A quick scrutiny of the new spellwork revealed everything was working as it should be. His curse to have the body of a beast and the bit about his servants was still present, but her modification was now a silver line in a chain of angry redscript.
The cursed prince groaned—sounding more human than animal, which was a very promising sign. She tugged on her magic and prepped another spell that would drive him back into the bushes if he still lacked his humanmind.
Angelique pressed her lips together as the prince peeled his head off the grass and peered up at her. “Prince Severin, can you hear me?” she asked. (She thought her voice sounded admirably calm considering she was squatting next to a man whose fur was matted withblood.)
Severin groaned again. “What?” he said, or at least that’s what Angelique assumed he was trying to say. He sounded garbled—as if he were talking around a mouthful ofpebbles.
Thank every star in the sky—he has his mind.Rather than jumping to her feet and squawking with glee, Angelique made herself smile and call out to the soldiers, “Please inform His Highness Prince Lucien that itworked.”
Severin tried to rub his eyes, but froze with his hand raised in front of his still-furryface.
Assuming he was on the verge of questioning his sight—understandable after waking up as a large cat—Angelique rested her hand on his shoulder. “Severin, you need to remain calm,” she said in the most soothing imitation of Evariste she could muster. “You wereattacked.”
The prince closed his eyes. “There was a witch.” His voice was rough and thick—like a cat’s rumble—but he was easier to understandnow.
“Yes,” Angelique agreed. “She cursed you to live as a beast and for your household to wither away and disappear withyou.”
Severin sat up a little more and spit, freezing when he saw his saliva was red withblood.
Angelique’s heart squeezed in sympathy for the young prince as he turned to the side and retched. She dared to place a hand on his back.This poor man. I might have saved him, but this is going to be a blight on hislife.
When he stopped gagging, he sat down and stared at the wreckage of the garden. “I injuredpeople.”
Angelique gazed at the garden with him, nodding in approval when she saw the medical attendants rushing around the bodies of fallen soldiers, helping those that theycould.
She swung her gaze back to Severin.Should I soften what happened? But he seems like the sort who would prefer a hard truth.“You did,” Angelique said bluntly. “The witch’s curse stole your mind. You didn’t know what you were doing.” She watched his face, trying to decipher any recognizable expressions in his feline features. “She made you a beast in body andmind.”
“Why am Ialive?”
Angelique rested her hands on the slight puff her skirts created. “Your brother would not give the order for the soldiers to eliminate you. Luckily, I happened to be on hand, as I was intending to request an audience withyou.”
The prince squinted at her. “Who areyou?”
Angelique offered him a slight smile that was hopefully reassuring. “My name is Angelique. I am an Enchantress-in-Training.”
“You savedme?”
And here comes the fun part.“In a partial meaning of the word, yes. I can’t entirely undo a curse that has been laid; my master hasn’t taught me that art yet. But once, I was at a christening, and the child was in a bit of a bind, which is where I learned how to modify and weaken curses,” she said, opting to explain it slowly rather than bluntly tell him the boundaries of his curse straightaway.
“So, I changed your curse. Instead of living as a complete beast, you are only one in body. Your mind is still yours; it is human, and it will be so for the rest of yourlife.”
As she spoke, Severin seemed to take inventory of his new face. He traced his angular ears, flat nose, and protruding muzzle, then stared at his blood-spatteredfur.
Angelique cleared her voice.Shock is probably setting in, poor boy. But at least all this is temporary. It should be relatively easy for him to break the curse in comparison to his other…options.“I was also able to stop the curse from spreading further on your servants. They are no longer disappearing, but I’m afraid they cannot speak, and to save their faces, I had to encase them withmasks.”
“Will they ever speak again?” Severin asked, a slight tremor to hisvoice.
“Perhaps. It depends on you. I cannot entirely undo the curse, but you can,” Angeliquesaid.
“How?”
“By falling in love, by another falling in love with you. Love is a powerful emotion. Working it into the curse was the easiest way out I could forge for you.” Angelique’s smile waned slightly.Personally, it seems like a ridiculous way to break a curse when something like brotherly love might have been stronger given the way Prince Lucien was acting, but it works, and it’s the only one I know, so there is no sense complaining about it. Really, I ought to be grateful I could use romantic love in this instance, or there would have been nothing I could have done to savehim.
Severin grasped his feline face with ahand.
Angelique inched a little closer to the prince. “You don’t look very happy. It might sound impossible”—or just plain stupid—“but allow me to assure you that love will not evadeyou.”
He did notrespond.
