As he walks through the kitchen, he sees Constantine staring down at something in his hand. He hovers, wondering if he should say something. He isn’t afraid of this man, per se, but he is wary. Constantine has tried to wipe him off the face of the planet more than once in his lifetime and he knows he is only still here by the grace of whatever creature is looking out for him.
“What do you make of this?” Constantine asks suddenly, shoving that damned gorgeous diamond ring under his nose.
Frederick can’t help the feeling of jealousy that sparks through him and it startles him. He isn’t a material man. Never was, never will be. He lives within his means and his means only take him as far as the next town or the next job. He likes it that way. Not tied down. Things are different now, he realizes, but he hadn’t given it much thought. Now faced with that sparkling gem, he knows he can never give Aefre anything remotely like it and he doesn’t like that feeling one bit.
“It’s gorgeous,” he says stiffly and turns to leave.
He stops when Constantine snorts behind his back. “I know that. I practically had to move the moon and the stars to procure this for her. I am talking about the curse.”
Curse? That piques Frederick’s interest. His mother was Romani. A very powerful one at that and she passed down many gifts onto her son, including the power of manipulation that he often takes for granted.
“You cursed it?” he asks, turning back around slowly.
“Hmm,” Constantine replies and shoves the ring further under his nose. “What can you tell me about it?”
Frederick reaches for the ring hesitantly. What is he stepping into here? Does Aefre know? Probably not, he concludes.
He squints at it and purses his lips. “It’s bent,” he says eventually. “What was it for?”
“Bent?” Constantine repeats in concern. “Never mind that, it’s none of your business.” He extends his hand for the piece, but Frederick keeps hold of it.
“It is my business if you want answers. I need to know, or I can’t help you,” he says smugly.
Constantine hesitates, but then sighs. “She had a hus…man in her life that didn’t get the fact that Aefre belongs to me. He didn’t understand the fact that when Aefre accepted that ring, she accepted everything that came with it.” He indicates around the castle as if that explains “everything”. “He took it from her, and she let him. I couldn’t allow that to happen again.”
“So, you had it cursed so that she would feel dead inside if anyone ever took it from her again?” Frederick concludes all on his own. He knows the way this man thinks.
“Precisely,” Constantine says, looking him squarely in the eye and not apologetically at all.
“Well, somehow, by some action, the curse got bent,” Frederick says, holding it back out for him.
“Action? Not person?” Constantine asks intrigued as he takes it back to peer at it.
“Action. Did you give it to her when you were still sired to her?” Frederick can’t help the joy that resonates in his voice when he thinks about them being un-sired.
Constantine gives him a dirty look, but answer him, nonetheless. “Yes. Why? You think that has something to do with it?”
“Everything to do with it,” Frederick says. “Your bond with her fundamentally changed. The curse had no idea what to do with it, so it twisted, trying to find its place.”
“Huh,” Constantine mutters, and starts to walk off. “Interesting,” he mutters under his breath. “Thank you.”
Frederick nods, not having expected that last bit. “Aefre?”
“She is at the pit,” Constantine says and then disappears.
r /> Frederick waits a beat and then decides to go and make sure she is there and stays there. He Teleports off and stands about ten feet behind Aefre, peering into the pit, wringing her hands in what looks like despair.
He is about to take a step forward, but stops himself when Clementine wails, “Please, Aefre. I never meant…”
“Never meant what?” Aefre barks at her, her voice stronger than what her body language suggests. “To capture me, torture me, put me on trial, give me to the Hunters and make me watch as they killed my friend?”
Frederick chews his lip. None of that sounds like a fun time, even to him. It’s the first time he has heard her sum it up on one sentence. No wonder she is skittish.
“Please let me out of here,” Clementine screams.
“No,” Aefre says. “You should think yourself lucky that the sun will take you and not my husband.”
Frederick cringes at that word. Husband. Christ, he wishes he could have been here to prevent that from ever happening. In fact, if he was wishing for stuff, it would be that he never left her in the first place.