Beneath the Shadows of Evil... Taken Page 3

  Mikhal was quite right in his assumption about her identity. Alliana was in fact the Golden Girl Child of Nicolae. She knew it well, had in fact been told of the prophecy and her future duty to her people since she'd been a toddler on her papa's knee. All her life she had been protected, it was one reason her wild behavior had been so upsetting to her clan, but she was also already revered, so the punishment for such behavior had always been mild. Banishment was unthinkable, her papa didn’t have the heart to use a heavy hand, and she had no husband to do what many thought was sorely needed.

  The Kris had met many nights to decide on Alliana’s marital state when she’d been a young girl. Those nights had filled Alliana with trepidation. She hadn’t wanted a husband at all, preferring to do as she pleased. She’d vehemently refused to speak of any man whom her family thought might be suitable, much to everyone’s dismay. Most girls were given no choice. It was the family’s decision, but Alliana was special. Her opinion had to be taken into account because of what her future held for them. Finally, they had decided to wait until the age spoken of in the prophecy. She would remain unwed until she was eighteen and then they would see if marriage was the best thing. Her future husband would have a hold on some of her power, so he must be chosen with extreme care, if at all. The magic she was to be blessed with; was not entirely understood, so the Kris had conceded that it was best if Alliana stayed close to her family, and be watched over by the entire clan.

  She hadn’t been idle during those years though. Her godmother Sabina was the clan’s mystic and seer. She knew of the magicks and herbs. Doctored the sick, was midwife to the women, preformed spells of various nature as she saw fit. She was both feared and revered, and had schooled Alliana in the magicks as well, training her, preparing her, giving her the knowledge of herbs and spells that would be of use when she gained her prophesized powers.

  Unfortunately, as of yet, Alliana was unable to perform the simplest of spells. Even her medicinal potions failed to help the sick or injured. Something always went wrong. She did just as her godmother instructed, but the results were always a disaster, or nothing at all happened. Over time, it had been decided it was best if Alliana refrain from any sort of magical activities for the safety of those around her. She would learn best, when her magick was better understood.

  The shrieking voice of her maman brought her back to the horrors at hand. "My baby. Release my baby. Bengalo! Bengalo! You shall be cursed if you dare to touch her."

  "Silence, I haven't harmed her, though I could have. The girl was on my land, stealing apples." Her godmother raced forward, brushing her skirts against one of Mikhal's highly polished boots, her action a highly feared curse in Alliana’s world, but Mikhal merely laughed. He had no belief in such foolishness. Hearing this outrage, her godmother spit on the ground at his feet instead. This act of disdain did catch Mikhal’s attention. No one showed such disrespect to the feared, Mikhal the Merciless.

  Mikhal pulled his foot from the stir-up and placed it against her chest, shoving the old woman back, a scowl of contempt on his face. She went sprawling on the ground, puffs of dust rising around her, shocked and full of rage, as the other Gypsies gasped. Alliana struggled, horrified. She twisted in his arms until she faced him, beating her fists upon his chest. How dare he treat her godmother in such a way? Mikhal snarled and caught her wrists, wrapping her up in his arms to hold her tight, nipping at her neck with a low growl, in an unmistakable warning.

  He ran his tongue the length of her slender neck, then hissed in her ear. “Shall I show my demon to your clan, pet? Shall I terrify them further and let them know just what shall be bedding their favorite child?” Alliana shook her head quickly, not wanting her family to know the horror of his beast. The memory of his twisted features, glowing eyes, and glistening fangs was still sharp in her memory.

  Seeing the Bengalo manhandle Alliana, her godmother shrieked, and spat again as she rose to her feet. Griping an amulet that hung from her neck, holding it up in the firelight towards Mikhal, she shouted a string of words in her Gypsy dialect that made the others gasp, and then looked him in the eyes. "Pain and terror will come to you if you touch this child."

  "She is hardly a child now is she? She is quite grown, well past the age you usually marry them off, and I've decided to take her as my bride. I find her quite fetching. As for the pain and terror, that is mine to give, not receive. You would do well to remember that. Keep your curses, old woman, they have no effect on me."

