next to me with her hands together, her steps nice and every few seconds she looked at me from under her eyelashes.

"Your castle is very beautiful Your Majesty."

"It is a castle."

"And so quiet. Does no one speak to you?"

"No one dares."

"Then I am very brave," she said softly.

I looked down at her. She looked up at me. For a moment, neither of us looked away.

At the end of the hall, a guard stood outside Rebecca's door. He straightened when he saw me.

"Has she made any noise?"

"No, my king. She has been silent."

I felt something strange, a pull in my chest. Silent. I hated that word more than I should.

"Open it."

Before the key turned, I stopped and faced Isabella. I wanted her to hear it from me first.

"I will tell you how it is, Princess. Your sister cannot leave this room. She is not allowed to eat or to drink. She is being punished."

I waited. I watched her face. I wanted to see her flinch, or gasp, or cry out for her sister.

She did not.

Something flickered across her face. It was gone too fast for me to name. Then her hand rose to her chest, and her eyes grew wide and wet.

"Oh," she breathed. "Oh, no."

"She crossed a line. In my house, there are consequences."

"Of course. Of course there are." She pressed her lips together. "You are only doing what a king must do."

I was pleased. I had wanted her to see it. I wanted someone from that family to understand that I was not a man to be tested, not even by the woman who wore my crown.

The key turned. The door opened.

The room was dark.

Rebecca sat on the floor against the bed with her knees drawn up. Her hair was loose and tangled. Her face was pale, and her lips were dry. The cloth on her arm was a little crooked. Her eyes lifted to me, red and tired.

For one breath, my own lungs stopped.

I had not seen her since the throne room. I had told myself I would feel nothing when I did. I had told myself I would be satisfied.

Look away, I thought. She is nothing.

I did not look away.

Isabella stepped past me. I saw her face change. It was like watching someone put on a coat. Her brows came together. Her mouth turned down.

"Rebecca," she said, in a voice full of sorrow. "Oh, my poor sister."

Rebecca's eyes moved to her. She did not speak.

"Look at you." Isabella came a little closer, then stopped, as if she could not bear it. She shook her head slowly, and her voice grew sharp, and sad, and tired. "Oh my. Have you not caused enough trouble at home? Now you have begun your troubles here, too?"

Something hot crawled up my neck.

It was not what I had expected. It was exactly what I had expected. I did not know why it made me uneasy.

Rebecca's hands closed into fists on her knees. "Isabella..."

"I am so sorry, Your Majesty." Isabella turned to me and pressed her hand to her heart. Her eyes shone. "I beg your pardon for her. She has always been like this. Even at home, she never listened. She was always making trouble, and Father was always so ashamed."

"That is not true," Rebecca whispered.

"You see?" Isabella gave me a sad little smile. "She does not even know when she is wrong."

I looked at Rebecca. Her lips shook. She looked at me, only at me and her eyes said something I could not understand.

It was not hatred. It was not anger.

It was a question.

I looked away first.

"Princess," I said. My voice came out lower than I meant it to. "You may speak with your sister."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Talk to her." I took a step toward the door. "If she wants to stay in this kingdom as queen, in peace, she will learn to behave. See that she understands."

"I will," Isabella said gently. "I promise you, my king."

She bowed her head, and I felt her eyes on my back all the way to the door.

I walked out.

The guard pulled the door closed behind me. I stood in the hall with my hand pressed flat against the cold stone wall. My heart was beating too hard.

She is nothing.

I had said it so many times that I could no longer tell if I believed it.