Cursed Song

by Samantha Kroese

  “Of course, Leader,” Bronze inclined his head respectfully.

  Ruyne’s heart started to pound and he felt drawn almost irresistibly to Valentra again. He bowed his head to her. It took all of his willpower to turn around and go back to Silver, every fiber of his being roared with the desire to be with Valentra. He could feel her gaze on his back until he entered the wagon and closed the door behind him.

  Chapter 10

  Silver

  Silver lay with his back to Ruyne as they settled to sleep for the day. He had spent the last few hours thinking over and over again about his reaction to Valentra. The moment he had seen her, everything within his Song had screamed danger, as though the cursed Sirens that took them to the depths of the ocean when they died stood right before him. Ruyne's reassurances felt hollow, and Bronze’s harsh warning glares made him feel bad about it, but there was no denying his Song. That woman was wrong. Danger. Their doom walking among them. He was certain of it. It was not even the fact that Ruyne was completely taken with her and driven out of his mind with lust in a way that was unnatural for him. He could have handled that. He understood when he married Ruyne that Ruyne enjoyed women and found them more attractive.

  Ruyne let out a slow sigh then wrapped his strong arm around Silver’s slim waist and pulled him back against him. Silver shivered when Ruyne’s thick beard tickled his neck and shoulder. “Your Song is all disrupted, Silver. I can feel it. We are not in harmony. Will it cause a rift between us if I accept her offer?” Ruyne asked in a low, sleepy tone.

  Silver wanted to say no. But he could not find peace with this. “It is worse than that, Ruyne. I will not stay with the Band if you allow her to.”

  Ruyne pulled back with a sharp breath and sat up, startled. “Silver! Don’t even voice things like that. You can’t leave the Band. It is certain death!”

  Silver rolled onto his back to look up at Ruyne. He had always admired Ruyne because he was the oldest, the wisest, and the most level-headed. He did not know why Ruyne could not see the danger in Valentra. “Ruyne, I have never lied to you. I have never deceived you. Please, believe me. She is a danger. She will bring our destruction.”

  “She’s just a townswoman, Silver. She doesn’t even have Song magic. Or any magic at all that I could detect. Are you sure you are not just feeling threatened because I find her beautiful?” Ruyne reached to trace his fingers along Silver’s jaw with a soft touch. “You are beautiful too, my love.”

  Silver closed his eyes at the touch, enjoying it. When he relaxed into it Ruyne bent down to kiss him, and all thoughts fled his mind. He threaded his fingers through Ruyne’s long hair to hold him there as he returned the kiss. He desperately wanted to give in and forget, to let Ruyne pleasure him, and to get lost in the sensations of their bodies and Songs mingling. Still, after a moment, he pushed Ruyne away with a frown. “It is not that, Ruyne. I promise you. Please, I ask you again. At least take a year to consider it and see what others offer first. You are young; it will be a long time before you need an heir to take your place.”

  “Not if you leave me,” Ruyne whispered, pulling Silver close, holding him desperately.

  Silver sighed and rubbed Ruyne’s back to comfort him when he suddenly felt the horrible truth about their Bond. Ruyne had Bonded with him out of that very fear, that he would lose his soul and his life because his Bonded left. “You know I would never leave you, Ruyne. That was foolish of me to say. I did not mean to hurt you with it. I won’t ever leave your side. That is why you Bonded to me. I don’t have it in me, even though that woman terrifies me and I am certain she will be the death of me.”

  Ruyne furrowed his brow and met Silver’s gaze. “I will wait and consider things if she bothers you that much, Silver. You are right, there’s no hurry.”

  Silver stared at Ruyne in shock. “You will?” He felt all his fear and panic melt away and his Song settled into a harmonious melody inside of him.

  “Yes. I will go and tell them now,” Ruyne confirmed as he attempted to get up. He made a startled sound when Silver grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down. “You will go and tell them later,” Silver insisted, as he pushed Ruyne’s shirt to the floor. “I need you.” Ruyne chuckled and swept Silver up in his arms. “Oh, do you now?”

