Curse of Blades (Blades #1)

Chapter 38

[Note: This was originally included in Curse of Blades: Book 3, but as of July 28th, 2021, I began combining the 3 Curse of Blades books into a single one.]

It was late by the time Coulta's spouses returned from the banquet. Exhausted, they all went to their own beds except for Wildas, who slipped into bed with Coulta and almost immediately fell asleep. Coulta was only vaguely aware of this, being mostly asleep himself, but he unconsciously moved closer to his husband.

Sometime later, just before dawn, he awoke from a nightmare in which he watched Teeya slowly starve to death while she screamed at him for abandoning her until she was too weak to do anything but glare. He was powerless to help, unable to pick the lock on her cell for which he could find no key, and discovering that his magic was somehow useless.

Careful not to wake Wildas, he slipped silently from bed and walked to the window. It was open to let in the cool, early summer air, and he leaned against the sill to watch the sky begin to lighten. There was no smoke in the stars tonight; Varin was dead.

Varin is dead.

"What's wrong?" Wildas asked, stepping up behind Coulta and slipping his arms around him.

Coulta turned to face him. "I need to go to Arren."

Wildas let him go, a puzzled look on his face. "Why?"

"I need to know what happened to Teeya."

"I could ask my cousin," Wildas offered. "He reported that most of the staff remained to serve him even when he told them they were all free to leave if they wished to."

"Where else would they go?" Coulta scoffed, stepping away. "None of them knew any other life. He had complete control over them."

"I'm only trying to help," Wildas said calmly.

Coulta took a deep breath and nodded. "I know," he whispered, turning back to Wildas. "But I need to see her. If she's alive, I need to assure her that I never meant to abandon her after all she had done for me." The thought of finding her dead filled him with so much anguish that he didn't even want to speak of the possibility.

"I'm sure she'll understand." Wildas moved close and put his arms around Coulta again. "Just wait two days after the coronation, so you don't look like you're running from court. Rohan and some Guardsmen will have to go with you. And, if she agrees, bring her back here. You said she's a seamstress? We're always in need of more of them here."

Coulta fought the lump in his throat as he nodded. "Thank you."

Wildas kissed him lightly. "Back to bed. There's still a few hours left to sleep, and I plan to use them. I wasn't expecting that banquet to last so long."

Coulta returned the kiss, then followed his husband back to bed.

Coulta woke the morning of the coronation to find Myri standing over him with a handful of herb leaves.

"Now," she threatened, "you can get up and take these herbs in your tea, or I can force them down your throat. Either way, you're not leaving this room without consuming them. It would reflect poorly on me if you collapsed today."

He groaned and sat up, rubbing at his face and marveling at the fact that he still hadn't grown a single hair of stubble since he'd shaved the day before the battle. The marks on his skin really wanted to be seen, apparently. "Tea is preferable," he relented.

Less than an hour later they were all dressed in finer clothes than they had worn even for their wedding, all silk, velvet, and lace. Coulta felt somewhat uncomfortable, despite the fact that his outfit was, thankfully, black and shimmering silver. The silk cloak he had to wear was too much for the already humid weather, and Anil had ordered him to keep his hair down, making it even hotter – and they hadn't even left their rooms yet. For the first time he wondered if he would eventually faint like everyone seemed to fear he would.