Page 34 of The Curse of Monsters

My chest tightened as I once again thought of the Forgotten Fae and the message he’d asked me to pass on. For a moment, I wondered whether I should tell Prince Azaren about it, but then I dismissed the thought. Prince Azaren was a royal, and the Forgotten Fae clearly hated the monarchy.

Prince Azaren’s expression shuttered, and I could tell Asher and the others were as shocked by his reaction as I was. “It’s a long story,” he said wearily.

“Then give us the short version,” Kade growled.

Prince Azaren swallowed, but he nodded as if he had already intended to explain it all to us. “How much do you know about what happened to my aunt?” he asked carefully.

“She married Katakin’s human king, King Adrien,” I said, reciting what Kade and the others had told me nights ago.

Prince Azaren leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and threading his fingers together. “Yes, well they were happy for a time. Or so I’m told. For a while, fae say it was the treaty that kept our two kingdoms at peace, but it was obviously more than that. Queen Izla loved King Adrien, and it was her love for him that kept the fae at ease. I was only young at the time, but I’ve heard the story told by numerous scholars and members of the fae court. Queen Izla had plans to unite our kingdoms and believed we could learn from each other, but just when she had almost persuaded some of the fae to resettle in Katakin, King Adrien betrayed her and all the fae by killing my grandfather, King Jazrec. He traveled without the queen and slew him here in this very castle. The treaty was broken, and the trust that had been built was shattered. As the king’s only son, my father, Prince Chalir, was crowned as king, and the fae looked to him for answers. For retribution.

“My father roused only a small portion of the fae army, confident that the humans stood no chance against our power. He led them through three portals, ready to annihilate the humans for their treachery and rescue my aunt, but by the time our soldiers were organized and made their way through…” Prince Azaren paused, shadows crossing over his face. “Well, by then my aunt Izla had cursed those in Katakin, and while the humans may not have stood a chance against the fae, the monsters proved to be a different foe entirely, their powers and cruelty taking the fae completely by surprise. The loss of life was…regrettable, and Izla was gone, rumored to have escaped through a portal.

“Many of the members of the group we call the Forgotten Fae are family members of those who lost loved ones that day. They blamed my father for such a reckless attack. King Chalir tried to mobilize the remainder of the fae army and strategized with the war council on the best path to victory, but there was an outcry from our citizens when word spread that Queen Izla was no longer in Katakin and there was an army of monsters in that foreign land.

“The fae wanted to rescue their princess, but with everyone gone, the Forgotten Fae argued for the portals to be closed. They didn’t want the extra loss of life. As a general rule, the fae are a peaceful race. We don’t seek out conflict, and there are those who also blamed my grandfather, the late King Jazrec, for traveling to Katakin and connecting with the humans in the first place. For offering my aunt to be the human king’s bride.

“After a number of small, coordinated protests, King Chalir eventually had to concede that the fae wouldn’t go to war. The Forgotten Fae basically forced his hand to stop the violence, and King Chalir has resented them since. To keep the peace, King Chalir agreed that no fae would ever travel to Katakin and risk opening a portal that the monsters could exploit to reach us. When Izla never arrived in Zalei as expected, King Chalir sent soldiers to Katakin only a handful of times and always in secret. Just long enough to see whether the fae could detect my aunt, but they never could.”

Kade ground his jaw. “That’s not all the fae have done when they’ve visited.”

Prince Azaren’s brow wrinkled in confusion at Kade’s comment, but he kept on with his story. “Over the centuries, there have been vast periods of peace for the fae, but the group called the Forgotten Fae has only grown, the seed of dissent having been sown so long ago. A few months ago, my father found a large outpost of the rebel fae and sent his soldiers to destroy their camp in the hopes it would force them to split up and reintegrate into society, but his approach was all wrong, and now their supporters grow by the day. It’s no longer only about the slaughter all those years ago. It’s become about the belief that there shouldn’t be a monarchy at all.”

I stared at Prince Azaren in disbelief. “The Forgotten Fae don’t want a king?”

“In simple terms,” Prince Azaren said with a grim expression. “News of the execution you saw tonight will not be received well by the Forgotten Fae. Ellis was a well-known member of the group, and brother to one of the leading members, Xander. The Forgotten Fae have never tried to assassinate a member of the royal family, and I suspect Ellis had foolishly acted on his own.” He let out another long breath. “But none of this is your problem, and it isn’t why I brought you here. I can feel the dazra’s venom has almost worn off, so that must mean you will all gain your abilities again soon. You can’t be here when that happens. If all goes well, you won’t be returning to your rooms at all.”

