The book called ‘Curses’, was full of secrets whispered in darkened corridors, half heard and even less understood. And a work of art, comprised of many individual works of art, some parts of which were alight with unsettling beauty.
Elwin and Prin sat side by side on the bed, closely examining the pages of the small book.
“I don’t think this was all written by the same person.” Elwin pointed out. “See? The handwriting is different.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” The prince said. “The artwork is different too. Some of it is at least the same style but some of it is completely . . . different.”
They stared extra long at a two page spread that showed a girl turning into a werewolf. The stages of her transformation overlapping each other. Girl, extra hair and elongated limbs, clothes tearing and nose and mouth protruding into a snout, joints where they shouldn’t be, down on all fours, Wolf.
“Remarkable.” Prin said.
“Yes. Who were the people who made this book?” Elwin asked. A relevant question if Prin ever heard one. It almost seemed even stranger that it was a whole group of people versus one deranged individual with a lot of time on her hands.
“I suppose it could be one person.” Prin said, with this on his mind. “Creating the book over a long stretch of time with improving skills.”
“Based on just the handwriting and not the art. I don’t think so.” Elwin said. “Looks like at least three people if you ask me, maybe more.”
“But who? As you say.” Prin said.
“We should read every one. As much as we can read them. There may be a clue in there as to where the book came from.” Elwin said.
“That may take a while.” Prin teased. “Can we just hide in here the rest of the week?”
“That would be nice.” Elwin said agreeably. “Not sure what the captain would say when Valor has another melt down.”
“Oh fine. Just a little longer then.” The prince said. “I don’t want to tell Valor about this book, not just yet anyway. I’m not sure why, something just tells me to keep it to myself.”
“You were holding on to it pretty strongly there for a minute. I thought you weren’t even gonna let me take a look at it.” Elwin said.
“Oh here! Here it is!” Prin said. He had turned the page, and the scene before him felt all too relevant to a certain someone. Speak of the devil.
The girl in the illustration was pretty, with long blond hair and a flowing white dress. As she walked through the page, looking up at lightning filling the sky, a hole had opened up in front of her that she was about to step into. A flock of crows carrying rocks flew towards her from the other side of the page, heedless of the storm, and a snake with fangs bared was preparing to strike.
“The moment before disaster.” Prin said. “Multiple disasters.”
“I can’t believe this.” Elwin said.
“What!?” Prin asked.
“Even the birds are in on it!” Elwin said.
The prince playfully hit him in the arm. “Sto-oop, it’s really not funny.” He giggled. “Can you imagine, though? How many times Val must have been hit by bird poop over the years?”
“O-ooh, its Val now?” Elwin teased. “Should I be worried?”
Prin rolled his eyes. “You’re silly.”
“This is about the best representation of what’s happening to him that I think we’re going to find in here.” Elwin said seriously, a return to business at hand.
“Yes. Pretty spot on. I’d say.” Prin agreed. “It’s the same curse.”
“The Unlucky.” Elwin traced his finger over the faded brown words. “That’s an understatement.”
“Keep reading.” Prin prompted.
“An insidious curse that can be inherited by your offspring.” Elwin continued. “Impossible to cure, but can be reduced or nullified by the generous application of counter blessings.”
The prince nodded sagely. “That’s kind of what I thought.”
“I feel like Captain Thompson would have tried that already?” Elwin said.
“True. But maybe the blessings weren’t strong enough. This is a powerful curse, it needs to be counteracted in kind.” Prin said.
“At the end of this you will know more about it then an actual witch.” Elwin teased.
“Maybe I’ll go into the business myself.” Prin said. “After my own curse is removed.”
“Of course.” Elwin laughed. “You can travel around breaking curses for people.”
“Hey! That’s not bad.” The prince laughed too.
Eventually they returned to Valor and the library project, but nothing else of great significance was found. Not on this day anyway, there were many, many books left to look at another time.
When the lunch bell rang, they were all glad to have a break from it.
Elwin couldn’t help but worry about his prince. The way he had been stricken by the contents of that book. Clearly more disturbed then relieved to find himself, so to speak, depicted on the page. For Elwin it felt like a molecule of hope. If people had identified the problem, gone through the same curse, maybe there were also some clues to the ending of it.
Right now Prin was acting his usual self, as though it hadn’t happened, but Elwin could see it for the act it was, and his worry remained. Valor also seemed pensive. But with him, wouldn’t it be weirder if he didn’t?
