JEREMIAH

I heard about the husk attack much later in the day. I knew there had been an incident, but when it happened I didn’t even know my brother was in danger. When I saw Iara running like a crazy woman toward the commotion in the southern square, I thought she was just sent to take care of something mundane. A guard followed after her. When another one saw me and Kenneth, he looked horrified.

“Young Prince, you need to go back to the palace!” the man screamed at me. He ordered one of his underlings to escort me. I frowned and begrudgingly went back with Kenneth myself. Then I only thought a simple robbery had taken place, or something equally as unimportant. Kenneth and I complained the entire way back.

But when I got back to the palace, all hell was broken loose. It was as if Thorin himself had walked through the halls and touched the very atmosphere of my home. It was chaotic and everyone’s yelling sounded desperate. A maid came up to me and Kenneth. She looked just as grim as the place felt.

“You have to come with me to your room, Young Prince,” she said. “And Kenneth, your father really would like to see you.”

“Why? What’s wrong, Anmarie?” Kenneth asked.

She only shook her head. Kenneth frowned and turned to me. He bowed low and sighed. “I’ll see you later, Young Prince.”

I furrowed my brows as he went the other way towards the staff rooms. I looked back to Anmarie and she gestured for me to follow. I quickened my pace to fall in step with her. She walked way faster than I thought she would.

“Did something serious happen at the festival?” I asked. She didn’t even turn her head to look at me. Something must have seriously gone wrong. “Did someone die?” I laughed. I had hoped my joke would lighten the mood, but that question made her wince. Her face paled even more and she averted her eyes. Her pace quickened.

“What happened?” I demanded. I jumped in front of the maid, my arms out on either side. My heart raced as the possible scenarios ran through my head. I’ve never seen anyone act this gravely around me.

She looked frightened, but her face softened when she looked into my eyes. “The Prince, your brother,” she started.

“What about Malachi?” I clenched and unclenched my fists. My blood ran cold.

“He is in critical care in the infirmary as we speak.”

I felt my heart drop to my stomach. Was there an assassination attempt? I was going to be sick. I turned right around to start towards the north wing. Anmarie tried to grab my arm to stop me, but I yanked away from her. I ran as fast as my feet would allow. If Malachi was in the infirmary, I would be damned if anyone would stop me. My brother was the closest family member I had. If something happened to him, I wanted to know. I needed to be with him.

When I got to the infirmary, there were doctors and mages all around, yelling at one another, fussing outside one of the sick rooms. The door was closed tightly behind them.

“We can’t cut the bite off, it’s already reached his chest,” one man cried out.

“There is no cure for the husk’s curse,” another muttered.

“We can’t let the prince and princess die.”

I cleared my throat and the people all looked at me in unison. Shock played on every face that turned my way. “Young Prince, you should have been shown to your room,” one of the doctors scolded. “You can’t be in the way.”

One of the mages frowned at him. “This may be the last chance he has to see his brother alive, Tucer,” she said in a low voice. She turned to me, her eyes holding all the sadness in the world. “We can’t do anything to save him.”

“Don’t say such horrible things to him. He’s just a boy,” another man yelled.

She shook her head at her colleague. “I won’t lie. There isn’t any reward in telling him things will be okay.”

“What happened?” My voice cut through their chatter.

The doctor sighed. “He was bitten by a husk. There is no cure other than cutting off the afflicted limb. Prince Malachi was bitten here,” he said, gesturing to his shoulder. His hand reached back, almost to his shoulder blade. “The knights were sent out to detain the few husks out there and retrieve the Princess as well. She will die soon after the Prince.”

“How did husks get in?” I breathed. They weren’t easily hidden monsters. I’ve seen pictures and heard stories about them. They were hard to miss in a crowd.

“Let the knights handle those questions,” the witch said. She pushed the door open behind her. “Go in if you wish to spend his last moments with him.”

I felt my body tense. Spend his last moments with him. The statement repeated in my head. Was Malachi really going to die? I forced myself to take a step. My legs felt as heavy as iron. The mage shut the door once again behind me. There were no windows in the room making it completely dark. As I felt my eyes adjust to the lighting, I saw him.

Malachi lay flat on a sickbed. His shirt was gone, probably cut off. His hair stuck to his forehead in sweaty clumps, his face as pale as a sheet of parchment. Bandages wrapped around his arm and chest, covering the bite on his shoulder. Blood already soaked through it though. Black tendrils snaked out from under the bandages like ugly bruises. They ran down his sides and up his neck. I assumed they would expand until all his skin was a dark bruised color, just like decaying flesh. He really was dying.

“Malachi?” I called as I came closer to his bed. My voice didn’t sound like my own. It was small, cracked.

He didn’t move. His eyes were closed. They would open every so often, just barely. They were hollow looking. They didn’t focus on anything. Not even me. His pupils caught no light either, small dots in the center of his green irises. I sat at the foot of his bed, my legs pulled up. Was this really the will of the gods? They say husks are damned beings, mindless monsters cursed by the divine for their actions. What sins has my brother even committed? He had only been trying. He had been doing so well. Iara had made him more sociable. He could even show smiles sometimes. But for all of that to be thrown away, his life cut so short. It was tragic to think we were meant to live forever and he would be cut down so soon. The gods must have turned their backs on him. On us.

