Page 16 of Cursed Evermore

“Yes. Youwillmarry Thayden. He knows about the curse and will keep you safe.”

“Safe?” My body recoiled at the word. Thayden’s protection was nothing more than a cage with a prettier lock. “Do you really believe that? That I’ll be safe with him?”

“Marrying you benefits him and his people. His father is your father’s oldest friend. I have no doubt that you will be safe. And Thayden loves you. He’s perfect for you.”

I stifled a laugh that would have bordered on hysteria. Thayden was as perfect for me as a noose around my neck. “What about the portaling?”

“You will not do it again.” Grandmother spoke up.

My gaze whipped back to her. “Aren’t we even going to talk about it?”

“No.”

“But don’t you think we should? I’ve gone from barely having any abilities to doing something a high-level mage can do. I must have unlocked some latent power I didn’t even know I had. And you’ve just forbidden me from ever doing it again.” When I was little, Grandmother told me portaling was a technique that took years to master. Yet I’d done it on a whim. That couldn’t just be ignored.

“We will not speak of it again. It should never have happened. Just imagine where we’d be if you’d portaled right in front of Councilor Blackthorne.” She seethed. I couldn’t even argue with her because she was right. “Now… no more discussion of magic. It ends here.”

Something inside me shattered and the world tilted beneath my feet. The grandmother I knew would sooner stop her own heart than forbid talk of magic.

We both kept journals that were supposed to help me remember events that happened with each memory reset. It kept the secret of the curse locked within these walls. The one constant in my notes was her love for magic. That was evident even before the curse. Now those memories of her felt just as far away from me as my father.

“Get yourself together.” Mother’s voice pulled me back. “Take the time to rest and make sure you’re ready for Thayden’s visit.”

She exhaled sharply, frustration leaking through the cracks in her control. “The prospect of marriage is the only thing keeping us afloat and keeping men like Chancellor Blackthornefrom gainingmorepower. If the King makes him Warden of the South, the first thing he’ll do is take everything away from us. This house, our land, everything your father worked for. Then I’m sure he’ll banish all of us. Or worse. Burn us like the heretics and call it justice.”

The warning stole the fire from my fury, shutting me down.

Mother gave me one final piercing stare before walking back through the door, her head held high. I wished she would stay. I hated when she was upset with me. But maybe it was better this way because everything she said next would only hurt more.

Grandmother looked away from me, too. Another stab in my heart.

Without another word, she followed Mother. Only Emabelle remained.

I already felt doomed. Now I was trapped. There wasn’t even the hope of a Phantom Moon to cling to.

I’d gambled everything on a desperate hope and lost. Now, all I had were consequences and uncertainty.

And in twenty-six days, I wouldn’t even remember that any of this ever happened.

Chapter 4

Elariya

“The Stranger Cloaked in Shadows”

Grandmother spent the last two days looking for the wraith. Thankfully she found no trace of it lingering in Gryffyn Forest. Or the mortal realm.

After,low-key,using her magic to scan every inch of the realm, she assured us it was no longer here. But we knew that didn’t mean it wouldn’t return. Nor that our troubles were over.

It had been the longest two days of my life. Time had stood on the edge with me, prolonging each second so it felt like years had passed.

In the same breath, time seemed to have sped up in all the wrong ways and now, tonight, was the eve of Thayden’s visit. He’d be here by tomorrow with his entourage of family and courtiers in preparation for our engagement celebration.

Ugh, I couldn’t believe the time had come so soon. The thought of seeing him and putting on that act like I was fine with being with him made my stomach curdle like spoiled milk.

On top of everything that was happening, I didn’t know what to expect.

In the real world, Thayden had visited months ago and was in Stormfell often, but in my world, I didn’t have any memories of seeing him since I was fifteen.