Page 52 of Kingdom of Spirits

“Oh, wait.” Tahlia pointed at Marius. “Your hands were dirty after you woke up. Remember?”

“Yes.”

“I bet you returned to the bones while we were sleeping.”

“This damned curse.” Marius stilled. He had spoken of something roughly related to his curse. The curse hadn’t halted his tongue. “I am cursed.” He stared at Tahlia. “I can say it. I am cursed.”

“What do you mean?” Tahlia stepped closer.

He backed up, holding out his hands. “Stay away. If you touch me, you die. Ophelia set this curse on me and I haven’t been able to utter a word about it to you.”

His throat grew dry and tight and his heart pounded heavily in his chest like he was sick, but he was telling her. Finally!

“Marius…” Tahlia’s beautiful eyes glistened and she tilted her head. “I knew you wouldn’t just shut me out for no reason.”

“I didn’t realize this would affect your curse in this way,” Trevain said. “I guess because we are here and removed from theliving world, you are temporarily free of the curse set on you by Katk’s new champion.”

Tahlia faced Trevain. “So Katk is the giant? What doeschampioneven mean?”

“The one who raises him is his champion. Stories say that his champion may ask for one act of dark magic, but then Katk will feed on those with Mistgold blood until he is satiated or until he runs out of victims.”

“That means Ophelia is his champion. But how? The monster was never on Dragon Tail Peak,” Marius said. “We would have heard of that. My family and all of the riders’ families would have been killed by his plague. I wouldn’t be here if he had traveled into our region.”

Trevain continued. “The ritual can most likely work from far away. And the standing stones and their runes keep Katk trapped here. There is some mystery as to how my people persuaded him to sleep again, but it has to do with Mother Twilight.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Tahlia said. “I can only handle so much folklore and reminiscing for one afternoon. First, I want to hear more about Marius’s curse.”

Her gaze shot to his face, and her eyes held so much hope. Gods, he wanted to kiss her senseless. Breathing out, he focused on the problem at hand.

“So Ophelia truly raised the monster with dark magic.” He shook his head. Despite the topic, his face stretched into a smile and the sensation was odd. “It’s wonderful being able to speak about it. The curse held my tongue until now, it seems. But yes, Ophelia was in my rooms when I returned there after hearing about the commander’s death. She rose and touched my mouth with a bloody finger. She said if I touched you, you would die. Much of my time since that moment has been foggy and dreamlike.”

“More like a nightmare.”

“Indeed.”

“So you believe Ophelia had something to do with her father’s death? Like what I was getting at when I found you and spoke to you? Do you even remember that?”

“I don’t remember, but yes I do think she had something to do with the death. The ritual demanded blood and she used his.”

Trevain was nodding. “Katk will be drawn to Ophelia just as you, her victim, are likely drawn to Katk.”

Marius swallowed. His mind whirled with the cascading effects of the new commander of the order being the murderer of the previous. How could she bring herself to kill him? Madness. Such a mad tragedy. “I’m surprised Ragewing permitted this journey. He knew I wasn’t in my right mind.”

“Oh!” Tahlia smacked Marius’s shoulder, her excited eyes changing to show wide-eyed terror.

She dropped back and stared at her fingers, whatever she had been about to say apparently forgotten.

And she had touched him.

“No…” Marius couldn’t breathe. He turned to stare down Trevain. “How will the curse affect her? She only touched my clothing. Does that mean nothing will happen?” And that the love of his life wouldn’t die before his eyes? “Don’t even try your sarcasm or wry words with me right now, ghost, or I will find a way to end you.”

“Calm yourself, knight. I would do no such thing,” Trevain said to Marius. Then he turned toward Tahlia. “And you seem well enough.”

Trevain appeared completely unruffled, which, of course, ruffled Marius greatly.

Marius eyed Tahlia’s cheeks and bare forearms, watching for signs of anything deathlike. “Come now, spirit! You must know.”

“She would turn to ash most likely. That’s how most curses work, don’t they? How do you feel?” Trevain asked Tahlia.