The Cursed Wish | ONC 2024

Ch 5: The Siblings of Sahar

Estefania shivered as the boat pulled into the icy harbor of the Cyran capital. She had already been given a fur-lined cloak by the rangers, but she'd never seen snow like this. Nathaniel stood behind her, and she resisted the urge to back into him since he radiated heat, but she knew that was highly inappropriate.

She could see a carriage on the dock in front of them. There were a group of soldiers on either side of it, and at the front stood a young man who couldn't have been older than seventeen. He had curly sandy hair and a richly decorated uniform. Beside him stood a beautiful girl dressed in silks and furs, her long black hair braided into a cone on her head.

"Looks like Prince Lorenzo and Princess Avangelique are here to greet us," Nathaniel said. "But I don't see Fletcher."

The fact that her betrothed wasn't at the docks didn't bother her. Not when her sister was standing right there.

Estefania couldn't help but gawk at the stranger, who was also her sister. She looked exactly like their mother, with amber-tan skin and hazel eyes. She even carried herself with the same poise.

"Than," Prince Lorenzo shouted. "How was the journey? Did you find the princess?"

Nathaniel grinned as his men began to help the sailors lower the gangplank. When he tried to help the captain with some rigging, the grizzled man told the marquis that he couldn't abandon his title since they were back in Cyra.

Instead of trying to help more, he turned to Estefania. "Princess, it would be my great honor to introduce you to my younger half-brother and the lovely lady who follows him around like a lost puppy."

Estefania balked at his descriptions of the royals but realized he could sense her tension. She smiled slightly at his attempt to make the situation easier for her.

She took the marquis's arm and followed him down the gangplank towards her sister. Her heart raced, and she could feel her palms sweating as they approached. She wondered if Bastien was also meeting them here, but she didn't see her brother anywhere as she looked around.

"Than," Lorenzo grinned. "How did you manage to get her here so fast?"

Nathaniel gazed at her. "Favorable currents, and the new steamship chops far better through ice than the old ones. I'm just glad we made it with a day to spare. I was nervous I'd have to deliver her straight to the ball tomorrow night."

"The Marquis de Ryne did an admirable job," Estefania said.

"The marquis?" Lorenzo laughed. "No one calls Than that. Days on a ship, and you couldn't break her of formality, dear brother?"

"I..." Nathaniel actually blushed. "Well, it was how we were introduced, Zo."

"The Marquis de Ryne," Lorenzo shook his head, as if his half-brother's title were the funniest joke in the world. "Wait until Fletch hears."

"Where is Fletcher?" Nathaniel recovered his composure, but Estefania saw something dark in his eye.

"Fletcher is indisposed," Lorenzo said.

Nathaniel frowned. "Again?"

Estefania looked between the brothers. Lorenzo seemed too cheerful while Nathaniel was guarded. There was something wrong. She just didn't know what.

"Is Crown Prince Fletcher frequently ill?" She asked.

The brothers looked at each other. Lorenzo opened his mouth as if to answer, but Nathaniel subtly shook his head. Instead, Avangelique spoke.

"Fletch isn't ill," she said. "He gets tired easily. Zo and I left him to take a nap. He'll probably be awake when we get back."

Her sister looked like a picture of health. Estefania had been afraid she might find her sister with some sort of strange malady since she was the one the fairy said would face a fate worse than death.