Page 23 of A Curse of Breath and Blood (The Mind Breaker #1)

22 AELIA

I lay in my bed, contemplating my feelings toward Caiden and Tharan. I did not need to be getting involved with someone new.

The weight of everything pressed down onto my chest. These two men were a distraction from my real problem—Gideon possessing my sister. I hadn’t seen Baylis in five years. Part of me wondered if we would recognize one another. He showed his power in the Court of Sorrows. The hooded figure who attacked was likely Gideon’s elven mage, Erissa, but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t suspect Baylis. Gideon and Erissa created monsters.

We needed to come prepared with a plan for the Woodland Realm if we wanted to get Baylis back.

The clock on the wall read 3:00 a.m. The portal to Ruska opened in six hours—more than enough time to set my plans in motion.

I flung off the blanket, throwing on a fur shawl.

Padding down the hall on silent feet, I made my way to Tharan’s room, ensuring to avoid Caiden’s. I paused, pressing my ear to the door. Nothing stirred on the other side.

I knocked lightly .

Nothing.

I knocked again.

Nothing.

Out of frustration, I tried the knob.

The door opened.

Only the light of the moon illuminated the room. Tharan’s bed lay empty, but I could sense his presence.

The cold tile sent a chill through me as I crept into the suite. Tharan lay curled in the copper tub, covered by a thick pelt of furs. I recognized the pose. After I escaped Gideon’s clutches, it took me months to regain the ability to sleep in a bed. The mattress seemed too big, too open. More often than not, I slept in the bathtub.

Kneeling, I rubbed his arm. “Tharan,” I whispered. “I need to tell you something.”

He stirred in his sleep.

Cracking open one green eye, he said, “Yes, mystery woman. What do you want?”

“I need your help to kill a king.”

His eyes sprang open. “And here I thought you wanted to take me to bed. This sounds much more interesting. I’ll call an attendant to bring us some spiced cider.” Hopping out of the tub, his full chiseled physique was on display.

Mouth agape, I averted my eyes as he wrapped a robe around himself.

The attendant arrived shortly with two steaming cups smelling of cinnamon and apple. Tharan handed me one, motioning for me to sit on his bed.

Inhaling the comforting scent of nutmeg, I clung to the mug for warmth.

“So, what king are you killing?” He sipped his mug from a leather armchair by the fire. The picture of royalty.

“Gideon of the Highlands. ”

“Ah, I should’ve guessed.” He took another drink. “He will be hailed as a hero for his display in the Court of Sorrows. Only the three of us know what Nysemia implied with her dying breath.”

I gathered my thoughts. I had so much to explain. “Once upon a time, Gideon was my husband.” I tapped my fingers on the copper mug, contemplating if I should reveal my secret to Tharan. “I am who they call the Traitorous Queen.”

His eyes widened. “I knew you were interesting.” He took another sip, leaning back in his chair. “Are the stories true? Did you destroy your own kingdom?”

My eyes fell to the floor in shame. “Women do stupid things for love.”

“Everyone does stupid things for love.” A knowing acceptance reflected back at me. “That’s how I got this scar.”He traced the path of pink flesh across his face.

I smothered a lump growing in my throat.

“I, too, fell in love with someone I should not have, and I paid the price.” He twisted a piece of his long hair around his index finger.

“What happened?” I asked, unsure if I wanted to know.

Tharan hesitated.

“Sorry if that’s too forward of me.” I bore a hole into my cider with my gaze.

“No, it is fine. The more I talk about it, the easier it becomes.” He sighed. “During the sylph and elven war, I fell in love with an elven woman, Lyra. She defected from the elves and joined the rebels. I was a junior captain and still unfamiliar with my own powers.” He stared off into the distance as if reliving the moment. “One night, I awoke to find Lyra gone. I tracked her deep into the forest. Where I found her leaking information to an elven scout. When I confronted her about it, she denied everything, insisting she was getting information from him. I believed her because I loved her. ”

I shut my eyes. I knew how this story ended.

