Taming The Ringmaster

by Erin O'Kane

  “Rhea,” Alcide says sharply, and I pull my head back in and look at him.

  You shouldn’t have come here, this place isn’t safe for you.

  The message is scrawled on a tattered piece of paper, and it’s hard to read, but I can just about manage. “Alcide?” I whisper.

  He screws it into a ball and shoves it into his coat. “After, after the show, Rhea. We can’t afford to look suspicious now. Act normal, then we are leaving.” He shakes his head, his eyes angry. “I don’t like this place.” He strides out of my tent, leaving me alone.

  Wrapping my arms around myself, I look at where the message was. Why did he warn us? What does he mean that we aren’t safe? Either way, we would be stupid to ignore it. Alcide is right, we need to leave. I just need to make it through the show. Turning back to the mirror, I blow out a breath before dropping my hands to my side and tilting my head back defiantly. Forcing a smile, I tell myself I can do this.

  I turn and leave the tent, ready to get this show over with. The faster we do, the faster we can come up with a plan and leave. I head to the main tent where I can hear the audience already hollering and stamping, impatient for the show.

  I slip in through the back and join the others. Rex sees me and smiles, but it drops when he looks at my face. “Rhea?” he murmurs, concerned, but the lights go down and it’s our cue. I smile shakily at him and walk past, his worried gaze boring into my back as I make my way into the middle of the tent. The lights are still off as I hit my mark and still.

  Pushing the warning from my mind, I force a big, fake grin on my face as the spotlight hits me where I stand waiting in the sand. The music starts and I hold my arms up, bowing to the audience. A shiver races through me at the thought of the men from earlier with their eyes on me. Maybe coming here wasn’t a good idea, but I need to forget that because it’s show time.

  With the bright lights shining down on me, it’s difficult to see beyond the circle of sand that is my stage. But by the excitement and anticipation in the air, and the hush of voices filling the tent, I know this show has been a sell out. Glancing up at the lights, my pupils dilate against the brightness, and I feel the telltale tingle that my body has adapted to protect me.

  For years I just thought my powers hardened my skin to protect me from harm, and I was lucky never to fall ill from the unclean, dirty water back in Cinders. Since I joined Alcide and the guys, I’ve learned that my powers are so much more than that. My body is able to adapt as I need it, protecting me from whatever threat or harm comes my way. It isn’t always in the most obvious ways, and I never know what it is going to do, but my powers have never let me down so far.

  Pulling my eyes from the lights, I realise how my body has changed this time. My eyesight is better, I’m able to look at the bright stage lights without it hurting, and I can also see beyond into the darkened crowd. This audience is different than what we have had before... Where are the regular working people that usually come to our shows? We always put aside a certain amount of free tickets for those who truly can’t afford to come, but everyone in this crowd looks well fed, and they are dressed in clothing the looks new.

  The sound of footsteps coming towards me reminds me of what I’m supposed to be doing, and I pull my gaze away from the crowd to smile at Blain. He looks dangerous as he stalks closer to me, pulling a black blindfold from his waistband, his dark eyes glittering under the stage lights. Spinning me around, he ties the blindfold over my eyes before walking me over to a large dartboard.

  The audience holds their breath as they wait to see what Blain will do when he stalks to his spot on the other side of the ring. The first dagger flies past me before the audience even has a chance to realise what he’s done. The next four follow in quick succession, each hitting the dartboard and missing me by millimeters. The crowd starts to politely clap, since they think the act is over, and I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face as I anticipate their reactions.

  A drumbeat starts in the background and a stagehand runs into the ring, handing me a small, circular target. I can’t see any of this as the blindfold is still in place, but we have rehearsed this many times—Blain is obsessed with my safety. He never doubted his power until his act involved me. He may act tough and like he doesn’t give a damn, but I know he cares deeply.

