Page 10 of Heirs of the Cursed (A Curse for Two Souls #1)

9

Dawnfall

Circus shows rarely opened with fireworks, but that night, with the presence of the king’s soldiers, Conrad would spare no expense.

Darcia had arrived at her dressing room earlier than usual. Not because she needed much time to dress up, but because she had to practice her show behind the tall, red curtains. After Harg had seen her in the cabin, her stepbrother had decided that she wouldn’t be the star of the evening, which complicated things even more.

Controlling the minds of people she couldn’t see was an incomplete riddle, like a puzzle without enough pieces. Darcia needed to be perfect if she didn’t want to face Conrad’s wrath for embarrassing him in front of the king’s men.

It had been two nights since she’d discovered that the Dark Twins of Ro’i Rājya had never been where they belonged. Her stepbrother hadn’t brought the subject up again, nor had Darcia ventured to find out. Her father’s dedicated permanence in the common room, however, revealed that he hadn’t given up. For long hours, Gion would sit in the armchair, studying the history of the Boreaalinen family—one of the few books left in the kingdom.

Darcia shook her head. She had a new show to orchestrate, one that would break the ordinary and impress the world. She’d worry about the lost princesses when her life wasn’t in danger.

She studied her illusions in silence, until someone knocked at the door.

“Yes?” she asked, wielding her magic to cover the bruises on her skin.

The door opened, and Darcia grinned at the sight of those dark eyes she loved so much.

Her girlfriend’s olive skin glowed under the light of the oil lamps that illuminated the tiny dressing room. Darcia was captivated by the sheer white silk gown, with two wide slits running down each leg. The neckline daringly descended to her navel, while gold rhinestones elegantly adorned her waist. Caeli Ndiaye’s smile lit up her slightly slanted eyes with irresistible charm.

“May I come in?”

“Always, Cally.”

Caeli smiled even wider and closed the door behind her. It took her only five seconds to reach out to Darcia and cup her face in her hands and gently caress her lips with her own. Her closeness, her caresses and her kisses were something Darcia had become familiar with and something she didn’t plan to give up so easily. Not when her arms were the only ones that could soothe her and intoxicate her with the only feeling of peace she knew.

Darcia relaxed under her girlfriend’s touch and laughed against her mouth.

“I’ve missed you,” she said when mere inches separated them.

“As have I.” Caeli stroked her hair. “Your bastard brother does it on purpose. He doesn’t want us to see each other and does everything he can to change our shifts . . .”

“ Stepbrother ,” Darcia corrected her. Her hands descended to her hips before kissing her again. “I’m aware of that, but I always find a way to see you, don’t I?”

Darcia had navigated loneliness for most of her life. Every sigh was an empty echo in a vast world of desolation, where her heart beat without purpose. Yet, things had changed when Caeli appeared in her life like a glimmer of light in the darkness. She became different, someone better .

With every smile from Caeli, she discovered a new version of herself—one not so broken. In her girlfriend’s eyes, she found the promise of a love that transcended all the shadows of the past. And in that love, Darcia found the certainty of her own worth, the certainty that she deserved to be loved.

They had met in the splendor of their youth, when they were fifteen years old. On a cool morning, while Darcia was cleaning the stables, the circus came to life upon Caeli’s arrival. Bassel had shown her every corner of the magical place, every trace of the wonder that awaited under the big tent.

In that fleeting instant, their eyes met, like two stars crossing each other in the vastness of the sky. It was a single and ephemeral encounter, but it was enough to ignite a spark of desire in Darcia’s soul. A spark that danced like butterflies in her chest and made her yearn to know more about the girl who had captivated her with a single glance.

She hadn’t stopped looking for her since then.

“You do,” Caeli said with a loving gleam in her eyes. “Have you been eating the last couple of days?”

Darcia nodded, as she fiddled with her girlfriend’s bracelet made of black and white braided leather.

“And sleeping?”

