Well, he had me there.
Elden’s breathing was labored. He held a hand to his chest as he began to read, “Here we make an accord, the first of its kind, between human and elf on this day, the twenty-fifth of December.”
On Christmas? I looked up at the smiles on the human queen and Elf King’s faces painted on the wall before us. They were celebrating more than just Christmas; they were celebrating the merging of their two peoples. Elden coughed, and I watched as the inky black poison spread closer to his heart with every beat through his open shirt.
I didn’t have time to sit and listen.
“You read.” I held the brown nibs up to the firelight. “I’m going to make you my own special potion using this cure.”
I turned from Elden and brought out my magic spoon, father’s cookbook, and trusty pan.
Time to cook up some magic.
“For if this treaty is broken by either party—” Elden continued. “A great and dreadful curse will encompass the lands. For whoever allows hate in their hearts, it will fester until it consumes you and your descendants.”
Your descendants. Was this why only Elden and his father suffered from the same shade monster curse?
Elden coughed and shook. I glanced over at his weakening form. I had to hurry. First, I needed to assess the strange brown bits in the jar. I opened the glass jar and breathed in the aroma. They smelled a bit nutty, like coffee. I licked one, and a bitter taste filled my mouth. I would need lots of sugar to combat this bitterness.
“For then shadows will wreath the land of the fair. Elven and human magic will fail. Only love that is true between the elves and humans can restore the bonds of this magic. Only then may peace and good will to all be restored.”
I put my spoon to work, grinding the nibs into a kind of brown paste in the base of my pan. Worry for Elden pounded through me. I couldn’t falter. I used a small amount of the bits, in case my first try with the cooking was incorrect.
The bitterness of the nibs reminded me of the first meeting I’d had with Elden. He’d cried and destroyed my kitchen, then stole me away from my family. But that first bake had still gifted him hope.
I added a bit of sugar Scarlet had given me to combat the bitterness. Elden’s and my relationship had grown sweeter as we’d gotten to know each other on our travels. As we’d served each other. The sweetness was much like the mincemeat tarts I’d made with Aldaar when I’d baked peace.
Lastly, I splashed some milk into the paste to create a broth. The milk was nourishing, just as our love had started to nourish me. Give me life. Give me purpose and meaning. I cooked the concoction over the heat of the blazing fire, willing it to meld together.
I stirred the strange brown liquid and closed my eyes. I would need to force my intent to the forefront of my thoughts. Truthfully, I could think of nothing else but this desperate prayer in my heart.Please fill Elden with all the peace, hope and…love that I feel toward him. Help him feel it. Let it fill him and banish the shadow curse from his heart and the lands. Banish the shadow curse. Banish it.
I thought this as I stirred the potion, praying that it would be enough, that my love would be enough to save him.
Because what was a kingdom without its King? And who was I now without my Elf King? My Elden?
The concoction built to a simmer, and I pulled it off of the fire, afraid to scald the milk. The liquid smelled delicious, and looked curiously a lot like the hot beverage the queen and her king held in their hands on the mural.
“Please work,” I prayed again over my potion. If cooking was indeed like magic, then I had followed my instincts the best I could.
Elden’s life slipped away with every shaking breath. I placed my saucepan on the floor of the palace, then pulled Elden into a sitting position. He was so large and wide, it took considerable effort. I sat directly beside him as he lay against the back of the couch, utterly spent. It felt strange to have him so close. Thrilling, yet frightening. I scooped my magic spoon into the brown liquid, blew on it to cool, then held it to Elden’s mouth.
He’d felt my hope. He’d felt my peace. There was only one other magic I could give him.
“May this help you feel the…love I have for you,” my voice echoed in the cavernous room. My heart leapt, and a warmth spread through me. The warmth was now familiar to me. It had to be my magic. It was working.
I felt it all the way to my bones.
“Love?” Elden questioned with a tender whisper, looking up at me with his golden eyes.
I nodded, a slight smile touching my lips. “Love.”
Elden’s lips twitched, but he coughed before the smile could reach them. I prodded the liquid to his mouth, and he took a long sip. Hope and terror raged competing wars in my heart.
I was his only hope for a cure. I was his only hope for his life. And he was my only hope for love and survival out here in the cursed mountains.
Elden coughed again, then he pulled in ragged breath after ragged breath, as if he couldn’t get enough air. I held him in my arms as his breathing turned shallow. I grasped onto him, pressing him into my bosom in horror.
With a final gasp, his breaths sputtered and his chest fell still.
