Soap wasn’t my haircare product of choice, but it was all we had. After rubbing and rinsing my scalp, I came closer to the fire and let my hair dry. It’d be coarse and tangle easily, until I could find a better substitute for shampoo. Still, coarse was better than caked with foul-smelling dire bear blood.

“How do you two feel?” I asked.

Chess looked up from their sword. They’d been cleaning it for a while.

“The blade is slightly chipped. It’s still sharp enough, though.”

“Does this statement also apply to you?”

They stared into the flames for a moment. Then they nodded slowly.

“I suppose it does, ma’am.”

They know we’re mostly rushing headlong. This mission already cost them a lot and it might cost all of us even more in the future. Chess’s only staying out of loyalty, I guess.

“What about you, Catalin?”

She closed the grimoire, wrapped it in Taiki’s handkerchief, put it back into her bag, and finally removed her gloves.

“It’s too dark to read and my head’s ringing. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m good enough to understand that spell.”

“Of course you are!”

Catalin shook her head. “You don’t know that. We only met four days ago.”

I reached out and patted her hand. “But I trust you.”

Her sad smile broke my heart.

I promise I’ll get to know you better. Your life, your family, your dreams. We’ll find time to talk.

“I do believe in you, Catalin. But I think we should rest.”

So many thoughts raced through my mind that I had a hard time falling asleep. The situation we were in was exactly the one I’d tried to avoid. We were lying on the floor of a forest, wrapped in our own clothes, or in my case, in a plaid that was missing a corner because the dire bear had torn my things.

We’d narrowly escaped capture and death, but my bag was no more, my knife was gone and half my spare clothes were torn.

At least, the fire was warm and it kept beasts away. I had to trust that. But what was that sound in the distance? Only an owl. And what if we’d been wrong all along, and the grimoire contained nothing about the spell that bound Kossi to Saegorg’s service?

Could I stop my brain from racing? My heart from sinking with every breath?

Could I?

“Hey!” Catalin’s voice startled me awake. I sat up. The dawn was still gray and our fire was out. My fiancée jumped out of the coat she’d been sleeping in, both arms held in front of her.

“Get out of my bag, you…”

A monkey-like animal, brown fur with a white patch on the throat, grasped something and ran away before Catalin could catch it. The loot was wrapped in white fabric. I leapt forward, leaving my plaid behind.

“Chess, help! Something’s stealing the grimoire!”

The cadet grabbed their sword and joined the chase.

“What’s this?” I asked as we ran through the undergrowth.

“Looks like a proclive, ma’am! They’re known for stealing things from travelers, but it’s the first time I’m actually seeing one.”

“I don’t care what it is, we need the grimoire back!” exclaimed Catalin.

We had to jump over trunks and duck under branches, while the animal leapt from one to the other with obvious ease, its long tail helping it keep its balance. I could almost swear it was laughing at us.

Monkeys are cheeky little thieves in every world, it seems. I remember when Leda Gatilla went on a trip in Asia and macaques stole her wallet. The problem is, we can’t catch up!

“Catalin, can you summon something?” I asked.

“I can’t! It’d damage the grimoire!”

“Light won’t do any harm!”

She nodded at my suggestion. “Light, you’re right!”

She extended her hand while running. A ball of light appeared in front of the proclive. The animal shrieked in terror and tried to run back to us, before realizing we were upon it. Catalin dove forward. The proclive let go of its loot and ran away.

“There it is…”

Stolen story; please report.

Her voice died in her throat. I frowned. Something’s wrong.

Catalin sat up, arranging the handkerchief around the grimoire. She should have been gleaming, sharing her achievement with Chess and I, but instead, she was looking down, avoiding our gaze. I knelt down near her.

“What’s wrong, Catalin?”

“Nothing.”

She put a smile on her face, the kind of polite smile that didn’t reach her eyes. As I frowned, she hid her left hand behind her back. Typical kindergarten kid attitude when caught red-handed and candidly hoping I’d look away.

What is she thinking? She’s twenty-two, she should know her suspicious attitude will only draw my attention.

I sighed and I reached for her arm.

“Look, I don’t always guess when people are lying, but right now, I know you are. We’re engaged. I can help you.”

“No, you can’t.” She shook her head, her cherry-red hair tangled by the night, but still so thick and beautiful. “Please stop believing you can do everything. Nobody can, not even the Great Hero from the tales. But you did bring me on an amazing adventure, and for this, I must thank you, Al.”

She sniffed. Chess stood next to us, sword in hand. In the rush of the morning, they hadn’t taken the time to fasten their belt, so they had no scabbard.

“The proclive isn’t coming back, and I can’t hear anything unusual. I think we should go back to the camp.”

Catalin shook her head. “I can’t, Chess. I’m sorry.”

My heart sank. Why is she talking as if she’s dying?

“Come on, show me this hand.”

I reached behind her back, catching her shoulder with my other hand, and I brought back the arm she was hiding. The whole hand looked tattooed in plain blue-black.

It’s like a cover for a very ugly tattoo that can’t be concealed otherwise.

“What’s this?”

I startled. It’s expanding! It’s running up her arm under her skin!

And then I knew. I also knew I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want this to be happening. But Catalin just smiled sadly.

