The Elder's Curse by Andrew Walbrown (ereader for textbooks TXT) 📕

sitting on his chest preventing his lungs from expanding. For the first time in years, he felt close to someone that was not Ulam, connected on a plane even his foster-brother could not inhabit. He knew with complete certainty that what he felt was not love, but it was definitely some form of deep affection.

Suddenly the door opened once more and Seto walked in, followed by two other Council Guards filing in behind him. The blood in Amantius’ veins ran ice cold at the sight of Kona’s husband, causing him to instantly release her hand, even though he knew they were invisible to everyone else. After a few words with his comrades, his four Kalikki boys followed the soldiers out of the room, disappearing out of sight. A few seconds later Seto began yelling in the Yawani language, his face twitching in anger.

“What is he saying?” Amantius asked, noticing the identical emotionless expression on the faces of both Konas.

“He’s accusing me, or her, of spending all day with someone else,” Kona replied. “A baker, specifically, and he’s using the fresh loaves of bread nearby as evidence against her. And she is telling him she didn’t. He’s accusing her of being unfaithful.”

Right as Amantius was about to speak he saw Seto raise his hand, and in one quick movement, slap the imaginary Kona across the face. He hit her so hard the force knocked her out of her seat, crashing onto the floor.

An instant rage swept over Amantius, an inferno of hatred consuming every fiber of his being. He took a few steps forward and reached for the knife in his boot, wholly intending to sacrifice his personal oath of non-violence just to kill Seto. But as he moved he felt the real Kona’s hand wrap around his forearm, holding him back.

“It’s not real, Amantius!” She shouted, her voice trembling, a tear in her eye.

“Has he ever hit you?” Amantius replied with fire in his voice.

“What? Seto? No!” She replied with a sharp shake of her head. “He’s never even raised his voice to me. He’s always been so gentle and polite.”

Amantius returned the blade to its sheath. He wanted to continue their conversation, but the false Kona’s cries for decency distracted him too much. There was no way he was going to able to focus while the imaginary Kona was being tossed around the room. “I need to go outside, this…this is too much.”

“I agree,” Kona replied, her voice hollow. “Even if she isn’t real, I still can’t watch this.”

As soon as they returned to the courtyard the false world disappeared, instantly fading into a large empty room in Kuruk’s Tower. Just like before, walls of black marble surrounded them, covered in ancient writing gleaming with bright green letters. On the floor beneath them was the same symbol from earlier, another triangle with a spiral inside. Lit torches rested in iron sconces along the walls, their flames spawning dozens of shadows waltzing to a melody of silence. At the far end of the room was a staircase leading upward, which Amantius recognized as the chamber’s only exit. But before they could leave, he knew he had to address what they had just witnessed. The dark magic let me watch one of my greatest fears unfold, it only makes sense that it did the same for Kona.

“If he’s always been so respectful towards you,” Amantius began, keeping his voice as steady as possible, “then why do you think that just happened?”

Kona averted her gaze.

“Kona?” Amantius said, realizing she was hiding something. “I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, but after what we’ve experienced so far together I hope you know you can trust me.” Amantius waited for a response, but Kona’s expression remained unchanged. “And it’s fine if you don’t want to tell me either. I’m not going to pressure you one way or the other, just know I’ll listen if you ever want to talk.”

Kona still did not respond. Amantius looked at her hands and noticed they were balled into fists, but she did not look like she wanted to fight anyone. She looks scared, but of what? Or who?

Amantius waited a few moments, just in case she wanted to speak, but she still gave no indication that she would. “Alright,” he said as he headed for the exit, “let’s at least get out of this accursed room. Ulam and Mazargo might be waiting for us at the top. And I don’t want to…"

“It’s my biggest fear,” Kona interrupted, her voice stopping him cold, “becoming my mother.”

Amantius closed his eyes tight for a moment and grimaced, happy that Kona could not see his reaction. He had been deeply disturbed by their time in the fake Yawan, but he had been able to set aside his emotions quickly because he knew everything he had seen in that world had been an illusion. But he was not completely naïve either, because Amantius believed there was a concrete reason why the dark magic chose that specific scene for Kona’s torture. Why, though, he did not quite figure out until she mentioned her mother.

Amantius turned towards Kona, a slight frown on his face. He did his best to look as sympathizing as possible, though he could not completely hide all of his sorrow from her. “Did your father hit your mother?”

“All the time,” she replied, her words little more than a whisper. “He had a gambling problem. He would spend his whole week’s earnings shooting dice, always looking to make an extra few coins. He would always lose, come home, and take it out on our mother.”

“Our? You have siblings?”

“Had,” Kona corrected. Her gaze became lost in the light of a nearby torch, its flames reflected in the darkness of her eyes. “One day Mother decided she wasn’t going to get hit anymore, that she had taken her last punch, her last kick, so she grabbed my three sisters and left. I wasn’t home; I was at Tomo’s learning how