Cursed by Malignant Magic (Once Upon A Curse)

Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

I spat, dredging up the last bit of saliva I had in my mouth. The wad hit the guard almost directly in the eye.

The resulting stinging slap was worth it.

The rest of the guards closed in.

I bit the inside of my lip, my whole mouth tasting of copper, and spat again.

"You've got quite a mouth on you," one of the guards snapped, stepping closer as my chains rattled.

I cocked my eyebrows, refusing to show any fear. Guards were bullies, no matter which side of the war they fought on, and bullies preyed on fear. I would give him none.

"When someone is standing this close to me, they normally aren't complaining about my mouth," I retorted.

He snarled, his hand tightening in my hair to yank my head back. My eyes watered, my shoulders screaming at the sudden weight of his grasp pushing down on me.

Gathering my strength, I jerked my head back, my hair tearing free from my scalp, then head-butted him. A burst of pain lanced through my nose. Blood gushed from my nostrils as the bone grated, and I fought down a yelp. Every breath ached, but it was worth it to see the expression on the guard's face.

"That is enough."

The guard stepped back, lowering his bloodied head as two figures in helmets stepped through the doorway. They were so lean that they could both walk through at the same time, and I recognized the design of one of the enemy helmets as belonging to one female who had been present when I’d been captured. I also recognized the sword at her waist as the one that had been violently introduced to my forehead, which still throbbed.

“Leave us.”

The guards hesitated as though they weren't sure whether they wanted to obey the order or not. Not just the one who was currently bleeding but the other one as well, perhaps in support of his injured colleague.

I shifted in the chains, my brows rising in challenge. If they were going to make my time here miserable, I was more than happy to return the favor.

"Now," the woman snapped, and both guards bowed immediately as if jerked from their reverie.

Neither straightened as they edged backward to the door. A few words were spoken between the two figures with helmets before one of them nodded and headed to the door as well.

The one who’d barked the orders approached. She was the one who had knocked me out before, and the only thing keeping me from lashing out at her was the fact that she wasn’t close enough yet.

Yet my magic shifted toward her like a flower toward the sun, and I had a strange feeling like maybe I could trust her. I chalked that up to the crack I’d taken to the head, though, because she was my enemy.

She leaned closer, her gauntlet glittering with magic, and I fought the urge to cringe back. “I’m Legacy. What’s your name?”

“Why do you want to know?” I shot back. “If anything, I’d think you would want to avoid knowing my name so that what comes next is easier.”

A soft sound came from inside her helmet, and her hands rose. I flinched despite myself, but she only removed her helmet and held it against her side.

I flushed, hoping the blood and dirt on my face were enough to hide my reaction to her beauty. Her hair was red as flame, falling over her shoulders the second she removed the helmet. Her eyes were a piercing, stunning bright blue, and her dark brows rose.

I realized dimly that she had removed her helmet just so I could see her face. A strange bit of consideration, made all the stranger by the fact that she didn’t seem to be the slightest bit concerned about me being chained to the wall. Or that she was the one who had knocked me out to begin with.

“What comes next?” she asked with a tilt of her head, and if I hadn’t known better, I might have even believed that she didn’t know what I was referring to.

Unfortunately, dizzy and in pain as I was, I wasn’t quite that much of a fool.

"Please,” I said. “Let’s not pretend that you and yours are just going to let me walk out of here."

She sighed but nodded. "I do not make the decision about your freedom. After all, you know the location of our camp. We must be certain that you are no threat to our cause."

I tried to throw my hands up in frustration, a feeling only heightened by the chains holding my arms in place. "Actually, I don't know the location of your camp. I was unconscious when I was dragged here. I have no idea where I am."

I swallowed hard, not bothering to hide my fear. Not a lie so much as an exaggeration.

I already told them this, and they’d seemed to believe me then, so why was I still being questioned? What was it about this woman that made her not believe what the others had?

“I think you and I have very different ideas about what is going to happen next,” she mused, the side of her mouth quirking up in a grin.

Surely she couldn’t be trying to make a jest at a time like this? If so, I was personally of the opinion that it was in very poor taste. Then again, I was the very definition of a captive audience, so if there was ever a time for her to make jokes, it was now.

I leaned back in the chains as much as I could to ease the tension on my shoulders, forcing myself to sound droll rather than incredulous when I spoke. "Then perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you think will be happening next."

She smiled briefly, and my chest tightened. She might not have been as determined to hurt me as some of her compatriots, but that didn't mean I could trust her. I had learned a long time ago that a smile like that one was very rarely ever a good thing.

“I want a kiss,” she said, stepping closer until our faces were only inches apart.

“What? Why?” I demanded, my heart pounding out of my chest. “What?”

