I pictured Mom at the gates of the castle, her long chestnut curls blowing behind her, ready to face the beast. Always the beauty with the warrior soul. “It sounds like my mother was quite the brave girl back then."
Edwin laughed and pounded his fist on the table. The sugar bowl and cream jumped. "You call that bravery? She wasn’t brave, she was foolish. Giving herself up with little chance of survival. Martyrdom is not a virtuous path, it just means she didn’t try hard enough to find a solution."
I bit down on my tongue, the coppery taste of my own blood filled my mouth. How dare he speak of my mother that way? If I didn't need his help I would launch across the table right now.
“And where do you fit into all of this?" I tried to hide the bitterness in my tone, but it shone through.
Edwin narrowed his gaze. “As I said before, I'd been around the castle for years and at that time was still a friend to your father. As much as his arrogance and stubbornness plagued him, he was also a hell of a lot of fun. During his time as king I became more useful as I knew the ins and outs of royalty and my other skills —" he twisted his palm through the air and rolled each of his fingers in towards his hand, "— became useful to your father. Especially when it came to disputes. I had a knack for making problems disappear in the most creative ways.”
I gulped and choked on a mouthful of tea. I coughed and leaned over the tabletop until my airway cleared. Gasping for air, I pictured the blue magic wrapping around my throat like in my nightmare. Maybe it wasn’t just a dream?
“Are you alright?” Edwin reached across the table and gave a firm pat on my back until I stopped hacking.
“Yes, of course. Please continue.”
He eyed me carefully, then sat back down, his hands laced in front of him. “However, when your father kidnapped that girl I realized he'd crossed a line he would never return from. The fairy had paid him back for his obvious flaws, but this was reprehensible. One night we argued about her in the garden. He insisted that the girl would be the one to break the curse and he would keep her captive until she did. I told him it was wrong, and that I'd had enough of watching him mess with other people's lives and that I was going to free her. He became enraged and threw me across the courtyard then held me up against the wall and threatened to kill me if I even considered messing with his plan. I begged him to let me go and instead he banished me from the castle. That night was the last time I ever saw him, until now."
I sat and stared at Edwin, letting all of the details simmer in my brain, picturing that final flight and knowing the terror he must've felt when cornered by my father in his monster form. I'd been there twice in the last week as well. However, Edwin's story didn't sound like the happy fairytale everyone in the castle made things out to be. Everyone loved my father. My mother likely most of all. Was there romance really this dark or were there pieces of the story still missing?
"If my father hadn't spoken to you in years, how did he know where to find you? Why did he come here?"
"I'm not sure how he found me, but he is the king after all and I doubt he'd let me get far without keeping an eye on me. Especially, knowing what I could do. I'm one of the few people who even remember what happened. When the curse broke, everyone's memory was wiped clean. Everyone except those living in the castle. I wrote everything down, which you have already read, without my permission I'd like to add, to make sure if the memory ever faded I would still know what happened."
"That still doesn't answer why he's here now?”
“It's the magic, dear prince. Your father was cursed by magic, so he sought out someone who could do magic to help him."
It made sense, in a weird twisted kind of way. "But if you are truly that powerful, why didn't you just end the curse last time?”
A bright red burn started at the tips of Edwin's ears and stained across his cheeks then into his nose. For someone considered to be wise, his pride sure got in his enlightened path. "I tried, but I wasn't able to. However, I'm a lot stronger than I used to be. I haven't figured out how to stop it yet but I'm sure I will with a bit of time. You should be careful when judging someone who could toss you off this mountain without using his hands."
Except, he never would. A dead prince would be questioned and combined with the king in a cage it would likely end in his own execution. Either way, angering him again didn’t serve much purpose either. "The magic, where did it come from? Why are you so powerful?"
"The magic runs through the Macario family tree. My father was a wizard, as was his father before him and his mother before that all the way back as far as anyone can remember. I've had these abilities since I learned to read the spells they came from. Now it simply courses through my blood. It's who I am."
"And Veda? Would that make her a