She wasn’t able to be honest. The nightmares had returned after several peaceful days. The shows had worn her out, and her exhausted mind had driven Darcia to the point of falling asleep without recalling her dreams. Yet, during the last couple of nights, she hadn’t been able to rest for more than two hours.

“That too,” she lied. “I’m fine, Cally. You know I deal with it.”

“That’s what worries me. I don’t like that you must deal with it.”

Darcia quickly changed the subject. “How’s your mother?”

Caeli let go of her girlfriend’s hands and walked toward one of the small armchairs at the back of the dressing room before answering, “She’s upset because you don’t come to visit her anymore. She asked me to tell you that if you don’t show signs of life soon, she’ll come to the circus herself.”

Darcia burst out laughing. There was no one in the world that Caeli loved more than Ghana Ndiaye, her mother. She was the woman who had raised her and who, after her husband’s death, had worked hard to make sure Caeli lacked nothing.

The illusionist also cared for her girlfriend’s mother deeply. One of the memories Darcia treasured the most was the first meeting she had with Caeli in the forest, where they both searched for flowers and herbs to prepare medicines to relieve the wounds on her mother’s hands after forging metals and gems to create jewelry. Caeli also used her flower and nature magic to create tonics to soothe Darcia’s headaches.

“I’ll have to visit her soon,” Darcia said, smiling. She walked over to Caeli and knelt in front of her. “I wouldn’t want the mother of the love of my life to hate me for the rest of eternity.”

“She doesn’t hate you. In fact, I think she’s more in love with you than I am . . .” Caeli winked at her. “That’s what you get for making her daughter happy.”

“Speaking of making you happy . . .” Darcia caressed her bare legs. “We haven’t planned anything for our anniversary.”

One of Caeli’s heels went lightly up Darcia’s leg. “Well, we always come up with plans at the last minute. Or else we can do what we do every year: go to the lake and drink tea, away from everything.”

“I’d have to sneak out,” Darcia reminded her.

“It’s either that or I’d have to hold back the moaning in your room so your father and stepbrother don’t catch us.”

She laughed again and leaned in to kiss her, thirsting for it. Caeli’s body responded with hungry movements that reflected how much she wanted her. Placing her hands on her waist, she urged Darcia to sit on her voluminous thighs, moaning as one of her hands traveled to her breasts.

“Is this a good way of saying I agree?” Darcia asked lewdly.

When Darcia’s kisses caressed her jaw and traveled dangerously down her neck, Caeli shivered. “You need to be much more convincing.”

“Then spread your legs for me,” she commanded tenderly.

Her girlfriend obeyed, spreading her legs apart. The thin fabric of her garment fell between them, revealing silky, olive skin that took her breath away. Caeli waited expectantly as two boreal eyes gleamed with lust in her direction. Darcia reveled in the image as she admired her in silence, caressing her body until feeling her core soaking wet, Caeli’s pleading moans music to her ears.

“Do you want to be convincing or torture me?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Darcia whispered, and when she pulled aside the fabric covering her legs, she cursed. “You’re not wearing any underwear.”

“I knew I’d have to take them off. I won’t be able to dance in front of all the soldiers feeling my core soaking wet because of you.”

“Damn it, Caeli,” Darcia gasped. “You have a very dirty mouth.”

“And you love it.”

She didn’t deny it. Darcia moved her mouth to Caeli’s thighs to kiss them, delighted with every soft gasp her girlfriend let out.

“Can I?”

“I’m all yours, Voreia.”

Darcia felt her body slowly unraveling. Her tongue wandered over her skin as if Caeli was her favorite dessert, her gaze still fixed on her face to capture her reaction to her kisses.

“Darcie,” Caeli protested. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

“I just love to hear you beg.”

Her impatient tongue slid into Caeli’s core, who gasped with arousal and clenched her hands to the armchair. They both lost their minds in pleasure as Darcia’s fingers sought her most sensitive spot.

Though her stepbrother might deprive her of many things, she’d never allow him to take Caeli from her.

At the circular motions of her fingers, her girlfriend rested her legs above Darcia’s shoulders, granting her greater freedom of movement. At first, she was patient with each caress, but when Caeli began to move her hips to seek more friction, her gentleness faded, giving herself over completely to the desire they shared.

