The Cursed Wish | ONC 2024

Ch 9: The Countess of Nene

Elowen couldn't believe what was happening. Wryn was at the ball, claiming the countess had imprisoned her in the attic. She'd wondered if Wryn was losing it, and now she was trying to tell Elowen that she'd never been truly sick.

It should have been impossible. The countess shouldn't have been able to use magic. Elowen would have called Wryn's story crazy yesterday, but now she'd met Trix and knew better. Trix said that the dark fairy was still out there.

"It took a while to gather the right ingredients, but I was able to break the barrier around Wryn's room," Bastien explained. "She's still weak, but she's certainly not patient zero, as Countess Monique has told everyone. Wryn is just being drained as the consequence of a wish."

"A wish did this?" Fletcher looked skeptical.

"Yes," Bastien said. "I've learned everything I can about magic in sixteen years. I can't break the magic, but I've studied it. It's happened before. A woodcutter once wished he could live forever. His child lived in incredible pain and weakness while the woodcutter never aged. The child became better when the woodcutter died in a logging accident."

Elowen watched as Fletcher locked eyes with Lorenzo. A dark look passed between them. Fletcher's knuckles whitened on his cane as he gripped it like his life depended on the stick.

"Is there a way to break the curse without killing the person who made such a rotten wish?" Nathaniel asked.

"I'm not sure," Bastien said. "I'd need to do more research, and I don't know who Wryn is tied to. I don't think the countess is her mother, and I can't do more without finding out who her birth parents are."

Nathaniel stepped forward, reaching out to take Wryn's hand. Then he turned her arm over to reveal a birthmark that looked like the stain of painted lips. It resembled the one on Elowen's brow, but Wryn's was greatly faded into her pale skin.

"No way," Lorenzo breathed. "How did you know?"

"She looks like my mother," Nathaniel said. "And she has our father's eyes."

He turned to Fletcher as if the crown prince's opinion meant everything to him. Fletcher loosened his grip on his cane. His face was a mask, but he smiled at Wryn after a heartbeat.

"It seems the Marquess Caitryn de Ryne has come home," Fletcher said. "Welcome to our home, little sister."

Wryn shivered as Nathaniel released her arm. Bastien held her close, and Nathaniel turned to his brothers as if deferring to their expertise.

"What do we do now?" Nathaniel said. "We've found Catiryn, and she's suffering like us. Bastien says we're all being drained by someone who wants to live forever, and the three of us know someone who hasn't aged in two decades."

Fletcher glared across the room at the throne. The king was laughing with half a dozen women and his advisors. Elowen realized he didn't look a day older than twenty-one years old.

"Why would a fairy grant such a selfish wish?" She wondered aloud.

"Because the fairies were meant to serve our desires," Estefania said. "The Brothers always taught me that people used their wishes for self-serving gains. They claimed it was better now that people were free of the temptation."

Elowen couldn't help but wonder if the princess was right. Still, they couldn't let that get in the way of making sure wishes made before the disaster didn't hurt anyone.

"We should still help," she said. "It isn't right to let Wryn suffer."

"Elowen is right," Estefania said. "There has to be a way to reverse the magic."