  Silver grinned and put his finger to Ruyne’s lips. When he pulled it away he drew Ruyne back into a kiss. Then he set to making sure their Songs beat as one again. Once they were in perfect harmony and quite spent they fell into a peaceful sleep in each other’s arms.

  They woke to a loud knock on the door and Bronze calling to them that dusk was approaching, and they needed to join the performances. “I want you to play tonight, Silver,” Ruyne said as he pulled on his performance clothes consisting of tight blue pants and a fancy ruffled white shirt. Silver was so lost in watching him he barely registered the words at first. Then he gave Ruyne a shy look as he got up to dress as well. “As you say, Leader.”

  Ruyne grabbed him and whispered into his ear in a husky tone. “Play just for me. Your Song inspires me.”

  Silver laughed at that and blushed at the excitement he could feel in Ruyne now. He smacked Ruyne’s arms playfully and pulled away to finish dressing. “You’re the Leader. Don’t embarrass yourself. You had best calm down, my love.”

  Ruyne winked at him and walked over to hold the door open for him. “Play last. And hurry back to the wagon after. I’ll wait for you.”

  Silver nodded, feeling flushed and too warm all over as he stepped out into the cool air. Those feelings died as soon as he felt the danger return. Valentra was there in the camp, eating with his parents. He froze and stared at her, his breath catching.

  “I will tell them to make her leave,” Ruyne said, as he put a reassuring hand on Silver’s shoulder.

  Silver looked up at him, worried. “Can you? She entrances you, Ruyne. You don’t even see that she does it. It’s not natural. It’s dangerous. She’s dangerous to you. I don’t know that you’ll find the words.” Silver paused when he noticed Ruyne was already lost in her gaze. “Ruyne!”

  Ruyne shook off the daze when he heard his name then looked at Silver. Concern furrowed Ruyne’s brow. “Maybe you are right. I get lost when I look at her.”

  Hearing a nearby wagon door open, Ruyne glanced toward Shadow’s wagon and saw Shadow and Derry emerge. “Shadow! Come here.”

  Shadow raised a brow at the call but came over to them with a timid looking Derry in tow. “What is it, Ruyne, something about the performances tonight?”

  “I’d like Derry to sing,” Ruyne started as if nothing in the world was the matter. “And I want you to go tell Bronze that I’ve decided to take some time to consider Valentra’s offer. If she is still interested by the time we come back around here next, we will revisit the idea.”

  “Why wouldn’t you tell Bronze yourself?” Shadow asked with confusion clouding his handsome features. Even Derry looked a bit surprised.

  Ruyne took Silver’s arm in his. “I have to oversee the performance setup. We’re late as it is. Thank you, Shadow.” Without even waiting for a response, he turned to the path toward the town’s stages and started away from the camp at a brisk walk, pulling Silver with him.

  Silver relaxed the further they got away from the camp and that woman. He tried to focus his Song magic so he would be prepared for the best flute performance he’d ever given in his life. After all, he lived to please Ruyne.

  Chapter 11

  Shadow

  Shadow spent the first few weeks bonded to Derry in a whirlwind mixture of performances and their desperate time alone. Their Song-Binding made Derry nearly as insatiable as Shadow and they often fell asleep completely exhausted. It made finding time to eat and take care of other necessary things rather difficult but, somehow, they managed. They had been Song-Bound nearly two months when it slowed down to a more manageable pace. He sometimes wondered if Derry was desperate to keep his attention, but he found that he felt quite satisfied and only got distracted by
the townsfolk if Derry wasn’t nearby. He did not miss having a different lover in every town as much as he thought he would. Even though Derry seemed favorable to the idea of sharing him with others, Shadow had not felt the need to test it.

  He pondered these things while watching the fading light of day drift in through the window and dance across Derry’s smooth skin. Everything felt more right now than it had felt his entire life. How long had he denied that he had these feelings for Derry? Had his misadventures in the towns just been a way to work out his frustration? He glanced out the window at the gathering dusk and tried to come up with an excuse for them to skip the performances. He was not a fan of the town they were currently in and the townspeople never responded well to him or Derry for some reason.

