They met in the basement. Arden was sitting in her usual armchair, already dressed in a satin nightgown. Stacked next to her was a tower of tomes. The stack was tall enough that the cover of the topmost book was not visible to Edin when he was sitting down. Most of the spines faced away from him, but a few were angled so that he could glimpse their titles. The first title he read: "Advanced Curses – Breaking the Unbreakable."

"Take a seat," she ordered him.

He obeyed. He noticed that she was sitting further from him than usual, but did not bother to bring it up. She was already brave—any other person would have locked him up in a cage.

She raised one hand and made a slight swaying motion with it. A vial of clear liquid floated to him, and he received it with both hands. From the label on its lid, he knew it was truth serum.

"Drink."

Edin unscrewed the lid. He placed the vial's mouth on his lips, tilted it, and gulped. He shuddered from the serum's overwhelming bitterness. Though it flowed into him like water, he could feel part of it coating his tongue and the walls of his throat like a stubborn layer of syrup. Not even his saliva could wash it away.

"The serum is supposed to stick to your tongue and throat. Don't worry, it will fade after an hour."

It did not stop his tongue from trying to rinse off the substance.

Arden sighed. "I think it's obvious what we're going to discuss."

He remained silent.

"I've heard from some of my fellow guardians that you have a tendency to be... violent," she began, careful to not pull a potential trigger. "When the two majors guarding Irien told me about your violent tendencies, I didn't want to believe it, but now I've realized that they were speaking the truth. The way you fought, earlier this afternoon, did you fight like that when you faced the glæsseling outside of Irien?"

"I—sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I was more in control during my first battle," he elaborated. "I noticed that with every battle, it seemed to be growing stronger."

"What do you mean by 'it'? Your urges?"

"I—yes."

"Did you know about this before that first incident?"

He shook his head. "Never."

"What about during the test, when they got you to fight an ætterhund?"

"I did not feel those urges."

"You didn't?"

He shook his head. "I fought normally."

"What about the other times you fought?"

"I did. I mean, I felt those urges."

She tilted her head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know that those urges would return. Uh, remember when you asked me why I wasn't fighting that much, but Rowan was? Our answers were true, but there was another reason I was avoiding work." He fidgeted. "When I saw him fighting the first time, the creature bled, and... those urges returned."

He could feel Arden's stare hardening. "And when was this?"

"Three months ago, during our first day."

"And you didn't tell me?"

Edin bit his lip. "I was scared."

"Of?"

"Of... I... I didn't want to be kicked out. I thought I could learn to handle it on my own, or... maybe it would go away, eventually."

"Seems to me that that's not the case." She swiped a book from the top of the stack and opened it. "From what I've seen this afternoon, your urges appear to be involuntary. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Have you experienced these urges outside of battle?"

He was about to tell her that he had not when his body refused to speak. The serum hardened on his tongue and froze inside his throat. It only became more fluid when he said, "Yes."

Her lips parted a bit. "When?"

"It was during that dinner the day you told me I passed the test to become a guardian. We were having steak, and when I saw the red liquid, I felt it."

"I knew it," she muttered under her breath. "Were there other instances?"

"No."

She paused. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but these urges are only triggered when you're in the presence of... a red liquid, are they not?"

"Correct."

"I see."

Arden flipped to the page she had bookmarked and read a few paragraphs. She then grabbed a second book from the stack, opened it, and skimmed its contents. She repeated this action till the tower was half its height. All the books she had opened were spread open in front of her, levitating above the floor in a semicircle.

"Hold out your hands."

Edin obeyed. She clasped her hands around his, and light magic flowed from her and into him once more. He shuddered; her magic was penetrating him deeper than usual.

"I sense a second curse." She looked at one of the tomes. "It's buried deeper in your core than your amnesia curse. It's old, too. Very old."

"How old?"

"I think you may have gotten it... as a child."

His eyes widened. "As a child?"

"A young one, too, perhaps when you were five or six." Though her voice remained monotone, Edin knew that she was as shocked as him. "I don't know, Edin, but it's been in you for very long, that it might be... permanent."

Terror formed a lump in his throat so big, that he could not even repeat after her.

"Might be permanent. I can try to break it, but it has a very low chance of success. This will hurt."

Buzz. Edin spasmed as Arden weaved more light magic into his body, working her way into his core. He gritted his teeth. A battle between her magic and his curse was brewing in his chest, and it felt like he was being torn from the inside. Pain ripped through his upper body, and he writhed.

Her grip remained firm. "Hold on."

