The Curse Breaker

By April Kelley Jones

Eris's sister is missing and nobody, not even their parents, can remember her, and so magic is definitely to blame! Eris knows only magic can bring her back, but even as a Light magic-born, is she strong enough to find — and save — her sister?

In the capitol city, Prince Knox is cursed to spend his days as a corpse and his nights trying to find the prophesized girl who can break the curse. If he can't find her by his 20th birthday, he'll stay dead forever.

Eris and Knox will discover there are scarier things in their path than curses and half-truths. If the Queen of the Underworld has her way, everything and everyone will die. The only thing standing in her way is the curse breaker, and Eris will have to choose between saving herself or everyone she loves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dingbat Publishing
• Release date: Aug 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393811824

Book preview

Prologue

ROSE’S HAND MOVED WITHOUT her consent towards the prince’s face, but stopped just short of actually touching him. The prince’s face was so beautiful that it almost hurt to look at him. He lay in the center of a large four poster bed draped in deep blue. Rose was trying to remember why she was there, or at least how she had gotten into the castle, but her mind was blank. All she could think about was the beautiful young man lying in front of her.

Was he dead? Tears silently slipped down her cheeks at the thought. He looked dead, but then again the dead weren’t this beautiful. Corpses were cold and stiff, but the prince looked more like he was simply asleep. Except he wasn’t breathing.

The witch had said something important about all of this, Rose thought. The sorceress from the woods. She pulled at the memory until it became clearer. She remembered walking in the woods. She had came upon an old woman. Or had she been young? Everything was so hazy. Rose shook her head, trying to clear out the fog. The sorceress had said something that Rose needed to remember. She closed her eyes to focus, trying to find the rest of the memory.

The sorceress’ voice floated in her mind, saying, If you want to save the prince, all you need to do is watch over his corpse from dusk until dawn. If you can keep his body safe, he’ll come back to life. Be careful not to touch him, dear. You must not touch any part of his skin, otherwise you’ll become like him. When he wakes up, tell him about your sister Eris. He must find her. The sooner, the better.

Looking at him now, she wanted nothing more than to see his eyes when he woke up on the morrow. She wondered what color his eyes would be. Green? Or maybe brown? If only that piece of his hair wasn’t out of place, she could look on him more and think about what color his eyes might be.

Rose’s hand reached out again, this time sweeping a lock of golden hair off the prince’s forehead. Her middle finger brushed against his cold skin. She had expected his skin to be warmer. She wondered again if he was actually dead. Maybe she was dead too, and that was how she had gotten there. A pain shot through her chest.

She reached up to grab the spot that hurt, but her hand stopped halfway as her heart stopped beating altogether and Rose fell to the hard, stone floor.

Chapter 1

Eris

ERIS LET OUT A LOUD sigh as she watched her only sister, Soraya, stuff another shirt into her pack. Eris had tried talking her out of going to Jara City at least a dozen times already. So had their parents, but Soraya wouldn’t listen to any of them.

Soraya reached up and brushed a wall of black hair out of her face before placing her hands on her hips. She looked at the overstuffed pack. I can’t think of anything else I need to take. Can you?

Do you think there’s room in that pack for me? Eris asked, looking at her own hands resting in her lap. I could shrink myself to fit in a pocket. Or maybe you could shrink me. We both know you’re the better magic student. She knew what the answer would be, but asked anyway.

It’s not like I’m doing anything exciting, you know. I’ll be buying fabric with Darren. Plus we both know that if you skip your magic lessons, Papa will give us enough extra readings to bury us for months. No, thanks. Perhaps you should study more while I’m gone, then maybe you can come with me next time. Soraya hefted the pack and sat it down by the bedroom door. I’ll be gone a week to ten days, depending on how much the merchants want to barter. Since I’ll be a newer face, I expect they’ll try to drive a harder bargain. Maybe Darren can teach me how to talk to them on our way there.

Darren, their long-time family friend, had agreed to go with Soraya to smooth over any residual concerns their parents had about their oldest daughter making her first real trek into the capital of Erila. Somehow Darren being older than Soraya by three years meant that he was more versed in the ways of the world in their parents’ eyes. It was no secret that their parents were hoping that their eldest daughter and their favorite boy from the village would decide they liked each other.

Eris knew that appealing further to her parents was pointless. There was no way they would let her tag along, possibly killing any chances at romance.