  “What are you thinking so hard about? Your Song is so loud it woke me,” Derry asked as he yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

  “We’re in Thistlewood,” Shadow said as he frowned. Because of their Song-Binding he did not miss the way Derry’s Song magic suddenly changed to a frantic beat. Shadow left the window and returned to the bed to lie down beside Derry. He wrapped his arms around Derry to calm him. “Let’s stay here. They don’t need us to perform tonight. It never goes well here. Give some others a chance at the stage.”

  “Skip the performance?” Derry asked in an awed tone, his dark eyes wide as he stared at Shadow. “Can we? Is it allowed?”

  Shadow did not want to scare Derry with the bad feeling he suddenly had, so he smirked and let his hands trail over Derry possessively. “I don’t know. I don’t really care if it is or isn’t. I think we need to stay here.” Derry was not hard to convince. He never could tell Shadow no.

  No one interrupted their play with demands that they emerge for the performances so, when they were quite satisfied and the bad feeling had passed, Shadow drifted off to sleep without giving it another thought.

  Derry woke with a scream, sitting up so fast that Shadow started and fell out of the bed to the floor. Shadow sat there a moment, shocked, as Derry rocked back and forth screaming and clutching his head. Then he got up and sat on the bed, putting a hand on Derry’s shoulder. “Derry! What is it?” The pure agony and fear bleeding through their Song-Binding made Shadow lose his breath and his heart start to pound. Derry shoved him out of the way and scrambled out into the camp, not even bothering to dress past his underclothes, frantic. Shadow hurried after him, grabbing a pair of pants and trying to pull them on while diving out of the wagon’s door.

  Ruyne and Bronze stood before Alastan and Deliah’s wagon. The rest of the Band stood staring, murmuring, the overall Song of the camp filled with notes of horror and discord. Derry bolted past all of them as though he didn’t even see them, barreling into Ruyne so hard he nearly knocked them both to the ground when Ruyne grabbed him.

  “No! Derry, stop!” Ruyne commanded, grabbing Derry just before he reached the door to his parents’ wagon. Derry fought Ruyne like a demon, a man possessed. He howled, scratched, and lunged trying desperately to get to his parents. Bronze rushed forward to help Ruyne drag Derry away from the wagon door.

  When Derry couldn’t break free, his will pressed on Shadow through their Song-Binding, driving Shadow to bolt past them. He had to see what they were keeping Derry from. He climbed into the wagon. As soon as his brain registered what he was seeing, he fell back against the wall and, slipping on blood and gore, out of the wagon door. He landed hard on the ground.

  “I have to see them!” Derry screeched with pain so loud it made everyone in the camp cringe. Ruyne shook his head and pulled Derry against his broad chest, holding him close. His words were soft but carried the heavy weight of the Leader’s Song magic again to try to calm Derry, “Please, Derry. You don’t want to see that. Remember them how they were. I’m so sorry.”

  Derry broke into uncontrolled sobs as he beat on Ruyne’s chest with his fists. “You’re the Leader! You’re supposed to keep us safe!”

  “Shadow, a little help?” Bronze grunted, as he glared at Shadow.

  Shadow sat there shocked, overwhelmed by the grisly sight of Derry’s parents. They had been ripped apart. Nothing like that had ever happened in the camps. Never. Murder didn’t happen, and who or what could have torn them apart like that? He just sat there numb, staring at Bronze and not comprehending the words anyone was saying. All he could hear was Derry’s song screaming pain through his mind.

  “He can’t help,” Silver said softly, then put Shadow’s arm around his shoulders and helped Shadow up. “Ruyne, let’s take them back to their wagon.”

  “We’ll take care of Alastan and Deliah, Leader,” Bronze said grimly.

  “NO!” Derry wailed, as Ruyne struggled to get him back to the wagon Derry shared with Shadow. Derry fought him every step of the way until Ruyne used his height and weight advantage to half carry Derry and shove him into the wagon. “I said stop, Derry,” Ruyne warned, herding Derry back toward the bed once they were both inside so Silver could bring Shadow inside. Ruyne’s magic finally broke through enough that Derry stopped resisting and flopped onto the bed, sobbing hysterically.

