The Crown of Oaths and Curses (The Mortal Fates #1)

by J. Bree

You heard what the witch said—I need to eat to bring my milk in and keep a supply.”

9/17/24 She does have a name you know…

My eyebrows slowly inch up my forehead. I wasn't aware that the high fae often got a longer fate than just who they were meant to be with.

9/17/24 Yet both you and Soren knew you were mates, that your marriage would help him secure the thrown and that your union would end the war and save the kingdom or something like that…

I thought that was just Soren and I, bound together in a fearsome destiny.

9/17/24 Oh. Lol

I did for a moment in my grief, but they didn’t falter, and my trust in them has brought my son here.

And the moment was for the entire time Rooke has been at the castle… 🙄🙄 Now she’s trying to act like she believed the entire time in the Fates. Wow 9/17/24 Ikr Old Self. Listen to this heffa that’s been a mean girl the entire time for no reason…

I call Firna and Tyton into my reception room to question them about the full extent of the damage the witch had done.

9/17/24 Damage huh? 🤣🤣🤣

No, she was waiting for someone to act like they had some sense and treat her like a person. 9/17/24 Yeah.

Ravenswyrd forest seem to be thriving just fine… 9/17/24 I didn’t think of that! Good catch!

I haven’t been to the Southern Lands in two hundred years, and before I left, I spent all of my time in the Ravenswyrd, so I’ll have to leave figuring out the location up to you.”

9/17/24 So she finally names her coven…

The fae door outside the walls of Yregar was once most commonly used to travel to the Augur Mountains and the Seer who lived in the temple there. Generations of my family made the journey to hear what the Fates had planned out for our lives.

9/17/24 But you said your family lived in Yris and Yregar was more of a vacation home…

Dozens of the regent’s messengers have disappeared in the Goblin Lands over the centuries, never to be seen again, though mine are merely escorted to the edges of the land and told not to return.

9/17/24 Yet you said he doesn’t like you and finds you wanting…

She knew all along that her magic was strong enough to get past our defenses, and yet she played her game with us, to what end I still can’t guess.

9/17/24 because you’re too ignorant.

Their job has always been to keep the gardens at Yregar pretty and pleasing for the Unseelie Court’s arrival, relying on the healers who once kept the garden in their own quarters to grow their own ingredients and mix their tinctures for the castle and all of those who live within Yregar’s walls. That knowledge is lost to us now.

9/17/24 Y’all are a sad bunch. Y’all didn’t learn anything. Y’all are useless without the witches.

Perhaps you should learn some manners and stop insulting the healer who just saved the future of your race.”

9/17/24 You finally said something that needed to be said.

No matter how hard I fight against them, the Fates have wisely chosen me a mate who will make me question everything.

9/17/24 OH, so now they’ve “wisely” chosen you a mate… 🙄🙄

The witch has instructed me on the prince’s care, and I won’t let any harm come to them.”

9/17/24 I wish she’d tell Firna her name. And Arlie. I forgot earlier she only told the boys…

Wow… totally different from what Soren said. 9/17/24 So just like Rooke believed the rumors about the Savage Prince, Prince Soren believed the rumors about the Goblin King and they were both wrong to do so.

“This isn't the place for your little tricks. I will slit your throat right now, Fates be damned, and face the consequences.”

9/17/24 Can this dude just die already. Not by a witch though but… something. A brick falls on his head from the outer wall… He is so irritating!

The Goblin King descended from the First Fae the same as the Celestials did, regardless of their animosity.

9/17/24 Say what? And Soren is acting like that? He was just a child when they met and in mourning so I could see how he could misconstrue some stuff, but all this time has passed and… Smdh.

Has the GK not noticed a witch among them? Surely his guards did when she looked up to the tower to address them…

His eyes fix on Tauron’s hand, wrapped tightly around my arm, his fingers biting into my flesh and sure to leave behind a bruise.

9/17/24 And what made him think manhandling her while the Goblin King was speaking with her and she was smiling was a smart thing to do, knowing he sees it, since he’s looking directly at her.

The beast is bewitched by her, calming under her sure touch.

9/17/24 🤣🤣🤣🤣

When I can’t bear her silence any longer, I ask,

9/17/24 Missing her voice there Soren… 🤣🤣🤣

I have no idea where I'm going to put the witch now that the dungeon is no longer an option.

9/17/24 So… there was only one cell n their dungeon or is he saying that because he knows it won’t hold her now?

Conversation isn't so difficult, not when the welfare of my kingdom rests on my shoulders.

9/17/24 took you long enough to figure that out…

or whatever other fantasies you have dreamed up in that mind of yours.

9/17/24 And boy has he dreamed some up…

Have you now realized that the gag wouldn’t have stopped her?