They sat down to eat lunch and Mrs. Frances served up a pasta dish with mushrooms along side some garlicky fried squash. These good meals were making Elwin miss cooking, something he never thought he would do, but he supposed now that he was away from home, the feeling of cutting carrots and potatoes, stirring big vats of soup, sprinkling powdered sugar or piping icing on long trays of fresh pastry, all felt nostalgic rather than the chore it actually was.
Devil Dru was the only other one at the table. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed, and no doubt had. Her dark hair was rakishly tousled, and she was wearing a pink robe that didn’t seem to suit her. Elwin found himself idly wondering how much of her wardrobe was actually Wrena’s wardrobe, as this seemed like a prime example. She dug into her food with a sparkle in her eye, like a street urchin who was not accustomed to finding meals so easily. Which, come to think of it, was part of her back story. Or, cover story, if Elwin was correct. But what was it to him if she was somehow lying to this family? He supposed it just seemed like they had been through enough without that inevitable betrayal on top of everything.
She smiled at Elwin and gave a little wink.
“This is so-oo good!” Dru said to Mrs. Frances. “As always. If I’m here for another year, I’m going to end up weighing 600 pounds.” She finished her lunch and leaned back, patting her belly.
“Just like her uncle, that one. Loves to eat! But, why wouldn’t you be here in a year, dear?” Mrs. Frances asked, flashing a startled face at Prin when he giggled.
Dru grinned at the prince. “That was funny the way she said that, wasn’t it?”
Prin coughed on a drink of water and Elwin patted him on the back.
“Pfft, it was a rudimentary rhyme. Not that amusing.” Valor said.
“Where’s Uncle Captain?” Dru asked. For all the world innocent, like what she called him was perfectly normal.
“He’ll be right back, I told him to hurry before his food gets cold.” Mrs. Frances allowed herself the barest frown of disapproval. “He’s on the walkway, talking to his friend.” By the emphasis on the word friend it was clear which part of it she didn’t approve of.
“O-oh.” Dru nodded. “I’ll wait then. Got to say good morning – Er, good afternoon.”
It didn’t take long before Captain Thompson was bursting into the room (Elwin didn’t think he could enter a room any other way). By the roses in his cheeks and his dreamy eyed expression it didn’t take a genius to figure out the friend in question was Aster Rose.
“Good news fellas!” Captain Thompson boomed. “Your preparations, regarding attire for the party have all been arranged!”
“They have?” Prin asked, prepared to be delighted.
“Yourself, and the strapping young Elwin will be dressed by the very best.” The captain said, well pleased with himself. “Rose is taking you around town tomorrow, and no expense will be spared in getting you outfitted. Courtesy of myself.” He reached out and stroked Valor’s head before sitting down to lunch.
To his credit, Valor barely even flinched.
“Wow!” Prin said. “Valor too, of course, since he’s coming to the party with us.”
Elwin wished he hadn’t invited Valor along, but it would have been unlike the Prin he knew and loved to exclude him, he supposed.
“Sure.” The captain said. “If . . . if he wants to?”
“I wouldn’t want to be an embarrassment to Prin.” Valor said. “So okay.”
“No! It’s not that!” Prin said, horrified. “I just thought it would be fun . . .”
“What about me, uncle? Don’t Wrena and I get new clothes too?” Dru asked. She clutched the pink robe together over her chest, as though concealing the ragged clothes of a pauper beneath.
“Of course, sweetness!” Captain Thompson said. “As your loving family, we would appreciate seeing you in a suitable gown. In fact, it would be a vision to behold.”
“I don’t know about a dress, but maybe!” Dru said brightly. “We’ll see.” She gave her uncle an expectant look. “It’s just a shame these things don’t come cheap.”
“Cheeky thing!” Captain Thompson chuckled. “Of course, anything the boys should have, the girls should have double.” He teased. “I’ll get my wallet.”
Dru laughed. “You said it, not me.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, uncle.”
“Don’t you think it will be fun to get dressed up?” Prin asked Valor. “I know you can’t see it yourself. But . . . the right clothes will make you feel confident.” He encouraged. “And you will love Rose. Everyone does.”
“That’s right.” The captain said, a thread of uneasiness in his voice. He was obviously not willing to be the one to stop the outing. Even if he was afraid of what luck would bring, outside the relative safety of this house.
