Page 100 of Heirs of the Cursed

Even through the darkness and the cloth that covered his face, Darcia knew he was smiling at her.

She’d been honest; a part of her, at least. Raised to rise above the atrocities and cruelties she’d had to survive on her own, she’d always believed she worked best alone. But Darcia also wished Alasdair would stay.

He could be a thief, a liar, and irritating . . .

But, somehow, he cared for her.

“Promise me you will leave if danger arises.”

“Darcia, I’m a thief with a price on my head. I’m always in danger.”

“At least do it to make me feel better.”

Alasdair sighed heavily. “I promise. But you better do the same.”

Darcia said nothing.

She took the thief’s hand and started running again.

When they reached the cabin, Darcia fiddled with the boreal pendant around her neck to soothe her nerves upon finding the candlelights out. But she wouldn’t be at ease until she found her father.

For long minutes, she knocked on the door and poked through every window. Her heart pounded against her ears at the lack of response, bearing a horrible thought that she refused to speak aloud in fear it would come true.

If he is in the square with the rest of the people . . .

Darcia couldn’t finish the thought as she caught a glimpse of a distant oil lamp from the corner of her eye. Beyond the hut, where the oak trees rose high and thick, stood the stables. She took a silent step forward, scared that someone had intruded or that Conrad might have returned. When she noticed the thin gray hair among the flames of the torches, she sighed in relief.

It was Gion, saddling two horses.

“Father!”

He turned around in a hurry. “Darcia!”

She hurried to him with tears in her eyes and jumped into his arms. He caught her without hesitation, a comforting feeling of safety washing over her. Since she was just a child, Gion had protected her. Even unaware of his son’s mistreatment toward her, her father had been a safe place to take refuge.

“I was just coming to get you from the circus. We have to go! With a bit of luck, we’ll reach Avaglade in a few days and . . .”

Darcia pulled back far enough to look him in the eye. “Y-You must leave.”

“I?Wemust go. The soldiers will be here soon. I have prepared all the supplies for a week’s travel. I have a good friend at the academy who might be able to help us,” Gion’s voice broke at the sight of tears burning in his daughter’s eyes. “What is it, my child?”

“I can’t leave them,” she muttered. “I have to help them.”

Gion watched her in silence, his response stuck in his mouth. From the moment he’d found her in the forest and taken her home, he’d been more than just a father to Darcia. He was her family, the one who mattered the most to her . . . There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him, and that was all she needed to urge him to leave. For him to find refuge away from the soldiers.

The eyes of the man who had loved her unconditionally stared at her, holding her hands in his trembling ones.

“I prayed so hard to the goddesses that you would come with me because I don’t wish to lose my little girl . . . But part of me has always known that you are part of something greater, ahm siera.”

Before Darcia could ask what he meant, Gion pulled her gently into his arms and hugged her once more, as if he could shield her from the chaos and darkness about to fall over Dawnfall.

“Remember the vramnias I gave you?” he murmured in her ear, and Darcia nodded. “The moment I have been dreading has come. Do what you must and leave this place. You must find Caeli and Ghana and get out of here. They will take you to safety.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Listen to me, Darcie. I’ll march west to gather as many reinforcements as possible and call in old favors, but you must pursue your destiny.” Gion brushed her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ears. “I promise you that Caeli’s mother will tell you all you need to know. But first, you must get as far away from the city as you can.”

Darcia’s questions were swallowed by the tears that burned her eyes.

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