“He died a very long time ago.” I don't offer her anything else

9/17/24 And wouldn’t it be better to just say Kharl and his witches killed them? That would remove some of Soren’s doubts. But I guess it would also stop the author from prolonging the story and them being amicable…

I pat the back of one of her hands gently. She startles at the familiarity of the action, but she doesn't protest.

9/17/24 But that’s not the first time you’ve pat her hand…

I’ll have to ride out and speak to the regent myself!”

9/17/24 Oh boo, that’s the wrong thing to saw. I thought she was loyal to Soren… Smdh.

Whether the witches have spies other than my uncle and my Fates-cursed mate living amongst the high fae I don’t know for sure,

9/17/24 She broke his curse and he’s mad about it and is going to retaliate, but she works for him… Soren do you even hear yourself?

“How can I sleep while the witch runs riot through our castle, unchecked and plotting your demise?

9/17/24 OMG. Just die already…

Are we so sure that the ‘peace’ you’ll bring the kingdom isn't the demise of the high fae and the witches ruling the Southern Lands in our stead?”

9/17/24 How much of an idiot can you be? She just secured the future of the high fae by breaking the baby curse, you idiot.

I begin to pray to the Fates once more. I promise them endless submission if Roan survives this ride home, that I’ll marry the witch and become the King of the Southern Lands. I’ll do it all if she's able to save Roan's life with no supplies, no tinctures, no herbs, nothing that the healers of old used, nothing but her bare hands.

9/17/24 First she just needs to save him, then he adds damn near impossible stipulations. 🤣🤣🤣

I’m able to coax the poison from his bloodstream, the purple hue ghoulish as the magic oozes out of the wounds and runs down Roan’s chest.

9/17/24 I thought in Soren’s POV she removed the poison before she took the arrows out. Here it sounds like she did the arrows first…

You saw the desperation the curse plunged us into and used your magic to exploit our weakness.” It’s the first time any of his tirades have made perfect sense to me.

9/17/24 Still doesn’t make sense to me. She wasn’t there before, so how could she see it? Then when she got there, y’all imprisoned her. Then when she did realize the curse and tried offering her help, y’all ignored her and threatened her. So how does his comment make sense?

Exactly. Stop acting holier than thou to the high fae…🙄🙄

The Fates looked inside the little witch of the woods and knew that I would flee the moment I heard his name.

9/17/24 How did you learn his name before that when you were sheltered in the forest and only left to go see the Seer?

“I heard you speaking to Firna. Write a list of what you need to help Roan,” Soren says from the corner, breaking the silence and my concentration. There’s censure in his voice, but a wave of satisfaction rolls over me. I’m glad he heard me,

9/17/24 But it doesn’t Lund like he heard any of the important parts…

Huh? 9/17/24 So that’s what he took from that? Still in denial. Smdh.

I hear this from Tauron himself when he bursts into the healer’s quarters still streaked with blood, both Roan's and our enemies’.

9/17/24 How did he get Roan’s blood on him? He wasn’t close enough…

Airlie scoops her son into her arms with practiced ease,

9/18/24 Well, I guess she done tending to her son’s needs…

“I trust that witch with my husband's life, just as I trusted her with my son. Roan said all along that the Fates have led you to her for a reason. She's not just your mate, Soren, she’s the future queen of the Unseelie high fae and the Southern Lands. My loyalty is to you and your fate, and now with her. You and Tauron are suspicious enough for the rest of us. I’ll spend my time tending to my family instead.”

9/18/24 Well would you look at that! Total 180…

“You brought the book I asked for, didn't you? I‘d like to show it to Prince Soren before I go.”

9/18/24 What? Someone finally pulled out a book like Old Self suggested in a previous comment! Wowzers!

Yes! Tell his ignorant ass! 9/18/24 Now that’s a mother! Forget all the bs, my child will be taught the right way of things.

Where’s Tyton? 9/18/24 When you arrived she had already delivered the baby moments before…

Roan's life being spared means there's still a price to pay for breaking the curse, a bounty on us all. It's the first real win the high fae have had in the war; even with the hundreds of small battles we’ve won, overall, the witches have still claimed more.

9/18/24 And it’s a win you wouldn’t have gotten without your “Fates-cursed mate”…

As my chest heaves and my body drips with sweat, a flash of silver catches my eye, and I turn to find the witch staring at me as she walks past the training grounds.

9/18/24 Aflash of silver catches your eye? Man! Are her eyes that big and pronounced that her pupils stand out from across a training yard?

A soldier is with them, monitoring them and ensuring the witch can do no harm,

9/18/24 What are you still lying to yourself? That soldier alone is not capable of preventing her from doing harm. He’s just there to make others believe he is so they can feel safer with a witch on the grounds.

Whether she'll admit it or not, she looks impressed, a keen assessment of many long centuries of hard work.

9/18/24 Arrogant ass. 🤣🤣🤣

Maybe you should spare with Rooke then… 9/18/24 I was thinking that as well…