Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

smiled at her. "Do not worry, bambino. We are alone. It is safe to tell me."
    Sophie suddenly looked frightened and shook her head. "I have to go before they find me here. Do not tell anyone that I was in this chamber. Do not tell Papa." She slid off the bed and scampered to the wall.
    "Come to the kitchen, and Bernado will fix us treats. Hurry, Nicoletta."
    Nicoletta watched carefully as the child slid her hand along the floor until she found some hidden mechanism. Whatever it was that released the wall was eerily silent as the heavy marble swung open.
    Nicoletta peered into the dark interior. Sophie was right about the thick veil of spider webs. The gossamer strands covered the walls and hung from the ceiling. The passage was very narrow and dark.
    Sophie's little candle was barely adequate to light her way. Nicoletta stayed in the opening, watching to see that the child returned safely to the nursery.
    Maria Pia was chuckling softly. "I did not think the young scamp would ever leave. I am too old to lie in bed without moving for so long." She sat up with a faint smile on her face. "Secret passageways. I should have known this heathen palazzo would truly have such things."
    Nicoletta allowed the wall to swing shut, shivering suddenly. "Perhaps they need such a thing to store all the bodies of the women murdered here."

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    "Nicoletta!" Maria Pia automatically reprimanded her as she began to dress.
    "Tell me what happened to mia madre and mia zia. I want to know. Tell me what really happened to them." Nicoletta leaned against the cool marble and regarded the older woman somberly.
    A cold draft seemed to race from the cold hearth and into the room, chilling both occupants so that Nicoletta shivered uncontrollably. Without conscious thought she reached to pull the don's heavy coat around her, wrapping herself in folds of warmth. There was a strange, hushed silence, as if all movement in the palazzo had suddenly ceased. In that vacuum of sound no mice or rats scratched, no servants scurried in the halls.
    Maria Pia sighed softly and shook her head. "It has been many years, yet it is not a good thing to speak of, not now when we are in the palazzo." She looked around her carefully at the staring eyes of the many demonic sea serpents. "It is not good to discuss the dead, Nicoletta."
    Nicoletta lifted her chin, her dark eyes eloquent. "I need to know what happened. I remember them bringing Mama's body back over the hills. That day was so dark and dreary. I was waiting up in the meadow for her, and the raven came. I knew she was gone. The bird would never have been out flying about otherwise with the rain that had poured down so heavily that morning. I knew something terrible had happened to my mother, but no one would say, no one would tell me. Later I heard the whispers.
    People implied she was murdered, but no one actually came out and told me what happened. She was mia madre, and I deserve to know." She sank down onto the mattress, her hand circling the tall, thick bed post until her knuckles turned white. "I have to live here, Maria Pia—here, where my mother and aunt died. I need to know."
    "It was said that your madre was working on the ramparts, cleaning the walkway. She was young and beautiful, already a widow so young, your father taken so early by incurable disease. Everyone loved your mother and she sang like an angel." There were tears in Maria Pia's voice. "They said she must have slipped on the wet surface, the marble walkway slick from the rain."
    Nicoletta's dark gaze remained steadfastly on the older woman's face. "But you did not believe them."
    "Why would she be cleaning the walkway in the rain? It was dangerous up so high. Your mother was very smart; she would not have chosen such a time to clean the walkways around the turrets." Maria Pia spread out her fingers. "I examined her body when they brought her home. She had fallen a great distance and so had many bruises and broken bones, but her fingernails were torn and bloody, as if she had clawed to save her life. The bones in her fingers were broken, and there were bruises and scratches around her throat. And…" Maria Pia turned away from Nicoletta, tears swimming in her eyes.
    "Finish it," Nicoletta said numbly. "I need to know what I will be facing."
    "She had been badly used. I think she fought her attacker, and when he was finished with his dark deed, he hurtled her over