Page 27 of The Lionheart’s Bond (Bonds of Dusk and Dawn #1)

NEL

T he return to Ilystead was faster done than their journey to Stonehollow, yet exhaustion had gotten the best of Nel. He didn’t have his brother’s stamina, not in human form and even less in animal shape. It was too hard to keep pace with them. Isidore would have carried him, except that stupid wolf growled every time they were too close. Judel didn’t particularly encourage the contact either.

The arrival of the wolf and the tale of the events in Stonehollow confirmed one of his theories. Not long after their departure from Ilystead, he had begun to consider whether Isidore might possess some magic after all. In animal form, they all had instinctively stayed close to him.

Hina and he had discussed it at length and they both agreed they felt a pull that stopped them from straying far. Even as his brothers lost their human control, they found themselves close by when human consciousness returned. Even Brin couldn’t deny the magnetic forces that had kept them all close to each other over the last few weeks.

But there were other indications of Isidore’s power. The beast’s pressure to take over control of his body eased considerably in Isidore’s presence. He was used to holding the wall that kept it at bay, but while close to his brother’s lover, the wild was less insistent.

He hadn’t dared ask his brothers if they had felt similar effects though, afraid to reveal his unique ability to retain his humanity, throughout the day. Discovering it was not the case for the rest of his siblings had come as a shock to Nel, and it pained him too much to rub in his good fortune, if he must call it something.

The journey had been long and dirty, with only source of amusement; triggering Judel’s jealous glares by sticking to Isidore. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he pushed his closeness with the young Kaletian while in fox shape only to annoy his older brother. Judel’s inability to recognize his own value made him extremely stupid. No one would believe Isidore would spare a glance for anyone else. His feelings for Judel were plain for anyone to see, except for the recipient of said feelings.

But Judel seemed happy for the first time in years, and it had nothing to do with breaking the curse. What would it feel like, finding someone so special he’d want to see them repeatedly, for the rest of his life? The concept was entirely foreign to him; he could barely consider seeing the same man more than once, let alone forever. He had no doubt it would be a lovely feeling, to know someone would be at his side no matter what, but it simply didn’t fit in with his current lifestyle.

Of course, the idea that true love had broken the curse was beyond ridiculous to him, and indeed, they had laughed out loud at the thought. At least he hoped it was nonsensical, because he had never been in love, nor he expected to ever be. He was too analytical for such sentiments. He hadn’t lacked partners, over the years, and he enjoyed their attentions as much as any man. There had been some affection. He cared, in his own way. But love? He hadn’t noticed anything special with any of them. No anxiety to see the other man, no emptiness in his chest when they were apart. He was twenty-eight now; if love was possible for him, it would have already happened.

Ilystead received their returning party like royal heroes. It was only too right. They had endured a lot to get the prisoners back, but it was all worth it. His bed will be the best reward though.

Despite his weariness, Nel had stuck around long enough to see Nahel’s reaction to Judel. When he walked in through the door, standing on his two feet, bathed in the midday sun, her eyes shone with a wet film, and she lost her voice. An unusual sight.

Emotion had become scarce when it came to the queen. Ever since that day, she carried herself as if she wore armour. She openly cared about her brothers, but she did so through her actions rather than any vulnerable words. Not to him anyway. Not to any of her younger brothers, no matter how much time she spent with them. She could be more open with Neisha, Judel and Brin, considering how close she was with their three older brothers—Nahel had always drawn a line between the four of them, and the rest of their siblings who had come after her, including Nel. She relied on the eldest, and mothered the rest, a dynamic he had relished in studying over the years. The internal sociological layers of his own family were fascinating.

‘How?’ she asked, unable to say anything else.

Judel explained what had happened. His brothers and he had only guessed of their activities together because of Isidore’s constant blushing face, and Judel’s constant attempts to dodge their questions. After not shifting, Judel should have expected them to wonder how Isidore and he had passed the time in the two nights and almost two days they had spent in The Quarry. They couldn’t overlook anything when it came to clues as to how to break the curse. If Nel had pressed Judel for further details when out of Isidore’s earshot, it had only in part been to fluster his brother. Entertainment was often hard to come by.

