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Clarissa

M orning hit me like a tree branch to the snout. I didn’t even know what time I made it to the suite last night. Past two in the morning, at least.

We faced another day of exploring the farms of the Mid Territory. Galen had left a note saying once again , he was going to be absent. I could sense a pattern in his habit of hiding from difficult things.

I was still reeling from the night before. Still angry with his decision to keep such important details from me. If I was being honest, I didn’t want to see him. He hadn’t done much to prove to me that I could trust him. Even his best friend was reluctant to put too much confidence in him.

My thoughts lingered on Thorne as I changed into the loose cotton dress Katrine had laid out for me.

I had no idea he had a daughter. I vaguely remembered seeing a young girl step out of the carriage with Azura Reaux when we arrived in the territory, but the fact that she was his daughter hadn’t even crossed my mind.

I wondered what happened to her mother. Thorne might try and hide behind his flirtations, but I saw the pain when he spoke of her last night.

It was one of the more genuine moments he had.

Maybe I’d judged him too quickly. We all had darkness staining our lives—shadows and pockets of grief we wanted to tuck away. How we chose to mask them was up to us.

It was always difficult for me to sleep after I had one of my panic attacks, when the sound of snapping bones and the feel of tearing skin lingered fresh in my mind. But last night was different. That memory was clouded by another one, one of a warm thumb brushing against my pulse.

Goosebumps trailed up my arm as I stared in the mirror of the vanity, trying to put away the ghost of his skin on mine.

I couldn’t believe he’d seen me like that.

I hadn’t let anyone besides my mother, brother, and occasionally Lark witness those episodes.

And yet I wasn’t able to hide it from a man I’d barely spoken to, who’d spent most of the time we’d known each other keeping things from me.

I didn’t want him or others to think any less of me. To think I was weak, the way my mind convinced me in those moments that I was.

The plan today was to head farther west to a fishing village along the coast. Like yesterday, Vespera was in charge of showing Mother and me around, while Thorne was our ever-faithful watchdog in Galen’s place.

He was more animated today. More involved in the conversation, instead of lounging in silence. It was different, seeing him like this. The same way he was last night after my panic attack. A… good different.

He and Vespera talked about their territories, the stubborn citizens they had to deal with, and the most far-fetched requests they’d heard.

Like someone in the North Territory submitting a marriage license to marry a ghost, or the time Vespera was asked to formally knight a cat because the owner said it saved their life.

Eventually, the two of them and my mother began swapping stories about their children. I promptly removed myself from the conversation the moment Mother mentioned me running naked through the forest outside our cottage.

I stared out the window of the carriage as we drove over the hills.

The occasional farm would pass by, with livestock grazing in fields and wagons traveling on roads in the distance.

I was about to knock on the console separating us and the driver to ask how much farther, when something strange on an upcoming hill caught my attention.

I leaned forward, putting my nose as close to the window as I could.

It was something…dark. Blackened. Like rot.

“Thorne.” I put a hand on his knee across from me. He went rigid beneath my touch, and I quickly pulled away. “Look.”

He glanced out the window and paled. “That’s…a lot,” he breathed.

It was. It looked as if it had spread out across the entire side of the hill, overtaking everything that had once been lush and green. But as we stared at it, my hands went cold.

“Is it moving ?”

It was hard to tell with the speed of the carriage, but I could have sworn the death curse was inching farther and farther down the hill, toward the little village waiting below.

“It’s never done that before,” he whispered.

Our quiet voices had caught Vespera and Mother’s attention. “What’s going on over there?” my mother asked.

Vespera peered around our shoulders and let out a gasp. “We have to turn around. We have to go tell Dion and His Majesty.”

“What are they going to do? We’re already three hours out. We should go help the village,” I countered.

“Clarissa’s right,” Thorne said. “Evadine, Vespera, we can have the two of you dropped off somewhere safe nearby, but?—”

“These are my people, Reaux. If they’re in trouble, I want to help,” Vespera said, her dark eyes determined.

Mother nodded firmly. “Let’s go. Don’t look at me like that—I’ll be alright, Clarissa.”

I sighed and twisted my lips to the side, but relented. Reaching across the carriage, I slid open the console between us and the driver and directed him toward the hill .

“ Quickly, ” I added, and he snapped the reins.

We flew down the path, the rotted land drawing nearer with every passing minute.

It slowly descended down the hill like blackened fingers crawling over rocks and trees, unspooling onto the unsuspecting town.

When we took a sharp right turn, it disappeared onto the other side of the carriage, and I had to crane my neck up as it loomed larger.

Commotion from the village reached our ears the closer we got.

They had definitely noticed the blight. It was a small community, maybe a couple dozen houses closer to the bottom of the hill and a large town square near the main path.