She pulled her fingers away and lowered her face to devour the feast that awaited her.

“By the Triad . . .” Caeli gasped, clenching her thighs, as Darcia’s fingers thrust into her.

Darcia smirked against her wetness but didn’t stop the steady movement of her tongue as her fingers thrust into her.

Every gasp Caeli let out pushed her to her limit.

“If you keep this up, you’re going to make me come sooner than I’d like,” Caeli was barely able to say. Her words tumbled from her lips between ragged gasps, devoured by lust.

Against her request, Darcia continued to move her tongue with mastery and slipped another finger inside her.

“Kiss me, Darcia,” Caeli begged between moans. “Please.”

For the first time, she obeyed. She lifted her head from between her legs, and with a voracious hunger, took Caeli’s lips without ceasing to fuck her with her hand. Their mouths moved in harmony as Darcia slowly started to lose her mind.

Her girlfriend’s knee parted her legs in an unspoken request.

“I want to touch you,” she gasped.

“You can do whatever you want with me,” Darcia stammered.

Her dark eyes flashed with longing. Caeli’s fingers pushed her undergarments aside and thrusted in, her thumb brushing against her intimacy. Darcia bit her lip, and a satisfied smile curved her girlfriend’s lips.

“You’re dripping . . .”

“That’s what you provoke in me.”

Caeli’s smile widened. “You don’t know how much I love to hear that.”

Their lips met once again in a fiery encounter, while Caeli’s fingers danced with a provocative rhythm. Every part of Darcia’s body reacted to her caresses, unleashing a cascade of sensations. Between intertwined moans and passionate kisses, they clung to each other as if they were the sole certainty in an unpredictable world, their bodies trembling at the orgasm that began to build inside them.

“Damn it, Darcia, I’m going to . . .”

“Come for me, Cally,” she said in a trembling voice.

Caeli’s lashes fluttered until her eyes closed, her climax building within her. Seeing her so free, so beautiful and vulnerable stirred something deep within Darcia, who withdrew her fingers and licked them one by one.

As Darcia settled between her legs, the soft fingertips of her tanned skin brushed provocatively against her entrance. And when Caeli slipped her fingers inside her, her chest set ablaze. Her body rose and fell, moaning her name and sinking into a sea of pleasure drowned by her kisses.

Darcia moved delicately over her hand, riding it fervently, as their lips met in a long kiss. Everything they shared was a whirlwind of passion and wantonness, sweeping in its intensity.

Five minutes later, Caeli was the one licking her fingers and kissing Darcia as if she was the only good thing the world had ever given her.

“I’d love to stay longer,” Caeli said as Darcia stroked her wavy dark hair, resting her head on her shoulder, “but I must go out and perform. I hope to see you tomorrow.”

“Every minute I spend with you will make my day better.” Darcia kissed her one last time. “I promise we’ll be free of Conrad. Soon, we will have a life beyond the circus. And everything will be better.”

“I hope the goddesses hear you,” her girlfriend whispered against her lips.

As Darcia was about to respond, a loud crash echoed through the room.

The figure looming in the shadows and the soft gleams of the oil lamps made her flinch, even though her gaze wasn’t focused on the door. With hard, heavy steps, Conrad burst into the room, his blue gaze bathed in fury. Darcia stood up, shielding Caeli with her body.

“Leave, Cally,” she said softly, her gaze fixed on her stepbrother.

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Leave. Now.”

Conrad laughed at her. “How heartwarming. Too bad it’s not going to do any good.”

He reached out to grab Caeli, but Darcia pushed him back with all her strength despite her trembling hands. Conrad’s grin widened, punching her in the stomach and pushing her forcefully to the side.

Darcia’s side ached as she crushed against the floor.

She gasped for air, barely able to move, but her eyes remained still on her stepbrother, who grabbed Caeli violently by the hair, eliciting a scream of pain from her. She saw her brown eyes blurred with tears as she clung to Conrad’s jacket in a desperate attempt to ease the pain and free herself.

