Page 3 of A Cursed Heart

Malacoda

Surprisingly, it was my brother who gave me my first opportunity to earn my freedom.

Dagda summoned me from the gem, allowing me to set two feet on the floor in front of him for the first time since my capture.

Then with a grin, he controlled my body, making me kneel like a dog.

I didn’t fight, just took it, wiping the grin away.

He expected a reaction from me. He wasn’t going to get one.

I was determined to play this smarter than before.

For a long moment, we studied each other until he broke the ice. “Malacoda,” he greeted me, a grim smile on his face. There were lines of tension there I’d never seen before.

“Your Majesty.” Unwilling to anger him, I kept my tone polite.

“I have a task for you.”

“A task?” I asked, surprised. Part of me had wondered if I was ever going to be let out of my prison. Seemed he was just waiting for the right time.

“This is a test. To see how far you’ve come in your isolation.” He leaned forward, as if letting me in on a secret. “Pass, and you could earn your freedom.”

Not for the first time, Dagda spoke of a way out of this curse. For I was still trapped within it. Even now, the gem felt tied to me. It lay in my brother’s palm, glowing faintly with power. By this time, it was nearly half a century since I had stolen the ruby.

“What must I do?”

Dagda looked at me approvingly. I hoped that whatever mask of civility I was wearing would hold long enough to get through this.

“My eldest daughter is betrothed.”

“Already?” I blurted, shocked. “She is barely an adult, brother. Why must you wed her off so soon?”

“I share similar concerns, but this is her choice.” He shook his head mournfully. “The demon she has picked appears to be from an upstanding family…”

“You don’t trust him.” I’d learned a lot about my brother over the last half century, most of it unwillingly.

“I do not.” Surprise blanketed his expression. Had he not expected me to learn my enemy? “Your task is to be placed in their chambers and watch for signs of trouble.”

“Just watch?”

“No.” His tone turned commanding, echoing around the empty throne room. “You must act to save her from harm. Should you fail, your life is forfeit.”

“And if I have nothing to save her from? What then? What incentive do I have to protect your daughter?”

“She is your niece and future queen.”

I scoffed. “She doesn’t know I exist.”

“That may be so, but you are still to protect her.” He paused. “I do not believe he will act until after they are wed.”

“What do you think he wants from marrying her?” By marrying the Crown Princess, I presumed he was marrying up. My brother hadn’t mentioned a title. I would have heard rumors if she were marrying a prince.

“Power. Your gem, mainly. Other artifacts I’ve collected over the years.” He waved a hand dismissively. “He will need her either under his control or to use her blood to bypass the spell work for my vault.”

“Why are you letting him marry her if you think he is about to steal from you?”

Dagda sighed. “Unfortunately, Delaris is very much in love with him. She will hear no criticism of her chosen. Besides, his family is influential. He is their youngest son. If this is truly his plan, then it is a desperate one to gain power from a man who has none.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Over the next hour or so, Dagda allowed me to take a seat at a table by the fireplace and dine while he outlined the rules of this mission.

He would glamor the heart gem and hide it in their married quarters where I could easily hear and unfortunately see the inner goings on in their relationship.

By tweaking the spell, I was given freedom to act as I saw fit to protect my niece should she need it.

If I were successful, Dagda would allow me more freedom, even letting me out occasionally. It was too good of a prize to pass over.

My chance came weeks later. During the preparations for the wedding, I’d had a few talks with my brother outside of the gem.

Each time he would let me have a meal and update me about our siblings.

I met none of his children nor saw my brother Jaashin in that time, but it felt like a vital step towards peace between us.

The wedding passed without issue, and in the weeks that followed, I listened to every move they made.

I closed my eyes against seeing my niece in vulnerable positions.

My job as her unwilling bodyguard meant I couldn’t afford to tune her out.

More than once I’d heard stories of demons killing each other in intimate moments.

Sure enough, a pattern of violence emerged.

Slowly, Delaris’ husband began chipping away at her self-esteem and then started harming her during sex.

It began so subtly, it was impossible for me to catch it before it crossed a line.

What if it was just rough sex that she had consented to?

Did she like it when he slapped her a little?

Sometimes people liked a little extra in their lovemaking.

I didn’t know her, it was impossible for me to tell where I was needed!

Her husband was impatient, and that made him sloppy. Delaris, well, she was her father’s daughter. When she reached her limit, she fought back, killing him in the process. I did not even have time to leave my gem to help.

Oh, how Dagda raged at me for letting his daughter endure such suffering instead of intervening! He was livid with me. Could not understand how his terms were too open to interpretation. He would not hear my excuses. I had taken too much time to act.

Dagda removed all leniency he had provided and returned me to the concubine palace, effectively destroying any chance for me to redeem myself.

When I saw the battle scars Delaris wore after killing her husband, I did not blame him.

It took me a long time to come to terms with what had happened. To learn where I had failed. Dagda never approached me again, instead leaving me camouflaged on a shelf. More than once I caught him looking at me. We didn’t speak. He didn’t talk to the gem or even allow Jaashin to talk to me.

Maybe I deserved his ire. His daughter, my future queen, was altered after her experience.

Harder, more determined. She trusted few and only picked males who were subservient to her.

After she had her first child, she married her childhood friend, making her our future Queen Consort. It was a peace she deserved.

