Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

his lovemaking, he might be passionate and demanding, but he would never harm a woman.
    "Hush, Beatrice," Nicoletta cautioned gently, "the guards are outside. I know I can help you. Tell me who did this to you that he might be punished."
    "Never." Beatrice drew away from her. "Mistress, on my life, if you say anything, he will kill me. He will kill my bambini. He held a knife to my son's throat as the child slept and told me what he would do should you or any other find out."
    Nicoletta's eyebrows shot up. "Me? He specifically said me?" The maid was turning away from her, obviously too frightened to go to the don or his wife for aid. Nicoletta caught her arm. "He said if I found out?"
    Beatrice looked at her with terrified eyes. Slowly she nodded.
    Nicoletta's heart was close to shattering. "I will say nothing, Beatrice, but I think I can find a way to safeguard you. And you must allow me to try to heal you."
    Beatrice ducked her head, ashamed. "Why are you helping me?"
    Nicoletta smiled gently. "We are both women, Beatrice, both villagers. Our only hope is to stick together. I will find a way to safeguard you. When you feel you can trust me, I would appreciate your Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    telling me who did this to you. If he can so ill use you, he will do the same to others."
    They fell into silence as Nicoletta laid her hands on Beatrice's bruised ribs. She could feel the healing heat rising from deep within her, moving out of her body and into Beatrice's. The maid gasped and stared at her, almost afraid of the power flowing from Nicoletta into her. Nicoletta normally used elaborate means to cover her special ability, yet she felt that making herself vulnerable thusly was necessary to gain the woman's confidence. Beatrice could name her witch, raise a cry even Don Scarletti might not be able to save her from.
    The two women stared at one another for a long time, the maid obviously struggling to make up her mind. Nicoletta sighed softly when Beatrice looked away. "I cannot say, Donna Scarletti. It is my life, and I have my bambini to protest. I am in your debt, and I know it. If you have need of me, I will do what I can to protect and serve you always."
    Protect and serve. A strange way of putting it. What did Beatrice know that Nicoletta did not? There was danger here; Nicoletta could see the warning in the maid's eyes. "I will see what I can do to safeguard you, Beatrice," Nicoletta assured her softly as she slipped out the door, making certain the guards did not catch a glimpse of the room's occupant. She knew they reported her daily actions to the don. More and more she was chafing under the restraints, under the watchful eyes.
    When Nicoletta entered the room Sophie had occupied when she was so ill, she purposely left the door open so the guards could remain very close. She smiled to herself, thinking the soldiers were a two-edged sword. She needed them at times and resented them at others. Something about this room made her distinctly uneasy. It was as if evil had been locked within the very walls. It still lurked there, hideous and relentless in its hunger, oozing out unexpectedly to catch the unwary. The stained-glass windows prevented the sunlight from entering fully, so the room seemed dark and shadowy, the carvings crawling across the walls and up onto the ceiling, spreading like an insidious plague. The scene depicted aristocrazia in all their finery being dragged into the sea. Jagged rocks split apart boats, and legions of soldiers fell into the foaming, raging waves.
    The chandelier had been repaired now, once again hanging from the ceiling with fresh tapers in it. If the earth had shaken as it had when she was exchanging her vows, that would explain part of the strange phenomenon that had occurred that night, the strange shadows playing across the room a result of the way the flames had flickered and danced over the carvings as the walls trembled. She saw a niche in the far wall identical to the one in the upstairs room. An identical golden boat, ornate and beautiful, sat in the alcove. She stared at it in wonder.
    Nicoletta stepped closer to the wall to study the carvings. Most of them were serpents of some kind with wicked fangs and claws. She frowned as she ran a finger inside the deeply etched relief. There was something right in front of her, something eluding her. She was so close, it was hovering in her brain but refusing to come