‘Lord Joceus, it is such a relief to have you back. Are you in good health?’ His sister waved at a guard, who immediately left, understanding the order implied in the gesture. To get the physician most likely.

‘Your Majesty is too kind to worry about this old man. I’m just sorry our mission failed.’

‘Don’t worry about that right now, Lord Joceus. We’ll take care of you and your people for today. Eat, rest, heal; we’ll talk after.’

Lord Joceus, who was nowhere as old as he pretended to be for the sake of deference, stood a good head taller than Nahel, which meant there was an even larger gap with Nel. Lord Joceus was quite a sight, his age only adding charisma to his strong frame. If he looked tired or unwell, it was only due to the weeks of mistreatment in Stonehollow’s dungeons.

‘Your Majesty,’ Lord Joceus said, his brow furrowed, ‘you are generous and considerate to the extreme and I shall let you take care of my men, but there are important matters to discuss. Urgent matters.’ He frowned with severity. ‘I believe there is a traitor in my house.’

The room collectively tensed.

‘I see,’ she replied, not as surprised as others might have been. Nahel and he had already discussed this possibility. The queen’s suspicions might not be born from any concrete proof, but in this case, Nel had to admit it was highly likely. He had added it to the list of issues he kept a look out for; a new category under which to classify his observations.

Nahel’s suspicions about Isidore being a spy, however, had been unreasonable and proven entirely false. Isidore had been hiding something from them, and of that Nel never had any doubt —who reveals everything about themselves all the time? —but Isidore’s lies were not born from a will to harm them. The state in which Judel found the young man, the way his cheeks sunk into his face, the way his skin was so pale and his body so frail… Isidore had been telling the truth about his situation. He was just scared, and his actions were born from an urge for survival that had cemented itself in his soul the night that man murdered his parents.

Her suspicions of treason were as much born from paranoia this time as they were with Isidore, but now, Nel found her fears to be valid.

Nahel took care of getting Lord Joceus to the quarters they had arranged for them —Brin had flown ahead to give his sister the news, allowing her to prepare for their arrival, and hadn’t even complained about it.

‘It’ll be sunset soon,’ Judel said, his eyes fixed out of the window.

He still felt it, then. The connection to the curse remained, in spite of not undergoing the transformations anymore. Nel filed this latest information in his brand new ‘Judel broke the curse’ mental drawer and moved on for now.

He was glad to be back in his room, such as it was. Like Judel, he had chosen quarters on the ground floor, close to the kitchen. Or rather, it had been Judel and some of the others who had followed his example. The discovery of their shapeshifting had been traumatic enough for everyone.

Their servants suffered no less. A lot of them left, terrified of the bad omens that a curse like that meant for the castle and the Ilish royals. Those who had stayed, out of loyalty or need, had enough on their plates to further burden them. The Ilish royals’ new circumstances were for them to bear. It would be inappropriate and inconsiderate to prance around in their furred forms. No one wanted to step out to the kitchen to fetch a pale of water only to bump into Neisha’s wall-like flank when he inhabited the bear.

Nel had been the first one to move his lodgings.

Initially, he had arranged to go much farther. There was a little cabin in the woods, at some distance from Ilystead, where he planned to stay until he figured out how to break the curse.

His sister wouldn’t hear of it, of course. It was unfortunate she had found out about it so early on, otherwise he could have gone through with his plans without her learning of it until it was too late. That’s what trusting his brothers with his plans got him.

He could have ignored her request too, rebelled, but she didn’t as much as hesitate before pulling rank on him. He couldn’t quite blame her, no matter how inconvenient; he would have done the same in her place.

The sun shone low through his room’s window, and he stretched before jumping onto the bench. He stared at the light spreading red across the sky, as if the answer to all their problems might be written in the pink clouds. What would it be like to see a sunset without transforming? He couldn’t even remember what a normal day felt like.

But there was a spark of hope shining in his chest. They knew it was possible now.