She gazed into my eyes, searching for any sign of reluctance. But she wouldn’t find any. She was too beautiful to refuse.

Besides, the idea of her lips on mine had sparked inside me, smoldering all of my questions away, leaving me bursting with blazing heat. It shouldn’t, given which side of the war she fought on, but since when could I control anything?

She closed the distance between us and brushed her lips against mine in a tentative, hesitant kiss. With a surge of boldness, I kissed her back, soft, gentle, yet filled with a promise of so much more.

When she pulled away, I discovered that I’d stopped breathing. I didn’t think I started again until long after she left.

Minutes, or possibly hours later, Legacy came back. "I brought you some company."

I drew my eyebrows together.

She waved behind her, a simple flick of the wrist, and the door to my cell creaked open. I tensed, my arms once again burning with pain, but while guards entered, there was also something else. Well, someone else, rather.

A girl, dragged into the room between two burly guards. She was chained just as I was, although her wrists and ankles were bound together. The guards looped the chains through a metal ring on the floor as they dragged her closer.

"Who is she?" I asked warily. Realizing how rude that sounded, I flushed and addressed the girl instead. "My apologies. I mean, who are you ?"

Before the girl could answer, one of the guards spoke up. "How strange. You've been half feral with my guards, biting and kicking, and yet you sound like some highborn lady when talking to a piece of trash like this."

He kicked at the girl chained at his feet, although there was no real fire in it. Still, my magic surged under my skin, enough to make me feel as if I was about to vomit from the strain.

The longer I went without using my magic, the more out of control I felt, but I hadn't eaten or drunk anything significant in who knew how long. If things kept going as they were, there was no telling how my body would react when I did finally use magic. I had a bad feeling that if I wasn't careful with how much magic I used at once, I might not survive the attempt at all.

"Enough," I snapped at the guard, my chains rattling as I yanked myself out of my thoughts.

I—and this girl—needed me to be here, present in this moment. Neither of us would be served well if the guards decided they didn't like my tone, and perhaps I could protect this new girl merely by being the target of their rage. I had yet to take a beating, only never-ending questions, and by the looks of her, she had been here for far longer than I had. It was only fair.

The guard snorted, but Legacy motioned again, and the two guards drew close enough to me to loosen the chains holding my wrists to the walls. They were attached to a massive wheel at the edge of the room, and the second there was the slightest bit of slack on the chains, my legs gave out beneath me, too weak to hold my weight.

My shoulders and back burned like fire, my entire body shivering as I forced myself into a seated position on the floor. My chains pooled around me, but neither the guards nor the woman made a move to get near me. The chains would not be removed, then, but at least they didn’t seem willing to get close enough to hurt me. Perhaps that was a win as well.

"Enjoy one another's company," Legacy said, and the guards snorted as they retreated to the door.

Part of me was tempted to lash out at them now that I had enough slack to do so, but I was too weak to do much damage, and the last thing I wanted was for them to string me back up immediately. Better to wait, even if it wasn't as entertaining.

Shivering, I looked once more at the girl.

"Who are you?" I repeated.

She cleared her throat. "My name is Varna. I am a prisoner too."

Her voice was halting and slow, a quiet rasp, like she hadn't used it in a long time.

My heart ached for her, and once again my magic rippled just beneath the surface, sharply enough that I struggled to keep it beneath my skin. Sometimes it reacted this way to certain people, but I had no way of telling why. Perhaps it was just the state I was in right now. It felt like the magic would burst from my skin at any moment from sheer pain and fear.

Whatever the reason for my magic's insistence on protecting her, I didn't need her words to realize that she was a prisoner. Firstly, the fact that she was here, but also just the way she looked.

Dark shadows underscored her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in days, or perhaps even longer. Her lips were dry and chapped, the lower one split open just as mine was from my earlier slap today. No doubt something similar had happened to her, although she didn't look like the sort of person who would have spit on a guard to deserve that.

Why I'd done it, I wasn't entirely sure, other than just being frustrated about the whole situation. If nothing else, I could make the enemy guards as miserable as I was, and perhaps one of them would let something useful slip that I could take back with me if I escaped.

Not if, but when. When I escaped.

Her hair looked as black as my own, but it was so tangled and greasy that it was hard to tell. Not that mine was much better, considering the blood and dirt matted in it. Her eyes, ringed by those dark shadows, were a dark brown, looking back at me as I studied her curiously.

She was bruised and cut up, but I could see no signs of any serious torture, not that I would have known what to look for beyond the obvious.

Another thing I didn't see—a reason for them to bring her here in the first place. Why risk bringing two prisoners together when it could invite an escape attempt or something similar?

"Do you know why we're here?" I asked.

She opened and closed her mouth for a moment then finally nodded. "Because I'm like you."