  Her godmother was still reeling from Mikhal’s first statement. His bride? How? Why? Gypsies were considered even lower than serfs and peasants. "Why would the likes of you want a poor Gypsy girl for a bride?"

  "You prefer I toss her to the ground, rape her, and tear out her throat? Or perhaps you prefer I throw her in my dungeon for being a filthy Gypsy thief, and defile her day after day until I tire of her then toss her to my minions? I want to wed the girl. What shall it be for her, honor or dishonor? You know who I am and what I am, that in itself is reason enough to do as I say."

  Her maman had paled at his words, and her grandfather had come forward to collect her godmother, pulling her back before her rash actions caused the devil to harm their golden child. He stared at the Bengalo who was ruining their lives with a calm he didn’t feel, and finally spoke. “Let us talk this through.”

  “The only thing to discuss is her bride price. I intend to have her. Tonight.”

  Her grandfather’s face was stoic, but Alliana could see a slight tremor in his hands as he struggled for composure. Finally he nodded. “We will talk out a deal.”

  At his words, Alliana knew her fate was sealed. The surrounding forest seemed to close in, the firelight becoming brighter, the air thicker, harder to breathe. Every detail of the place and time was being burned into her memory. She gazed at the painted wagons, the fires that always meant warmth and fellowship, the women in their head scarves and brightly colored skirts; saw the children peeping out wide eyed from the curtained windows, and realized that soon it would all be gone. She loved these people; this was her life. The wandering, the freedom, the kinship and laughter of a close-knit clan, it was who she was.

  Now it was all to be ripped away. She knew her life would never be the same again. Her body began to shake with the force of her loss. Her lip trembled and she bit it to stifle her cry of despair. The images before her began to swirl. She squeezed her eyes shut as her head began to swim. Mikhal felt her shiver and looked down. The feisty girl in his arms had turned pale at the turn of events. It wouldn’t do at all for her to faint. He fully intended for her to listen as her fate was sealed.

  He stroked her cheek gently, no sense scaring her now unless he was forced to. The girl seemed a bit traumatized as it was. “Alliana Dear, open your eyes. This is all about you, and you must take part in it.” She gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head in defiance, having no desire to stop the blackness that was taking over, and Mikhal growled deep in his chest. He found her resistance most irritating. It appeared tenderness was not warranted yet. She would learn very soon that everyone always obeyed him immediately, or suffered the consequences. He would have to reprimand her later in private for such a public display of impertinence.

  “DO IT NOW, Alliana!” Alliana’s eyes flew wide open, the cobwebs of blackness disappearing in a flash. She again bit her lip, not wanting her clan to hear her cries of fear. Instead, she mustered all her dignity and sat as straight as she could, but Mikhal wouldn’t have it, he forced her back against him violently, making her teeth snap together.

  “Tell me her bride price so we can be off. This is becoming tiresome and it seems as if dear Alliana needs to be taken home. She’s not looking well.”

  Again her maman wailed, she struggled to be nearer to Alliana, but her papa would have none of it. Ignoring them, her grandfather focused on the devil before him. “While it is true she is shebari’, she is not available.”

  Mikhal snarled. “I don’t wish to dicker in a lang
uage I don’t understand. Enough of your Gypsy talk.”

  “Forgive me, your Lordship. While it’s true, the girl is of age; her father and the clan elders have not offered her for marriage. Not to you, not to anyone.”

  Mikhal smirked at this proclamation. The old man was practically confirming the chit’s identity. “And why pray tell is that? She’s healthy, able, and beautiful, a good wife for any man. She’ll produce many fine children.”

  Her grandfather looked perplexed at this statement. How could this vampire produce an heir? No matter, Alliana would not be his. “She is simply not available.”

  “Must we speak in lies? I much prefer to haggle over the true matter and be done with it. The girl I captured is the fabled Golden Girl Child of Nicolae. We all know it. Now how much do you want for her bride price? Horses? Silver? Furs? I expect it to be high. You want her to ensure your future. I want her to strengthen my bloodline. Name your cost and my soldiers shall bring it at once. I wish for this unpleasantness to be over with.” He sneered with disdain at them all. They were in shock over his knowledge of their secret.

