Of Werewolves and Curses by Emma Hamm

Chapter 18

Freya made her way back to their room, hoping that Eldridge would be there so she could share everything that happened. Of course, not the conversation with her father. Eldridge still didn’t know she’d found her dad, and that made things even more difficult.

Leo was ashamed to see Cora, and that was an emotion both she and Eldridge could work on. Leo was a decent man. He had grown up in strange circumstances, certainly, but that didn’t mean he was any less worthy of a wife.

At least he’d agreed to send Cora handmaidens. And the more Freya thought about it, the more that sounded like the best plan. Two hundred years alone on an island was bound to make a person a little unusual. It would be easier for Cora to dip her toes back into being around this many people. A few handmaidens would ease her into being around others before she dove headfirst back into the life of the court.

Pushing open the door to their room, Freya thumbed her bottom lip in thought. “Eldridge?” she called out. “I have developments I think you need to hear.”

He was sitting on the corner of the bed, hunched over something he held in his hands. It looked like a child’s keepsake, something he might have found in the library. And if that tiny box held the key to everything, perhaps the reason why Leo had decided to drink his feelings away, then that was the greatest find they’d have.

“What did you get?” she asked, taking a few rapid steps forward.

Eldridge flinched in on himself and pocketed the item. “Nothing.”

“What do you mean, nothing? I just saw you holding it.” She held out her hand, fully expecting him to set whatever magical item he’d found in her palm. “Let me see! Did you find something in the library that might help us?”

“No. I found something that means a lot to me, and me alone.” He furrowed his brows in a glare. “And perhaps to Cora, if I think about it hard enough. She’ll need to see it before you do.”

Why wasn’t he including her in this? Freya thought they had already worked through him, telling her all the things that she needed to know so they could continue working together, and not apart.

Her heart stuttered in her chest. This was an item that meant a lot to both Eldridge and Cora. So it was something from their childhood, but something that Eldridge didn’t want Freya to see. He wanted to share that first with the young woman on the island.

It shouldn’t have stung so much. Freya knew that a childhood friend might reminisce easier than her. And that wasn’t all so surprising. If she’d found a toy that she and the local boys in her village used to play with, she wouldn’t want to talk to Eldridge about it. Such a conversation would feel foolish.

But she still very much wanted to know what it was. She wanted to share her life with Eldridge and every bit of what he’d experienced.

Apparently, he didn’t feel the same.

Licking her lips, she tried to distract herself by telling him what had happened. “I, um... I spoke with Leo.”

“You what?” His shuttered expression narrowed in on her, the sharp focus sending her back a few steps. “What did he say? What did you say?”

Well, now she couldn’t tell him what she’d said. She didn’t want to share those personal feelings in her chest when he was already hiding what was in his pocket from her. Though, apparently, Cora was good enough to know what the item was.

Bristling, Freya ground her teeth together before responding. “It doesn’t matter. The conversation didn’t go as planned. He’s still refusing to see her, but he has agreed to send handmaidens to the island. In the long and short of things, I figured that was best. Then Cora can get used to being around so many people again.”

“That’s genius.” He reached for her and swung her into his arms. Eldridge lifted her into the air by the waist, then tucked her against his heart with a spin. “You are a genius. Yes, that’s what we need. Leo needs to send some people for her to get comfortable, and then with his court returning and speaking of how kind she is, he’ll eventually be tempted enough to return to the isle.”

How kind Cora was?

Yes, Freya knew that was the truth. Of course it was. She needed to step away from all this so she didn’t turn into a green goblin from the jealousy, however.

She knew he didn’t mean to make her jealous. Cora was a dear friend, and that was all. But she still was aching to know what he hid in his pocket, why Cora needed to see it, and why Freya couldn’t.