  I take a step forward, each step in time with a beat of the drum. The faint whistle in the air is the only indication that Blain has thrown a dagger. There is a gasp from the crowd and it is not because the dagger has been imbedded in the target, but because he created the dagger—the blade flying from his wrist like magic. I know from watching him practice that the daggers just seem to appear, like an illusion, but they are very real.

  I continue to walk confidently towards him, my hips swaying to the drumbeat. Some people might worry or be nervous about walking in the path of a flying dagger, but I know he won’t hit me, and I have learned to trust my powers to protect me. I used to worry that they wouldn’t be quick enough, but the more I trust them, the greater they seem to grow. But the crowd doesn’t know this, which is evident from the tension building in the tent. As I get closer, the force of the knives being thrown into the targets gets more intense, reverberating up my arms.

  Expanding my senses, I listen for changes in the air around me. At the last second, I drop the target and bring my hands together to catch the knife between my palms, stopping it just before it pierces my heart. The tent is so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and then the crowd erupts into applause. I feel Blain come up behind me to untie the blindfold, his breath tickling my ear as he whispers to me.

  “You were cutting that a bit fucking close, Harpy,” he scolds, and as he pulls away the blindfold, I smile at his scowling face. He can’t stay mad at me in front of all these people. Turning my attention back to the crowd, I grin and make a show of opening my palms, displaying my uninjured hands. Blain takes the dagger from me and imbeds the knife in a block of wood to show how sharp the blade is, before leading me into a quick bow and dragging me out of the ring into the backstage area.

  “What the hell do you think you’re playing at?” His voice is harsh as he pins me against one of the posts holding up this part of the tent. “You left it to the last moment to catch the knife. You know the timings, why did you wait?” he demands, his arms bracketing me in on either side, so I have no choice but to look at him. Not that I am complaining. Raising my hand to his cheek, I smile at him, knowing he can’t resist it, not that he would ever admit it.

  “Blain, we’ve spoken about this, I trust you not to hurt me. Besides, my powers will protect me.” He frowns at my words, but I feel some of the tension in his shoulders relax a little.

  “I can’t control the dagger once it has left my hand, you know that!”

  I take a deep breath. Talking with Blain about my safety always gets him worked up and if he had his way, I wouldn’t be involved in his act at all.

  “It was a fraction of a second, Blain. Trust me, you can’t always be there to protect or save me,” I justify, and I know he knows I can protect myself, but his jaw just tightens at my comment. He’s shutting down.

  “I’m not willing to risk—” Cutting him off, I press a firm kiss to his lips. My core heats up at the masculine groan he makes before returning the kiss, his hands gripping my arms and pulling me closer.

  Someone clears their throat, reminding me where we are, but that doesn’t stop Blain from finishing what I started. He continues to kiss me for another few seconds before pulling away with a half sigh, half growl.

  “This isn’t over, Harpy. I’ll fucking deal with you later,” he mutters, before stalking away and leaving me panting. I know I should probably be upset over our fight, but I can’t help the little smile that crosses my lips as I watch him walk away.

  I watch the rest of the show from behind the curtains, heading out to assist with acts as I’m needed for. It goes off without a hitch and the crowd loves us, except I can’t help but eye the quiet
group of official looking people in the front row of the audience. There’s something different about them, and it’s not until nearly the end of the show that I realise why. It’s the officials from the city we met earlier. I had expected they would send someone to make sure we were following their rules, but I hadn’t anticipated for them to show up, not for something like a circus show. They already made it clear that they believe themselves to be above us.

  Alcide has been watching them too, and I know something is worrying him since he has been getting quieter and quieter as the show goes on. Stalking back through the curtains that separates the ring from backstage, he growls quietly as he takes off his hat and throws it to the floor. Silently, I walk towards him and pick it up, brushing off the sawdust before cradling the hat in my arms.

  “You okay?” I ask softly, watching as he runs his hands through his hair.

  “Yes, it’s just that nothing we seem to do is good enough for those entitled idiots.” He gestures at the curtain separating us from the crowd.