Usually it was their mother who went to the spring market to buy the fabric they would use throughout the year to make custom dresses for all the local girls and women. But as Soraya had just turned nineteen, and was their mother’s right hand in the dress shop, it was time for her to begin making her own mark in the dressmaking world.

Eris was hopeless with a needle and thread, and was rarely asked to help out. Instead, Eris was encouraged to practice more magic. As if that would make her any better. Magic wasn’t something that came naturally to Eris, the way it had Soraya.

"At least you get to do something. I’ll just be—"

"You’ll just be learning how to use magic properly. Trust me, it’s hard work. If you finally cast a successful water spell by the time I return, I’ll bring you back a present." Soraya winked.

What kind of present? Eris asked, hoping for something exotic and not another magic book. She’d been working on controlling water for weeks now, but not once had she been successful. In fact, the last time she’d attempted a water spell, she had dropped an entire bucket-sized water sphere on Master Garren’s head. As punishment, she had had to copy two dozen pages on the properties of water from her magic books.

Learn how to do that properly, and you’ll find out.

Soraya might as well have told her to sail to the moon and bring back a basket of cheese. Soraya snapped her fingers and the pack buckled itself closed.

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THE NEXT MORNING JUST after sunrise, Eris rubbed sleep from her eyes as her mother gave Soraya a traveler’s blessing. Her mother brought her palms together until they glowed with a dim green light, then she placed a hand on each of Soraya’s shoulders. May the gods watch over you and keep you from harm.

Soraya hugged each of their parents once more, before hugging Eris. Stay out of trouble, E., she said with a wink.

Eris nodded back.

And don’t let Mama cry for too long. She has to finish the dress for Mrs. Galim.

The three of them waved goodbye to Soraya and Darren as they rode off in the horse and cart. Father stroked his beard, looking somewhat lost in thought, while her mother continued to swipe tears off her cheeks.

It’s so hard watching my oldest child wander so far from her home.

She’s not wandering, Mama. She’s going to buy fabric. She’ll be home before we’ve even had a chance to miss her, Eris said, knowing that the next ten days were going to pass by far too slowly for her liking.

Her days would be full of Master Garren’s lectures on proper magic usage to avoid a burnout, while her nights would be full of her father’s incessant questions about the social consequences of an ever-lacking magical and ethical public education system. Soraya would get to eat street foods that Eris had only ever read about, and see all kinds of magical items that came from faraway cities.

The three of them turned to walk back inside, to tidy up the breakfast dishes before their day began. Eris walked up to the doorway and turned for one last look at the fading outline of her sister. She said a silent prayer that Soraya and Darren would be safe on their journey.

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AFTER THE LONGEST MORNING of her life, Eris walked under a wide-open blue sky towards Master Garren’s house. And for a moment she wished that she didn’t have magic at all. On top of her normal school work, she also had lessons with Master Garren three times a week. This left little time for her to gossip with other girls her age in the marketplace or go swimming in the big pond behind Old Turner’s barn. Instead, she often raced from school to Master Garren’s then home to finish her chores. If she slacked off with her chores, her father gave her more reading assignments. And if she didn’t spend enough time practicing spells, then Master Garren would make her weed his garden without magic until her hands cramped.

She spent a lot of time weeding in his garden.

Most people in Erila had magic, but almost none of them had her kind of magic. Both her father and Master Garren lectured her often about the responsibility she had to learn how to control and use her magic appropriately. She often wished that Darren or Soraya had been the ones gifted with Light magic instead of her. Not that magic was all bad. But the price of it seemed too heavy for a seventeen-year-old to pay.

The afternoon had turned hot, and Eris decided to stop under a large maple tree to rest for a moment. The sun shone brightly through the leaves, and she found herself wondering what kinds of things Soraya and Darren were talking about as they walked to Jara City. Darren was laconic at best and Soraya was easily annoyed, so it could be a very long trip for both of them. Eris smiled at the thought of poor Darren having to pacify Soraya’s temper. She was willing to bet that those two would never like one another the way her parents were hoping.

Eris pulled a charm belonging to Soraya from her pocket and fisted her hand around it. She closed her eyes and summoned her magic. It answered readily, bubbling up from her center, and she willed it to surround the charm. She willed it to float up into the air in front of her. Eris opened her eyes and hand at the same time. The charm was surrounded by a white light, which flickered a few times before going out and dropping the charm back into her palm. She sighed and stuffed the charm back in her pocket. If she couldn’t get a tiny charm to float, how was she going to hold onto a bucket full of water?