Families were scrambling around, trying to wrangle their possessions into wagons and carts, hurried voices and shouts filling the air as the blight edged closer.

I flung open the carriage door and rushed forward, Thorne close on my heels. “Why is this happening?” I hissed. “I know Galen doesn’t have control over it, but something has to be able to stop it!”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I think it’s triggered by an emotional reaction,” he confessed as we ran. “He’s…in distress. Worried about what happened yesterday and how bad it’s gotten. Maybe that’s why this one is so much bigger.”

We came upon a man giving orders to a group, and I slowed to a stop. “We’re here from Silenus Manor,” I said. “Tell us how we can help.”

“The border of the village,” the man replied without question, barely looking at me as he ran his fingers over his balding head. “We don’t know who’s left over there. I don’t have eyes on it, and we need to evacuate.”

“Got it.” I turned on my heel, heading to the base of the hill, when Thorne grabbed my hand. I swung to face him. “If you tell me not to go, I swear?—”

“Be careful,” he said. “Be smart. This magic is potent. Don’t get too close to it, alright?”

I blinked in surprise and slowly nodded. “I’ll be careful. ”

His thumb grazed the sensitive skin at my palm before he released his grip. “Then let’s go.”

We raced toward the hill. The sky darkened as its large shadow fell over us, replacing the sun with the rotted hillside.

The edge of the curse crept ever nearer, now reaching the bottom of the slope.

It was as if a blanket had been thrown over the entire land, twisting every tree into a gnarled stump, eating away at the grass and turning rocks to dust.

Barely a quarter mile from the incline stood the first row of houses. The occupants were running around their yards, gathering children and supplies into wagons, some even attempting to herd horses and cattle.

Thorne and I threw ourselves into action. We helped tie down covers and secure supplies, making sure all the children were accounted for and reining in as many of the animals as we could.

“We’re out of time!” I shouted as the curse crested the first stretch of farmland. “We have to move!”

It was a mad dash out of there. Family after family rushed away in their wagons or on horseback, fleeing the scene as quickly as they could. A group of them stayed behind with Thorne and me as we knocked down the doors of each house to make sure no one was left behind.

The curse reached the closest house to the hill.

“Come on,” Thorne said. “We’ve done what we can. We need to go.”

We headed back to the main path when one of the men behind us called out, “Help me! It’s stuck!”

I turned to find him pulling at the enclosure to a paddock near the edge, where a dozen horses and a handful of cows pawed anxiously at the ground. The animals converged on the entrance, their senses heightened by the nearby threat. The rot was swiftly closing in on the opposite end of the pasture.

Thorne sprinted back to the man, and I sucked in a breath. “Thorne, wait?— ”

“I’ll be fine, Empress. Stay there!” he called. “Make sure the others don’t need anything.”

I watched from across the road as the two of them struggled with the latch, which had something wedged in it, keeping it from opening.

Still, the curse snaked closer. Inching its way across the paddock, the edge of it trailed along the grass toward the animals, making them go wild with fear. The horses snorted, tossing their manes back and rearing up on their hind legs to kick the paddock enclosure.

Crack .

My body doubled over at the sound, as if it had come from my own spine. I gasped against the wave of panic that made my vision waver. Fight it, fight it, fight it ?—

The tall fence had snapped. Voices of the other men rang around me in alarm. Animal after animal bolted out of the pasture, trampling everything in sight. Including?—

“Thorne!” I wheezed, my mind clearing away the memories of bones fracturing, only to be replaced with a new terror.

The other man had moved out of the way in time, but Thorne had been thrown onto his back. He tried to pull himself up using the fence, his legs dragging and his face contorted in pain. The broken fence buckled beneath his weight, and he went crashing back to the ground.

I shouted his name again and ran forward. The curse had almost made its way across the entire pasture. Its edges curled mere yards from him, getting closer with every second. Heavy anticipation pounded through me as a boulder sank in my chest.

I reached my hand out to him. “Come on!”

He saw the look on my face. “I’ll only slow you down, Clarissa. Please, go?—”

“I’m not leaving you,” I snapped. “Now take my hand .”

Gripping my arm, he hauled himself forward, wincing when he put weight on his left foot. He leaned on my shoulder as I dragged him away, glancing over my shoulder at the curse.

We only had seconds left.

It was so close, I could smell it—sour and musty, like decaying leaves mixed with stale dust. It clung to my nostrils and wrapped around me, making my head swim.

But there was something else.

At first it was a soft buzz. Hardly noticeable, like an insect flying around my ears. It crept along my skin, raising the hair at the back of my neck and thrumming to the beat of my pulse.

It felt like… magic .

“Clarissa, we’re not going to make?—”

On instinct, I put both of my hands on his shoulders and shoved with every ounce of strength I could muster. He went sprawling forward with a strangled yell.

The curse crashed into me.