The book called ‘Curses’, was full of secrets whispered in darkened corridors, half heard and even less understood. And a work of art, comprised of many individual works of art, some parts of which were alight with unsettling beauty.
Elwin and Prin sat side by side on the bed, closely examining the pages of the small book.
“I don’t think this was all written by the same person.” Elwin pointed out. “See? The handwriting is different.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” The prince said. “The artwork is different too. Some of it is at least the same style but some of it is completely . . . different.”
They stared extra long at a two page spread that showed a girl turning into a werewolf. The stages of her transformation overlapping each other. Girl, extra hair and elongated limbs, clothes tearing and nose and mouth protruding into a snout, joints where they shouldn’t be, down on all fours, Wolf.
“Remarkable.” Prin said.
“Yes. Who were the people who made this book?” Elwin asked. A relevant question if Prin ever heard one. It almost seemed even stranger that it was a whole group of people versus one deranged individual with a lot of time on her hands.
“I suppose it could be one person.” Prin said, with this on his mind. “Creating the book over a long stretch of time with improving skills.”
“Based on just the handwriting and not the art. I don’t think so.” Elwin said. “Looks like at least three people if you ask me, maybe more.”
“But who? As you say.” Prin said.
“We should read every one. As much as we can read them. There may be a clue in there as to where the book came from.” Elwin said.
“That may take a while.” Prin teased. “Can we just hide in here the rest of the week?”
“That would be nice.” Elwin said agreeably. “Not sure what the captain would say when Valor has another melt down.”
“Oh fine. Just a little longer then.” The prince said. “I don’t want to tell Valor about this book, not just yet anyway. I’m not sure why, something just tells me to keep it to myself.”
“You were holding on to it pretty strongly there for a minute. I thought you weren’t even gonna let me take a look at it.” Elwin said.
“Oh here! Here it is!” Prin said. He had turned the page, and the scene before him felt all too relevant to a certain someone. Speak of the devil.
The girl in the illustration was pretty, with long blond hair and a flowing white dress. As she walked through the page, looking up at lightning filling the sky, a hole had opened up in front of her that she was about to step into. A flock of crows carrying rocks flew towards her from the other side of the page, heedless of the storm, and a snake with fangs bared was preparing to strike.
“The moment before disaster.” Prin said. “Multiple disasters.”
“I can’t believe this.” Elwin said.
“What!?” Prin asked.
“Even the birds are in on it!” Elwin said.
The prince playfully hit him in the arm. “Sto-oop, it’s really not funny.” He giggled. “Can you imagine, though? How many times Val must have been hit by bird poop over the years?”
“O-ooh, its Val now?” Elwin teased. “Should I be worried?”
Prin rolled his eyes. “You’re silly.”
“This is about the best representation of what’s happening to him that I think we’re going to find in here.” Elwin said seriously, a return to business at hand.
“Yes. Pretty spot on. I’d say.” Prin agreed. “It’s the same curse.”
“The Unlucky.” Elwin traced his finger over the faded brown words. “That’s an understatement.”
“Keep reading.” Prin prompted.
“An insidious curse that can be inherited by your offspring.” Elwin continued. “Impossible to cure, but can be reduced or nullified by the generous application of counter blessings.”
The prince nodded sagely. “That’s kind of what I thought.”
“I feel like Captain Thompson would have tried that already?” Elwin said.
“True. But maybe the blessings weren’t strong enough. This is a powerful curse, it needs to be counteracted in kind.” Prin said.
“At the end of this you will know more about it then an actual witch.” Elwin teased.
“Maybe I’ll go into the business myself.” Prin said. “After my own curse is removed.”
“Of course.” Elwin laughed. “You can travel around breaking curses for people.”
“Hey! That’s not bad.” The prince laughed too.
Eventually they returned to Valor and the library project, but nothing else of great significance was found. Not on this day anyway, there were many, many books left to look at another time.
When the lunch bell rang, they were all glad to have a break from it.
Elwin couldn’t help but worry about his prince. The way he had been stricken by the contents of that book. Clearly more disturbed then relieved to find himself, so to speak, depicted on the page. For Elwin it felt like a molecule of hope. If people had identified the problem, gone through the same curse, maybe there were also some clues to the ending of it.
Right now Prin was acting his usual self, as though it hadn’t happened, but Elwin could see it for the act it was, and his worry remained. Valor also seemed pensive. But with him, wouldn’t it be weirder if he didn’t?