  Ruyne shut the door once all four were inside. Anger filled Shadow once he recovered a little from the shock. He whirled on his brother. “How? How can this happen, Ruyne?”

  Ruyne faltered. “I don’t know, Shadow. We don’t know yet. Something got past the wards.”

  “We have to get away from here. Now. This place is cursed.” Shadow whispered urgently, then pushed Ruyne and Silver toward the door. “Go on. Tell them. We’re leaving. We won’t send them to the sea here. It’s not right. We need to go somewhere else. Please. Don’t do this to Derry. He hates it here.”

  Ruyne looked from Shadow to Derry, then with a mumbled apology, he ducked out of the wagon. Silver stayed with them though, walking over to the bed to gather Derry in his arms and hold him close, rocking him back and forth. Shadow reacted without thinking. He charged out of the wagon and hitched his and Derry’s horses to the wagon, tied their reins to the back of Ruyne’s wagon so they would follow then returned to try to comfort Derry. But how could he do that? Derry’s parents had been murdered in a grisly fashion. Violence like the camp had never known. Would anything be the same again? The safety of the magical wards had been breached. Were any of them safe?

  Shadow curled around Derry and Silver, but one of his hands slid under a cushion to wrap his hand around a dagger. Whatever had taken Derry’s parents would not take Derry. He would see to that.

  Chapter 12

  Derry

  It took the Band three weeks to travel to a memorial site appropriate for Derry’s parents. Ruyne refused to let Derry see their remains. It poured rain for an entire week before they finally had dry skies long enough to send them off on their pyres, but by then they were wrapped tightly in cloth to hide the devastation. Even so, one could still see that they were not entirely whole.

  Derry spent the entire next month in the wagon he shared with Shadow. Staring out the window and lost in memories and his grief. The only time he could sleep was when Shadow sang him to sleep with one of his sweet love songs. The only time he remembered to eat was when Shadow coaxed him to. He didn’t leave the camp to go to the towns to watch the performances, much less perform himself. His song felt broken now that the magic that Song-bound him to his parents had shattered. He had never had strong Song magic anyway. His Song-Binding to Shadow kept him going, and he found great comfort in his husband.

  He woke one afternoon before Shadow did. His hand went to the pendant around his neck as he sat up, and he held it tightly for a moment as he watched Shadow sleep. He knew he had to go through the contents of his parent’s wagon so the Band could get rid of it. As it was, Ruyne wouldn’t allow the wagon within the camp’s perimeter. The Dusksingers believed it was cursed by the murders and would disrupt the Song’s protection if it remained in the camp. Today, Derry finally felt strong enough to face the task.

  He climbed over Shadow as carefully as possibl
e, not wanting to wake him. Derry dressed quickly, then paused with his hand on the wagon door as he looked back to the bed. Part of him wanted to wake Shadow. He hadn’t left the wagon without Shadow since the deaths. Shadow had become almost overprotective and wouldn’t let Derry out of his sight unless someone else was watching him. Derry’s Song magic told him to wake Shadow to accompany him. He ignored it, brushing it off as just fear. He opened the door and hopped down into the camp.

  The camp was silent. The Dusksingers were all still safely asleep in their wagons. Or at least, they thought they were. Derry didn’t think any of them were safe now. But he shook away those thoughts as he hurried through the camp. His parents’ wagon sat on the edge of a thin forest, shadowed and looking ominous. It was still within shouting distance of the camp, so Derry reasoned that it would be safe enough. It was only a wagon. Whatever had killed his parents was long gone. Some wild beast they had left far behind.

  He opened the door and climbed into the wagon. He felt a chill blast of wind brush past him like the ghosts of his parents rushing out. He shuddered against the chill working its way up his spine, then bit his lip with determination. He had to do this so they could leave this wagon behind when they left this site. Perhaps they would burn it to cleanse the camp of whatever evil had befallen his parents.

  After he stood there for a moment, he began to calm down. The shock had worn off and now the inside of the wagon felt sad and empty. His Song magic thrummed with a mournful melody through his being. He missed his parents so much. This wagon had been his home just a short time ago. They had cleaned the gore and blood from the wagon. He noticed some things were missing and assumed that the missing items had been part of the cleaning.