Thea's Tale (Sisters Of The Curse Book 1) (34 page)

As the day passed into night, everyone sat in the solarium, eating and talking. By silent agreement, they talked of light subjects, of times when Casimir was fostering. Surprisingly, there was a great deal of laughter. The main door opened, and Aland slipped in.

“I would have been here earlier, but I had business to attend to.”

“Father, what about dinner?” Thea stood and walked to him, Casimir at her side.

“I let it be known that we would not be dining in the hall out of respect for Casimir. I am sorry, young man,” he said, putting an arm on Casimir’s shoulder. “I don’t see a way out of this.”

“I understand. My father will as well. He won’t be happy, but he and I discussed this possibility.”

Aland didn’t speak. Thea thought he might not be able to. Casimir was such a good man. This is the man who should have ruled with her.

“My dear, how fortunate that we have just sat down to have something to eat,” Ceridwen said to him, drawing him over to a chair. She brought him a selection of meats and cheese and sat next to him.

In spite of the coming day, they all sat together. Finally, Aland stood. “I must go. But you will remain here. You,” he said to Casimir, “Will say goodnight, and go to your room. I will give you a quarter of an hour to say your goodbyes. I will instruct the guards to join you after that.” He kissed Ceridwen and looked at all his daughters.

To Thea, he looked as though he was holding back tears. He then hurried from the room.

Ceridwen stood. “Ladies, we shall retire. Casimir, bless you.” She walked into the sleeping chamber, the princesses following.

Thea was left alone with Casimir.

“We have a quarter of an hour,” she said.

He took her hand and practically ran to his room. Wrenching open the door with his free hand, he dragged her inside and shut the door behind her.

Without words, he pinned her to the door with his body. He was looking into her eyes as he leaned down and kissed her.

Every other kiss he’d given her paled. In this she felt all that he’d wanted for them. All the love that he’d not been able to express. She felt his want and his need, and she put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

As in the stairwell, he lifted her up, balancing her against the wall. He kissed down her neck and onto her collarbone.

Suddenly, he buried his head into her shoulder, breathing heavily. “I need your strength tomorrow, Thea.”

“Whatever you need, you have it from me, my love.”

“I’m afraid I’ll lose nerve at the last moment. Will you look at me until the end?” He lifted his head and she could see that he had tears in his eyes.

“I will. Let that be the last thing you see. My eyes, filled with my love for you.”

He kissed her again, but gently this time. The tears fell from his eyes, and hers mingled with him. Too soon, there was a soft knock at the door.

Casimir opened it. Ceridwen stood outside. Thea could see that she’d been crying. “Thea, it’s time.”

Casimir took her hand and stepped outside. He bent over Thea’s hand, lingering. A soft brush of his lips, and he stood up. “I shall love you always.”

Thea couldn’t speak. She touched her lips with her fingers, and ran to the bed chamber. Flinging her clothes to the floor, she got into bed and pulled the pillow over her head, and allowed her heart to break.

***

When she opened her eyes, they felt swollen. She ran her fingers around them. They were. Casimir was to die tomorrow, and she and her sisters still had to get up and dance. Well, let’s see if they could break the curse tonight. Unlike the previous three nights, she’d not had to add anything to Casimir’s drink. There was no potion left.

She kicked the bed where her mother slept. Ceridwen didn’t stir. She stormed over to where the lady-in-waiting sat in her chair. She shook the chair. The lady nearly fell out. Thea caught her and set her back up as best she could.

Thea then went to the room where Casimir slept. As she opened the door, she felt someone behind her. It was Adelaide. Together, they walked into the room.

Casimir looked peaceful. Thea kicked the bed as hard as she could; he didn’t move. She shook his arm. His head just moved back and forth, but his eyes never opened.

She said his name, over and over, and as the tears started again, she let them fall onto his face. Finally, she stopped speaking. Leaned over, and kissed his lips for the last time.

Adelaide took her arm. “We must go.” She led Thea to the door. Thea couldn’t take her eyes from Casimir.

“Oh, my love.” She whispered.

Adelaide closed the door. “We must go. I’m sorry.”

Thea got ready, not really paying attention to what she wore or what she looked like. As they walked down the stairs, she stumbled, not paying attention.