They sat down to eat lunch and Mrs. Frances served up a pasta dish with mushrooms along side some garlicky fried squash. These good meals were making Elwin miss cooking, something he never thought he would do, but he supposed now that he was away from home, the feeling of cutting carrots and potatoes, stirring big vats of soup, sprinkling powdered sugar or piping icing on long trays of fresh pastry, all felt nostalgic rather than the chore it actually was.
Devil Dru was the only other one at the table. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed, and no doubt had. Her dark hair was rakishly tousled, and she was wearing a pink robe that didn’t seem to suit her. Elwin found himself idly wondering how much of her wardrobe was actually Wrena’s wardrobe, as this seemed like a prime example. She dug into her food with a sparkle in her eye, like a street urchin who was not accustomed to finding meals so easily. Which, come to think of it, was part of her back story. Or, cover story, if Elwin was correct. But what was it to him if she was somehow lying to this family? He supposed it just seemed like they had been through enough without that inevitable betrayal on top of everything.
She smiled at Elwin and gave a little wink.
“This is so-oo good!” Dru said to Mrs. Frances. “As always. If I’m here for another year, I’m going to end up weighing 600 pounds.” She finished her lunch and leaned back, patting her belly.
“Just like her uncle, that one. Loves to eat! But, why wouldn’t you be here in a year, dear?” Mrs. Frances asked, flashing a startled face at Prin when he giggled.
Dru grinned at the prince. “That was funny the way she said that, wasn’t it?”
Prin coughed on a drink of water and Elwin patted him on the back.
“Pfft, it was a rudimentary rhyme. Not that amusing.” Valor said.
“Where’s Uncle Captain?” Dru asked. For all the world innocent, like what she called him was perfectly normal.
“He’ll be right back, I told him to hurry before his food gets cold.” Mrs. Frances allowed herself the barest frown of disapproval. “He’s on the walkway, talking to his friend.” By the emphasis on the word friend it was clear which part of it she didn’t approve of.
“O-oh.” Dru nodded. “I’ll wait then. Got to say good morning – Er, good afternoon.”
It didn’t take long before Captain Thompson was bursting into the room (Elwin didn’t think he could enter a room any other way). By the roses in his cheeks and his dreamy eyed expression it didn’t take a genius to figure out the friend in question was Aster Rose.
“Good news fellas!” Captain Thompson boomed. “Your preparations, regarding attire for the party have all been arranged!”
“They have?” Prin asked, prepared to be delighted.
“Yourself, and the strapping young Elwin will be dressed by the very best.” The captain said, well pleased with himself. “Rose is taking you around town tomorrow, and no expense will be spared in getting you outfitted. Courtesy of myself.” He reached out and stroked Valor’s head before sitting down to lunch.
To his credit, Valor barely even flinched.
“Wow!” Prin said. “Valor too, of course, since he’s coming to the party with us.”
Elwin wished he hadn’t invited Valor along, but it would have been unlike the Prin he knew and loved to exclude him, he supposed.
“Sure.” The captain said. “If . . . if he wants to?”
“I wouldn’t want to be an embarrassment to Prin.” Valor said. “So okay.”
“No! It’s not that!” Prin said, horrified. “I just thought it would be fun . . .”
“What about me, uncle? Don’t Wrena and I get new clothes too?” Dru asked. She clutched the pink robe together over her chest, as though concealing the ragged clothes of a pauper beneath.
“Of course, sweetness!” Captain Thompson said. “As your loving family, we would appreciate seeing you in a suitable gown. In fact, it would be a vision to behold.”
“I don’t know about a dress, but maybe!” Dru said brightly. “We’ll see.” She gave her uncle an expectant look. “It’s just a shame these things don’t come cheap.”
“Cheeky thing!” Captain Thompson chuckled. “Of course, anything the boys should have, the girls should have double.” He teased. “I’ll get my wallet.”
Dru laughed. “You said it, not me.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, uncle.”
“Don’t you think it will be fun to get dressed up?” Prin asked Valor. “I know you can’t see it yourself. But . . . the right clothes will make you feel confident.” He encouraged. “And you will love Rose. Everyone does.”
“That’s right.” The captain said, a thread of uneasiness in his voice. He was obviously not willing to be the one to stop the outing. Even if he was afraid of what luck would bring, outside the relative safety of this house.