  Her godmother could not hold her tongue at his last proclamation. “Your kind cannot sire children. Your seed is cold and dead. That is a fool’s quest.”

  “You are sorely mistaken, old woman. My dear sister Marishka; is wise in the ways of dark magicks. Alliana shall give me a son and he will help to ensure my reign of terror continues for hundreds of years.”

  “You would make her a brood mare for the devil!”

  “I assure you she shall be kept quite comfortably as long as she behaves, jewels, silks, furs, even a handmaiden. She’ll never lift a finger except to serve me. Luxuries she has never known. She’ll never be hungry or cold either. None of which you can promise her. I dare say she’ll be much better off.” Mikhal looked around him with disgust, turning up his nose at what he considered to be a dirty and squalid place. “Your golden child will lead a good life with me, in my castle, under my thumb, doing as I bid.”

  “You are greatly mistaken, My Lord. The girl is merely troublesome, headstrong, and wild. That is why she is unwed.”

  “Liar! A good man could curb that streak of insolence in one night, and if that is your excuse, then its all the more reason I should marry the wench. I have very persuasive ways to tame her wildness. It bothers me in the least. Now, I’m finding all this talk irritating, do we have a bargain or must I defile her here and now and imprison the lot of you? Be it known that dear Marishka has a taste for the very young. Even your children will go to my dungeons.”

  “She is not what you think. She’s a mere Gypsy girl.”

  “Her coloring and the fact she is not wed say otherwise. Must I rip the front of her blouse to expose the mark we all know lies just above her breast?” Alliana’s heart sank even further at his words. For a second she’d had a faint glimmer of hope that her grandfather could talk Mikhal into releasing her, but he knew about her birthmark. At top of her left breast was a mark in the shape of a teardrop. It told the world of her true identity.

  When he was met with stunned silence, Mikhal did just that, making the entire encampment gasp. He rubbed his thumb over the telltale mark, then kissed it, then moved a hand to her leg, sliding her petticoat up and stroking Alliana’s calf, remembering how it had upset her, wanting to rile these people up and make them understand how serious he was. He intended to take what he wanted, one way or another.

  Her maman and godmother cried hysterically at his actions, her papa and grandfather paled. She’d been horribly shamed, and was now marime’, dirty and polluted from his touch. Gypsy women simply weren’t touched below the waist, ever, except by their husbands. Ever.

  Alliana bit her lip and bowed her head, tears filling her eyes. The only way to rectify the situation was for Mikhal to be banished from the tribe, which obviously couldn’t happen since he wasn’t part of it, or for him to marry her. She knew he didn’t know the significance of his action, and was ignorant of their customs, but it made no difference. What he’d done had sealed her fate. They couldn’t see their golden child soiled like this.

  Just as Alliana suspected, Mikhal hadn’t known the significance of his deed, but he immediately saw the change that came over the older man who’d been confronting him. Gone was the defiance, replaced by a weary resignation. Going in for the kill, he squeezed Alliana’s thigh through her skirts, smirking at them all the while. “Is she for sale now?”

  “Come to my wagon and we shall make a bargain. The girl will be delivered to you tomorrow at nightfall.”

  “You think me a fool? By morn you’ll have disappeared with the girl and my silver.”

  “Your men can watch us. Alliana can’t come with us any longer. She must wed you to make things right.”

  “No. She comes with me tonight. I insist.”

  “Her maman must prepare her for marriage. There are customs.”

  “Your customs be damned. She isn’t a Gypsy anymore. She’s to be Lady Arcos, and will have nothing else to do with you. Once you are paid, you are to leave this area forever. As for preparing her for marriage, I am quite capable of teaching my new pet what is expected of her. Now what do you want? I refuse to even dismount. This has taken far too long.”

  Alliana began to sob at his words, her veil of composure slipping away. She wouldn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to her friends and family. Mikhal looked down at her and scowled, making it clear she was displeasing him but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to scream and rail at him, to beat her fists upon his chest and scratch out his eyes, but she knew her life and the lives of those she loved depended on her cooperation. Besides, there was honor at stake. She wouldn’t bring shame upon her family.

