Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

the rampart. She must have caught the ledge, and he pounded her hands until he broke her fingers and she fell." Maria Pia hung her head. "My beautiful angel. I told the don, Giovanni's father, my findings, and he conducted an investigation, but nothing came of it. I could not prove anything."
    Maria Pia sighed heavily. "The very next morning Don Scarletti's grandmother was found dead in her own bed with fingerprints around her neck, the old man sleeping beside her. The palazzo, indeed the entire land, was grief-stricken with Donna Scarletti's death. She was much loved and rightly so. Yet no one would remember the death of a peasant, a poor, widowed domestica."

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    A surge of anger erupted in Nicoletta, shaking her body so that for a moment she could only cling to the bedpost and fight down the volcanic emotions swirling so strongly within her. It took a few minutes for her to realize that Maria Pia was weeping silently. At once Nicoletta pushed aside her own feelings and rushed to the older woman's side. She hugged her tightly. "I am sorry I made you relive it all again. It is no wonder you did not wish to speak of such an ill thing."
    "She must have been so frightened. And she had gone to the Palazzo delta Morte certain the gossip was not true. I should have stopped your mother from seeking work at such a place, but we needed to get through the winter, and we had no man to help. I knew there was danger; I had seen the body of her sister, your zia, when they returned her home from the palazzo." Maria Pia buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. "Only a few months before, your zia, too, had met with an 'accident' while serving there. A statue made of heavy stone fell and crushed her, they said."
    Nicoletta held the old woman to her. The air in the room seemed oppressive, and all at once Nicoletta didn't want Maria Pia to say anymore. The premonition of danger was acute, robbing her of breath, stealing her ability to think properly. "You cannot stay here, Maria Pia," she said decisively. "I do not want you in danger. If whoever killed the women still resides here, they must know you are aware that those deaths were not accidents."
    Maria Pia patted Nicoletta's shoulder consolingly. "Your madre and zia died over twelve years ago, piccola. The aristocrazia would not remember the deaths of two domestice. And they cannot know I examined both bodies and found the truth. Don Scarletti's father is dead these last eight years. I spoke to no one else."
    "Two other women from the surrounding villaggi have died here in strange accidents in the intervening time. And the young wife of Vincente Scarletti. This is indeed the Palazzo della Morte." Nicoletta allowed the don's coat to fall from her shoulders to the coverlet. "I cannot take a chance with your life, Maria Pia. You must leave this place."
    "Until you are married, I must stay with you," Maria Pia pointed out. "Get dressed, Nicoletta. We have much to do this day. Are we allowed out of the room?"
    "The don did not say I was confined to my dungeon," Nicoletta said resentfully. "Only that the guards must accompany me wherever I go. At least I have the key to the room and can lock it from this side."
    She laughed ruefully. "Not that it will do much good when anyone can come in through the wall. We should push something heavy against it at night." As she spoke, she was performing her morning ablutions. The water was cold, but she washed thoroughly, taking her time to prepare for meeting the household.
    "Perhaps I should make another appeal to the don." Maria Pia ran a gnarled hand over the fine material of the handsome coat. "Ask him to change his mind and choose another bride, although he seems very set on you."
    "Do not bother, Maria Pia. I was quite eloquent in my appeals to him. The man has no sense at all, and he listens to no one." Nicoletta turned away to hide her expression. Her dreams were still very vivid in her mind, hot color running beneath her skin at the memories. She cleared her throat. "I feel as if eyes are watching my every movement. I do not know how I can stand such a thing."
    "You must be careful," Maria Pia cautioned. "I believe you will always be watched. You must never forget that. If you make a mistake, the don will realize you are… different, and he will condemn you as a Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    witch."
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