“You know what it is, Al. I told you that grimoire was cursed, and now we know it really was. When I caught it, I accidentally touched it.”

“Let me take a look.”

She glared at me. “What don’t you understand when I tell you there’s nothing you can do? I can feel the curse chilling my bones!”

Of course I can do something! Fate has no right to be so simple and cruel! You can’t die like this!

I grabbed the wrapped book and looked for a magic symbol, but Catalin shook her head.

“It’s a curse, not a spell. It’s beyond your power.”

“No, I can find something. Let me get the gloves in your bag and…”

“It’s too late.”

The blue-black ink ran across her shoulder and crawled up her chin.

“Goodbye, Al. It’s been a great five days.”

Her face blackened and she fell forward, right into my arms.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

I cried, I called, I tried to shake her, cajole her, hug her. She wasn’t breathing anymore. Chess was even paler than usual. They helped me check for a heartbeat, but no matter how hard we tried, we found none.

The world had stopped. It couldn’t be real. Not right now. Not because of a stupid monkey, after surviving a golem, several soldier squads and a dire bear. A twenty-two-year-old promising Magic Arts student couldn’t die of a random accident in the middle of a forest. She was about to submit her final assignment as a freshman. She should have been accepted in second year, while the spoiled brats who bullied her dropped out of University.

Her life couldn’t end like this.

I made a silent promise last night. I wanted to give you more attention. I was ready to finally open up and get to know you as you deserve… Is the universe punishing me for being a terrible person? If so, why does it choose to punish me by hurting you? It’s unfair and cruel!

I closed my eyes, wished very hard for reality to be different, but when I opened them, Catalin still lay motionless in my lap.

“Ma’am…”

Chess put a hand on my shoulder, but I shook it off. “Leave me alone!”

“Please…”

“What? What am I supposed to do? Wave it away, say ‘Oh, my fiancée’s dead’ and move on? I can’t, Chess! She can’t be gone like this!”

I stared at them and they looked right back at me, unblinking, tears building up in their emerald green eyes. I snorted in defiance.

“I’m the Great Hero, I’m smart, I’m supposed to find a solution!”

Deep in my heart, I knew I was lying, but I needed that lie. I needed to believe there was something else to the situation than what we’d both seen. I was ready to cling to any hope, no matter how faint.

Chess finally looked away and sighed.

“I know she means a lot to you. I… went through it, more or less, some time ago. It still hurts.”

“But you’re so young! You…”

Of course. Prince Sorosiel. He, too, died suddenly in an accident, and Princess Nigella told me he was Chess’s only close friend. Maybe more than just a friend, but it’s none of my business.

“Ma’am, I don’t want to talk about it right now.” Chess picked the book from my hand and secured the cloth around it. “I’ll be at the camp, packing our things and commending Catalin’s soul to the Almighty. Take the time you need, but in the end, you’ll have to accept that she’s gone.”

No, she’s not! I didn’t bring Catalin all the way from Carastra to die in a forest!

Except I had. I thought I could save a kingdom and all I’d done was doom a beautiful and talented young woman who deserved so much better from me. She’d given me her trust and the promise of her love, and what had I done in return? Instead of returning her affection, I’d used her and eventually killed her. She was gone without so much as a kiss. If there was a monster here, it was me.

Chess headed back to the camp, leaving me alone with my lifeless fiancée. All around, the sun was rising. Inside me, there was only darkness. I curled up in a ball of rage and pain.

I give it all up, my second chance after being hit by a van, my Great Hero status, my mission, I just want Catalin to be alive! This is unfair and I’m not having it! What should I do?

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I could only beg an angel for a miracle.

“Cherub! Bring Catalin Robi back now! I don’t want her dead! I want her back, alive and well!”

For a couple of seconds, only silence echoed in my mind. Had Cherub let me down?

“Raising the dead is beyond my power,” they finally answered.

I clenched my fists. “You little…”

“Besides, Catalin Robi’s not dead, she’s cursed.”

“Bring her back!”

“I can’t lift curses.”

“Then use your angelic power to make me find someone who can, quick!”

There was another silence. Deep in their dimension outside our reality, in the clouds of light where they processed soul orders, Cherub was thinking. Their eventual answer sounded like a sigh in my mind.

“This is halfway between a piece of information and a miracle, Al, but I’m giving you the knowledge you need. Here’s the nearest place where you can find a Zimeon witch with suitable powers. The rest is up to you.”

Cherub’s voice vanished from my head. Now I knew there was someone, less than a day’s walk from that horrible forest, a witch who might be able to do something about the curse that gave my fiancée the appearance of death.

I stayed there for a moment, catching my breath, with Catalin still lying next to me. I wrapped my arms around her. She felt warm. Not breathing, not alive, and yet, Cherub’s words kept bouncing in my head.

She’s not dead. She’s not dead.

Her hair was so beautiful. I ran a finger along her soft rounded ears.

“If we can save you, I promise I’ll be a better fiancée. I’m not worthy of your love right now, but I can improve, okay?”

I kissed her blackened cheek. There wasn’t the slightest motion in her face or body. Oh, what hope and faith it took to believe there was a way to bring her back to life!