Dmitri glared at him, then marched to the door and threw it open. He took a deep breath, as if preparing to shout, and then promptly started coughing. He closed the door behind him as he doubled over. “What is this?”
“A particularly nasty curse.” Jax crossed his arms and his ankles and followed Dmitri with his eyes as the prince slumped down at his desk in defeat.
“And Boris did this?” he asked weakly. “But why?”
Jax shrugged. “Odessa couldn’t tell me exactly. We can only discuss her curse because we both already have knowledge of it; I wonder if that secret is also protected in the same way.”
And if it’s connected somehow to Katrin and Sonya’s curse.
“What about Katrin? Does she know?”
“Yes,” he stretched the word out. “She’s quite familiar with it. She is, after all, adeerfriend.”
“So you’ve said.” Dmitri closed his eyes and pressed his fingertips to his temples, rubbing them in slow circles. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice anything. We’ve been friends since we were children; we see one another at least once a week, and lately every day. How could I have been so blind?”
“To be fair, she couldn’t tell you about it. And unless you happened to be in her presence at either sunset or sunrise, you wouldn’t have seen anything.”
“But Ididsee something. Seven years ago, she just…disappeared. She stopped popping in for tea in the afternoon or meeting me for lunch or dragging me out to look at whatever new creature had been born. But my mother had just gone through a traumatic experience, and then Father died, and when I learned she had apparently started working the night shift, I just accepted it as normal. I never bothered to ask why.” Dmitri’s hands fell to the desk, and he looked at Jax with a guilt-stricken expression. “I should have asked.”
“I don’t think it would have made any difference,” Jax offered gently. “She knows you care about her.”
He blew out a long breath. “I’m assuming this sudden need for a husband has something to do with breaking her curse?”
“To break it, her curse requires a man who has never loved before to pledge undying devotion.”
“That’s it? It seems a little too simple, don’t you think?”
“Only because she has us to help her. With Odessa trapped as a swan during the day and tied down to the Menagerie at night, it’s not likely that she would have much success finding someone on her own.” He paused for a moment, leaning forward in his seat. “While we’re on the topic, do you happen to know anyone who might be abnormally fond of deer? Or boars?”
Dmitri’s brows furrowed in confusion. “That’s an oddly specific question.”
“Yes,” Jax answered slowly, willing Dmitri to understand. “It is. I, for one, am always looking for people who possess an undying devotion fordeerfriends.”
He watched the moment as recognition dawned in Dmitri’s eyes, and if he weren’t so strongly opposed to roosters, he would have let out a crow of triumph. He leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin.
“Katrin and Sonya aren’t just visiting friends, are they?” Dmitri’s jaw hardened.
“Friends, yes. Visitors, no. Though it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that they were able to return to their human forms at all.”
The prince muttered an unsavory word under his breath. “Sonya is a child.”
“I know,” Jax answered grimly.
Dmitri dropped his head to his desk. “What kind of a prince am I, Jax? This has been going on right under my nose. I never would have suspected Boris. Ilikedhim.”
“I don’t think you’re alone in that. He’s obviously a master of transformations.”
Dmitri lifted his head just far enough to respond to Jax’s attempt at humor with an unimpressed scowl. “Ha ha.”
“Thank you. As for what kind of prince you are, you’re obviously the kind that takes the well-being of your people to heart, which I think makes you the very best kind. You’re not turning a blind eye.”
“Right.” Dmitri exhaled heavily and leaned back in his chair. “Though this begs the question of what to do with Boris after Odessa’s is broken. I don’t even know if we have precedent for this kind of crime in Kovskia’s history—most of the trouble with magic is confined to the northern countries or the Adhavi Empire—and I don’t exactly have the spare time to research how to deal with a rogue sorcerer.”
Jax straightened. “I do.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?”
He smiled grimly. “If it means finding a way to ensure that Boris never hurts Odessa or anyone else ever again, it would be my absolute pleasure.”
