The Curse of Ophelia (The Curse of Ophelia, #1)

by Nicole Platania

Tolek. He did not appear confused, but enchanted. His deep brown eyes widened as they met mine, and he rose onto the balls of his feet before clasping his hands behind his back and squaring his shoulders, as if fighting every instinct to meet me in the center of the room.

“It’s as radiant as the woman wearing it,” Tolek said

bowed slightly to her as she left, and I spied a faint blush against his tan skin. “Happy birthday, Ophelia.” He leaned in to kiss my cheek.

Tolek had a manner of bringing proper behaviors out of me, yet at the same time encouraging me to act with reckless abandon, embracing my wild heart. The unique balance of etiquette and foolhardiness forged

his own gleam in the world.

said, clinking my glass against his and taking a sip, batting my lashes over the rim as I did so. Tolek’s eyes darkened, but he shook his head and shrugged, speaking stiffly,

I turned my back on their semicircle, but before I could take a step an arm wrapped around my waist. I

was thrown over a strong shoulder, one hand gripping the back of my thighs to hold me in place.

“There she is,” Tolek muttered. His sword barely stopped my next swing.

he put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Tolek had leaned against a tree, one leg stretched in front of him, the other propping a journal up as he watched, speechless. I shot him a devious smile, enjoying his observation as I worked. He had raised his eyebrows, impressed. “It’s as if it was made for you.”

“No!” A scream echoed, bouncing off the trees and hills around us. My eyes shot open, my body going rigid when the ax didn’t meet my skin. I looked for the source of the shout, though I already knew in my bones who it was. He had been watching. He guessed my intentions. His scream caused Victious to hesitate for the slightest of moments, and it was all Tolek needed. I watched in horror as he pushed himself to his feet atop Astania’s back and launched himself before me, in line with Victious’s sharpened blade.

Though the pain was evident, he looked to me, and his eyes softened.

I brushed my fingers across each sun-kissed highlight, his chocolate eyes melting in his blood-splattered face as he calmed with my touch.

His grin warmed my chilled body as he squeezed me to his side.

His soul-searching eyes stared into mine, and I had a feeling he had an ulterior motive for keeping me here, given that he was too weak to make the theft himself. I

“It’s okay, Ophelia,” Tolek whispered. “I’m used to being the least favored.”

“I’m convinced that you love my muscles, Ophelia, and would in fact be very disappointed if they were gone.” Tolek grunted

The amber specks in his chocolate eyes danced as he wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ve seen you watching in training before.”

He squirmed, leaning into me as he stumbled over a rise in the ground. “Don’t worry, Alabath, I know you better than you think.”

Not waiting for him to respond, I unwrapped the soiled strips around his thigh. He reclined on his elbows, injured leg spread straight in front of him, a picture of pure bliss despite the injury.

“She learned that from you.”

Tolek’s voice was distant when he said, “She will find someone whom she loves. Someone who drives her existence, makes her fiercer and gentler at once. Who will match her spirit and truly see her heart. Who brightens life and makes it worth living.”

“You sound as if you know the feeling.” My mind fluttered to my North Star. Tol’s face twisted, but before he could respond,

averted my gaze, sinking into the guilt that washed through me.

My best friend through it all, something deeper between us. He was my guiding light in the darkness that had consumed my life, the tether tying me to reality, and I refused to be ripped from him.

“You carry a piece of my heart. Whatever happens in there, that will always be yours.”

was trying to grasp that grim reality when a flash of green armor threw aside the queen, knocking both her body and dagger away

from me.

Brown hair with honeyed highlights and chocolate eyes fueled by vengeance.

We love her.” There was an edge to his words, a stifled emotion I couldn’t place, and I did not wish to when I saw the way his shoulders tensed.

“Jezebel and Cypherion have gathered the masses within,” he told us. Those chocolate eyes swept up and down my body, taking in the freshly crafted leathers and lingering on every inch of the exposed skin around them. Not in a leering manner, but in astonishment.