Tharan took a long drink. “Turns out I was a fool, just like you. She had used me to gain information. It almost cost us the war. When my father learned of her treachery, he had me kill her as punishment. Little did I know she was wearing a protective amulet.” He paused, trying to find the correct words. “I wanted it to be quick. To be painless for her. So, I convinced my father to let me take her life with magic. But when I cast the curse, it bounced off the amulet and hit me.” He tapped his scar. “I was humiliated in front of my father’s entire court. Once the amulet was removed, I placed it in the hilt of my sword, amplifying its power.” He did not look at me, choosing to stare into the fire as if he were watching the incident in the flames. “I split her in two, Aelia. I poured every ounce of hatred and embarrassment into that final blow.”

I swallowed hard.

“From then on, I vowed never to be tricked again. So, I keep everyone at a distance. Let them believe I’m cursed.” He looked at his hands. “Spell or not, I am cursed. Cursed to live knowing it is because of me thousands of my people are dead. Cursed to remember the look on my lover’s face as I split her skull in two.”

I grimaced, knowing what a poison self-loathing could be. “I’m sorry.” Those two miserable words were all I could conjure.

“I paid for my sins, Aelia. Two hundred years in the mines of the Stone Kingdom. I lived off gruel and suffered through the beatings. Reduced from a famed war hero to a prisoner, all because I chose the wrong woman to love.”

My heart ached. I knew all too well the pain he felt. To be betrayed by the one you love. Nothing in this world can prepare you for it. The shame, the guilt, the embarrassment, it eats away at you until there is nothing left but bone and regret.

“Did you feel better once you had killed her?” I asked, fixing my eyes on his. I fantasized about killing Gideon a million different ways.

“For a moment,” Tharan said, rubbing his fingers up the side of the mug. “Emptiness and regret filled the hole she left. I became the creature you see before you. Heartbreaker extraordinaire.”

I bit my lip, running my hand over the fur pelt lining the bed, trying to fight the pressure building behind my eyes. Tharan sat next to me—pulling me in closer. Tears spilled down my cheeks. “I’m so angry, and I don’t know who I’m angrier at, myself or Gideon.”

Tharan said nothing, letting his acceptance fill the space between us. I buried my face in his chest, releasing years of pent-up emotion to a man I had just met.

“Gideon has my sister,” I said, finding my voice again. “He’s going to offer her to your father at the Yule Revelry for use of the Wild Hunt.”

Tharan laughed. “What would my father want with a mortal girl? He has consorts of every species and gender. She would need to be a literal god for him to lend his prized Wild Hunt.”

I knew what I had to do. The piece of the puzzle that would make everything fit into place. “Our mother is the human Fate, Morta.”

He pulled me from his chest. His eyes searched mine for a hint of a lie. “What? I had heard she went missing, but I never imagined…”

“She never showed her power to us. Until five years ago, we knew her as Queen Isadora of Elyria.”

Tharan’s mouth straightened into a thin line. “That’s how you survived the shock…”

I gave him a puzzled look.

He paced the room as he fiddled with his hair, tying it back in a low bun .

“In the cave with the kraken. Caiden sent enough electricity into the water to stun an animal the size of this city block, but you didn’t flinch. Do you possess other powers as well?”

“Nothing akin to our mother’s,”a half lie.

Tharan continued pacing and muttering to himself, holding his pointer finger to his lips. “If she could see the future, she would know the outcome of battles. Fix failure before it happens. My father would be intrigued by that.”

A pit opened in my stomach. “Help me stop it. She is no seer. She is a regular girl who wound up in the wrong hands because of my mistakes.”

“It has been five hundred years since the war, and my father and I still have our differences. I don’t know what I can do, but if I can help, I will.”

The weight lifted itself from my chest. “Bind us to the words.” I held out my hand, and we shook on it, letting the magic tie us to the bargain.

As I went to leave, Tharan grabbed my arm. “You are brave to make a deal with the Lord of Nothing.”

To which I replied, “Perhaps it is you who is brave to make a deal with a known traitor?”