Other Lives Read Free Page B

so that he had to struggle to catch every word. 
    “One of my ancestors was Karion, a warrior-lord back in the days when the emperor still ruled. Karion was one of many commanders waging wars in the emperor’s name and in those days their strongest enemies were the Azeians, who controlled the Archipelagos.  
    “There was a fortress in the Archiepelagos and it was the home of a wizard-king. The king had acquired the services of a demon which resided in an enchanted mirror. My ancestor laid siege to the magician’s fortress until his men swept in.
    “The wizard-king had an only daughter. During the struggle she had locked herself inside her chambers. But it did her no good. Karion and his men broke the door down. 
    “He violated the wizard’s daughter and gave her to his men afterwards. He killed the wizard yet spared her life because she would make a pretty slave. But the girl, being the wizard’s daughter, had some knowledge of her father’s magic. When Karion arrived with a golden collar to place around her neck as befit a slave she spoke a curse.
    “She invoked the demon in the mirror and swore it would plague his family. Bad luck would befall his children. But the women, she reserved a special punishment for them. Any daughter of his blood would be damned. Every man that attempted to get close to a female of his lineage would be in peril and any man who loved one would die, killed by the demon. 
    “Karion executed the woman. He did not believe in curses but in a fit of superstition, he destroyed the wizard’s mirror. No ill luck befell Karion and he amassed riches and lands and in time had two daughters and a son.
    “All was well. When his oldest child, his daughter, turned thirteen his luck changed. He fell from the emperor’s favour and felt ill, a lingering malady that wouldn’t leave him. His son was killed by brigands. Debts started to mount.
    “He managed to wed his daughter to a young nobleman of a good house. Two months later the groom was dead. Because his daughter was still young and pretty another match was arranged. This second groom died, having lasted less than a season. 
    “Rumours of Karion’s curse spread quickly. It is a story that is still told in my town, and it is the reason why no man dared come near me.”
    Her story finished, Miranda glanced down. “My father died,” she said. “And then my mother went mad. She would…she would say terrible things about me and she’d hurt me … she tried to burn down our home. I am cursed. It is the truth.”
    “You shouldn’t think about morbid wives’ tales,” Nikolaos said.
    “It’s the truth. My fiancé died days before our wedding.”
    “The drunkard who fell off a horse?” 
    “Don’t make fun of me. It is real. The demon knew ... It does wicked things.”
    “Aside from murder, can it do some mending? I’ve some shirts that…”
    “Don’t joke about it. It could be here. I’m sure it’s here,” she said, pressing a hand against his mouth.
    With Miranda so close to him it made thinking of demons rather difficult. As if reaching the same conclusion she drew away. 
    “There’s no one here except you and me,” he assured her with a smile. “There’s nothing supernatural in this room. Retha won’t say a word because I know some stories about her that she wouldn’t like told either. So everything will continue as normal.”
    “I’m not sure I know the meaning of normal,” she whispered.
    There was something heartbreakingly lovely in Miranda. It tugged at his heartstrings and without really wanting to he circled her shoulders with his arm and she rested her head against him. 
    He felt rather guilty. After all, she was nothing but a piece of bait. At the same time she was a very sad and lonely girl.
     
    ***
     
    He was sick and he had asked her to visit him for a game of cards. He played all kinds of board and card games and fancied intricate puzzles. Miranda, having spent a lifetime trapped inside her