Clarissa’s breath caught at my words, eyes blinking in triumph as she straightened her spine. “Tell me.”
There was no turning back now.
“You’re right,” I said slowly. “Everything you’ve seen is connected. The dead animals, the rotted fields, this hedge, all of it. But it goes back further than that.” I paused and scrubbed a hand down my face. “Do you know anything about the Grimaldi line?”
Clarissa shook her head. “Galen is the first king we’ve had contact with since the war ended, that I’m aware of. I’m not familiar with any of his ancestors.”
I anticipated as much. The Grimaldis kept this particular piece of their history private from most people, even in their own kingdom. “Two hundred years ago, Nyses Grimaldi and his entire bloodline were cursed by the Fates after he propositioned them into granting him magic.”
Her mouth gaped open. “What?”
I nodded grimly. “He wanted magic like what the Veridians received after the war, so he thought he could bargain with the Fates. They agreed to meet with him and even granted his wish—but not in the way he was expecting. They gave him a curse instead. One that changed and grew with every Grimaldi heir.
“Nyses was given the ability to see the future. A powerful gift, but it overwhelmed him. It warped him, making him rash, paranoid, and near-delusional. His son was cursed with a different type of magic, and so on. The details of each of their powers are somewhat murky, but Galen says they ranged from seeing spirits to inflicting pain. His own father was cursed with being forced to change into a wild beast every night. Each generation gets a little more volatile, a little more…erratic.”
And it was getting worse, if Galen’s curse was even reaching the Avonige Ocean now.
Clarissa swallowed. “All this time…there’s beenmagicin Mysthelm?”
“Only in the crown. The Grimaldi heir is the only one who inherits it, and it doesn’t happen until they take the throne.” Mother had a theory that if Galen was removed from power, if the Grimaldis were no longer in line for the throne, then the cursewould break. It was another reason why she was so insistent on her plan.
“I’m guessing your people don’t have any idea what’s going on?” Clarissa asked.
I shook my head. “Most don’t know the truth. Just those of us closest to him. Any incident over the centuries has always been twisted into some believable accident.”
“And Galen? What’s his curse?” she asked quietly.
I was waiting for that.
“Everything he touches…” I bit down on my bottom lip. “Everything he touches dies.”
The air was silent. I could see her making connections and fitting pieces together behind those dark eyes. How Galen always wore gloves, how he never let anyone touch his skin. How things around him suddenly rotted and died.
She slumped against a non-cursed hedge as she exhaled loudly. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t all of that.”
“Yes, well, it’s not exactly something he takes pride in. He’s been scared to tell you. This has haunted his legacy for centuries.”
Her eyes flashed. “He still should’ve told me.”
“I know, you’re right. There’s no excuse,” I said with a wince. Defending Galen was as natural as breathing at this point.
“That doesn’t explain why the sea creatures were struck dead on our trip, though,” she said. “Or that farm we saw today. He hasn’t been going around touching all of those fields. And he wasn’t here tonight, when this happened.” She extended a hand to the rotted hedge.
“It’s become a bit more complicated. Like I said, every generation’s curse seems to grow more and more volatile. And they never know what their power will be until they become king. At first, it was just touch. Galen would accidentally skim a tree and it would die, things like that.” My heart pounded as I thought back to those months at the end of last year when he first realized what he’d been burdened with. Death and rot everywhere.
The trees, the fields, theanimals.
The bodies.
“But within the last few months, it’s…expanded. We started hearing reports of livestock, crops, and sea life winding up dead out of nowhere. We had no explanation for it except that his curse was spreading. Affecting areas even when he hadn’t been near them.”
“It’s killing your entire kingdom,” Clarissa murmured.
I closed my eyes. “That’s what it seems like, yes.”
“And Galen is doing nothing to stop it.”
It wasn’t a question, but still, I refused to answer. He was my best friend and my king. Accusing him of negligence was akin to treason.
