Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

please. She didn't have Ketsia's self-confidence, but she was growing quickly in assurance. As long as Nicoletta remained beside her, Sophie seemed a normal child, happy and curious and willing to please and play. She winked at the little girl. "Guess what we are going to do today!"
    "What?" Sophie asked eagerly, skipping in her exuberance. She pushed open the door to the nursery and stopped to allow Nicoletta to go in first.
    Nicoletta entered without hesitation. "We are going exploring." She laughed softly at Sophie's horrified expression. "We are. We are going to clean the passageway between the nursery and my room. I do not want all those terrible spider webs hanging from the walls."
    Sophie shook her head so vigorously that her hair flew in all directions. "We cannot go in there. What if Papa catches us?"
    Nicoletta helped the child dress. "That is the fun of it, silly piccola. We have to sneak. You will be the lookout."

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    "What is that?" Sophie asked. It sounded an important job, and a bit thrilling.
    "After we tease Bernado into getting us a meal, we shall go back to my room and lock the door. While I am in the passageway, you will stay in my room and watch that no one finds us. We will make up a signal, like singing or humming, to warn me if someone is coming." Nicoletta laughed gaily. "And after we see to the passageway, we will have to do something about making this room much nicer for you."
    Sophie shook her head quickly. "The voices found me here. They do not want me in here. I have to sleep with you." Her eyes were large and somber. "I am not making it up. Zia Portia says I am a wicked child to tell such tales, but I heard them. I hid beneath the covers, but they would not stop."
    Nicoletta brushed Sophie's hair once again after the child changed her clothes, more to give herself time to think and to soothe the little girl than anything else. "Sophie, could you understand the words? Do the voices ever say things to you?"
    "They want me to go away. They are like Zio Gino's nonno. They want me to go far away and never return." Sophie reached up to take Nicoletta's hand, opening her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, tears shimmered in her eyes.
    Nicoletta knelt instantly and gathered the child into her arms. "Tell me, bambino. Do not be afraid to tell me."
    "Zia Portia told Margerita I am losing my mind like mia madre. She said mia madre heard voices at night, and we were both mad. I do not want to be mad." Her dark eyes held sorrow. "Do you think I am?"
    Nicoletta hugged Sophie tightly. "Well, I heard the voices also, Sophie. So if you are mad, and your madre was mad, then I must be mad, too." She smiled at the child, shaking her head. "There is nothing wrong with you, bambina, believe me. Nothing at all. We will find out just what is going on with those voices. Mayhap it is only a silly prank. There are many possible explanations."
    Privately, Nicoletta thought something very sinister was going on.
    Unbidden, the thought of the don's drawling voice crept into her mind. If he could send his voice to her mind, he certainly must be able to send it to others. But why little Sophie? What would be the purpose of driving a child insane? Nicoletta rubbed her temples and looked around the nursery. In the light of day, the room had every potential of being really beautiful. A young mother could manage to do quite a bit with such a room. Removing the heavy dark curtains would go a long way toward dispelling the gloom.
    She shook her head, trying to rid herself of Giovanni's voice brushing seductively in her mind. It created such an intimacy between them. But she could see the danger if such a gift was misused.
    Sophie didn't seem to notice that Nicoletta had gone very quiet as they left the nursery. She was happy enough with Nicoletta's reassurances, and she skipped along the corridor to the lavish staircase.
    Nicoletta followed at a more leisurely pace, the ominous meaning of the murmuring voices whirling around in her head. The voices had to signify something. Perhaps they were even a portent of death.
    Nicoletta believed it possible that spirits were living in the house, evil or good. At times the impression of evil was quite strong in the palazzo. Nicoletta shook her head. She didn't want the notion of evil to persist. She wanted to reason out the possibilities, not frighten herself with superstitious nonsense. More