Master Garren was rocking in a chair on his porch when she finally made it up the path to his house. He lived in a white two-story home with a large, colorful garden that started on the left side of his house and wrapped all the way around to the back. A garden bed full of flowers flowed across the front of his house, and where the flowers ended, a large, green yard spread out from there. Earth magic was like that. A person gifted with Earth magic could create a paradise out of the barest of dirt patches, and Master Garren was no exception.

Took your time getting here today, I see, Master Garren said.

Eris sighed, hoping he wouldn’t make her weed for being a couple of minutes late. Sorry, Master Garren. It’s so hot today that I needed a moment in the shade. Though in reality, it was her somber mood that had made her walk so slowly rather than at her normal brisk pace.

Master Garren nodded. Sounds like this is the perfect opportunity to work on your water magic. He smiled.

Eris sighed. It was going to be a long lesson.

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ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU are trying? Master Garren asked.

Eris was standing beside the large pond in his yard, wrestling a waterball as big as his head. I can’t concentrate if you keep talking to me.

Are you listening to the water closely?

Eris nodded. She was listening, but the waterball was made of so many tiny particles. Each drop had a voice of its own, and none of them were saying the same thing. They all talked at the same time, making it impossible for her to hear any of them.

Water is your element, after all. It shouldn’t be this difficult.

Eris opened her mouth to say something, but dropped the ball of water in the process. Frustrated, she used the back of hand to swipe the sweat off her forehead.

Again, he said.

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ERIS RETURNED HOME well after dark, grateful to have a few moments to herself. Her mother was busy humming in the kitchen, and her father was in his study with the door open, though he was too engrossed in a book to notice her walking by. When she made it to her room, she flopped across the bed face down, exhausted.

The lesson hadn’t gone well with her mind elsewhere. After trying and failing two dozen times, an exasperated Master Garren had dismissed her and begged that she come ready to focus to their next lesson. It was easy for him to say, she thought. He could look at a pile of dirt and a full-grown rose bush would appear. She couldn’t even hold a head-sized water sphere together for longer than two seconds before it sloshed onto the ground, leaving her with a headache. Magic took its toll on the user, and the less expert they were, the more energy they needed to control the magic. It felt as if the entire country of Erila wanted her to remember how inexperienced she was in magic.

Supper, her mother called from the main floor. Eris rolled off the bed and walked downstairs to the dining room.

Dinner was Eris’ favorite, chicken stew. Her mother had cubed the potatoes and carrots in big chunks rather than the usual small bite-sized ones. Good food is a magic all its own, and after a trying afternoon lesson, this was just the thing she needed.

What did you study with Master Garren today? Papa asked.

More water magic, Eris said with a mouth full of potatoes.

Don’t talk with your mouth full, her mother said.

And? Papa prodded.

And I’m still terrible at controlling water. There are too many voices to focus on. I can’t figure out which one to listen to. Because she had Light magic, theoretically she should be able to control all the elements to some degree, whereas other magic-borns were gifted with either Earth or Dark magic and could only control their single element. Though Light magic users were supposed to have a special relationship with water, Eris had never found that to be true. If anything, water seemed to taunt her the most.

You must learn to control your mind first, Eris. Water should be your strongest element, but your control hasn’t progressed past that of a beginner. Perhaps I should give you another book of philosophy to steady your mind.

Wanting to change the subject rather than be lectured again about her unruly mind, she opened her mouth to talk, but closed it quickly again and swallowed the bite of potatoes in her mouth before saying, I wonder how Soraya is doing. She took another large bite. Again, she found herself being slightly jealous that her sister was off having an adventure while she was stuck there getting lectured again about magic.

Eris, Mama said as she took another bite of stew.

Yes, Mama? Mentally she kicked herself, sure that she would be scolded again for talking with her mouth full.

Who is Soraya?

Ha. Very funny. She hasn’t been gone that long. It wasn’t like her mother to make such a joke, but it had been a heavy morning watching Soraya leave home for the first time, so maybe Mama was simply trying to lighten the mood around the table. They had all been unusually quiet that evening.

Dear, I know every girl in town, but I know no one named Soraya. Did she just move in?

Eris looked at Mama, who looked as confused as she felt. Something was off. How could her mama forget who Soraya was? Was her mother sick? She looked to Papa. Why was he also looking at her with that confused look on his face? She set down her spoon and tried to swallow the remaining food in her mouth, but her mouth was suddenly too dry.