  “But they love us, can’t you hear their cheering?” I say with a frown, confused.

  “Not them—the Masters. I know you’ve seen them in the audience.” He nods as he sees the understanding dawning on my face. So that is why he is upset? He wants to impress the Masters?

  “Yes, I have, but why does it matter? The people that matter are the ones who actually wanted to see the show, the people like you and me. Why do you care about what the Masters of the city think? As long as they allow us to perform here, that’s the only thing that matters, right?” I inquire gently, as I walk to his side, handing him his hat with a smile.

  He’s silent for a moment as he looks down at me, then frowns at the curtain again, almost as if he can see the Masters through it.

  “All my early life I was looked down upon, then I created the circus and we became something else, something people would pay to come and see. And now we are beckoned like stray dogs and expected to heel. They come here, into our home, and continue to deem us unworthy.”

  As Alcide speaks, I wonder where this is coming from. I’ve never seen him like this before.

  “Everything okay?” Rex questions, making me jump. I didn’t even see him walking towards us since I was so focused on Alcide.

  “Yes. We’re changing the last act, we need something bigger. The act you and Rhea have been working on, we will use that as the finale,” Alcide instructs. I gape at him as he straightens his hat on his head firmly before he walks away.

  “Wait, you can’t be serious, we haven’t finished working on that yet. We aren’t even sure it’s safe,” Rex argues, as he takes a step towards Alcide.

  Freezing, Alcide turns to face us, every inch the ringmaster. “No questions, we are doing this. Rhea is ready, right?” he asks, and his expression is telling me to trust him. Biting down on my lip, I look between the two of them before nodding.

  “Okay, yes, I’m ready,” I reply, wishing I felt as confident as I sounded.

  I take a deep breath as I stand backstage, imagining that I could blow out the nerves that are racking my body over this act. I trust Rex, and I know this act will be amazing and shock the audience, but the only reason our shows work is because we rehearse and train nonstop.

  Rex is already in the ring with the animals, warming up the audience for the finale. A hand firmly grips my arm and shakes me out of my thoughts. Whipping my head around, I see that it’s Blain, his face contorted with anger.

  “Are you fucking out of your mind?”

  “Blain—” I begin, but I’m cut off when he shakes me, not hard enough to hurt, but enough that it makes me dizzy.

  “What are you thinking? This act is not ready, it’s dangerous!” he shouts.

  A movement from the corner catches my eye and I see Nixon walking over to us, his face hard as he sees Blain’s hands gripping my arms. I smile hurriedly at him, knowing I need to de-escalate the situation before Nix thinks I’m being hurt and gets triggered.

  “Nix, I’m okay. Blain is just worried,” I explain, gesturing for him to stay where he is. Realising what’s about to happen, Blain quickly lets go of me, looking disgusted at the whole situation.

  “What’s going on here?” Alcide’s voice cuts through the tent, but it doesn’t have the effect I was hoping for.

  Spinning around, Blain strides up to Alcide and grabs him by the lapels of his red jacket. “What the fuck are you doing, sending her out there with an unfinished act? You could kill her!” His voice is loud, and Alcide acts as if the words have physically injured him before his face hardens and he pushes Blain away.

  “I would never put her at risk if I didn’t think she was ready.” The two of them face off against each other, both furious. My heart thuds in my chest at the thought of them fighting, all because of me. “When have I ever done that?” His voice lowers and he steps closer to Blain, whispering something to him.

  Nodding sharply, Blain pulls away, throwing a quick glance at me. “Let’s hope you’re right,” he replies, maintaining his stare with Alcide for a tense moment before storming away.

  The moment Blain leaves, Alcide seems to deflate, looking around at those of us gathered nearby before his gaze lands on me.

  “If you choose not to do this, that’s okay, this is your choice.” His words are meant for me alone, but I see the others nod, agreeing with him. I would have done it anyway, but his words warm something inside me. He knows that choice is something I lacked for most of my life, and that he is giving this to me now is a greater gift than he could imagine.

