Home > The Cup and the Prince (Kingdom of Curses and Shadows #1)(6)

The Cup and the Prince (Kingdom of Curses and Shadows #1)(6)
Author: Day Leitao

And he understood. He no longer felt like a cart going down a slope—he’d fallen down a precipice.

 

 

Zora waited at the inn’s eating hall. The tables and chairs all had legs and space underneath them, something that would have disastrous consequences in the Dark Valley. There were so many dark spots from where a small shadow spider or ball could spawn and it felt odd to see them and not do anything, to see them and not fear for her life. Strange to feel that even though she was no longer in the Dark Valley, the Dark Valley was still in her.

She ate some bread offered by the owner, who was now busy in the kitchen. Zora had been starving. As the food settled in, her thoughts cleared, and with them, some shame and regret about what she’d done to the guy outside. At least the girl who’d brought her inside didn’t seem angry, so that was a relief. Her name was Alegra and she was the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. Beautiful not like normal beautiful people and beautiful girls in the valley, but beautiful like a heroine in a story, the one everyone fell in love with. She had wavy red hair, light skin, and big dark brown eyes, with perfect features.

And she’d been nice to Zora, even if a bit odd. Their conversation came to her mind.

Zora tried to apologize. “I’m sorry for your friend, I didn’t mean it. I was angry, but not at him.”

Alegra smiled. “He’s not my friend. Nothing to worry about.” She chuckled. “And you were right to put him in his place.”

Zora was surprised but shook her head. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

The red-haired girl raised an eyebrow. “Then perhaps you have to mean it next time. Own it.”

Own it. But Zora had been angry at Seth, and the guy wasn’t Seth. If she could, she would apologize to him, except that he wasn’t outside anymore. Zora didn’t want to attack unarmed people who hadn’t done anything to her, even if they were obnoxious and underestimated her. For one thing, making random enemies was stupid.

On the other hand, perhaps Alegra could be a good friend. Then, maybe she was a royal and didn’t mix with the champions. Zora felt slightly nauseous remembering Razi’s words about how people outside were so much better looking than in the valley. Even the rough mercenary-looking guy she’d assaulted was more beautiful than any guy she’d ever seen before.

She closed her eyes. The competition was not about beauty. All that mattered was Zora’s skills with a sword, with her mind. Her resilience and courage. She could be uglier than everyone else in the world and it wouldn’t make a difference. It shouldn’t. Especially considering that she was determined never to fall in love again.

Her sister and her husband came to her mind, with their beautiful kids. Love wasn’t all bad. They looked happy. But then she remembered that once she thought that she and Seth would have the same thing, and it all crumbled. So many false hopes. She had to be smarter, that was all. And win the competition.

A blond man with a green velvet vest over a white shirt approached her. He looked at her up and down and raised an eyebrow. “You are the Dark Valley champion?”

Weird how food could change everything. He was looking at her the way a person checks a dead cockroach, and yet, she didn’t feel like punching him or anything, which would be incredibly stupid.

Zora pointed to her bag. “Want to see the letter?”

At least she had that, a written document with her name. Funny that her parents hadn’t bothered filling Seth’s name. Maybe they were waiting until the last minute, just in case something happened. They were smart—something did happen.

The man waved a hand. “That won’t be necessary. Not yet, at least. Why didn’t you wait for us? We were going to pick you up in the valley.”

“I… wanted… to speed things up? I’m that eager.” She smiled.

“Well, you’ll need to wait for the prince. He’ll check your documents”

Did she hear it right? “P-prince?”

The man rolled his eyes. “He’ll be down soon.”

As the man walked away, Zora noticed that her heart had sped up. One of the princes was there? In that building? About to see her? And she’d have to lie to him. Well, she’d been doing fine so far. It wasn’t that. It was just that she had never imagined that she would see one of the princes up close, that she would talk to a prince.

Which one of them could it be? Gravel had three princes. No, two. One of them had recently been nominated king, after his parents’ recent, tragic death. That was Kiran, king at twenty-three. Then there were two younger brothers: Larzen, who, if her memory was correct, was twenty, and Griffin, eighteen or nineteen. As far as she knew, Larzen took care of diplomacy, while Griffin was in charge of the royal guard and everything related to the military. It could be either of them.

And being nervous was stupid. It wasn’t as if whoever prince was there would even notice her. It was just… Silly young Zora had always dreamed of one day dancing with a prince. Later she understood that it wasn’t a prince that she wanted, but love. Perhaps the idea of a prince came from the stories she read, some unrealistic romantic nonsense that she should have grown out of years ago. No wonder she’d been so naïve. Seth had been her “prince” and look how it had turned out. It had probably been all in her head.

Still, if she ignored all that, meeting a prince meant she was doing something important, that she was someone. Hopefully she wouldn’t screw it up the way she’d done this morning, when she had behaved like a brainless shadow creature. And she wouldn’t stutter either. Talking to princes was her new normal, now that she was on her way to glory. Weird how that sounded fake when she was thinking it about herself. And she had never doubted it when Seth claimed the same thing.

For all of Zora’s anxiety, she ended up not seeing any prince—yet. She tried not to show her disappointment as she was ushered in a carriage with the annoying blond guy. It turned out he was an assistant to the crown, overseeing the competition. His name was Stavos, and she still felt like a cockroach in his presence. It was likely that it would be the same or even worse with either prince. She still had no idea which one of them had been at the tavern, then suddenly had felt “indisposed” and no longer willing to come out of his room. It sounded like an excuse, but she had no idea what for.

Endless fields surrounded the road. A huge world that wasn’t encircled in two massive walls. Zora felt free, but at the same time, it was almost as if it was more than she could handle. This insane enormity she could get lost in, a world so big she wasn’t sure she could ever find her place there if she tried.

Traveling on a carriage was much better than walking, the soothing sound of wheels and hoofs, and the warm breeze coming from the window easing her fears. With every second, the Dark Valley got further and further behind. With every second, she got closer and closer to the castle. The sound of the carriage was so soothing.

 

* * *

 

Zora was walking alone on a path. Only desert around it. Warm sun overhead. A woman with a brilliant crown walked towards her. The Sun Goddess.

“You’ll need the Blood Cup,” she said.

“For what?”

The goddess smiled. “Don’t you know?”

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