Page 89 of A Cursed Son

“Would you like it? If someone invaded the privacy of your mind? A place you don’t even reveal to your friends? Sometimes not even to yourself?”

He looks down and shakes his head. “I can’t do that, Astra. I can only do it with focused intent, and touching someone.”

“Then how do you know what I trained for? That it was me, not the princess, when you met me?” I know I’m being vulnerable asking this, I’m even giving him information, in case he wasn’t sure. But he was sure, and he shouldn’t have known any of that.

He fiddles with his earring. “That is my secret. One day perhaps I’ll tell you.”

“You don’t trust me.” Well, why would he? And yet somehow I felt like stating the obvious.

“I do trust you, wife.” The words take me by surprise. “I trust that you’re still serving your murderous kingdom, and will bring them anything you learn about me if I give you the opportunity.”

True, but then… “If you really thought that, you wouldn’t have shown me the Nymphs.”

“I’m clinging to the hope that your own sense of self-preservation will keep you quiet about them. Also, I have no plans to give you the opportunity to turn around and betray me.”

True. Keeping me on an island or by his side at all times should be enough deterrent to treason. And yet nobody can control someone else forever, nobody can keep from making mistakes. He has to know that, and yet I guess he does, and that’s why he won’t tell me anything. Still, I get glimpses here and there. I know about his unicorn, I have some grasp of the extent of his magic, I know he’s looking for old books… I’m getting there. It’s all a matter of patience.

But I still don’t know how he learned about me, my name, my training. I’ll have to grab some more patience and wait for the right opportunity. Eventually, I’ll find out. I still wonder if he can see my thoughts, if I’m letting some of my mask slip.

He’s looking at me as if trying to pierce my mind, then says, “We’d better be quiet from now on. Quiet and alert. We’re getting close.” He smirks. “Ready to climb a ton of steps?”

“Couldn’t you just use your air magic to bring us up?”

“Could is not the same as should. You don’t visit another court flaunting your magic. In fact, flaunting my magic is the opposite of what I ever do.”

“I’m guessing you’d need to cause a hurricane in order to flaunt anything.” It’s a joke but also a test. I want to know the extent of his magic.

His chuckle is dry, and his eyes are somber. “Or worse. Come on, silent and alert, wife. That’s the etiquette from now until the palace.”

This is a golden opportunity. I’ll get to know a fae court, see a queen, see how she reacts to Marlak. I might even visit an old library. What a trove of information!

In the end, Nelsin’s disobedience came out in my favor, if this is the reason Marlak’s bringing me. I still feel bad about the cat-eared fae, as I recall his regretful tone, and the coldness with which Ferer mentioned him. I hope they’ll get together again. And I hope I find out many, many secrets.

We keep walking until we edge a steep, rocky hill. It’s the only hill in the area, and perhaps artificially or magically built. The stairs at its edge are thin and have no railing. Marlak pushes me ahead of him, so I go first.

“I want to keep an eye on you,” he mutters.

“Afraid I’ll push you?” I whisper.

“Afraid you’ll lose your balance. You seem to forget I made an oath to protect you.”

I don’t need protection from easy-to-climb stairs, but if I tell him that, it will sound like I’m quarreling. I just nod and begin my ascent, Marlak right behind me.

I have to give it to him that the steps are indeed narrow. They’re just a little wider than the ledge outside my window, the ledge nobody goes to, but the steps are winding and rough. I can’t imagine who climbs them, or how they bring supplies to the palace, unless they use air magic or have flying creatures. That’s what I have to assume, and maybe these steps are made just to humble foreign visitors and hinder humans. As we move up, I see no signs of any windows, but I do look back at the valley and the wide river again, trying to get a glimpse of where we are.

“Eyes on the steps, wife,” Marlak chides me.

“I’m not going to fall.”

“Still, eyes on the steps. Let’s go.”

I take a deep breath and continue the ascent, aware of my breath getting ragged. I guess two days of sleeping ruined my fitness, or maybe the steps are indeed steep. Marlak’s breath behind me is steady, not the least affected by the effort. Well, he’s fae. A weird fae, but fae, nonetheless. I guess his breath only gets ragged in my dreams. Great, why did I bring that up?

When I think we still have a few turns, as I can still see much of the hill above me, the stairs end, and I come face to face with a huge wooden door with delicate engraved flourishes. The step right below it is larger and wider, and Marlak stands beside me. For a second I think he’s going to take my arm, but he doesn’t. I’m not sure if he changed his mind or if it was just my impression, and I don’t know if I’m disappointed or relieved.

The thick door swings open to reveal a single guard, with a spear in hand. He’s a fae with very pointy ears, straight brown hair, and medium skin, and looks purely high fae to me. For some reason, that makes me uneasy. I had in my mind that the lower fae were the ones supporting Marlak, and then again, that might be the case in the Crystal Court, but not elsewhere.

I need to become more friendly with my dear husband and learn more about fae politics—or else try to pry more from Nelsin and Ferer, as all these small courts confuse me.