Cursed With You

Ferula

Ferula didn't want to admit it, but she was glad that Vazas was still alive. Not only because she needed his help, but because she cared for the old man. Part of her felt guilty that she hardly ever visited him. From the time Vazas had declared her studies and training as a dark wizard complete, Ferula had visited him only once. That had been a dozen years ago.

When Ferula first came to Vazas, he was already an old man and no longer accepted new disciples. But she didn't like being rejected, and she had nowhere to go. She had sacrificed her cousin to the God of Death, and her parents had disowned her. Ferula could have learned magic on her own, but as someone who grew up in a family of wizards, she understood that new, undirected magic could be a weapon against oneself. She needed a mentor, and she had heard that those who took Vazas as a mentor had become powerful dark wizards, hard to defeat. So Ferula went to him. When he refused her, she slept on his terrace. Despite being kicked out many times, she still came. She kept coming back, even after Vazas attacked her, until she got hurt.

Realizing that he was dealing with a stubborn and unyielding fifteen-year-old girl, Vazas had no choice but to accept her as a disciple on one condition. She had to parry his attacks. Ferula's spirit grew, and she practiced hard from morning to night. It took five days before she could parry his attacks. After that, he allowed her to stay in his house. Ferula was Vazas' last disciple, and their relationship grew beyond mentor and disciple to grandfather and grandchild.

Ferula promised him that if she brought back Queen Jacina, she would ask the queen for permission to borrow the portal once a week to visit him.

Back at the Slorista Palace, Ferula asked Osric and Thomasina to prepare breakfast for her and Raffin.

"I have no appetite," the prince refused.

"The soul-splitting ritual will take a lot of our energy," Ferula warned. "If you don't eat, there's little chance you'll be able to keep your soul."

He complied. From the first time she met Raffin, Ferula knew the boy was predictable. Unlike his eldest brother, who always remained a bit of a mystery.

Twenty years ago, Ferula came to the capital of Ostelux, determined to free Queen Jacina. She was young then, and hadn't yet learned the value of patience, so she took the fastest way. She applied to be a servant and stole the chance to get close to Ames, the eldest prince. She charmed him and it worked. The next plan was to get the Crown Prince to release Queen Jacina, and that was the hard part.

The spell Ferula used to charm him was not stable, so Ferula could not control it. Ames' attention was only on Ferula. The prince was mad about her. He was still sane enough to hide their relationship, but when they were alone, he was a sweet romantic. Ferula's young soul couldn't help but fall in love with the prince, even though she knew Ames was under her spell. Ferula realized that her feelings for Ames were distracting her. So, she broke the spell that had taken hold of him. When he regained his senses, Ames was furious and ordered Ferula arrested. The king sentenced her to death, but Uxar suggested something else. The Grand Wizard believed her actions were based on excessive admiration for the Crown Prince, and that she meant no harm. In the end, the king pardoned her on the condition that she had never set foot within the city walls.

With no coins, no place to stay, and no new plan to free Queen Jacina, Ferula went to Zutaz. She was a dark, curse-selling wizard who lived in the forest, far from the city walls. Ferula offered to be her assistant. But Zutaz refused because she already had one. Unhappy with the rejection, Ferula killed the assistant and Zutaz accepted her.

She learned a lot about curses from Zutaz, more than Vazas ever taught her. She remembered her parents telling her that Queen Jacina had a magic storeroom where she kept all kinds of magic items, from low power to high power. Among those magic items, there must be something that could break curses. At least natural curses, because curses on humans were unbreakable. From then on, Ferula collected curses and made many plans. To achieve her goal, Ferula had to travel until she found the right curse. Of course, Zutaz forbade it.