Freya pulled herself out of his arms and smiled at him, although the expression felt as fragile as a spiderweb. “I didn’t get through the entire faerie realm without learning to keep a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“And don’t I know it. You magical woman.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I’ll go with the handmaidens and Arrow to help prepare Cora for what she should expect. You know the dog is so good at wooing the women. And since you’ve already worn down Leo’s defenses, you can stay here and keep working on convincing him to see Cora. Everything is falling into place.”

Was it?

Freya wanted to argue with him, but Eldridge was already leaving. He strode out of the door while waving his hand over his head.

He called out one final time, “I’ll take care of gathering the handmaidens! We’ll return in a fortnight, my love. Don’t you worry about a thing!”

And then he was gone.

Two weeks.

Two weeks without him, all because she’d told him what had happened between her and Leo.

“Wait, Eldridge, I thought...” He was already out of the room by the time she found her voice. The words fell flat with no one to hear them, and anxiety melted over her entire body in a wave of sudden discomfort.

All she wanted was to feel a little more confident to let him go. And she realized that was a lot to ask. He was a busy man and wanted to get this over with so they could return to his court. Really, she should be thankful that he was here at all. Everyone needed help from the Goblin King. Or at least, she supposed they would. He’d never told her about what he did as the king.

She stared around the empty room and a horrible sense of foreboding shadowed her mind. She was going to be the only person in this room for two weeks. Two weeks of rolling over and reaching for him in bed, finding only the cold, empty space where he once had been. Two weeks of wondering where he was, if he was missing her too, and if maybe he wasn’t.

Heavens above, she was going to lose her mind without him. And that was even more terrifying than knowing he wouldn’t be with her. Since when was she afraid to be alone?

She couldn’t stay in this room and wonder what was going to happen next. She just couldn’t. Freya had to get up and do something, or she would sit here in the shadows and berate herself until the sun set.

So she fled. Her feet took her through the hallways of the palace in a near run. Flower petals fell on top of her head as if the very soul of this castle was trying to make her feel better. All the hydrangeas that grew up the walls glowed brighter blue in the hopes that their pretty colors would make her smile. Instead, all she could feel was a sense of numbing pain that drowned out everything.

She burst out of the castle to a large room that opened up in the center. It was the floating staircase that led to a crumbling part of the castle. The same place where she had first felt something other than hatred for the Goblin King. He’d dressed her up there in a gown the color of the ocean, and he’d made her feel like someone important in his life.

Of course her feet had brought her here. This was where she had felt the closest to the man she loved.

Sighing, Freya strode around the crumbling structure and realized there was already someone here. A dark skinned someone who was tucked into the moss at the base of a half wall with three bottles of wine situated next to him.

The last person she wanted to see was Leo. He was the reason she was here, and they were all in some sense of turmoil. The ridiculous Summer Lord couldn’t pull himself together, and that somehow had translated into her own relationship falling apart.

But those bottles of wine could tempt her. Even a single sip from one of those might make her feel a little better.

“Leo,” she said with a grumble.

“I don’t care to see you again so soon after our last conversation.” He gestured at her with the bottle of wine, swinging it around himself. “You are not my favorite person. If you’re having trouble, you can find somewhere else to mope.”

“I don’t care that you feel that way.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to look anywhere but at him. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t get her anywhere considering they were in a small mossy garden and the only thing in this room was the structure he leaned against. “Besides, I’m trying to hide too.”

“Then get your own castle.” The sound of a deep swig of wine followed his words, then the faintest smack of lips. “I’m trying to drink in peace.”

“Why? Will your own court not even drink with you anymore?” She wouldn’t be surprised. The elves could only condone his behavior for so long before they too would grow weary.

“Something like that.” There was a tone in his voice that made her turn around. A sadness that leached through every word and a self hatred that made her concerned.

Freya looked him over and realized the Summer Lord looked worse than usual. His clothing was rumpled, his pants creased beyond fixing and his shirt hanging ripped over one shoulder. His eyes were bleary, as if he’d already been drinking for far too long.