He grasped her hands more tightly. He yelped as he felt one of her spells piercing the dark magic that was trapped inside him. "I-I can't take it."

"Yes, you can."

"I feel like"—he made a belching sound—"throwing up."

His torso snapped forward. He started hacking hoarsely, as if something was stuck in his throat, and then a nauseated expression overcame his face. Dark vines crept up his neck as he bent even more forward to face the floor. He then began coughing up blood.

It was not getting better below the surface, either; Arden only felt resistance grow against her steady stream of light. She could not simply channel more magic into him, lest she intended to put him in a coma.

Edin stopped coughing. It should be a relief, but she had a feeling that something was off.

A low voice emerged from his throat. "Do you really think you can get rid of me?"

A silent gasp escaped her parted lips as he lifted his head to look at her face. His deep blue eyes were now glowing a bright red.

Arden gripped Edin tighter and flooded his being with light. "Let him go!"

Boom!

Magic burst inside the basement and sent nearly everything flying backward. Arden hit the floor with a thud. Softer thumps sounded as books fell around her while a louder slam rang as two armchairs got knocked down. Arden supported her torso with one arm and glimpsed the room.

The area around her was a mess. Arden got up, brushed the dust off herself, and glanced to the right. Edin lay unconscious on the floor, leaning against a wall that he had slammed against. Her gaze lingered on his face. Aside from the red stain on his mouth, he looked like a sleeping angel. It made her wonder how and why a man like him would be subject to a curse as vile as she had just uncovered.

She flicked a hand, commanding the books to return to their shelves and the furniture to where they last were. As the room tidied itself, she strode towards Edin and cupped the side of his neck. He was weak but otherwise alright. A cold shiver ran from her fingertips to her elbow as she sensed the curse creeping back into his core.

He blinked. It took a few seconds before he could keep his eyelids open for longer. "What happened?"

"You got possessed by the curse, and then you fainted."

"Oh. How long has it been?"

"Just a minute."

He blinked some more. He rubbed his mouth with the back of his palm. Upon seeing the crimson smear on his hand, his eyes widened with alarm.

"You were coughing up blood while I was trying to remove your curse. Speaking of which, do you feel better now?"

"I feel a bit weak, actually."

He placed both hands on the ground and pushed his upper body upward. His arms shook as he supported his own torso.

Before he could ask for help, Arden cast a spell on him and made him hover above the ground. "You look too weak to walk. I'll get you to your room so you can rest there."

He did not protest.

She beckoned with one finger, turned her back, and paced towards the stairwell. His body floated through the air as it followed wherever she went. The two ascended to the first floor, and instead of her walking to his room first, they diverged paths. She strode towards the room where she kept her potion supply while her magic continued to carry him to his room. The next time she saw him, he was already tucked into bed.

Arden held a warm beverage in one hand. Her other hand swayed, prompting the pillows to prop up his body so he could sit upright.

"Drink this," she said, handing him the mug. "You'll feel better."

Edin handled the mug with both hands and held it to his mouth. He sniffed. Its aroma, reminiscent of flowers and morning dew, already brought a sense of calm. He sipped. Cozy warmth permeated him as soon as he drank his first gulp. When he had finished the drink, his whole body was fuzzy.

He handed the mug back to her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She turned around and paced a few steps toward the door.

"Arden?"

"Yes, Edin?"

"The curse is permanent, isn't it?"

Arden exhaled. "I'm afraid it looks a lot like it. But don't worry about that now. Just sleep."

He nodded.

The door clicked as she closed it behind her. Edin rearranged the pillows so that they were not stacked so high underneath him. After that, he lay flat on his bed, his empty gaze aimed at the ceiling. He was breathing more easily now. His body felt lighter as a whole as if a great burden had been released, and he was sure that it was not entirely the potion's effect. The fact that Arden not only knew about his urges, but still took care of him after knowing, gave him great comfort. He no longer had to worry about hiding that side of him from her. It was also a great relief to know that his urges were indeed the result of a curse. It was a curse that was making him violent—he himself was no savage.

The curse. Just as relief was settling in his mind, another burden dawned on him. Even if his violent tendencies were due to dark magic and not his own nature, it would make no difference if he had to deal with it for the rest of his life. There was no way he could avoid blood; he was a guardian, paid to kill. Even if he was going to use only fire and lightning from then on, there was no guarantee that no bleeding would be involved. And if someone or something were to bleed on the battlefield... would he even be able to gain control of his curse?

Edin shook the thoughts off his head; Arden had told him to not worry. He shifted in bed and wrapped the duvet more tightly around himself, her words whispering in his mind like a toneless lullaby.