“The books,” I asked quietly. “If you knew the risk you posed by opening a portal to Katakin, why search for them?”

Prince Azaren leaned down and pulled out a book from under the couch he sat on. I could only guess he’d left it there earlier, and I had to wonder why he’d felt the need to hide it. The book wasn’t like the ones he’d saved from Katakin. The cover was made of pure silver instead of leather, and there was no translation inked under the foreign letters that were the title. The only thing I could make out was the author:Sharou Zanae.

Locke leaned closer like he was as curious about the book as I was. “The author,” he asked. “Who is this Sharou?”

Prince Azaren’s lips tipped upward into a soft smile, and he ran his fingers fondly over the engraved cover. “My aunt,” he said quietly.

My brows rose practically to my hairline. “Wait, Sharou ZanaeisIzla?”

Prince Azaren gave me a wry grin. “She had a sense of humor. Sharou means ‘common’ in ancient fae, and Zanae means ‘writer.’”

“I get that the books hold sentimental value for you,” Asher commented. “But what has this got to do with our curse?”

Prince Azaren opened the book on his lap, turning to the first page. “Aunt Izla read many of her stories to me when I was young. I always assumed they were made up, and they are, but it was the last time I saw her when she admitted her stories are more than simply fairy tales.”

“What do you mean, they’re more than just stories?” Darian asked with a frown.

“Years ago, on that last night I saw her, Aunt Izla gave me this book. She asked me to hide it but wouldn’t tell me why. All she said was that if it all goes wrong, the answers are hidden in her stories, and in this book in particular. As a child, I had thought she was intentionally scaring me as some kind of game, and it wasn’t until I was older that I realized it was so much more than that. Every story of hers holds instructions. A hidden code. The secrets to creating curses.”

I leaned forward even more, hoping to get a better look at the first page even though I couldn’t read the text. My gaze slid back to Prince Azaren. “Why did she keep it a secret?”

“Curses are forbidden among our people,” Prince Azaren replied. “The magic of the fae is usually self-sustaining. We draw our power from within to project it outward. With a curse, we use our magic to take something from another or place a perversion on them that isn’t always visible to the naked eye. Thousands of years ago, the ancient fae figured out the secrets around curses and effectively used the magic to destroy one another. Centuries ago, Izla found a number of the ancient scrolls. My grandfather, King Jazrec, ordered for them to be destroyed, but from what I can tell, Izla couldn’t bear to eradicate a part of our history. She burned the scrolls but weaved the secrets as codes into various books she wrote. I don’t think she ever intended to use the magic but wanted us to remember the errors of our past. Undoubtedly, she knew the results could be disastrous if the secrets about curses fell into the wrong hands, but the scholar in her couldn’t help but document them. I can only guess she brought some of her books to Katakin so she could further study them and keep them somewhere she could protect them. Obviously, she thought they were safest in plain sight.”

“Why didn’t you leave them in Katakin, then?” Asher asked. “The monsters probably can’t break Izla’s code. Locke should know. He’s read those books a thousand times.”

Locke glowered at Asher, and Asher lifted his hands in a gesture of peace before resting a hand back on my thigh.

Prince Azaren shifted uneasily on his chair. “I’ve long suspected that there are fae within the kingdom who are creating curses, whether they realize it or not. I’ve spent years studying the curses in Izla’s books, if only to prove they are still happening today, and hopefully help those who have been afflicted. I’ll admit I was desperate to have my hands on Izla’s remaining works. Plus, I had no idea how advanced the Katakin monsters had become and worried about what would happen if you did by chance figure out the secret behind the books and decipher her code.

“In hindsight, it probably was a mistake to bring the books here, but it’s done now. I’m not sure what would be worse: the Forgotten Fae getting a hold of the books or my father. I don’t think King Chalir would turn away from the chance of using a powerful curse as a weapon if given the opportunity. But, so far, he still believes the secrets in those ancient scrolls are gone, and I’ve managed to convince him that I traveled to Katakin on a foolish mission to try to see if I could find my aunt. Most everyone thinks she’s dead seeing as no one could detect her when we visited Katakin in the past, but I’ve always believed she’s still alive. My father thinks I made an emotional decision in pursuit of family. Though, I’m not sure if he’ll continue to believe that once you have all returned to Katakin.”