She stared off into space as Roderick met her, as he did each night, and helped her into the boat. She let him lead her into the castle, and she danced with him. When she did notice him, she saw that he didn’t really even pay much attention to the fact that she wasn’t speaking.

Catrin didn’t make an appearance that night either. She’d been hoping, on one of these nights, to see her. But Catrin had not appeared since she’d come to Thea’s dream and told her to use the potion.

Finally, the night ended. Thea fell into bed fully clothed, not caring who might see. She woke when the maid woke Esmay.

Unlike last night, she took care with her appearance. She put on her best dress and some of her most elaborate jewelry. She dabbed her face with cool water to ease the swelling, and decided that even though she was very pale, she would not disgrace herself or Casimir.

She walked with her family to the courtyard. As before, the scaffold was set up in front of the grandstand box. The Privy Council and Sebastian were already there. Sebastian was managing to look solemn, but just barely. Thea turned from him. She would not sully this day by worrying over him.

They took their seats, and then Casimir came out, surrounded by guards as Ulric had been. Like Thea, he had also dressed in his best. He looked even more beautiful than normal.

From the moment he had been brought into the courtyard, he met Thea’s eyes. She did not look away. As he was led up to the scaffold and up the steps, he was forced to look at something other than her.

The moment he stepped onto the scaffold, he turned around, and found Thea again. A priest hurried towards him, but he waved him away. The guards stepped back, and still looking at Thea, he moved behind the stone.

As before, there was a crowd. They were so silent, however, that Thea barely noticed them. She paid attention to nothing but Casimir. She didn’t smile, but she let her love for him show in a way she’d not been able to do before. She knew she exposed herself, and she didn’t care.

Casimir spoke to the executioner, and handed something to him. The executioner tucked it into his belt and stepped back.

In ringing tones, Casimir said, “I do not regret that I give my life today. I would do it again.” He looked at Thea, and held two fingers to his lips.

“Those whom I love, I love always.” He kept looking at Thea. She could hear some of her sisters start to cry.

As he knelt down next to the block, Thea knew that life would never, ever be the same again.

***

Casimir laid his head on the block. He couldn’t look at Thea any longer. The tears he saw streaming down her face threatened to unman him. While he still struggled with the idea that he really was going to die, he didn’t want to be unmanly, to disgrace himself, his father, his country…and her.

He couldn’t help it—he opened his eyes to look at her once more. Unwittingly, his lips curved into a smile. Even with her crying, she was so beautiful, dark hair, fair skin and dark eyes. Those eyes were the last thing he wanted to see, wanted to remember. She never looked away from him, never wavered. She’d promised. He smiled at her. Like it or not, here he was.

He was ready. The axe blade fell.

Epilogue

The old woman stood at the edges of the crowd brushing at her eyes with a brown and wrinkled hand. “Stupid,” she muttered. “Stupid.” She swiped at her cheek and patted the donkey that stood next to her, hitched to a small cart. “Well, we need to move now, Constantine. We’ll need to be swift.”

She took up the lead, and began to move closer to the scaffold. The crowd hadn’t recovered from seeing the end of such a well-liked prince. The woman glanced up at the grandstand box. The royal family sat at the rail. The king stone-faced, the queen dabbing at her eyes. All the princesses crying. Most tried to be discreet.

Except Thea, the eldest. She leaned forward on the rail of the box, fixed on the place where Casimir had been. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed.

Thea put her head down on the rail and her shoulders shook with the force of her crying. The woman raised a brow. This was not usual behavior from a royal.

“If you’d really loved him, you’d have kept him away,” she muttered to herself, turning away from the distraught princess. “You didn’t though, did you?”

After pushing through the crowds, she finally was able to draw her cart next to the scaffold. She could see that the guards and the executioner were getting uncomfortable. The royal family was still here. No one could see to the body until the royals left. “Always making problems,” she said. No one heard her. That didn’t bother her. She didn’t need to hear someone answer her.

Finally, the king and queen stood. The woman watched them, spitting the foul taste in her mouth onto the ground. The princesses followed suit, and the family filed out of the box.

As soon as the family got a little distance away, those around the scaffold sprang into action.

“Didn’t think he was ever going to leave,” the woman heard the executioner say. “Stay long enough, things start to turn.”

Hearing that, the woman moved forward. “’Ere now,” she said, sounding suddenly more ancient. “I’m here to bring ‘em to the king’s transport.”

