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“What a shame. I have not heard these ‘voices,’ but I will ask her about that.” I wondered why she did not do voices with me.

She was a shy one, rather darling in her timidity—the pun for her name very much intended—so perhaps, she did not feel comfortable with me.

I did not like that thought, but I smiled, thinking about teasing her to get a blush.

She does very much get into the stories, though, and I do feel as if I can easily escape.

Lady Darling’s clear, sharp voice and wonderful inflections make the stories so vivid in my mind.

“Really? Perhaps, she saves such dramatics for the children.”

“Perhaps,” I said, feeling jealous of the children as I took a spoonful of my soup. It had a wonderful, salty flavor—that vegetable crab soup—one of our kingdom’s well-kept secrets. There was nothing like soup after spending the afternoon on the sea.

“Your Majesty—”

Mother and I both looked toward the door. A servant held a note upon a silver tray as he walked to deliver it to my mother.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the note and dismissing the servant.

She opened the letter in haste. The servants and workers at the castle knew not to interrupt us during mealtime.

It was my mother’s most cherished time with me because, as she said so often, “It is the only time I can get you to sit down for more than a minute and talk with me.”

I watched the crease on my mother’s brow.

It was not good news. I wondered for a moment if it was news about Dominick, my brother.

He popped up here and there at royal events, only to quickly disappear again.

Mother had tried in earnest to send guards to catch him or simply to reason with him, but my brother seemed too stealthy.

Because of the nature of my curse, I made a point not to leave Walden often, because I did not want to end up abandoning my mother as my brother had.

I was annoyed at my brother. It hurt to think about how he had abandoned us, especially with all that our family had endured.

My father passed away, my older sister was taken from us after being cursed, and Dominick left on his own accord when I was just a young boy.

It was all painful. It had been such a betrayal.

Father and Layla, my sister, had to leave—Dominick chose to abandon us.

I took another spoonful of soup, trying to let the deliciousness of the meal change my thoughts and not to dwell on unhappy things.

While some bad had happened, overall, life was good.

Even so, somehow, the soup’s taste was no longer as satisfying as it should have been.

“What is it, Mother?” I asked, taking a sip of my drink to wash down the negative taste in my mouth, placed there by my thoughts of Dominick.

There was no point in dwelling on things I could not change.

At least, I was there in Walden for my mother, and although I had no desire to be king, if I had to be, I would.

I secretly hoped Dominick would come and claim that right, someday, and maybe then, we could be brothers again.

However, I did not dwell too much on that.

“Oh, it is horrid news,” she said, setting the letter down with a sigh. “There was a report last week of a child missing from the orphanage in the middle of the night. I sent a few guards to search, and, now, it seems there has been another abducted child.”

“That is horrid. You do not think—”

“Captain Veeto?” She said it rather quietly. His was a cursed name in our castle.

Before my father's death, he had gone to great lengths to find that vile pirate and imprison him. Sadly, Father passed before doing so. Veeto was still out there, a haunting thought. I hoped that Dominick would never run into him.

“Yes, perhaps?”

“There is always a possibility of that, but the orphanage is inland; whoever is taking the children would have to travel quite a way if they came from the sea.” She pinched her lips. “I will not rule it out, though. I will have to create a larger task force for this. Poor children.”

“Let me know if I can help.”

“I will. Thank you, Peter. Lady Gwendolyn Darling, I am sure, will be saddened by the news; this second child was taken from the orphanage she frequents.”

“Really? Do you think she knew the child?”

“Perhaps, you should ask her. The child is named Henry.”

“I can inquire about it tomorrow.” While it was a horrible situation, I could not help but smile at the thought of seeing Lady Darling the following day and asking her about the orphanage and the child. Perhaps, she may have an idea of how to help, especially if it kept happening.

I took another spoonful of my soup. The savory flavor of the vegetables, broth, and crab sang a symphony on my tongue, and I hurried to finish the entire bowl.

Present Day

I paced back and forth on the navy blue and green carpet.

“You are going to wear out the rug,” Dominick said with a chuckle.

“I told you that you loved her. Three years, and we all saw it,” William, my closest friend, teased.

