Chapter One Mabel

T hings get crazy once the sand kicks up and engulfs the three men. Arthur is calling to me. Wanting me to follow him but I can't make sense of everything.

Arthur should be dead. He left me. I was a monster to him.

Yet, here he is, a monster himself.

"We have to go," Arthur calls. "The sand whisps can only distract the men for so long before they get bored of the task and look for something else to do."

I want to run. I want to find my monsters, to be with them again. But I am rooted to the spot.

"Talk to me Arthur," I call out in the wind. "Where have you been all these years? I thought you were dead."

I thought you had deserted me.

As the men scream through the agony of the barrage of sand to their skin, Arthur stills. I can feel the calm of him as he approaches.

"I didn't want you to see me like this," he says. "I am a monster."

"And I'm alright with that. After all, I'm a monster too. You should have spoken to me. You would have seen that I didn't care."

"And that's entirely my fault."

I gasp in shock, my chest tight with his words. "What do you mean?"

"I'll explain it all once we get somewhere safe," Arthur continues. "We can't talk here."

I want to stay firm, to nut this all out now before things get even more complicated but a shout to my right has me turning. Reeve is there, his eyes boring into me even in the middle of the shitstorm the sand whisps have conjured up.

Arthur seems to sense my decision the moment I make it. But, then again, he's been in my head. He knew me inside and out even before he became whatever it is he is now. And that thought makes me shudder. He knew me. I let him know me. I shouldn't be surprised at anything now.

I am running and Arthur is a puff of smoke following at my side. Glancing behind, I can see the smudge of him protecting my back as well.

The sand drags me down, my boots sinking and my calves burning but I continue to flee the scene behind. Even as I struggle against the force of nature, I can feel another tug. One that is all too familiar.

The call of the curse.

"No," I moan, deep and low. "Not yet."

"Keep going," Arthur says, the words so close, they feel like they're in my head.

It's busy in there, between my own thoughts, Arthur's, and Gilberd's. Oh, and now, Reeve's . I swallow hard against everything, the fear, the panic, the desire to turn back toward danger.

Biting down on my lip, I hiss through the pain of it as I continue to run. My whole being concentrated on the one task, focused solely thanks to the pain in my lip. I taste blood, another thing to focus on rather than my traitorous body.

Ahead, I see the swell of the dune before the ocean. I only know this because the sky changes color around the swell of it signifying the water beyond it. A cherp caws overhead before ducking down behind the sand. Then, the hint of a roof, the top of the inn that hugs the shore.

I'm nearly there. I must keep going.

But then my body falters.

I bite down so hard that blood pours out of my lip. I must keep going. I have to fight it.

"You can do it," Arthur murmurs inside my head.

I slow, staggering even as I feel the rush of air behind me. Arthur is everywhere. The smoke of him thickens and I can feel the touch of him somehow. The patter of moisture coats my skin like the morning dew, fingers licking across my shoulders, encouraging me forward. I close my eyes, desperate for the touch of Arthur, like in days gone, and this is as close as it will get likely. Tears swell in my eyes as I dwell on that. He's nothing more than smoke and mist. Not someone I can physically touch anymore and that brings a new wave of grief for the man I once loved. A deep swell of sadness that I thought I no longer had left for the one who deserted me all those long years ago.

"That's it, think about me," Arthur croons in my ear, the whisper of the words rips another shudder from me, and I continue to drag myself along the sand, always heading forward even though every fiber of my body wants to turn back.

My teeth chatter as I drag myself over the dune. The ocean is right there, I can see it clearly. The pier is right there, and I am terrified. I know my plan was to head toward Gilberd but now I am here, I dread the pull of the king.

What was our plan? I can't remember anymore. All I can concentrate on is Arthur and why he was here just now.

I groan deeply, my thoughts consuming me even as I place one step in front of the other. Slowly, for sure, but over and over again. It's my single focus so I barely notice when the fog surrounding me draws away. Arthur is there one moment and then gone the next.

It's all I can do to keep moving after that. I have no idea why Arthur has deserted me. Again . It hurts more than it should. I have purged him from my body and have done so years ago. It shouldn't make my body tremble like it is now.

