The Heir Of Dreams And Curses

Where everything goes terribly wrong

The morning after, Edgar explained to me in detail why he asked for me to dream about our first meeting. 

"Everything that happened after," he said. "Happened for a reason. Me asking to stay in the same room as you. Suggesting you to mark us with the blood bond. It was because I liked you."

I was speechless. I hadn't expected Edgar's love to have been one at first sight. In a way, however, it had been the same way for me.

"Why did you like me?" I blurted out before I realised what I was saying.

"I've been wondering the same thing too, about myself."

"Are you for real, Wollstonecraft?" I replied. "You're smart, curious, humble, creative... How do you read so many books and know so many words? Being inside your mind, I was impressed!"

"If you were ever in my mind," I added. "You'd be disappointed. My thoughts are mostly about what I'm going to eat for dinner."

Our conversation was stopped by the knight, who came in to check on us.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked me.

"Of course," I replied. "I was Edgar for a while. Well, to be honest, I was inside, in his... I'm sorry, it came out wrong. I was in his mind..."

Nia looked nauseated. "I do not want to know."

"Let's go practise in the hall of the castle" I suggested.

Edgar and I liked to do our spells in the hall because it was the biggest room in the castle, and the most comfortable.

Also, I wouldn't say it out loud, but I found it creepy that the Summers were considered royals in this kingdom. I didn't want to see the palace, and risk seeing proves that it had been inhabited by family generations before.

"I'm sorry about the way I treated you," I told Nia honestly once we made our way in the hall. "I didn't want to act entitled."

"Don't take it personally," Edgar told her. "He's just lazy."

I gave him the stink eye.

"Well, we've established that the first time we met," I admitted.

"You can tell me all about it while I check how your magic is doing," Nia told me.

"Don't worry," Edgar said. "I've been checked on before. It's not painful."

I wanted to protest --- I had no idea Nia was an Enlightener, so it must have been Edgar's idea to run a check on me. But Nia made me lie down and lifted her hands about two inches away from my body. Then, she moved them so that she could cover the whole shape of my body without touching me.

"Well, now I'm embarrassed," I said.

"Don't make me lose focus," Nia replied. Then, she put her arms back on the sides of her body. She had a pained expression on her face.

"What do you sense?" Edgar asked.

"Ryan's magic... is weird," she frowned.

"Are you sure it isn't because he's a hybrid?" Edgar pointed out.

She shook her head. "There aren't hybrids in this world, but I have studied the source of energy of all the creatures. Whatever is happening inside of the Prince is.... well, it looks dangerous."

"Dangerous?" I asked.

"I don't know how else to put it. I sense there is a force inside you. It's an alien force, meaning it shouldn't be inside your body. It's boosting your spells, making you become stronger. But, at the same time, it's consuming you from the inside. Like a parasite."