Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

Nicoletta pointed out. "The fresh air will aid my healing, and I can continue to do my work."
    Maria Pia took in her disheveled appearance and sighed. "You were not working, Nicoletta, but flitting around again. No good can come of your continuing such behavior. I intend that you marry soon. I have noticed Cristano looking at you often."

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    Ketsia giggled but kept her gaze resolutely on the ground, not daring to glance up at Nicoletta, who had stiffened and was standing very still.
    Nicoletta's dark eyes flashed with sudden fire. "I will not marry Cristano or any other." She enunciated each word carefully. "I will not, Maria Pia. Do not think you can change my mind. Such a match would be a death sentence for me."
    Maria Pia was silent while the wind tugged gently at their clothing. She sighed softly. "Piccola, I have done you an injustice. When you lost your madre, you were so inconsolable, you spent all your time in the wilds. You were so little and sad, we were all afraid of losing you. Do you remember those dark days? I would sit beneath the trees with you and up on the cliffs, many times all night. You did not speak for weeks at a time. You did not seem to feel the cold or the rain. I had to force you to eat. You took risks with your life, climbing crumbling cliffs and exploring caves just before the tide rushed inside. The wolves would howl, and you would not flinch. I would see their glowing eyes and try to persuade you to return to the villaggio, but nothing frightened you, and nothing could assuage your grief. We allowed you to mourn in your own way, but I am not certain it was for the best. You were only five summers, but you were separate from us even then."
    "I have always been separate," Nicoletta pointed out gently. "I am ever aware I could bring morte to the entire villaggio. It is a terrible burden hanging over my head. I know the little ones are taught never to speak of me to outsiders or if an outsider is near. It is a burden for them also. I cannot change that I am different. I did not want to be different, but I accept that I am. I try use my gifts for the good of others, and I light candles to the Madonna that it is right to do so."
    "You are a treasure to us, Nicoletta." Maria Pia laid a hand on the younger woman's arm. "To me. You are a good girl, and the Madonna knows that."
    Ketsia clutched Nicoletta's skirt tighter. Nicoletta brought laughter and love to the villaggio. The children adored her and followed her everywhere. "Why are you afraid, Nicoletta?" She didn't understand the conversation, but she could feel the intensity of emotion shimmering between the two women.
    Immediately Nicoletta smiled at the child, her dark eyes dancing with mischief. "I have an idea, Ketsia.
    You should marry Cristano. He can wait until you are sixteen. It is only a few more years, and by then he might have made his fortune."
    Ketsia thought it over. "He is handsome, but he is already old. Probabilmente he is already too old even for you, Nicoletta."
    Maria Pia coughed delicately behind her hand. "I must go now to the palazzo. It will not do to keep the don waiting too long. Mirella will come with me, but you stay out of sight. The hills have spies, Nicoletta.
    The don is a powerful man, and many wish to have his favor. If he has interest in you, someone will answer his inquiries."
    "You are right," Nicoletta agreed. Those who lived in the tiny villaggio depended on Nicoletta's strange gifts for a good portion of their livelihood. But they lived on land owned by Don Scarletti, and he was a good and generous protector and provider, though they were expected to work hard at their farms and crafts and to be somewhat self-sufficient. Unlike other dons, Don Scarletti did not take the lion's share of their profits, so the people were loyal to him, but they loved Nicoletta. She healed their sick, determined the richness of the earth for their crops, and she concocted the unique colors that kept the aristocrazia coming to them time and again for fine cloth.

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    Scattered over Don Scarletti's vast holdings were many other villaggi and farms, yet few of them held the importance to the don that theirs did. Nicoletta's villaggio was tiny in comparison to many others, but they had made a certain name for themselves and were the most prosperous of all. They were a closed