“Okay, fine, you were both right. I did not know my heart. I love that woman so much that it hurts.”

“Poetic. Another sign—” William began, and I sneered at him.

“Peter, why are you so nervous? You are betrothed now; all is well,” Dominick said with a confused look.

It was still shocking to have my brother back.

I had dreamed of reuniting with him thousands of times.

If it was not for him, I don't think I would've found Gwen after she’d disappeared from Walden two months prior.

I searched the sea, certain that Gwen had to have been kidnapped.

I needed my storyteller, of course; I needed Gwen like I needed air.

I would be forever grateful that my journey to save Gwen, also brought my brother back to me.

Dominick went through much in his life. So much more than Mother and I had ever suspected.

Most importantly, we learned that he had never left us; he had been stolen.

It was easier to forgive him than I believed.

As soon as I saw him on the beach, my heart softened.

I was happy to build a relationship with the brother I had lost, and I was so happy to see him married to his mermaid, Meria.

I longed for a happy ever after for Gwen and I, too.

If he could find happiness, so could I, even with my curse still intact.

Dominick had been cursed far worse than I had.

He was cursed to inflict pain upon anyone he touched. It was far worse than my curse.

I should not complain about my curse.

“I am not nervous.” I paused. “I’m just—”

Little did my recently found brother, and even my closest friend, know that everything was not okay, though. I had a secret, one I could not tell Gwen nor anyone—not because I wanted to hide things, but because I, literally, could not speak it.

Blasted pixies .

When rescuing Gwen, I had to make a deal with the pixies.

I had not thought much about it at the time, but I should have.

Every time I tried to confess the deal that I had made with the pixies, deafening bells rang in my ears, causing my head excruciating pain until I stopped that line of conversation.

“I am only—”

“He is afraid he will be a horrid lover,” William said with one of the widest grins I had ever seen. I was not expecting that .

“Excuse me?” I shot back, my cheeks heated.

“You will be a great husband. Gwen is lucky to have you,” Dominick said assuringly.

He then turned to William. “William, the Princes of Walden love as deep as the fathoms. They have unshakable love, and Peter’s Gwen will be happy, and satisfied, with him,” Dominick finished, shocking me a little.

He appeared more like a rogue pirate than a prince, even sitting there in his Walden-blue coat and his dark hair, the same shade as my own, only combed back.

There was a wildness about my brother–the scar on his cheek, the golden ring hanging from his ear, and the way he never buttoned his shirt fully, always exposing part of his chest.

Gwen’s cheeks would have darkened bright pink if I had unbuttoned my shirt in that manner. For a moment, I wondered if I should do it, just to see that adorable look on her face. I shook my head. I was no pirate.

“Thank you, brother. William, maybe you should focus on your own future bride? Where is she?”

“Oh—well.” He paused.

“Exactly. Worry about yourself,” I snapped, and as soon as I did so, I wanted to apologize.

Dominick stood and patted his hand on my back.

“All will be well, brother. All will be well.”

If only he knew that nothing was well, nothing at all. For the first time in my life, even though I was still cursed to want something different, I wanted nothing more than to stay there in Walden with Gwen, but soon, I would be pulled away–and not because of my awful curse.

What was my Curse? I was cursed to constantly crave adventure and exploration.

That was the reason I needed a storyteller to read to me.

It had always been important throughout my life.

With a storyteller, I could listen and imagine doing all the things in those stories; it was a balm to my curse.

Even though stories helped me, I always had a constant itch to leave home, an underlined and unquenchable desire to leave my kingdom, an itch I could not scratch to leave the castle–to sail the seas.

However, with Gwen, starting with even that first day she read to me, it was different. Almost immediately, I had no desire to be anywhere but where I was–there with her. I should have known then that something was different about her–but I was too naive .

“Just go kiss her some more. I am sure that will calm you down. I remember the time when you ran after her and called out to her—I knew it then. She was too pretty not to be yours one day,” William said.

“I do not love her for her looks, William. She is patient and kind and brave and the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

How I wished things could have been as easy as they were back then, when I chased after her.