  Giving him a beatific smile in answer, I push past the curtains and step out into the circus ring to the applause of the crowd.

  Rex is standing in the center of the ring, facing Bubbles and Rumple, our double-headed snake. When Bubbles/Rumple rears up, he’s taller than Rex, and I’d struggle to put my arms around a snake his size. The snake hisses as Rex places his hand on him, his fangs gleaming as Rex speaks in a low voice. There is a flash in Rex’s eyes, and the next moment scales appear on the arm that is touching the snake, spreading across his body. Taking a step back, he looks up and smiles at me as I walk closer to him.

  I take his outstretched hand and smile as he spins me exactly as discussed. We have only ever outlined this act, walked it through. We’ve never put it all together or rehearsed it fully.

  As I take Rex’s hand, the snake rears away, facing me with an intelligence that you wouldn’t see in a normal animal, their fangs glinting as both heads hiss at me.

  “Rumple,” Rex warns, his voice a gentle scold, but he doesn’t seem worried, so I take a step closer to him, only to be wrenched from his grip with a cry as a scaly tail wraps around me.

  “Rumple! Put her down!” he demands, his voice firm as his body ripples with scales. I take a couple of deep breaths as I feel the scales tighten against me, unable to fight the flash of fear I feel.

  “Rex?” I didn’t mean for the word to come out as a question, but I can’t help it. Reacting to the note of fear in my voice, Rex takes a step closer, which only angers the snake even more. The snake tightens its grip around my body, raising me slightly in the air with my arms trapped at my sides. I can feel my body protesting the crushing hold, but instead of panicking, I close my eyes and focus, pushing past my discomfort.

  Muttering fills the audience as they realise something is going wrong, the tension in the tent increasing as hurried footsteps fill the air. Opening my eyes, I see Alcide, Nixon, and Jesse run into the ring next to Rex, seeing me trapped within Rumple’s grasp.

  Rumple hisses and starts to move backwards, away from the people now circling us. In a flash, both of the heads turn towards me and sink their fangs into my body. Although I know this is part of the show, I can’t stop the scream of agony as their venom is pumped into me, my back arching as the poison works its way through my system. The snake drops my body to the ground and slithers towards the backstage area behind the curtain.

  Bodies surround me and the cro
wd starts shouting, all wanting to know what is going on. They demand to know whether this is part of the show or if they’ve just witnessed some terrible accident.

  Worried faces greet me as I peel open my eyes I hadn’t realised I had shut. Jesse puts his hand on my arm, and I can’t help but cry out at the touch.

  “Shit, I’m sorry.” He starts to pull back his hand, but I stop him with a touch of my fingers.

  “It’s okay, it’s passing. I’m ready,” I tell him quietly. The others move away, giving us space and calming the crowd while blocking us from their view. Smiling, Jesse takes my hand again before pulling a lighter from his pocket and holding a ball of flame in his hand then spinning around us, blowing into the fire and extending it in a wall of flames between the two of us and the rest of the tent. Standing up with his help, I smile at him. Taking a deep breath, I walk through the wall of flames with a grin on my face.

  “Rhea the Immortal!” Alcide announces, filling the silence in the tent before loud applause sounds. Everyone is on their feet, exclaiming that they thought I was dead. “Thank you for coming to the show, don’t forget to tell your friends about what you have seen!”

  “Rhea, you’re glowing,” Jesse whispers to me, and I look down in surprise. Well, that’s new. Usually my skin hardens to protect me, or turns me into flame, but now I see that Jesse is right, my whole body is glowing like I’m an ember.

  The show went really well, the whole audience seemed to enjoy it, and I’m sure we will end up doing more shows here. We line up to bow when chills spread down my spine, making me look up directly into the gaze of the four Masters who had been watching. The grins on their faces make me nervous, like we have just played right into their hands. But I’m sure I just have an overactive imagination, they can’t mean us any harm, right?