The executioner and the two guards who were standing next to him looked down at her.

“We didn’t get instructions for that.”

“You want to go and ask the king?” She asked. “Right. I’ll wait. He’s going to get ripe, but I already been paid. Go on.” She waved a hand, and leaned against the donkey, pulling a pipe from the folds of her dress. She stuck the pipe in her mouth and looked around. “Where’s a fire? Need a light.”

The guards and the executioner looked at one another. “You have something from King Markellus or King Aland?”

“Course I do.” The woman squinted up at him. She slowly pulled a cracked leather pouch from a belt on her waist. Opening the drawstrings, she pulled out a rolled piece of parchment. “Here. I need it back, though.” She held it up.

One of the guards took it and opened it. All three men leaned in to read it. Once they were done, the first guard rolled it back up and handed it to the woman.

“It’s got the king’s seal on it.”

“Well, good enough for me. You have something to wrap him in?” The second guard asked the woman.

“Yes. He ain’t a side of beef.” She sounded indignant. Walking around to the cart, she took out a bundle of linen sheets, and walked up the steps of the scaffold. “I’ll do it. I know the family. I’ll just need you lot to lift him in—and gently!” She glared at the three men.

She shook out one of the sheets, laying it flat on the scaffold. “Now carefully lift up the body.”

The executioner gestured to the guards impatiently. The woman watched him, chewing on her pipe. “Careful.”

“We know how to do our job, woman,” the guard grumbled. They picked up Casimir’s body, and carefully laid it onto the sheet.

“Now his head.”

The guard closest to the stone moved around and picked up the basket. “It’s a bit messy.”

The woman shrugged. “No matter. Got extra sheets.” She opened up several, but only half way. “Put it there.”

The guard lowered the basket and hesitated before reaching in.

“Fool!” The old woman spat around her pipe. “Move. I’ll do it.”

The guard retreated, his whole being radiating relief.

The woman reached into the basket with both hands, and slowly lifted up the head. “You poor soul,” she said softly, placing the head on the folded sheets. Once she’d set it down, she wrapped the ends of the sheets around it quickly. “Now take him and put him in the wagon.” Her tone was sharp, crisper than before.

The two guards lifted the body and navigated the small stairs, putting the body into the wagon. The woman followed them, wrapping more sheets around the body, and then putting the head next to.

“Better you than me,” one of the guards said with a grimace.

“It’s an honor to bring those we love to their resting place.” The woman gave him a hard stare.

He said something in return, but she’d already taken the lead and walked away with the donkey and cart. She chewed on her pipe, muttering unintelligible words as she walked to the gates that led out of the courtyard and away from the castle.

Once past the portcullis, she took the pipe out and tucked it away. She stopped and walked back to the wagon. “What am I going to do with you, Casimir? If I fix you, you’ll just run back to her. She’s not worth it, and I don’t want to see all my good work go to waste. Well, let’s see what we can do with you.” She reached into the cart and patted the body.

***

Casimir could not remember a time when he felt more uncomfortable. He felt strange, more so than he’d ever felt before. Nothing felt right. He felt as though he wasn’t…working, that his body would not, could not, work.

He struggled to open his eyes. When he did, he closed them again quickly. The light blinded him. All white, and he could make out nothing, couldn’t focus. His head felt as though it was bouncing along a rutted farm lane.

“Casimir, you poor, stupid, foolish boy. Why did you do this? Why?” It was a woman’s voice, but not one he recognized. She sounded like she wept. “I tried to save you, but you would not be stopped. You rushed right to your doom. And for what? Thea? She was never worthy of you. Now look at you! You’re a mess.”

Thea! Where was she? He remembered suddenly. He’d been looking at her and thinking he’d never seen her so beautiful. In spite of the people around him, and all the noise they were making, he’d focused on her. Her face, her eyes. The eyes that glittered like a handful of diamonds. She always was the most beautiful girl he’d ever known.

He tried to move his head, and found that he couldn’t. Like before, nothing worked.
Where am I?

“You’re dead, dimwit. You went and got yourself killed. And now I shall have to work very hard to reverse that. I should just let you be, but I can’t.”

He wanted badly to see who it was who spoke.

As though she’d read this thoughts again, she said, “I am Catrin.”