The Faceless Woman by Emma Hamm (i love reading .txt) 📕

break the binding curse and the King’s curse. Both have been placed on him—Bran, the Raven King’s heir, not Bran, the Unseelie prince. A binding curse can only remain attached to the person originally cursed. If he’s Bran the Unseelie prince, then the binding curse doesn’t exist.”

“Then do it,” she said. “Why does this matter? The curse is broken either way.”

With an embellished whirl, the Raven King dramatically turned toward Bran. “That’s where the best part is revealed. Because Bran doesn’t know that you”—he turned and pointed at her—“are my consort.”

Silence echoed in the room louder than a scream. She straightened, determined to remain poised, and then met Bran’s horrified gaze.

“No,” he muttered. “No, not you.”

“Her,” the Raven King replied. He circled Aisling, pressed his lips against her ear, and murmured, “Go ahead. Why don’t you show them what all those years with humans taught you? Lie.”

“No,” she whispered, lips twitching in fear.

“Do it.”

“No.”

“Tell him you aren’t what he thinks you are. Tell him a lie.”

“I can’t.”

The Raven King tsked in disappointment and stepped away from her. “I don’t know how the magic found her of all people, but I am perfectly happy to keep her. If Bran breaks the spell, Aisling, then you are mine. If he doesn’t, then he is damned for all eternity to take my place as the Raven King, but he has you.”

She stared into Bran’s night-sky eyes and knew what he would pick. She slowly crouched, set the vial on the ground, and rolled it to his clenched fist. “We both know what you want.”

“You don’t know what it is you’re saying. He’s the Raven King, Aisling. He’s dangerous.”

“So are you.” She smiled, although it was a little shaky. “And so am I. This is my fate, Bran. I know what it is like to be bound by a curse that makes you someone else. I wouldn’t want you to live with it for the rest of your life, just because you were afraid I couldn’t take care of myself. I’ve done it before, I will do it again, whether you are the Raven King or not.”

She poured her heart out and still she couldn’t say those three words that meant more to her than life itself. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t now, and he didn’t need to have any more added guilt to his choice.

Cast the spell. She tried to project her thoughts to him so she wouldn’t embarrass them both. Taste the ambrosia of freedom. Live it for me.

The Unseelie queen clapped her hands, all eight legs dancing on the floor to the same beat. “That was the most entertainment I have had in centuries! My goodness, the three of you with all these curses floating between you. It’s enough to make my head spin.”

Aisling glared at her. “This doesn’t include you.”

“But it does, because that is my son, and I want him back.”

The Raven King whirled. “We had a deal.”

“You broke that deal the moment you set the Wild Hunt on my daughters and chased them back to this realm.”

“They had no right to be in the human realm.”

“That is not your choice.”

Aisling tilted her head back and screamed, “Enough!”

The entire room fell silent again, every person staring at her as though she had lost her mind. And perhaps she had.

She looked at the Unseelie on his knees, still stuck to the floor by his own family, and sadly shook her head. “Do it, Bran. Just get it over with.”

“This was never the choice I would have made,” he replied. His face twisted in sadness and disappointment. “For either of us.”

“I know. But it’s the right choice.”

She would survive; she always had. Every moment of her life had been spent alone. She knew what it felt like, and she would handle it when it crashed down upon her once again.

Memories would help her exist wherever the Raven King brought her. Judging him so quickly was likely cruel. Perhaps he would be a good man. That had been her sister’s fate, after all. Now Aisling could understand exactly how Elva felt.

“Sweetheart,” Bran murmured, “have a little more faith than that.”

He lifted his hand and brought it down hard on the small vial. It shattered under his touched, the blue glow dying instantly upon touching the ground.

“What?” she gasped. “Why would you do that?”

Bran looked up, met her gaze, and smiled. “For you.”

Aisling had only a second to appreciate the moment before blistering pain shattered through her body. She threw her head back, eyes wide, a silent scream shaking her to the very core.

Her flesh melted, her bones realigned, the crunching sounds of transformation echoed in her ears until that was the only thing she could think of. She lifted an arm and finally managed to scream as feathers poked through her skin, shredding her muscles along the way. Her spine shifted, neck elongating and shoulders dropping.

Finally, she laid flat against the floor in a panting, heaving mess. Something wasn’t right. She didn’t feel like herself at all.

Aisling lifted her head, feeling the subtle grace in the movement. She shook it and tried to speak. All that came out was a strange croak.

She shook her head again and met Bran’s horrified gaze.

“Aisling,” he gasped. “I’m so sorry.”

The floor was polished near to a mirror. When she looked down at herself, she let out a quiet, disappointed sigh.

A swan stared back at her. White feathers, so pristine they didn’t look real, covered her body. A black beak pointed into a lovely line that ended just above her eyes.

She tried to flap her wings but didn’t know how to control this strange body. She looked up as another sound filled the room. The rushing of ravens.

They left the Raven King in a swarm and dove into Bran’s body. He arched back, tearing through the webbing with sudden violence, opening his arms wide to welcome their possession. The cords of his neck stood out in stark relief as he screamed.

When it was complete, they stared at