Soraya is my sister.

Mama turned to Papa, who shrugged his shoulders. Mama took a deep breath. She set down her spoon, looked Eris right in the eye, and said, Eris, you don’t have a sister.

Chapter 2

Knox

OUT OF HABIT, KNOX attempted to wiggle his toes, though consciously he knew it was pointless. After all, he was still a corpse, at least until sunset. He continued to lie frozen, somewhere between life and death, on his back staring up at the dark blue fabric draped over his four-poster bed, praying the stiffness would fade soon. He wondered if anyone else in Jara City prayed for the darkness of night like he did.

Knox heard a set of feet shuffle across the marble floor, though in his current state the only thing he could move were his eyes. Toran, his head butler, was the only one brave enough to ever enter his room. All the other servants and castle workers avoided him entirely when he was awake. He knew they whispered about him when they thought he wasn’t around, and he didn’t hate them for it. How could they not? His situation wasn’t exactly normal. All the other rulers in Erila were respectable, awake and ruling during the day, whereas for Knox, a single touch was the same as a death sentence.

The deep shadows in the fabric overhead began to disappear one by one as Toran slowly lit candles all around the room. If Knox wasn’t stuck, he could simply wave his hand and will all the candles to light at once. The gift of all Dark magic-born, the ability to control fire.

When the room was finally aglow, Toran approached Knox’s bedside. Sire, the sun will set in approximately half an hour, the older man said in a gentle voice that matched his stature. Tonight’s menu is roasted lamb with garlic potatoes and a squash soup. I’ve brought in several more girls to test. I’ve explained the risks, and they are all adamant to continue with the process. I’ve set your clothes out on the chaise, and I’ve notified the gardener that he is to completely remove Dark Thorn from the greenhouse before the end of the day tomorrow. There are also a dozen petitions that require your immediate attention.

Knox blinked once, signaling he understood, a system they had worked out many years ago.

Is there anything else you require before the sun sets?

Knox blinked twice. Toran bowed and left the room, leaving Knox alone to stew in his thoughts again. The monotony of his life threatened to suffocate him. None of those girls would be the one he was looking for. Just as none of them had been every night for the last ten years. He knew that, but every night the disappointment of not finding her again sank like lead in his stomach. It might not be tonight, he reminded himself, but he would find her eventually. He had to.

Slowly his fingers and toes began to burn with such intensity that he closed his eyes to focus his mind on something other than the pain radiating up his arms and calves. It felt as if the fire he was able to control was trying to burn him alive from the inside out.

The first time he’d turned from a corpse back to the living, he’d been still a boy. The pain was so intense that he’d vomited over and over, until there was nothing left in his stomach. As he’d lain on the floor shaking, he’d prayed that he would never have to live through it again.

The second time, Toran had sat beside him as he wept. But after a month of turning from a corpse to the living and back again, Toran had told him to accept the pain for what it was: a sign that he was still among the living. A sign that he wasn’t completely trapped in death yet.

Now as the pain intensified, he dove deeper into a memory from his childhood. A summer day when both of his parents were still alive. The three of them were smiling as they sat beside a large pond full of swans. Though he couldn’t remember what they had talked about, it was the kind of memory that reminded him he hadn’t always been like this. For at least a few years of his life, he hadn’t been half dead.

He reminded himself to breathe.

Once the burning had ceased and his body was fully functional again, he sat up slowly and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Toran had picked a simple pair of tan pants, a white shirt, a dark blue overcoat, and a pair of white gloves trimmed in dark blue. Knox quietly dressed and headed for the dinning room, ravenous from turning.

After a hearty dinner, he made his way to the main parlor. When he entered, he climbed into the ornate shrouded chair and rang the small bell that sat on the large oak table beside it. Shortly afterwards, Toran walked in the with the first girl and ushered her to the chair on the opposite side of his fabric screen. The girl sat, head down, and wrung her hands, clearly nervous.

Good evening, Knox said, causing the girl’s head to pop up.

Oh. Er. Hello, your Majesty, she said.

Are you ready to answer my questions? he asked. The girl nodded. What is precious, but costs not a coin? Gained over time, but lost in a second?

The girl looked from her hands to the ceiling, as if the answer would be hidden in the molding tracing the top of the walls. Knox counted his breaths. When he got to ten, he repeated the question.

After another long silence, the girl finally answered. Reputation, she said, smiling.

