Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

wrinkled delicately. "Who are these people? Sophie, stop looking like the village idiot clinging like a bambino, to that woman."
    Nicoletta couldn't look at Margerita, with her venomous eyes and her haughty disdain. The darkness was spreading like a terrible stain over her soul. "Do you feel it? Something is wrong," she murmured.
    She pressed a hand to her stomach, the warning so strong it nearly paralyzed her with fear. "Someone is in peril…" She stepped away from the others to spread her arms, reaching for the feeling. Reaching to embrace the warning. Without looking at any of them, she raised her face to the vaulted ceiling. She needed to be outside, to feel the wind on her face, to smell and taste the salt spray riding in from the sea.
    She needed to read the tales the wind brought her.
    Margerita stared at her in horrified fascination. "What in the world is wrong with her?" she demanded.
    "Has she gone mad? Zio Giovanni, you have brought a madwoman into our midst," she bluntly accused in her whining voice.
    "Nicoletta!" Maria Pia said the name sharply in hopes of snapping her young ward out of what looked suspiciously like a trance. Terrified that someone would realize Nicoletta's "differences" and name her witch, Maria Pia called her name loudly a second time.
    The color drained from Nicoletta's face. "Close by," she said softly to herself, her body beginning to tremble. "It is very close to us."
    When Maria Pia would have grabbed Nicoletta to shake her out of transfixion, Giovanni gently pushed the older woman's hand away. "Leave her," he ordered. "What is it, cara?" His voice was incredibly calm but carried unmistakable authority and penetrated Nicoletta's terror-stricken state. "What is wrong, Nicoletta? Tell me, and I will help. What is close to us?"
    Nicoletta glanced at him, her eyes wide with fear. "La morte," she whispered softly. Just outside the window a large, dark bird flew close, its shadow passing over them, its great wings fluttering against the glass. Its talons scraped at the glass, and its beak knocked against it twice. Nicoletta gasped aloud, staring in fascinated horror at the dark creature.
    Margerita screamed loudly and flung herself into Giovanni's arms, hiding her face against his chest and weeping loudly. "It is going to break through and get me. I am afraid! So afraid!"
    "Something terrible has happened," Nicoletta said, pushing past Giovanni in an attempt to get out of the palazzo. "I must go."
    The manservant, Gostanz, appeared as if out of nowhere. "There is a young boy at the entrance to the kitchen. He seems quite distraught. He is asking for Signorina Nicoletta. He calls her the healer."
    "I must go," Nicoletta said again, trying to inch past the don.
    Putting Margerita firmly aside, Giovanni caught Nicoletta's arm, slowing her down but not stopping her.
    He went with her, easily matching her shorter stride. Maria Pia headed in the opposite direction, running for the medicine satchel, calling to Sophie to help her find her way. Margerita simply stopped wailing and stood still, shocked that no one was paying attention to her. Furious to be left in the middle of her dramatic moment, she glared venomously after Nicoletta, stamping her foot.

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    It was young Ricardo, Laurena's son, waiting for Nicoletta, his face tear-stained. "You have to come, Nicoletta. It's Zia Lissandra—she is very sick. Madre says to come right away. Aljandro tried to stop me"—he turned his head to show her a darkening bruise on the side of his face—"but I got away and ran as fast as I could. Please, Nicoletta, come with me."
    "Of course I will come. But I need my medicaments." She was looking out into the swirling fog, her heart pounding with terror. "I have to go, Don Scarletti. I have to go."
    Vincente appeared behind the young boy. His clothes were a bit disheveled, evidence of the wind picking up outside. "The palazzo certainly has livened up with you in it, Nicoletta." He looked unconcerned that she was acting strangely. "I will take her to her village, Giovanni, if you wish. She has her heart set on going. I am not doing a thing, and I can help out once in a while. I am already damp from the fog, and it is no trouble."
    The don signaled his guards to bring horses. "Will you need Signorina Sigmora?" he asked Nicoletta calmly.
    Nicoletta nodded mutely, her face so pale that Giovanni swept his arms around her. "Can you feel