A Curse and A Kiss - Volume 1

2

Verina theatrically raised an eyebrow.

Curses and magical illnesses were not exactly her main field of expertise, but she had read an incalculable number of books and treaties on the subject. Ordinarily, she would probably dismiss such a bold claim as the natural apprehension of a father towards a common ailment, but...

...she couldn't ignore the malevolence that apparently kind and courteous girl emanated.

«...tell me more.»

«You see... there's no other explanation! It has been... Two weeks, I recall. Objects fly above the ground, glasses and windows shatter... She has had fevers each night, completely recovering during the morning and falling ill again at dusk...»

The shaky voice of the King expressed his desperation quite intensely. Kara continued «Sometimes, during the day, I feel my skin burning, but... there's nothing there... water, ice, ointments, they don't work. The sensation goes away just as suddenly as it came.»

Verina inspected the girl from head to toe with curiosity. She murmured something, covering her mouth with one hand: the other two couldn't really guess what she was thinking or muttering.
The witch made three steps forward, ending really close to Kara; so close that, in such a tense and silent situation, she could almost hear her steady breathing. She studied her intently, until her beautiful eyes suddenly widened with surprise.

«Princess Kara...» she finally said, an intense gaze piercing through the young girl like an arrow, «...may we discuss this in private?»

Both King and Princess panicked. Was it so severe? Why require a private consult, leaving the King in the dark?

Kara quickly looked at her father, at her right. He was as clueless. She took a step back, then, adjusting her long dress, replied «Yes, Lady Verina. Let's use my father's office...»

Once entered the room, Kara asked if the other would enjoy some tea. She agreed, and sat on a small, comfortable couch on the right side of the office. While waiting, she carefully observed the maiden: her movements were delicate and calculated, but couldn't completely mask her apprehension. From time to time, she would move a little lock of hazel hair from her ear, and return to her task.

«How old are you, Princess?» Verina asked, mesmerized by the simple beauty of her graceful hands igniting a little fire with an emberock.

«I turned eighteen this summer, milady.» The girl, while waiting for the kettle to finish, joined the guest, sitting on the other side of a small table. «May I ask for your age, Lady Verina? I heard...»

Verina raised a hand, interrupting the sentence. She smiled softly: «I will say, twenty-four and sixty-four. They are both correct; it is a story of little relevance.»

"Six years... is not that much... no, Verina, stop."

Kara's eyes widened, forgetting for a moment fears and worries: «Please, milady! I'd like to know! It sounds like an interesting story!»

«...how can I say 'no', after such an adorable expression?»

Kara flushed red and averted her eyes. She got up and returned to the kettle: the water was already boiling, thanks to the high temperatures of the magical stone. The light whistle conveniently covered the high-pitched sound she was inadvertently making.

«I was... researching ancient artifacts in Shendu, around when I was... Twenty-three, if I recall... and stumbled upon a unique looking-glass, made of black amber.» She was handed the tea, and, thanking her host with a smile and a little bow of her head, took a sip. «They rarely tell you this when they teach you magic, but I've learned that reading out loud carvings in dead languages on rare, long-forgotten paraphernalia assures you disaster.»

Both girls chuckled, trying not to spill their drinks.

«So... that's how I was transported to the Stygian Library. A void dimension outside time and space as we know it containing all lost writings of the world. All of them.»

Kara looked at her in disbelief. It was, after all, a quite bold statement.

«Anyhow...» she drank another bit «I panicked. Trapped in an endless world of darkness with no idea of how to return home. For some time, I didn't even mind the existence of such a magnificent collection: I tried everything I could to escape, to no avail. It was after I noticed that, after countless hours and attempts, I didn't feel nor hunger nor tiredness, that I... reached for those books and started reading them, in hopes of discovering a way to get out.»

She finished the tea, placed her cup down and got up. «When I finally returned to Shendu, I had read every book... and had spent forty years in the darkness.»

Kara opened her mouth, unable to verbalize her thoughts. After several seconds of confusion, she innocently said:

«...it sounds made up.»

Verina, baffled, felt slightly offended. She lost her composure and stuttered a bit, trying to reply: «I-I'm telling the truth, Princess! We had a feast for my return, all nobility was there, your father too! Didn't he tell you?»

«He told me the Violet Sorceress disappeared for decades and just... reappeared one day, last year. I don't know much about you, Lady Verina, except the stories about the Chrome Dragons...»

She was speechless. This whole conversation had a heavy toll on her already slim tolerance for social interactions. She walked around the room fidgeting; the princess got up and, preoccupied, asked «Did I... offend you, Lady Verina?»

The witch could feel the remorse in her voice, but didn't dare to look at her directly. She replied in her general direction with a fake «Not at all» and moved on.

She went back to wander the office, tapping random objects with her fingers, unable to start conversation anew. Because, if they wanted to get to the bottom of it, and find the answer to the mysterious events they were talking about...

«Princess...» she said, looking at a paper-knife on the King's desk «...I would need you to get undressed.»

The silence that followed made Verina feel sick. She could feel her veins pumping, her heart pounding in her ears. "Focus, my dear, you have to look at the patient. You need to check what you glimpsed before. It's just for science. Science."

«I... I will do you no harm, Princess, I promise. I need to verify a hypothesis, I have no ill intent!»

Kara shyly agreed, and started undoing the laces of her dress. Verina was avoiding with great difficulty to look at her naked figure, even though she knew in a few moments it would be the case regardless. She heard the young girl laugh lightly, as she said «You know, women don't usually feel the need to specify such a thing. I've been visited by many female physicians, in my life, and these weeks, but you... Peculiar, eheh...»

Verina bit her lower lip too hard, making it bleed a little. The panic in her was greater than before meeting that girl, when she thought a great battle for her life was about to ensue. The sentence "I want to disappear..." briefly crossed her mind, but she restrained herself from actually pursuing such an action.

«I'm... done.»

Verina took a deep breath, and walked up to her.

Her best effort to stay calm failed: she was really too magnificent for mortal eyes, she thought. Kara's petite figure, covered in the important places by her careful hands, seemed to shine in the magical lights of the room. She hadn't felt attraction towards another person for so many years... why now, of all times?

Verina wasn't probably aware of the expression on her face, or else that desire for oblivion would have come back much, much stronger. Kara, on the other hand, was unsure if to gaze at her hilarious look, or to avoid eye contact. She wasn't as embarrassed as before. "This is... nice?" she thought for a moment, "Such a beautiful woman... looking me like that..."

Lost in thought, she was suddenly startled when Verina reached her, asking with now a serious, imperative tone: «Turn around.» The witch had seen it again, a fugacious shadow on her shoulder.

The princess readily complied, scared.

On her slender back, inside her pale skin, was a dark trail of scales, moving frantically like trapped snakes.