A Curse of Shadows

Nor can I admit to myself his glowing, sapphire eyes looked eerily like those of King Asher.

The thought sends a shiver cascading down my spine and my stomach churns as I grab a pillow, smothering my face to drown out the screams of my frustrations, and not for the first time since being left in this room.

How can any of this be real? How did I end up here and how the hell do I get back to the home I know?

In restless defeat, I turn, and my eyes betray me, locking on to the photo by my bedside. A token to a life I’ve never lived, a happiness I’ve never known. The family within the frame feels both alien and achingly familiar, and with every accidental glance, I’m further filled with a sense of love and belonging. Two things I’ve only ever associated with Elodee and the one good foster home we lived in. Though the latter feels like another lifetime ago.

I reach for the picture and sit up in the bed, resting my back against the white, carved headboard. My thumb glides over the cool surface of the glass and I brace myself against the swell of questions I’ve battled with all night.

If these are truly my parents, how did I grow up as a child back in Portland, especially when Cain mentioned something about this being from five hundred years ago? The past and present clash within me, a torrent of memories as I try to make sense of everything that can’t truly be possible no matter which way I look at things.

I remember very vividly being four or five and every year after. I went to school, I had a life—albeit, not the greatest, but still, I lived.

The woman in this photo is identical to me now, at twenty-five years old. If I was once her, then how am I me?

I don’t know, but I’d very much like to find out. Pretending this isn’t real has only gotten me put in this room and freaked out by a wild animal. It’s time for me to be proactive, not only for myself, but for Elodee. She’s going to be losing her mind soon when she can’t reach me. I thought I’d gotten lucky when I found an old, corded house phone still plugged in on the desk in the room, but either I don’t know how it works, or it won’t call back to…Earth, or it’s just broken because nothing happened when I dialed her number.

With a frustrated sigh, I throw the blankets off me, then set the photo back where it belongs and get out of bed. The ground is farther away than I expected, and I land on the hardwood floor with a heavy thump, but I at least don’t fall.

Still dressed in the silk gown I somehow arrived in, I tiptoe toward the door, intent on sneaking out. Only the moment I touch the door handle, it starts to turn on its own within my palm.

Swiftly, I take several steps back and in walks Cain, holding a silver tray. His head bows as he says, “Your Highness.”

Instinctively, I nod in return, but he smiles and corrects my action. “You should never bow to anyone other than King Asher or one of the other kings and queens within Lunara, Your Highness.”

I swallow thickly. “Right. You mentioned there were other islands before.”

Cain steps farther into the room and sets the tray on the table, just past the bed. “Yes, Your Highness. There are the four kingdoms of Lunara, created by the divide during the Great War.”

Hmm, that sounds like an interesting story, but that’s not my biggest concern right now. I want to talk to the people in that photo and get some answers. They seem like a better bet than the king or someone who works for him.

Glancing back at the bedside table, my throat tightens as I prepare to say words I never thought I would. “How do I find the people in that picture with me… My, um, parents?”

I was told as a child I’d been orphaned thanks to a car accident, so I’d never had any reason to wonder before—something Elodee and I had bonded over.

Cain tenses, his mouth turning into a hard line as he stands awkwardly next to the table, looking everywhere but at me. “I brought you some breakfast to start your day, Your Highness.”

I stalk toward him, grab his arm, and force him to face me as I look up at his emotionless face. “Cain, where are they?”

I don’t even know these people and I’m not certain I believe they’re truly my birth family because this nonsense about five hundred years ago isn’t possible, but if the invisible chokehold around my neck is any indication, my emotions don’t give a damn about what is or isn’t true right now.

“Your Highness…”

My eyes narrow and I practically growl at him. “Tell me, Cain.”

“Your mother died some years ago and chose not to return to this life and your father hasn’t been seen since your mother departed.”

His words are spoken so rapidly, it takes my mind a few extra beats to understand what he’s said, but the moment I do, an ache grows within, spreading until every inch of my body hurts.

My knees shake. I release Cain and lean against the bed, helping to keep myself upright. I wasn’t sure that life could be any more cruel after having been left without a family growing up, but finding out I might have had one, yet I’ve missed my chance to know them? Even if this grief doesn’t quite feel like my own, the ache is still as real as ever.

My fingertips rub over my chest, trying to ease the throbbing. This is more than cruel, it’s villainous.

“I want to go back to Portland, Cain,” I tell him sternly after I find a way to compose myself. My hardened gaze focuses only on him. “I’m your princess and you will do as I demand, or I’ll find someone who will. Do I make myself clear?”

His throat bobs as he stares at the floor. “Yes, Your Highness. I will make the necessary preparations for your departure.”

I point toward the door and without another word, Cain exits my bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.