Princess Alessia turned her lovely blue eyes onto Angelique. “Thank you!” She started crying anew as her husband curled an arm around her back and kissed her on the forehead. “Please, save our littlegirl.”
Perfectly aware Evariste had used Princess Alessia to manipulate her, Angelique smiled. “I will do my best,” she said between clenchedteeth.
“If you would spare us for a few moments, we will be ready to begin shortly,” Evaristesaid.
“Of course.” Princess Alessia nodded and dabbed at her eyes with ahandkerchief.
Evariste—still holding Angelique’s hand—tugged her away from thecouple.
Feeling a little betrayed by the man she nearly idolized, she uttered a strangled, “Master?”
Evariste ignored her concern. “Listen to me, Angel. When dealing with curses, it is important to understand that they can’t be broken by personal will or power,” he said. “Curses find their power in black magic and black emotions—bitterness, hatred, and the like. To break them, you have to use something even more powerful: love and light. There are many different ways to break a curse with the power of love. There is sisterly love, parental love, the love found between friends, and so on. All of these kinds of love are powerful in different ways. The kind of modifier I am going to teach you today, however, will be based on romantic love,” Evaristesaid.
“Good choice.” Sybilla popped up behind Evariste and Angelique. Melody and Finnr trailedher.
Evariste continued, “Romantic love is the easiest to deal with because it is one of the few kinds of love that will have a defined beginning. Using romantic love to break a curse often means harnessing romantic love at its starting point, and using it to shatter the bonds the cursecreated.”
Melody clapped her hands. “Like the kiss of a handsomeprince!”
“First of all, citing that he must be handsome is small-minded and stupid,” Sybilla said. “Secondly, Evariste said the modifier will beromantic love,not puppy-likeinfatuation.”
Melody squawked her outrage, but Finnr snorted under hisbreath.
Angelique stared at Princess Rosalinda and wondered how on earth a baby was going to find romantic love.Should I ask MasterEvariste?
“What are you thinking, Angel?” Evaristeasked.
“Princess Rosalinda isn’t even a year old yet. How can we arrange for romantic love to break the curse?” Angeliqueasked.
“We modify the curse with your gift,” Evariste said. “Anythingelse?”
Angelique tilted her head. “Is romantic love really that strong?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier to use the love Princess Alessia or the prince consort has forher?”
Evariste squeezed her hand. “You would be surprised how powerful romantic love canbe.”
Angelique had to cough to cover up her scoff of disbelief.Pft, how verydoubtful!
“And I’m afraid using parental love or even familial love is beyond my abilities to teach you right now, and we are on a deadline,” Evariste continued. “Now, when you give your gift to Rosalinda, you must modify the curse—remove the side-effect of death and replace it with something else—and add a way to break it. The two ways I suggest to you are true love’s first kiss, or that she would fall in love with a man, and that he would love her. You’ll want to make your choice based on the side-effect you use to replacedeath.”
“So it is only words?” Angelique askedhopefully.
“No. You must wield your magic to make your words stick to the curse and change it,” Evaristesaid.
“Rats,” Angeliquemuttered.
“You must channel your magic in this method.” Evariste talked Angelique through the process—showing her with his own magic, and occasionally helping her with her own. In only a few short minutes, he declared herready.
Feeling weighted down with the hopeful stares of the royal family, the few Magic Knights who were assembled, and all gentry—as well as the narrowed gazes of the other magic users—Angelique slowly approached the crib where the king had placed PrincessRosalinda.
She licked her lips and steeled her spine so she wouldn’t shiver, even though a cold sweat swept across her. “By her eighteenth birthday, Princess Rosalinda will indeed prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, but she will not die.” Angelique paused, her heart squeezing painfully when she felt her magic—agile and sharp—channel across her fingertips in a silvery haze that was deceivingly pretty. “Instead, she will fall into a deep sleep, and she will wake up only when her true love kissesher.”
Angelique sucked air between her clenched teeth when her magic drifted down and brushed the sleeping princess like tufts of dandelion fluff. A droplet of sweat dripped down her temple as she forced her destructive magic to work with gentleness. She kept a tight grip on it as her powers settled delicately across the princess, flickering brighter when it brushed a red tendril of Carabosso’smagic.
She grimaced as she used her magic to worm between the pieces of his oily powers. His magic resisted, and Angelique’s silvery magic flared, cutting straight through it in spite of its resistance. Her heart stopped as she yanked on her magic, reeling it back under her control, but the princess blissfully slept on. Angelique could feel the change in the tiny princess’s curse deep in herbones.
She exhaled and took a shaky step. It was over. She had successfully modified the curse without harming Rosalinda. She leaned against the cradle and wondered if hanging her head would reflect shamefully onEvariste.
“That’s your solution—a deep sleep?” King Giusepperumbled.
