The Curse (Belador #3)(43)

How little Flaevynn knew of him, even after six centuries.

Power flushed through the dungeon as Flaevynn destroyed the ward that had prevented him from teleporting out before now.

He took his time, freshenin’ up at his small sink and mirror, trimmin’ his beard and smoothin’ back his wavy, black hair. He smiled into the mirror at the handsome image that dinna look a day over thirty-five. Then he stepped to the center of the room and waved his hand up and down once in front of his body. His black robe disappeared, replaced by a fresh suit, the first he’d worn in two years.

Nice to have access to all of his powers again.

He’d been surprised when Flaevynn ha allowed Kizira to bring him robes to wear when he’d first been imprisoned, but realized later that Flaevynn ha done so to make a point. She wanted Kizira to see Cathbad brought low, provin’ to Kizira that if Flaevynn could trap a powerful druid, she could do anythin’.

But she can no rush the curse timeline without my help.

“Cathbad!”

“I know ya miss me, woman, but be patient. I’m on my way.”

Sharp lightnin’ bolts shot about the room, forcin’ him ta duck his head as he chuckled. She cared for no man beyond what swung between his legs and, in Cathbad’s case, only for what he could do ta save her from dyin’ accordin’ ta the prophecy.

The Curse, as she called it.

Amused by the woman’s temper, he took a moment to close the heavy book he’d been readin’. The swirlin’ purple material coverin’ the book had a raised silver image. Two snakes entwined in a vertical mirror image. Each asp ate its own tail … an ouroboros, which represented the cycle of life to death to life. The snakes circled a Medb sword.

Cathbad passed his hand over the cover, changing the exterior to a worn leather finish with the colorful image of a bard playin’ a flute. The spell he’d used would alter the contents visually, shroudin’ everythin’ real in a glamour that hid the true information to all but him.

Druids were no known for keepin’ written records, but bards scribbled stories all the time, and this one told a fascinatin’ tale about beasts.

A tale that explained missin’ pieces about the Alterants.

He chuckled again.

Ha the original Cathbad intended to keep this bard’s tale secret or ha this been given to the bard to write down for a future Cathbad descendant wise enough to decipher the connection between this tale an’ the prophecy?

It does no matter either way so long as I am the last Cathbad the Druid, the one ta find immortality.

He hummed as he tidied the cell. The time had come for the prophecy to be fulfilled, and no just because Flaevynn wanted it to be so.

He believed the original Cathbad the Druid must ha intended that the curse should come ta fruition now since the Alterants were bein’ revealed. Hard ta know what the original Medb queen an’ Cathbad the Druid ha planned, but he was sure the book he’d just bespelled held the key to unlockin’ the curse.

When Flaevynn snooped through his chamber, an’ she would, she’d take one look at the bawdy poems and bypass that book as frivolous entertainment for a man left alone.

She would likely no figure out what he ha discerned from studyin’ the words over and over for months. Odd poetry with cryptic messages, which supplied the missin’ key to the curse, words struck as a pact between the original Cathbad the Druid and first Medb queen from which today’s Medb Coven arose.

They’d been a wily pair, those two. Leavin’ enough hints for each of the future queens of the Medb, such as Flaevynn, ta try outsmartin’ the curse and gain immortality. But all the queens, except Flaevynn, ha been lulled into a false security by no knowin’ their true birth dates and they’d died, leavin’ the throne to their daughters as decreed in the curse.

But when Flaevynn discovered she’d been lied to about her birth date, she refused to uphold her vow and give the sacred words to Kizira on the day Kizira was accepted as a priestess. If Flaevynn ha, Kizira would become the next Medb queen upon Flaevynn’s death.

If Flaevynn died, she wanted no other to rule after her.

But if she did no figure out how to reach the final step of the curse before her 666th birthday in less than two weeks, she would die.

And he would die one day later.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. That ha been his one mistake. Flaevynn would no have learned her true birth date if no for usin’ sex to catch him at a weak moment when all the blood in his brain went to the wee head between his legs.

But he would share no detail about the curse with Flaevynn a minute too soon … and only then if he could no find a way to take Treoir Castle from the Beladors without her help.

Smilin’, Cathbad prepared to teleport and blinked once. When he opened his eyes, he found Flaevynn standin’ with arms crossed near her waterfall built of precious stones.

Orange sparks shot from her purple gaze. Black hair coiled and moved down the back of a queen as beautiful as she was deadly. Dark purple lips snarled, “What took you so long?”

“Packin’, cleanin’ up behind the movers, fillin’ out a forwardin’ address card for—”

“Oh, shut up, would you?”

“Then no ask me a question.” He took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air of freedom in T?μr Medb, the coven’s tower hidden away on a dimension parallel to the human world. “Is Kizira no here?”