I hoped with Delaris happy, Dagda would relent. Unfortunately, he did not. Time passed as it did, and it felt like even he forgot me.

The heart gem was stolen one night in the chaos of a battle some hundred years after it became my home. A neighboring country thought to wage war on my brother to steal his lands, his people, and the wealth he had amassed during his lengthy and mostly peaceful reign.

Spies entered the palace, going so far as to enter the most sacred of spaces.

I had no choice but to watch as they laid waste to the poor concubines.

Demons I had watched over, learned so much about during my imprisonment, were slaughtered because they were practically defenseless.

All I could do was rage while trapped in this damn gem, knowing I was the assassin’s target, while also hoping some had escaped via the other door.

What was to be my fate when they figured out my resting spot?

The warriors were easy to distinguish. They were clear about what they wanted, making demands of the concubines and slaughtering them when they refused to reveal the truth. Somehow they had found the hidden place of the heart gem and wanted it for their queen.

Their queen, Velandra, had been a potential wife for Dagda, though she refused the merging of the two kingdoms, ending the match.

She, understandably, didn’t want to be placed in my brother’s shadow and watch him rule her people.

Time had twisted things in her mind. She saw his kingdom rise in prosperity while hers stagnated.

It was a desperate grab for power, which cost her everything.

One of her assassins found my gem prison.

She wrapped me in a silken robe, torn from one of Dagda’s favored husbands.

Stuck watching, unable to do anything but curse Velandra, I cried for each of the concubines who lost their lives that day.

I may have treated them as disposable, but I had since gained some maturity.

Perhaps because I saw them as beloved friends, though they had long forgotten me.

I wondered if my grief for them would be enough to free me from my curse. It was not. Even as I cried and wailed, I was carried away, unsure what was to become of my family. Still stuck. Still powerless to do anything to help them.

Was my love for them not enough?

The journey to Velandra’s kingdom was done under the cover of darkness while the rest of the kingdom slept, unaware of the tragedy inside the palace walls.

I prayed to whatever old gods that my brother, though he had cursed me, was safe.

That he and his children would make it out alive to get their revenge.

That Delaris, her wife, other consorts, and child, were far from this attack.

“Do you have it?” I heard the honeyed tone, the smug glee in Velandra’s voice. While I had only met her a handful of times, I could recognize her voice easily. She was fond of using it.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Inside the gem, I could not feel its movement as a physical thing. More of a sensation. A tugging in my gut that the ruby was moving. When I was placed in the queen’s hands, I could barely suppress my shudder.

“Bring the prisoner in,” Velandra demanded in a harsh tone, her fingers curled around my prison.

A shocked gasp left my lips when Dagda was shoved to the floor in front of the queen. One of his horns was torn off! Scars and cuts covered his body. The limpness of his tail indicated that it was badly damaged and that his magic was probably restricted, meaning he could not heal himself.

“Tell me how this works,” Velandra spat at Dagda.

“What of my children? Did you harm them?” He ignored her to ask his questions. I could feel how desperately he wanted answers.

“Will you tell me how to use the power of the heart ruby if I tell you?”

“Only if you swear to answer truthfully. On your horns. Swear an oath.” Dagda was fading in front of my eyes. He had to have more serious injuries that I could not see. I longed to escape, to save him. Only with him was there any chance of ever being free.

“I swear on my horns that your children are safe. My warriors’ only targets were you and the gem. The concubines, well… they were collateral damage, I’m afraid.” Gods, she was vicious! So callous and uncaring of the lives she had ended unnecessarily.

“By the seven hells! You will pay for this.”

Velandra laughed. “Oh, no, I won’t.” She sobered, settling a glare on Dagda. “Tell me how to use the gem.”

My brother did not have long in this world. “Your blood. It needs blood. Then it will act.” I felt a tug in my gut. A loosening of the constraints around me. A final act from my dying brother.

The queen used a pointed nail to cut a finger, dripping blood onto the ruby. She startled, rocking back and knocking over a table, when I emerged from the gem beside her.

I only had eyes for my brother, waiting for guidance.

“Protect your queen,” he said, then with a shudder, he took his last breath.

All my rage. All my grief. Everything I felt was molten inside me. I turned that fire towards the queen, not my queen, never mine. As the owner of the gem, I couldn’t directly harm her, but I could do far worse.

I knew I would be lost to time. That I might never be free. That this place would become a tomb I would share with my eldest brother. It was worth it to take all of it, every ounce of my magic, and wield it on Velandra’s castle.

The rumbling began. Rocks fell, crashing to the floor.

We were in the main hall, surrounded by massive towers.

I brought them down on us, burying us under debris.

On and on I tore the place down, turning it to dust, until only I stood, floating above the remains, my gem lost far underneath the destruction.

Then I used fire. Burned everything to ash, listening to the screams of the trapped demons within.

When Velandra died, I returned to my prison, content that I had done my duty and earned some of my freedom by protecting my true queen: Delaris.

Our kingdom mourned a great king, yet continued on in prosperity without the influence of the heart ruby for centuries after.

Me? Well, I was eventually found and taken far away. A rumor began that my ruby was cursed. Those unworthy of the power were doomed to die. While watching empires rise and fall, I remained trapped until I feared I would never be free.