The Deadly Curse

3 | Reluctant Opportunity

//reluctant opportunity//

Eternity remained flooded even hours after the storm had stopped. But I had never seen it look so . . . happy. Every plant had bloomed, reaching for the sky and stretching out. The vibrancy of the planet became impossibly brighter. It glowed in a way it never had before. The haze that normally outlined everything had lessened.

          I stood at the window for a while, admiring the vista. Below on the balcony, the servants swept up the dust left behind by the yllumin. They took down the other party decorations. Early in the morning, Kit and several others had gathered the orbs again and were releasing them back in the wild.

          With the Great Bloom Festival over, I wondered if Prince Rune's schedule would open up now. Of course, he still had to the deal with the bureaucratic jerks and persuade them to at least consider abolishing the Bride Competition.

          My frustration with the board inspired me to search for the Prince. We'd agreed to involve each other: he would trust me and my abilities, and I would support him. We would tackle this together.

          So I set off to find him. I wanted my lessons to start sooner rather than later.

          I realized that I couldn't just burst into a conference and expect people to take me seriously. Especially since I had little knowledge about Eternity and her inner workings. While I knew the Bride Competition had evolved from something milder, my expertise ended there. As a foreigner to this place, I doubted the board would appreciate my uneducated criticism.

          Which meant that I needed to learn soon. With Rune and I finally on the same page, maybe we could make some headway in changing legislation.

          But the castle was essentially one large, multistoried maze. And finding Prince Rune had always proven difficult, if not impossible.

          After several hours of no luck, I decided to take a break. I entered my favorite library, the one with the map-decorated wall. But once inside, the rustling of papers caught my attention.

          Past the shelves and scattered tables, in the center of the library, sat Prince Rune. Ink stains painted his fingers, and he bent over stacks of books and papers. His frock coat hung on the chair next to him, and he had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. Deep blue, almost black, veins popped from his ghostly skin. His long hair was mussed, as though he'd run his fingers through it multiple times.

          I froze. Prince Rune may not have been classically handsome, but there was still something attractive about him. And like this, elbow-deep in work and face contorted in concentration, he was very attractive. I pressed a hand to my chest, where my heart hammered.

          Sighing, the Prince tossed a pen (a stick dipped in ink) and rested his head in his hands. He mumbled, "Kahla."

          I cleared my throat, hoping not to frighten him. "Everything okay?"

          He peered at me before straightening and rolling his sleeves back down. He threaded his fingers through his hair to fix its disarray. "Yes. Merely brushing up on decrees."

          Ignoring the disappointment that he'd rolled his sleeves down, I settled in the chair across from him. "I take it, it's not going too well."

          "Its jargon can be headache-inducing."

          "Is this about abolishing the Bride Competition?"

          "Initially," he answered, thumbing through a leaflet.

          This would be a headache. If I had to drag the answers out of him, learning about Eternity would take an eternity. While I understood his hesitancy and doubts, I couldn't let them stop me from learning. After all, eventually I would become the queen. I didn't want to be an ignorant monarch.