The Prince Of Curses h.s.

Eight

Pain, death, betrayal.

I gasped for air, shooting upright. My eyes were blurry as I blinked a few times, looking at my surroundings. I was in my bedroom, in the castle, tucked snuggly under the blankets of my bed. The room was semi-dark making me conclude that it was still night out.

I blinked again, my vision slowly starting to come to me. Soft orange light danced in the corner of the room, catching my eye. Harry was sitting in a chair, staring at me. A candle was lit on the table beside him, dimly illuminating his features.

"Nuray," he said, standing from his position. I think that's the first time I've ever heard him say my actual name and not refer to me as witch.

I groaned as a throbbing headache began pulsing itself into my head. "What happened?"

He walked slowly to my bed, taking a seat on the edge of the opposite side. "You fainted."

"How did I get here?" I asked.

"I had some guards bring you up after you fell." He said as his green eyes gazed at me, the same green eyes I watched turn black.

"And why are you here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. This is the first time he's ever been in my room and it felt odd having him be in here. How long has he been waiting for me to wake up?

He let out a dark chuckle, "So many questions for a nosy little witch."

I eyed him, not understanding why he couldn't be like any other normal person and just answer my question.

"I stayed to make sure you woke up, hoping that old witch spirits didn't put the only person who can break my curse into a coma," he said like it was obvious.

I groaned again, rubbing my hand over my forehead and then tucking my hair behind my ear. Of course, he was more concerned about himself than my well-being.

"Why did that happen? Why are spirits connected to that statue?"

Harry shrugged, "Witches have powerful souls, even in the afterlife, if they wanted to project something to you then they'll find a way to do so."

"Makes sense," I shrugged.

Did it completely make sense?—No.

Before coming here I had no clue that any of this existed: witches, spirits, magic. All I could think about was the vision of Harry's green eyes turning black and all the emotions that I was forced to feel.

"What did you see?" Harry said, pulling me from my thoughts. It was almost hard to look at him after seeing him so... demonic.

I stayed quiet as he studied my face, not moving from his spot. After a moment he spoke again, "what did you see?"

I saw and felt a million things at once, I wanted to say. But instead, I turned my head, looking down at my hands as I fiddled with the end of the sheet. "Nothing," my voice came out softer than I expected it to.

I felt him shift on the bed. "I can smell the lie rolling off your tongue."

I looked up at him, his jaw was tight and his nostrils flared. I knew lying made him angry, but I didn't want to answer him. How was I supposed to answer a question like that when I didn't even know exactly what I saw?

Instead, I deflect his question, "How is that possible if you have no magic?"

"What did you see, Nuray?" He repeated, ignoring my question completely.

I shrugged, "is it really that important that you need to know?"

Harry let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I have tried to reach witch spirits for centuries, begged them to release my bounds to this place, and yet they have ignored every call I've made to them. So yes, it is important for me to know."

I stayed quiet as he repeated himself again, the tone of his voice heavily coated with annoyance.  "What did you see?"

It doesn't feel nice does it, Harry? To have someone not answer your questions.

A slow smile tugged across my lips as an idea fluttered itself across my brain. "If you answer my question, I'll answer yours."

I watched as he glared at me. I could tell he was frustrated, but if this was the only way I could get answers from him then so be it. "Sinister little witch," he said through gritted teeth.

Harry reached up to his head, taking his crown off and sitting it in his lap. He ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, pushing stands away from his forehead. "I will accept your offer, but I will not play games with you, Nuray."

"Okay," I nodded.

"In regards to your question, I am magic," he said smugly, running the tip of his finger along the edges of his crown.

Okay, that totally makes sense, thanks for clearing that up.

"I don't understand?" I said confused.

He sighed, rolling his eyes, "Think of it as a root system. You can remove the tree but its roots will still remain buried deep inside the soil. Just because my powers were taken from me doesn't mean I lost all aspects of them. Their foundations still remain at my core. Trust me, what you've seen is just a smidge of what my powers truly are."

Without thinking another question slipped past my lips, "what are you?"

"No, no," he tsked, waving his finger at me. "We had a deal, a question for a question. I answered yours, now answer mine. I will not ask again. So, tell me Nuray, what did you see?"

I sighed and pushed my figures to my temple, rubbing them in slow soft circles. Of course he wasn't going to tell me anything else.

"I felt a million things at once. Sadness, betrayal, despair. I saw blackness and," I stopped and looked down at my hands, "You."

Harry's eyebrows slightly shot up in surprise.

"Your eyes were the darkest color black I have ever seen in my life. You looked like you were made from evil."

"Interesting.." he stated, picking up his crown and placing it back on his head. He pushed it down snuggly, causing his hair to flatten against his skull.

"Why would they show me something like that?"

Harry shrugged, "maybe that's how they view me."

"But it looked so real.." I said softly.

"Are the way spirits view me a concern to you?" He said narrowing his eyes at me.

"I-um..." I stammered, taken back by his question. "No, I suppose not."

"Then what's the problem?" he asked

"I just want to know more, aren't we suppose to be working together? Isn't it best to tell me things so I can understand?"

"You are working for me, witch. Don't get it twisted." He said clipped.

He stood up, walking towards the door. He paused as his fingers brushed the doorknob, looking back to me once more, "we will continue training tomorrow, as of tonight, get some rest."

With that he walked out the door, shutting it behind him.