I fold down, my body collapsing as I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to grieve for Arthur all over again. Why would he show up so suddenly and then be gone all over again?

"Mabel!"

The shout is far away, drifting into my consciousness as I turn and let the draw of the curse consume me. It feels like the word is in my mind, like I am imagining it rather than it being uttered by someone else. It almost feels like the pull of Gilberd, and I can no longer fight that.

On my knees, I paw at the ground. I am done. I am ready to face the king, to allow him to do whatever he wants with me. What's the point anyway? It's what I have been designed for. It is what my father allowed.

The bitter thought rises, consuming me so suddenly I gasp. Oh, how I hate my father at this moment. I have bottled it up for all these years. Allowing myself to merely exist and survive. But for what? For the gain of kings that only want to look after themselves? Even as I draw away from the water, I am bitter at having lost everything because of my father. Maybe everything is so raw because of the unexpected arrival of Arthur. Or perhaps it's just time I faced reality. I am a woman, a tool for those around me. I should never have aspired to be anything more.

When I hear my name again, I ignore it. It is just my mind playing tricks on me anyway, I figure. My stupid mind that can't even follow its own wants and needs without being altered by the thoughts of others. Not once, in all these years, have I been my own person and that hurts more than the sting of my lip right now.

"Go away," I whisper as I crawl towards the only fate I have ever been allowed.

It seems like destiny that I am alone now, that everyone has finally deserted me–surprisingly, even the king, I notice as I glare at the long pier in front of me. And why was I fighting it anyway? I can't remember now as I shake my head. What's wrong with being the king's plaything, his monster hunter?

Because it's wrong.

The words are not mine. They can't be because I am resigned to my fate now. I may not be entirely happy to submit to Gilberd, but it is the only destiny I have. It's all that I am.

Hold on.

More words that lie.

Tears of frustration leak from my eyes and I let them fall from my face, watching as they hit the red sand and immediately soak in, disappearing almost at once. Like Arthur . Here to stir shit up and then, so irrevocably, gone again.

Why even bother showing up?

I am mad at him now, along with my father, the curse, and absolutely every other thing in my life presently. I could have gone the rest of my existence not knowing Arthur was still alive. And to what reason did he feel the need to show himself, if not to merely fuck with me?

"I hate you," I mutter as more tears flow. "I hate you all."

The air caresses me, running over my feverish skin and reminding me further of my old lover. The traitorous devil himself. The air thickens and I struggle against it.

"Just let me go to Reeve," I say through gritted teeth.

"No."

It's a single word and I try to push it back, try so desperately hard to ignore it but I can't. Somehow, it coats my skin and sinks into my pores, becoming my everything. It is even more potent than the king's call right now.

Still, I trudge forward, ever intent on returning to my wretched fate, waiting for Gilberd to finally appear.

The air wraps around me, strengthening and thickening until it feels like actual arms. Strong arms that have a familiar slant to them. I swallow back the emotion of it, the remembrance of how they once protected me.

Then, more arms. Strong ones that pull me backwards, dragging me across the sand so harshly that I am sure there will be the draw of blood. I call out with pain even as yet another set of arms grabs at me. I sag down for a moment, thankful to not have to be moving anymore. Thankful that I can simply melt into them.

The babble of voices is so far away that I can't hear their words properly. I strain my hearing, trying to catch anything, trying to work out what exactly is going on.

A splash of water surprises me.

"No!" I shout but can barely hear the word as it leaves my lips. I tug my arms towards my body, trying to free myself of all the hands covering me, not even knowing who I am fighting or why. "Let me go."

Another splash of wetness and then I am below the waves, my head under water and I sputter against it as it coats my body and rushes into my mouth. I laugh as the water invades my lungs. They can't kill me that easily, whoever the fools are that have me.

When my head comes above the waterline, I spit out the briny liquid and draw in a deep breath. Ready to shout and fight against whatever has me.

Then, tentacles touch me.

Zeklan.

The suckering remembrance of him has me gasping again.

Oh, gods, please let it be him.

Even as the thought takes over, there is another one, this time, a voice I am all too familiar with.

"Return to me," Reeve says, right there inside my head and I struggle once more.