With a murderous rage growing deep in her chest, Darcia urged herself to stand up and intervene. Yet, Conrad yanked her backward and threw her girlfriend out of the room.

“You have five minutes to get ready and perform, Ndiaye!” He spat her last name in disgust. “I must share a few words with my dear sister first.”

He closed the door and Darcia sinned once again.

As soon as Conrad spun around, she slapped him across the face.

“Don’t you ever touch her again or I swear . . .”

Conrad’s hand rose ominously, like the claw of a predator stalking its prey. He closed it around Darcia’s delicate throat, his unrelenting strength squeezing her to the edge of suffocation. In that desperate moment, the world around her stopped and she was caught in a whirlwind of terror and agony.

Every second was an eternity of suffering as she struggled to free herself from the iron grip that threatened to snatch her life away. Her trembling fingers tried desperately to undo the knot of oppression, but Conrad’s strength was like an impassable wall.

“It seems that someone needs to teach you some manners.”

He threw her against the armchair and Darcia’s back cracked under the impact. She didn’t scream, nor cry, even though the pain in her spine immobilized her for a few seconds. As she sat upright, a slap crossed her face.

“Stand up.”

Darcia didn’t move.

“On your feet, now!”

Her legs barely obeyed. Conrad took her arm and pushed her against the dresser, sending her jewelry crashing to the floor. All Darcia could see was his reflection in the mirror; the reflection of a demon —one she’d never get rid of, because fate had made them family.

All hope vanished from her face when she saw her stepbrother take one of the whips she occasionally used for a performance.

“You will learn how to behave, one way or another.”

And so the whip fell upon her.

The pain of the first lash was excruciating. Her back burned and tears slipped down her cheeks. Darcia kept her lips closed, but when the whip descended once again, she couldn’t hold back the scream. The leather pierced her skin and the scars that had already healed, opening a new wound that she’d have to wear with shame.

The next two were just as hard. Darcia bit her tongue, new tears rolling down her cheeks. She wouldn’t scream again, because to do so would mean giving Conrad the satisfaction he craved, and she’d never again give in to him.

Four, five, six.

The metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth. She could barely feel her legs and arms, and the blood trickling down her back was a phantom caress. Her body trembled in response to the whipping, and the adrenaline coursing through her veins was the only thing keeping her conscious.

Seven, eight.

Pain became a relentless ache throughout her body, but after the tenth lash, Darcia slipped off the dressing table and fell limply to the floor.

She didn’t need to look at Conrad to know he was admiring the blood that stained the whip and the crimson drops trickling down his forearm. It was the only reward that satisfied him, a sign that he was succeeding in breaking her and that Darcia had no escape.

She wanted to stop crying, but she couldn’t.

“You’re nothing but trash we picked up off the street,” Conrad reminded her, smiling defiantly. “Without me, you’d be dead. Without me, you would be nothing. You owe me your life, and at some point I swear I’ll collect it.”

Darcia closed her eyes and begged herself to be strong, to not let Conrad win another battle. She didn’t think about the bloodstained dress, nor about her emaciated and exhausted body . . .

She just faced her stepbrother with a dark stare.

“I’ll be waiting for it.”

Conrad dropped the whip and gave her a look of hatred that hid an eternal promise: she would never be free. Fate had been cruel enough to put Darcia in the hands of that savage and, as much as she wanted to run away and find her place in the world, she wouldn’t succeed as long as he were alive.

When her stepbrother walked out of the dressing room, leaving her lying in her own pool of blood, Darcia allowed herself to be weak. She collapsed and choked back a cry of pain that made her lungs burn, sinking her head in her arms. Her head ached, her back stung . . . She was so tired and lost.

She lay on the floor for a few minutes, crying from helplessness and anger. Little by little, the young illusionist let the pain creep into her, embracing her soul until it became a part of her.

When her friend Bassel called for her from the other side of the door, Darcia stepped out to end the show, numbing her feelings until there were none.