The Deadly Curse

19.2 | Burning Oranges

//burning oranges, part 02// 

It was easier to be numb than to explore how I actually felt. Turning zombie-like, I actively ignored my thoughts. I took to assisting Kit in the gardens again. And he was kind enough not to question my sudden lightheartedness. He simply assigned me menial tasks as we talked about nothing.

Eika, on the other hand, tried to press me when I followed her about during her chores.

"Belline, are you truly alright?"

Something stung my heart, an annoying wasp of emotion. I flinched at the prospective tsunami behind it. But I shook it off, buried it beneath ignorance, and said, "I don't know what you mean."

She brushed my arm, encouraging me to look at her. Her mouth had tipped into a worried frown. "You've seen the love of your life multiple times in the darkest forest of Eternity, and each time, you come back more and more changed. What has happened, Belline?"

When I didn't respond, she prompted, "You can tell me. In fact, you probably need to talk about this with someone. If not me, then perhaps Kit. You've been spending quite a lot of time with him recently."

The concrete I'd built around myself cracked, ever so slightly. I hated how tempting her offer was. A part of me knew she was right, too. It would help to talk about it. But I knew how painful it would be to acknowledge everything that had happened. Being numb was easier.

I shook my head. "Thank you, Eika, but—"

Someone knocked on the door and said, "Sorry to interrupt. But I'd like to speak to the beautiful Belline in private."

As I trailed King Hadeth, radiant in an all-gold ensemble to match his skin, my hands twisted near my bellybutton. Did he want to discuss Rune? Or was he, too, going to inquire as to what had happened between me and Rune in the forest?

I wasn't ready to face it. I wasn't ready to admit the fear and the marrow-deep sadness and the breathlessness that clogged my lungs at random times.

But if there was a chance that the King requested an audience with me to announce Prince Rune had come into harm . . . I couldn't handle that either.

My stomach roiled.

King Hadeth gestured that I enter his study. It had a different air to it. Loose papers were still stuffed into books along the ground and stacked to perilous heights. Ink blots colored his desk. But the curtains had been thrown open and there seemed to be purpose behind the placement of the candelabras.

He swept into the room after me, closing the door. As I settled into a wingback chair, he sat atop his desk. Hands clasped, he smiled at me. But it looked forced. Sadness etched itself into the corners of his eyes.

"Thank you for seeing me." His smile flashed genuine for a second. "Firstly, I'd like to let you know that my son is under constant surveillance. He's . . . Well, he's as okay as can be expected."

King Hadeth sighed. "Perhaps I should have been more transparent with you before you sought Fate. I knew the risks but . . . I had hoped that everything would be okay. That this wouldn't happen. But now that it has, you need to know everything."

I swallowed compulsively. What had Rune and his father been keeping from me? And why was the atmosphere so unsettling?

"My son was born with a rare Starae condition. To explain it simply, his magic was far too great, too powerful, to be sustained in an infant's body. It had to be siphoned out safely so my son could live past infancy."

My eyes bulged. How terrifying that must have been for King Hadeth and his wife: to give birth to a baby boy who could die from his own gift of magic. In their place, I would have done whatever necessary to ensure he lived.

King Hadeth rose to his feet and paced. "My son grew up healthy, thankfully. The siphoning worked. But because of it, Rune's magic has never been . . . easily accessible. Most of the time, it didn't manifest. And when it did, it was weak. Never truly a concern.

"As you know, my wife – well, to state it plainly, went mad. Something Fate had already warned us about. Because she carried our son during pregnancy, she was connected to him in all ways. Including his magic.

"Rune is a Starae. We're created to sustain magic. And although he's a Starae, his magic was too powerful even for him. Can you imagine what that sort of thing does to an Oxys, a creature that cannot sustain magic at all?"

I stopped breathing at the implication. "Are – are you saying she went insane because of Rune's magic?"

The King nodded once.

The room swayed. I gripped the arms of the chair, trying to get my lungs to work again. To know you were the cause of your mother's insanity, and her resulting delusion that destroyed your home, and lead to her imprisonment—the guilt had to have been overwhelming. Rune had to have been in constant pain. He must've blamed himself for all of it.

"I'm sorry I ever let you love me."

The concrete walls shook with the first shockwaves of an earthquake. Whether or not I was ready, I was about to face it all.

King Hadeth's voice broke through the impending disaster in my mind. "That's why Fate chose to remove all trace of my son's Starae abilities. I honestly believe it didn't bother him much."

I felt like I was drowning, oxygen faint and heart overworked. My only lifeline was the King's tale. I wanted him to keep talking, just a little longer. Hold off the deluge for another moment.

He ran a hand through his hair. "When Fate reversed our punishments, I think my son and I alike assumed his abilities would be restored to how they were in his youth. Rarely manifesting, weak when they did.

"But when I saw the marks changing colors, then the state of his room . . ." King Hadeth froze, shoulders curled in. He looked so defeated, despairing. After a deep breath, his gold eyes locked onto me. "I cannot live in hope anymore. His recent behavior has convinced me that his magic has returned in full. And it is probably turning him mad." 

a/n: this chapter did not go the way I expected it to . . . how I had pictured these scenes in my head, doesn't look a thing like it did on paper. so, uhh, here we are, with whatever this chapter turned out to be lol. i do intend on rewriting this book someday - y'know, a decade from now hah. but as it stands now, this is what you've got. i hope it's at least okay for you~ 

hugs and lovin, 

madison :3