She heaved a great sigh and walked over to his side. “You know, it doesn’t matter if you want me here or not. I am, and I suppose you’ll just have to deal with that.”

“I wanted to be alone.” He touched the mouth of the bottle to his lips, but this time he didn’t drink. “Privacy is impossible to find in this castle, though.”

“Privacy? As the Summer Lord? That sounds like a novel idea, but a fantasy nonetheless.” Freya wiggled her fingers in front of him, gesturing for him to hand her a bottle. “Give me one.”

“They’re all mine.”

“And yet, you are going to hand me one because I have also had a very difficult day.” And if he didn’t hand her one, she planned on lunging for a bottle and then he’d have to fight her. Considering the state he was in, she thought she had a good chance of beating him.

Leo eyed her and seemed to understand that was the case. He sighed and handed her a bottle. “What happened to you, then?”

“Do you care to hear?” She took a deep drink of the wine and tried very hard not to cough. What was this oil slick fluid? It was disgusting but burned quite satisfyingly on the way down.

“I find that I’m interested.” At the sound of surprise that crossed her lips, Leo looked over at her and shrugged. “I don’t have to wallow in my self pity all the time, you know. Maybe I’ll feel better if I hear someone else struggling as horribly as I am.”

“Struggling?” She wanted to argue that she most certainly wasn’t, but look at where she was.

Freya had wandered through the castle to this forgotten place because she wanted to cry over the memory of what she and Eldridge had once had. Like a sad sap of a person. She took another deep swallow and then nodded.

“I suppose I am,” she muttered.

And that was the worst thing about all of this. She should be able to be fine without him. Eldridge hadn’t come into her life until she was much older, and yes, that was probably a bad thing. She should have gotten married to some lonely farmer who wouldn’t have given her any adventure, but he at least would have left her alone to do whatever she wanted.

Instead, she had to find herself in the faerie realm where she shouldn’t be. No husband. No family that still relied on her. Instead, she was going to wander through this magical world until she died.

“I’m going to be alone forever,” she muttered into the bottle. “Eldridge is leaving with the handmaidens to go back to the isle with Cora. He had something in his hand when I walked into our room. No idea what it was, but he said Cora had to see it.”

“She has that way about her, always has. Even when she was a child, she would end up convincing everyone around us to love her more than anyone else in the room.” He shook his head, eyes still unfocused with the memory. “It was why I fell in love with her back then, you know. She captured my attention just as she did everyone else.”

“I worry that he’s going to be on that island without me and forget. That’s what he said we needed to do with you. Get you to Cora so you would be in her presence and all those emotions would come back.” She swallowed the bitter taste of her fear. “What if two weeks away from me makes him forget how he feels?”

“I never forgot. Not even for a second. I dreamt about her for the first hundred years, and even now I feel like I see her out of the corner of my eye sometimes. You don’t forget someone you truly love.” Leo tightened his hand so much around the neck of the bottle that the glass shattered with a stunning crack.

They both stared at the mess and the blood leaking between his fingers in silence. Freya knew she should jump to help him and insist that he get the cut cleaned. But she stayed frozen, instead.

“We’re both a sad pair,” she muttered. “No one should be able to make us feel like this. Not without our permission, at least.”

“That’s what love does.” Leo dropped the shards in disgust. “It twists your damn mind and convinces you that life isn’t worth living without them. When in reality, we’re better off on our own.”

No, she couldn’t believe that. No matter how badly this stung, she also realized what a blessing it was to have Eldridge in her life.

Reaching forward, she grabbed his hand and dabbed at it with the tails of her shirt. “You don’t actually believe that.”

He looked up at her and the sadness in his gaze made her heart ache. “No, I don’t. I still love her more than life, but that terrifies me.”

She sighed. “Me too. Love is terrifying and wonderful and horrible all at the same time.”

Without hesitation, Leo reached for another bottle and clinked it with hers. “Then I suppose all we can do now is drink.”

“I suppose you’re right.” But it sure would make for a very long night.