The Royal Curse

Seven - North and South Do Not Match

Kace Holland

The faint lights of dawn showered through the archive windows. I could barely hold my sinking eyes opened. Shutting the final box, I slid it back into its place and blew out the candle.

I stayed up for hours looking through these stupid boxes and found absolutely nothing. Lord Astley was surprisingly good at hiding his family's information. Maybe I shouldn't have assumed he was a sloth.

"Did you find anything?" Avaloryn asked, coming around from her section of the library.

Shaking my head, I leaned against the wall and pressed my fingers to my temples. Lord Astley... He was a sneaky bastard for making me meet with Rafe.

He wanted to play dirty. "Tell my guards to find Lord Astley and invite him to my palace for a meeting."

"Kace, this is hardly necessary."

"Do not argue with me right now." The more Avaloryn glared at me, the more I wanted to burn this place down. Her constant nagging was reaching a deep nerve and tested my patience.

Avaloryn scoffed, yanking a book from a desk. "Oh, by the way, you're pathetic for yelling at Princess Senna."

"She was out of line for weeks."

"She helped you," she muttered, now standing in front of me. "You wouldn't be thinking like this if it weren't for your father."

"You wouldn't be talking to me in that tone after hiding the fact my brother was alive for two years, Avaloryn. Let's not pretend like you're important to my decisions now."

Avaloryn furrowed her brows. Her pale face easily reddened as she said, "I had to protect Nick and you know it."

It didn't soften the blow, though. When Avaloryn came crawling back to the palace weeks ago, I almost had my guards throw her out. Had it not been for the stupid Amulet of Torth, I would've had her killed on the foyer.

"Believe whatever you want to," Avaloryn whispered as she turned and left the library.

With a sigh, I propped my head on my palms. Maybe I was lonely. Maybe I was helpless. Honestly, it was my fault for thinking anyone in this pathetic place could help me. They caused this. They couldn't fix this.

The right side of my body tightened. Before it could get worse, I popped my pill and sat straight.

Maybe Princess Senna was right that I was a broken boy. I wasn't poor; I had loads of money. 'Broken' was the right word to describe my head.

My thoughts have been swarmed by that insufferable woman since the day I saw her. Her sharp words, her careful demeanor, her sneakiness. She was the pinnacle of untrustworthy. Not to mention completely erratic and out of line entirely.

My heart pounded feverishly just thinking about that vixen. I needed her to stay away from me and my plans, and yet she muzzled her way into every. Single. One. God, as if Odaya wasn't bad enough, Princess Senna has managed to completely flip all of my planning and shred them.

Palms sweaty, I made my way through the corridors of the palace. Nothing was worse than someone who got in my way.

The guards who nodded their heads in my direction received a glare from me. Apparently a prince roaming around at dawn was an unusual sight for them, because they kept staring at me as I rounded the corridor.