I sat there until my limbs felt numb. I didn’t want to move. The door would crack open every so often to check on us. I assumed it was also to check if Malachi had become a husk yet. I didn’t know how long it would take for him to change into a monster. Would he just get up and start biting chunks out of anyone nearby? Or did he have to lay dead for some time before that would happen? I’m not even sure if anyone knew the answer.

When the door cracked again, I assumed it was another small check in. I was surprised when Iara shoved her way in. She snapped at one of the men guarding the door, slamming it behind her. The sharp noise made me jump.

“They said he isn’t doing well,” she mumbled.

I shook my head, looking back down at my brother. The dark lines had crawled up, reaching up his cheekbones and disappearing down his waistline. They seemed deeper than before, more purple now, and much more angry looking.

Iara reached her hand out to touch his. Her eyes widened and she fell back, pulling her hand away as if she were burned. She immediately began sobbing. “Oh my gods,” she gasped.

I stood, startled. I reached out for her. “What happened?”

She waved my hands away. “I’m sorry.” She reached her hand up to grip right above her heart. “He’s in a lot of pain.”

That didn’t make me feel any better. I frowned at her and took my seat back at his feet. “They said he doesn’t have much time before he turns into a husk,” I told her.

Iara didn’t have anything to say either. She didn’t look as though she had an answer. Her time was just as limited as his was. It infuriated me that everyone around me was so much older and so much wiser yet they couldn’t save my dying brother. I pulled my legs back up to my chest to hug them. Iara fell to her knees next to Malachi. She reached back up and laced her fingers with his again. I don’t know why she would do that with the way she reacted before, but she didn’t recoil in horror like the first time. Her face still twisted in pain and silent tears fell freely from her face. I looked away from them. I didn’t want to see how much pain he was in. It was awful enough knowing he was suffering like that.

I almost screamed when I felt his leg hit me. It was only a twitch, but it was the first time he had moved at all. I looked over at them again. Iara had her head down, her arm covering her face. Her other hand was still laced with Malachi’s. Iara’s shoulders shook. Malachi still laid flat on his back, but the tendrils on his face had receded. I gasped, jumping up.

“Iara, look,” I yelled. My eyes stung.

She looked up at me, her tear stained face bewildered. She followed my finger as I pointed. When her eyes landed on his face she jumped up. “Malachi?”

His brow twitched ever so slightly in response. His breathing was still shallow, but he responded. I felt hot tracks run down my face. “How did you do that?” I asked Iara, my voice cracking.

She looked as surprised as I did. “I-I don’t know.” Her hand reached out to touch his face. The tendrils seemed to run away from her. Where her skin touched, the dark spots receded. They withered away and dissipated until his skin was back to its normal color. She ran her hands down his neck and over the wrappings. She looked over to me. “Help me take the bandages off,” she instructed.

I helped her lift him as she gently unwrapped him. The wound was gruesome. I had wished I never saw it. It was like a hole deep into his shoulder. I bet you could have fit an entire plum into the crater. It was black with decay, smelling like rotting meat flies would buzz around. My stomach turned, the image being burned into my mind. It made my legs shake. Iara didn’t look as queasy as I felt and I was thankful for it. She must have had a stronger stomach than me.

Iara held her hand just above his still bleeding bite wound. The decay seemed to recoil until it was nothing. It was instant. When she pulled her hand away, I half expected it to start spreading again, but it didn't. Blood oozed from it, but nothing else.

Malachi gasped then, sucking in the air he wasn’t able to before. His eyes still didn’t open, but at least he was breathing regularly. Iara grabbed his hand once more, both hers around his one. She knelt back on the ground, a small smile spreading on her lips. “The pain subsided a bit,” she breathed.

When the door cracked this time, Master Ivar peaked in. I felt a sour taste in the back of my mouth as he peered in on us. He gasped when he saw Malachi. “Is Prince Malachi not cursed?” Ivar asked.

Iara looked over to him and then back at my brother. “I lifted the curse,” she said slowly, as if she was just understanding how incredible that was. Then the pieces clicked together. Was this the second blessing Ivar had mentioned before? How did he know before Iara knew about it herself? I looked between the two in silent horror.

“You lifted the curse?” Ivar asked, feigning ignorance.

“She lifted the curse?” someone repeated. The lady witch pushed in, shoving Ivar to the side. She rushed over to Malachi’s side and gasped. “Tell the doctor to come in at once,” she barked behind her.

Ivar gave Iara one last long look. She didn’t even notice. She only had her eyes on Malachi. The scribe turned and disappeared behind the door. I shuddered at the thought of what he was going to do with the information. I wish Malachi was awake. He wouldn’t have let this happen like it did. At least he wasn’t going to die now though. I looked back at Iara and all her wonder. I’ve seen her use the power of the gods. She used Aither’s wind to stop a raging fire, and just now she stopped a god's curse from taking a life. What else was she capable of?