Chapter 90

FELIX

All of our intel suggested that Charles was planning to attack soon, although we still could not get a clear reading on the actual location of his army. The lack of information over his movements was deeply frustrating, but there was nothing we could do besides train and prepare.

And train we did.

Our own army was growing–the members of the war council had gladly volunteered their own services, as well as the armies from their own kingdoms. We had thousands of soldiers now in Fresonia, preparing for the oncoming battles ahead.

I trained every day with the best Fresonian knights, alongside Albert and the others. Prince Orlando of Prazole was a skilled boxer, and gladly taught the rest of us a few skills when it came to hand-to-hand combat.

“You will not always have a sword or a dragon,” Orlando pointed out. “So you must be able to fight in any circumstance, with or without weapons.”

Most importantly, I ran through combat sequences in the sky with Ignatius for hours every day. It was exhausting, but both of us needed to be in top shape in order to win this war.

And then there was, of course, the matter of the curse.

My left hand was completely paralyzed when I awoke every morning. Mila and I had both learned some physical therapy exercises to help get some feeling back before training, but the threat of my demise was very much real–and very much looming.

At least I had Mila.

My wife was a godsend. She dedicated every second of her free time to helping me through my temporary paralysis, frequently paying visits to Esmeralda in the library to lend her services to finding a cure, and taking tea with my mother every day to comfort her. My parents were still on edge, and I knew that deep down, they were terrified of losing both their sons in the span of a few months.

I was barely sleeping anymore. Thoughts of the war and the curse kept me up at night. Thankfully, Mila had returned to the kitchens, both at her restaurant and in the castle itself, and was constantly brewing teas and variations on warm milks to help me get at least a little rest. I could see concern knit itself across her brow every time she looked at me, but at least our marriage was on solid ground again.

I could not bear to lose her again.

One night, after a few hours of conversation and making love, I held Mila in my arms as I laid awake and stared at the ceiling.

“Mila?” I whispered, unsure if she was awake. “Are you asleep yet?”

There was no response aside from heavy breathing. I tightened my grip on her and went back to staring.

“I’m afraid, Mila,” I admitted in a hushed tone. “I’m terrified.”

She still said nothing, but in her sleep, she snuggled even closer to me. My heart nearly broke.

I could not mess this up again. I had to fix it–fix everything–to make the world a better place for her.

MILA

I had begun to dream.

I had never been someone with particularly detailed or memorable dreams–most of the time, I barely even dreamt at night at all. But recently, my dreams were becoming more vivid and frequent than ever.

It was odd, though. My dreams did not feel quite like dreams, rather, like pieces of memories I had no recollection of. I wasn’t sure if I was just spending too much time around magic books that the enchantments were somehow seeping into my subconscious, but the images felt… strange.

Most of the time, I dreamt of Felix. Although it was not quite Felix–his hair was a bit longer, and he wore old-fashioned clothing, things that would have been in style centuries ago. He spoke strangely, too, in jilted and uncanny speech patterns. I could never quite make out the words, but he always looked at me with love in his eyes.

I sometimes dreamed of looking down at my own hands and seeing swirling tattoos printed there, like the ones on Esmeralda’s hands. But that was impossible–those sorts of tattoos were only imprinted by magic.

After awakening one morning after another such dream, I decided to ask Esmeralda.

I made my way down to the library, as usual. It was where I spent a majority of my mornings, paging through ancient texts alongside the witch. Every day without an answer was like a knife in the heart.

Esmeralda was already waiting in the royal library as I approached. I smiled gently as I approached. I knew the last few weeks had been as stressful on her as it had been on the rest of us. Esmeralda hated being wrong.

“Good morning, Mila,” she greeted me. “I’ve gotten some books on ancient curses from the library of the South Smyth Islands today, and I thought we could start by looking through those.”

I nodded in agreement. “It was kind of Prince Albert to lend us some resources.”

“It’s in everyone’s best interest to stop this curse as soon as possible,” Esmeralda said tensely.

I settled down in a chair across from her to work. “Can I ask you something?”

Esmeralda glanced up at me. “Of course.”

“I’ve been having some odd dreams lately,” I said, struggling to find the right words. “But they don’t exactly feel like dreams, if that makes sense.”

Esmeralda chuckled. “Not quite, but tell me more.”

“It’s like they’re memories, not not quite memories,” I explained. “I keep seeing Felix, but it’s not Felix. It’s like another version of him. I don’t quite know how to describe it.”

Esmeralda tilted her head. “Do I have permission to see these images for myself?”

I froze, taken aback. “What, like read my mind?”

“In a way,” Esmeralda said. “It would be like you projecting those images onto a screen for me to see, but just in a mental sense, not physical. I wouldn’t see anything beyond that what you’d want me to see.”

She was a great witch, indeed.

“Sure,” I agreed tentatively. “It might help me figure out what’s going on. It’s all just very odd.”

Esmeralda smiled crookedly. “Go ahead, dear.”

I closed my eyes and concentrated on those images of Felix from my dreams, with his odd clothes and strange manner of speaking. I even tried to recall the garbled language he had been speaking.

I heard a sharp gasp and opened my eyes.

To my shock, Esmeralda had gone white as a sheet. I had never seen the witch look terrified, and that was enough to completely set me on edge.

“What is it?” I asked, frantic. “What’s wrong?”

“I must go,” Esmeralda said, clambering to her feet. “I must retire to my chambers.”

She practically ran from the room.

“Esmeralda!” I shouted after her. “Is something wrong with me?”

But she was long gone.

I looked down at my hands. Clean, smooth, free of tattoos. I knew in that moment that I couldn’t tell Felix about this interaction–I could not add another burden to his plate.

I hated the idea of keeping a secret of my own after all the issues we had just resolved, but unfortunately, I didn’t see another path forward.

And truth be told, having a secret of my own felt like power. And I wasn’t ready yet to give up that power.

I would find a way to break Felix’s curse, and solve the mysteries of my dreams. Perhaps they were even connected.

After all, Esmeralda had reacted so strongly to the images that there must be more there. What was going on with my dreams?

Why were they making the greatest witch alive so scared?