That is incorrect. You’re excused. He sighed, waving her off.

The girl stood, looking confused, but did as she was bade. A few seconds after the door closed behind her, Toran brought in a girl with long black hair. She sat in the chair Toran indicated, but rather than keeping her head down, she stared at him through the fabric screen. He smirked, amused by her confidence. Not that it would get her far. Only a clever girl would be able to pass the tests.

They had been testing girls for years, looking for the girl with the mark of the flower. Currently they were working under several theories as to what constituted the mark of the flower, but everything from a birthmark to her name seemed to fit. If any girl passed the flower mark test, she then had to prove her cleverness.

Are you ready to begin? he asked.

Of course, your Majesty.

What is precious, but costs not a coin? Gained over time, but lost in a second? He began counting his breaths. When he got to three, the girl answered.

Friendship. True friendship.

Knox, only half listening, opened his mouth to dismiss her, but caught himself. Wait. What did you say?

The answer is true friendship, your Majesty. She crossed her arms, as if daring him to tell her she was wrong.

You are... correct. He sat up in his seat. She was the first girl to get the question right in over a month. He reminded himself to not get too excited. She’d only managed to answer the first question, after all. Knox readjusted in his seat and reached for the bell. This time he rang it twice.

Toran and Knox had come up with the idea to test the potential curse breakers with a series of riddles because of a prophecy gifted to him a few days after he’d turned for the first time. There had been no name on the scroll, just a note saying that one day he would meet the prophetess who had seen his future.

I suppose there are several more questions for me to answer in order to prove my worth to your Majesty? the girl asked.

Are you always this cheeky? Knox mused.

Perhaps, your Majesty.

Knox opened his mouth to say something more, but Toran appeared, carrying a tray covered with a cloth. He passed the tray to the girl, and she placed it in her lap. Toran turned and bowed once to Knox before leaving the room. Once the door closed behind him, the girl gingerly lifted the cloth, revealing four small piles of plants. All of them were green in color with silver accents along either the leaves or the stems, and generally were the same size and length. The only truly distinguishing feature among them was their leaf pattern.

Can you name the four plants before you? Knox asked.

And if I can? How many more tests must I pass before—

Can you name the four plants on the tray or not? If not, you’re excused. Knox didn’t have time to waste on someone who wasn’t the one he was looking for, and she was only his second candidate for the night.

Of course, your Majesty. Any Earth magic user would know these. The first, she said, pointing to the pile with small bunches of leaves up and down the skinny stem, is called Winter’s Greed and is a poison. You can tell from the silver veins running along the backs of the leaves. The second is Silver Malice, indicated by its slender leaves that run up and down the sides, and the silver rings up and down the stem. Also a poison, though only to cattle and horses.

The girl paused only long enough to take a deep breath before continuing. This one, She pointed to the third plant, with thumb-sized leaves spiraling around the stem, is Forbidden Scorch and is used to create firebombs that the Sligo use in times of war against magic users. It can also be used as a tonic for the Suja Dragon Clan.

Knox had interviewed plenty of Earth magic users, and she was right. They all knew the differences between the first three poisons. They were common enough in textbooks and in the wild, depending on where in the country the girls lived. But the fourth one was so rare that it could only be found in the Vord Mountains, and since those were currently under the dominion of the Sligo, there was no way to safely acquire it. If one was desperate enough, it could be purchased from the Night Market, but the penalty of being caught with it was steep because of the current peace treaty. How his gardener had come to have it in the royal greenhouse was a conversation they would be having soon.

The fourth plant is one I’ve only read about in books from my father’s library. But it has to be... The girl paused, tilting her head from side to side, examining the waxy, silvery leaves. She bit her lip, then shook her head. The fourth is Dark Thorn. And it’s the most deadly poison known to the Sligo.

Your father must be a renowned scholar to have any book that references Dark Thorn. I thought the few remaining tomes were locked away in Jara’s royal library.

The girl blushed, but said nothing. Knox had to admit he was slightly impressed that she’d made it through all four plants. He’d opened his mouth to ask her the next question when a tall man burst through the door, Toran trailing behind him waving his arms.

Sir, you really can’t just burst in here like this. If you refuse to leave, I’ll—

Soraya! Are you in here?

The girl whirled around and stood up. Darren, what are you doing here?

I’m here to get you, obviously. Darren said. Preferably before you die.

Chapter 3

Knox

I’M NOT GOING TO DIE.