  “Horses and cattle, five of each plus five hens and a good sow, a milk cow, ten sacks of parched corn, five of dried beef, furs for the coming winter, and fifty pounds of silver.” Her grandfather rattled off the immense list like it was nothing, though his heart was breaking inside. It took every bit of will he possessed not to fling himself at the devil before him, but he knew this was, as it had to be. The girl had strayed from camp, and in the process had been caught and defiled. The only way to right the wrong was for her to be wed. He’d always known Alliana’s impulsiveness would lead to disaster, now they all must pay the price. He also knew that someway, somehow, they were going to get their golden girl back. Marriage or no, that beast wouldn’t keep her from them.

  “Done.” Mikhal said the word without batting an eye. He was weary of the whole drama. “I will send my men as soon as things can be gathered. Once they arrive, you will be escorted away from here. If you’re wise, you’ll never return. Alliana belongs to me now, and if I catch any of you near her again, you’ll be flayed alive in my dungeon, to be nibbled on by the rats and whoever else might take interest.”

  That said Mikhal began to turn the horse’s head, flicking the reins. “Noooooo! Maman. Papa please.” Her maman broke free of her father’s hold and rushed forward, stopping boldly in front of Mikhal’s stallion.

  “The deal is done. You have our word. Please let her down so I may hold her one last time.”

  “Your word means nothing to me.”

  “Please My Lord. I beseech you.”

  Mikhal gripped Alliana’s chin tightly, staring into her eyes. “If I let you down, Poppin, do you promise to be a good girl? There will be dire consequences if you defy me.” Mikhal was conceding not out of any hint of tender emotion, but because he hoped it would stop her sniveling.

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Very well.” He released his hold on her, and Alliana slid to the ground, racing to where her maman stood.

  “Please maman. Please don’t make me do this.”

  “Alliana you must. I love you, my angel. Be a good girl for me. Do as he says. He is to be your husband so you must do all he says.” Her mother reached inside her blouse and pulled a medallion free, slipping it quickly around Alliana’s neck.

  Alliana he
ld it tightly in one fist, eyes misting over. “I’ll be good maman. I love you too.”

  They hugged fiercely and her maman whispered in her ear. “We’ll find a way to free you. Your godmother is wise, and you shall be powerful someday. The amulet has magic you can call upon when you reach eighteen. Keep it safe. Until then, do as you’re told so you may survive. Serve him as a wife serves a husband.”

  “Yes maman.”

  “Enough.” Mikhal moved the horse forward and lifted Alliana out of her mother’s arms, kicking it hard as he did so. The jerking of the stallion made the medallion fall from Alliana’s fingers. It bounced upon her breast as the horse picked up speed, catching Mikhal’s attention. Seeing it, he grimaced with disapproval, yanking it from her neck and hurling it to the ground.

  “Your old days and ways are over, my love. Don’t ever forget it. You are mine; now.” That said, he gathered her close, face raised to the moon, and let out a cry of triumph that could be heard for miles as they raced into the night. He had the Golden Girl Child of Nicolae in his arms, and soon her belly would swell with his son. What more could a man ask for?

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Mikhal urged the horse through the darkness at an alarming speed, never allowing the beast to slow. Their pace made conversation impossible, which was just as well, Alliana was far too numb for Mikhal’s caustic banter. Her precious medallion was gone, her family was gone, and her life was over. What more was there to say?

  He’d turned her so she sat astride, causing her skirt and petticoats to slide up her legs. Their reckless flight made them swirl around her body, billowing up to expose her calves and knees. He held her close to him, not allowing her to move an inch, chin over her right shoulder. Her slim legs were molded to his cold leather knee boots, her thighs to his hard thighs. The roundness of her bottom pressed back between his legs ever so indecently. She could feel the taunt muscles of his chest and stomach pressing against her softness and marveled at his strength. He felt as if he were carved from stone, and could easily snap her in half had he wanted.