Circus of the Beast

5

Days passed as Keelia continued to practice on the high wire. Her nerves hadn't gotten the best of her yet, and she planned to keep it that way. Maeve had been a great help with encouraging Keelia to practice, and Maghnus had been on her case all most as much as Maeve had been.

Back in the shadows, a talented trapeze artist watched carefully at the woman who she hoped to love her brother and break this horrid curse. She hadn't been allowed to leave for almost three hundred years. Aibreann missed her husband and her two children. Little Darragh and Siobhan wouldn't be so little anymore. No, Darragh would probably have started a family of his own, and Siobhan would have been married for one hundred years now. And Thorfinn, her dear love, would be so alone without Aibreann to hold.

She missed his dark hair that curled to his shoulders in cascading waves of black. His eyes that were a warm caramel brown and his tanned skin that had been generously touched by the sun, they were all the best features that Aibreann could remember. It was on that fateful day that she had been caught in the curse.

She frowned, only one person had found a way out of the circus grounds, and that was the previous tightrope walker, Kyna. She knew that the woman hadn't disappeared, but went off to be with her love. Aibreann felt such envy at Kyna, she had been able to escape and Aibreann was still trapped in The Circus of the Beast. How had Kyna done such a thing?

Aibreann watched as Keelia walked along the high wire on her own, Maghnus walking behind her making sure she didn't fall. That first incident Aibreann hadn't been there for, but she smiled when hearing about her brother's actions. Perhaps this girl would be the one to save everyone. Aibreann sure hoped it was; she missed her family too much already. She didn't want to miss them for the rest of eternity.

Maghnus cheered Keelia on, exclaiming that she would be a terrific tightrope dancer for the opening show. Aibreann held the same optimism on her high wire abilities, but not so much with the breaking of the curse. She knew she would have to coach Keelia when it came down to the nitty-gritty of matchmaking. Aibreann never did have much luck with romantic things, despite her obvious beauty. It had taken her a whole two hundred years to find the one soul that sang in harmony with her own. After three hundred years apart, Aibreann didn't know if her soul knew that lovely melody anymore, or if Thorfinn had changed the notes.

Maeve was standing near the ladder, cheering Keelia on to the other platform. Aibreann smiled at the sweet girl, hoping that she would be rid of the curse soon as well. She was a young girl; only one hundred years old but a very talented fire breather, just like her father.

"I believe that will be all for today," Maghnus shouted to Keelia on the opposite platform. "We shall pick up where we left off tomorrow!"

Maeve watched as Keelia delicately tiptoed along the wire, gasping at the simple elegance of the act. Aibreann chuckled to herself, seeing that such a thing could bring so much delight to a beautiful girl like Maeve.

Keelia soon found herself on the ground and began conversing with a very enthusiastic Maeve, smiling a bright grin filled with such joy. She knew she was getting better at the walking but was nervous still for the actual dancing part of the act. However, Keelia would do her best and would try not to mess everything up for the handsome Ringmaster.

As Keelia, Maeve, and Maghnus approached, Aibreann felt a small flutter in her stomach, as though a butterfly was caged and was struggling to escape. Aibreann never thought that she would be nervous about something as trivial as a simple conversation. Well, she supposed the reason was that this talk could possibly change Keelia's perspective on everything. And it very well had everyone's fate in the balance. Aibreann hoped she wouldn't say the wrong thing.