Page 2 of A Cursed Heart

Dagda chuckled, his eyes dancing with mirth. “No, no.” He laughed once more at my confused expression, a full on belly laugh. When he calmed, he leaned closer, once more dropping his voice. “Shall I tell you a secret, little brother?”

All I could do was stare blankly at him. What could be worse than death or banishment? Was he about to admit to committing heinous acts of torture in revenge on his concubines for what I had done to them?

“Poor Malacoda. You truly think I am a monster here, don’t you?

” He grimaced, straightening. Dagda adjusted the cuffs of his robe.

“Well, one of us is, and it is not me.” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“No, my concubines are absolutely fine, having done their duty to their king. They have new treasures as a thank you for their sacrifice.” He grinned, showing his white teeth.

“Their duty?” My stomach fell to the floor. Nothing made sense.

“Did you not wonder how I knew where you were and what was missing?” He paused, observing me.

Again he laughed, then shook his head with pity.

“No, I can tell you were surprised I had my knights there ready to apprehend you. My favored ran to me. We were waiting for you to make the attempt, after all.”

“But—”

No, it wasn’t possible!

“There is another entrance.” His grin turned smug. He casually leaned against the bars awaiting my response while all I could do was gape at him.

Fuck! All that planning. The months of work, only to miss another way out. How could I have slipped up so badly?

“It connects directly to my personal chambers,” he finally added, putting me out of my misery.

“Two of my wives ran there upon seeing you like I told them to. The rest had you so addled with lust you did not properly count them. You were so smug thinking you had them all, but you miscounted and they betrayed you.” His red eyes were lit up with delight.

“Their task was to keep you there for as long as possible, let you commit treason against me, then let you leave.”

What in the seven hells? “You let them sleep with me? They broke their vows!”

Dagda laughed loudly, drawing the attention of the guards.

They took a step closer until he waved them off.

“Oh sweet, simple Malacoda. Don’t pretend you care about them!

” he scoffed. “You were willing to let them suffer for your own ends! I don’t see you here worrying about them or pleading for their wellbeing! ”

Fuck if he wasn’t right. I hadn’t given much of a thought about them, only my plan and how I could use them.

“Besides, no king ever holds true to that oath. Or rather, you learn more about it and its stipulations.” At my confused look he elaborated.

“The oath is purely for love, not their bodies. They can only love me. They must keep their hearts pure for me. You see, my loves, they willingly entertain each other, developing their skills. On occasion, a few of our siblings have sampled their delights.”

“Our siblings?” Horror, betrayal, shame, embarrassment, all flooded my veins, sharpening my hatred for my family. They all knew! They let me be the outcast. Left me alone in my hate for our king and all he stood for.

“Yes! Jaashin had his first time there under my watch,” Dagda said with glee. “Elgara discovered her love for women there. My concubines were only too willing to demonstrate their love for me by coupling with them for a night.”

“So, what is the point of all this?” I sighed, defeated, gesturing to my beaten and bruised body and my surroundings.

He leaned in even closer, rage stealing over his face. “You stole from me. Now you have to pay.”

The words were ominous, giving me just a moment before he attacked.

Once more, his magic ripped through me. My breath stopped in my lungs, blood froze, and my magic just vanished.

Plink. The heart gem landed on the stone floor between us.

My king held out a hand. The gem rose into it. Called to him by the magic in his blood. He smirked at me, tightening his fingers around it.

Seconds ticked by. A ripple of magic worked its way over my exposed skin.

“Malacoda, you have betrayed me, stolen from me. Now you have to pay for your crimes.” His voice thundered through the prison.

My pulse pounded in my ears. “You want this so badly?” he paused, studying me and the gem in his fist. “Then it will become your prison until you prove you have a pure heart of your own.”

I felt a tug in my gut. The world twisted and shrank before going dark.

When I awoke, I felt cut off from my magic, my people.

All I had was this void, this blank place.

There was no time, no hunger, no anything, for far too long.

I tried everything I could to escape it, using every trick I could think of.

Nothing worked. I couldn’t even make the gem rock or glow, or anything to alert anyone of where I was. Not that anyone cared.

Slowly, I began to hear whispers from the outside. My cell, the heart gem, was put back in the palace, where it stayed for years. I heard my name many times, cheeks burning in mortification when they laughed at my misfortune.

Dagda was right. They entertained each other nightly, taking potions to prevent pregnancy.

My siblings visited them, too, most of them ignoring my prison.

Only the second youngest—I was the baby of the family—paid the gem any mind.

Jaashin spoke to me several times, sometimes blaming my situation on myself, other times expressing pity for me.

He almost always took the time to talk to me, remembering me far longer than the others did.

Once, Dagda caught him talking to me. “Can’t you let him out?” he asked the king. By this time, four decades had passed. Dagda was now a father several times over and appeared to have mellowed some.

“Not until he learns his lesson.” He even managed to sound sad about it.

Liar. It was all a facade. He didn’t care about me.

“The spell is quite specific,” he mused, tracing a finger over the gem, removing a layer of dust for no one ever touched it.

“He will have many opportunities in the coming years to prove himself worthy.”

Cultivating any knowledge of the curse was a must. I gathered all the crumbs I could about it. This was a clue, a snippet of information, towards finding a way out.

“Do you think he can?” Jaashin looked hopeless, like he thought it beyond my abilities. He had a husband now. Had adopted a child. Life was carrying on without me, as if I’d never existed.

I fumed in my prison, only able to watch while everyone else forgot me.

“Yes. I know he has it in him.”

It would be many years before I was given my first chance.