Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

with its soft sound of cleansing. She blindly waded back to dry ground, where she sank into the cushion of deep grasses, drew up her knees, and sobbed as if her heart were breaking.
    The voice came to her then, his voice, soft and warm, a gentle inquiry—or was it her own need conjuring that warm and comforting voice, a soft murmur of protest over her storm of tears? Nicoletta didn't know how he could do it, or even if he was in league with the devil, but for the first time she welcomed the voice whispering to her. There were no real words, more a feeling, images of warmth and security, like strong arms enfolding her from the inside out.
    A hand on her shoulder startled her, effectively stilling the voice. Or dispelling the enchantment? A sorcerer's black-magic web? Maria Pia stroked back her hair. "You saved their lives, Nicoletta."

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    "Puo darsi." She didn't look up, her face buried on her knees. "But for what? So the bambino will slave for Aljandro all of his life, and Lissandra will go through this again and die? I hate him, Maria Pia. I truly hate him. Aljandro did this because of me, because I refused his attentions. Even to spare her suffering, he would not send for me. I hate him."
    "You cannot show it, Nicoletta," the older woman counseled. "He does not forget slights to him, and you are in a very vulnerable position."
    "I do not care if he knows how I feel. I hope he does. He does not deserve Lissandra, and I did her no favor this morning." Nicoletta cried even harder.
    "In his way he cares for her," Maria Pia explained gently. "But he does not understand. He thinks mainly of his farm."
    "How difficult is it to understand that a child cannot have a child without fear of death, Maria Pia? His
    'caring' will kill her. She is but a brood mare to him, and when she dies, he will get another. He thinks only of himself." She stood up and began to run, her bare legs flashing beneath her long skirts as she raced away from the farm. From Aljandro and what he represented. From blood and death. Yet she found herself heading for the cove.
    She wanted to see for herself that no one else had hidden in the rocks and attacked the don, although why it was so important at that moment, she didn't know. She had to do it, though. It didn't matter that she might discover the two dead bodies; she had to see for herself. She had to know the don was safe. A dark compulsion was on her. Nicoletta was drawn to the cove, helplessly caught in a spell she couldn't resist. Hypnotized, mesmerized, perhaps, trapped in a web of growing evil—it didn't matter. At that moment, the most important thing to her was to ensure that Don Scarletti remained safe.
    She ran until her injured calf protested too much, forcing her to a more sedate pace, and then she walked quickly, pausing only to sip some cooling water from the tiny falls scattered among the hills. She made it to the cliffs and looked down, wanting to be prepared for whatever she might find before she descended. The cove was empty. No dead bodies, no blood staining the sand, nothing to indicate that violence had visited the day before. No proof of the incident remained other than her memory.
    Nicoletta made her way down to the cove, picking her steps carefully on the steep, narrow path. The ocean mist bathed the tears from her face as she paced cautiously along the ledge to pick her route over the rocks to the sand. She searched carefully, but there was no sign of death on the beautiful semi-circular beach. Moving back into the shadow of the cliffs, she sat and stared out at the ever-moving ocean. The tide rushed to shore endlessly, rocking back and forth in a steady rhythm. She should have found peace, but the place seemed more sinister than ever. She could feel the aftereffects of violence lingering there.
    Exhaustion combined with the rhythm of the sea finally took its toll. She dozed for a time, worn out from her fight to save her friend. The waves continued to wash back and forth, a lullaby while she slept.
    It was the bird that woke her. Its shadow passed over her head as it circled lazily. The raven drifted lower, its circles tighter and tighter, until he landed in the sand and hopped over to Nicoletta.
    She opened her eyes wide and sighed softly, "So you have found me once again," she said, resignation in her voice.

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