The Cursed Wish | ONC 2024

Ch 14: The Poison of Failure

Elowen's ears were still ringing from the countess's explosive exit. She spotted Brennon across the ballroom, motioning for her to stay put. He was holding back their father, and she was sure he was attempting to reassure the earl. 

Estefania de Sahar lay on the ground, her veins turning green. Her face was pale, and her breathing was labored. The marquis curled up under her head and whimpered as Trix examined the poor princess. 

The moment Elowen locked eyes with the fairy, she knew it was too late. Estefania was the victim of magic that could not easily be undone. It was only a matter of time before Sahar's heir passed from the world to the realm below the sunset. 

"How can I help?" She shouted. 

Trix grimaced and touched the side of Elowen's face. The touch was cold at first but warmed. Immediately, her hearing cleared up, and she could hear the screams and scrambles of the ball attendees. 

"Oh, child," Trix said. "If only this were simple."

Elowen reached for Estefania's arm to feel her fading pulse. They didn't have much time. The princess was dying. She could feel it in her bones. 

"I brought Rillian out of his stasis," Elowen said. "Is there a way around this magic?"

"It can be traded," Trix bit her lip. "But the poison will bring death."

Avangelique joined Elowen beside her fading sister. The younger princess gave Trix a pleading look. The older fairy just shook her head. 

"I don't have the magic to save her," Trix said. "The only person who could undo magic like a wish was the fairy empress herself using her royal scepter and the book of records. The scepter was lost in the fall, and the book is in Mona's hands. Either way, we don't have time. Your sister has half an hour if she's lucky."

"But it can be traded," Avangelique said. 

Trix shook her head. "That would be foolish, Ava."

A mad gleam entered Avangelique's eyes. She pulled a hairpin out of her hair and pricked her finger. Blood blossomed at the wound, quickly covering her finger. 

Trix tried to move to grab Avangelique's arm. The princess held up her opposite arm, and the fairy froze in mid-motion. Then Avangelique de Sahar pressed her crimson finger to her sister's fairy mark on her forehead. 

"I desire this wish, for it was wrongly given," Avangelique said. "And I now take this magic into myself as a consequence for what was gifted."

Both princesses begin to glow so fiercely that Elowen was forced to tear her eyes away from the sight. She focused on the two as her vision readjusted. Then she felt a rush of power, like a final breath fly from one princess and hit the other with the force of a carriage. 

Elowen watched as Estefania's breath stabilized and her eyes flew open. At the same moment, Avangelique convulsed, screamed, and fell backward in a dead faint. She barely had a moment to reach out and catch the princess's body before it hit the floor. 

Avangelique's body was warm, but Elowen could see the poison in her veins as black as it was in her sister. Avangelique's chest rose and fell at a steady pace, but her eyes didn't open as Elowen set her body on the floor. Then she saw the color drain from the girl's skin, but she still remained breathing. 

Lorenzo rushed forward and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. He murmured her name over and over as he rubbed her arms and shouted for smelling salts. His fingers fumbled for her other arm and pressed to her wrist before moving to her neck.

"Gods, her pulse," he said. "I can't find her pulse."

"But she's breathing," Elowen said, but she'd seen this before.