The curse

The king, who was still grieving for his first son, had "suggested" for him to leave the palace every evening before his shift until they found the solution. At least he was kind enough to provide some guards for him who wouldn't let him wander too far.

They made him a cot away from the palace where he had to stay, and Alvin was always there with him, feeding him meals and medicine whenever he shifted back the next day.

He had asked Alvin to leave several times because he had injured the young lad more times than he could count after shifting. But Alvin refused to leave. They had been friends for 5 years, and he was going to stick around.

Then one day, the answer finally came. He didn't even know that people like that existed until he saw the shaman. The man had said he was suffering punishment for killing a prince. He was going to remain like that for the rest of his life and marrying one of their kind was going to bring doom to the girl and her entire family.