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A Gypsy's Curse - Enchantress - 06-06-2004
This is a bit of the extensive history for my Vagabond Knights Character, the gypsy lady Tatyana.
Enjoy.
She had no idea she was being watched, and I rather preferred it that way. Night after night for the past month I had watched her from the treeline as her caravan had made it's way across my lands. Each night, she would sing and dance by the firelight and each dawn, I went away more entranced by her beauty than I had been before.
Tonight, I watched her from the my vantage point in the largest tree nearest the caravan. I watched as she playfully baited her brothers. I knew who they were, I had overheard them talking about her as they were drunk in the woods.
These are my lands, and the gypsies were always welcome and they knew that. But they knew to tread lightly, for I was an unforgiving master.
It took me another month before I finally summoned the courage to walk from the trees and into the warm firelight of the caravan.
They all began to bow to me, my reputation was known far and wide and this band must have heard something intriguing.
"Rise please my friends, I have come to personally welcome you to my homelands." My accent gave away my aristocracy as it were.
As they arose, I was her. Standing mere feet from me. The roaring glow of the fire made her hair seem even more red than it had before. Curls cascaded down her back in a stark contrast to the white peasant blouse she wore. Her skirts were of the deepest blue. They reminded me of the Ravennia river at night. But it was her eyes, when they finally rose to meet my own, that captured me and almost made me gasp for breath. Her eyes were the color of a golden sunset, edge with a hint of woody brown. She immediately lowered her gaze to me, and stepped back into the shadows.
The camp elders came forward to welcome their Lord to their caravan and their humble fireside.
I would have normally laughed but tonight, I was here with a purpose. That purpose was her.
"I have heard of the wonderful dancers your band has, it would honor me to see such a sight tonight." I settled myself on a bench near the fire, for the specific purpose of knowing that it gave my pale skin a warm lively glow.
"You heard Lord Vasili, come girls, dance!" Mariska, the camp wisewoman ordered the young maidens forward and music began to play. Though she was far from a young maiden, she stepped forward as the guitars played and danced with the rest of the girls around the fire.
I could not take my eyes from her, and Mariska noticed.
"Ahh, I see our Tatyana has caught Lord Vasili's interest?" The old crone had no idea. For centuries I had searched for her, only to find her crossing my own lands not a month ago.
"Very much so, Lady Mariska. Tell me, why does she dance with the maidens when she is obviously a woman?" I asked as my eyes went from the crone to the beauty before me.
"No man will have her. Her spirit is too wild. She is beyond the marrying age." was all the woman said before she moved away from me.
The dance ended and I smiled politely to my hosts as I moved to take my leave of them.
"Lord Vasili!" it was her voice...her beautiful angelic voice calling to me. I paused in my walk from the caravan and turned to look at her.
He was quite possibly the most beautiful man Tatyana had ever seen. His eyes were the color of a cloudless afternoon sky and they seemed to sparkle with dark delight. She was breathless as she ran to catch up with him.
"Yes?" He replied to her slowly at the calling of his name.
"I..that is...You left your cloak behind." she curtseyed deeply before handing the cloak to him. Her accent was a thick husky Romanian one, it almost melded perfectly with his own.
"Thank you, My Lady. But tell me, does my beautiful Lady have a name?" he asked her as he reached forward for her hand and pulled her upright.
"Tatyana." she replied as he bent over and kissed her hand.
"Tatyana...." he repeated, almost breathing the name in.
She marveled at how the moonlight gave his long hair an inky blackness to it. She wondered to herself what it would look like in proper light. Catching herself almost daydreaming in front of this handsome man, about him, she blushed slightly.
"My Lady?" he seemed amused, almost as if he could read her thoughts.
"Forgive me Lord Vasili, I was merely wondering if you enjoyed the dance?" She realized he was still holding her hand, and pulled her own hand back a bit for propriety sake.
"I enjoyed your dancing very much, Lady Tatyana. It would honor me greatly if you would accompany me to my home tomorrow evening for dinner. I would like to see you dance again with a partner?" he was bold and forward, and Tatyana liked it.
"I will do as you command, My Lord. We are, after all, guests in your land." She curtseyed again and headed back towards the caravan.
Vasili's eyes followed her and saw the two shadowed outlines of her brothers waiting for her on the edge of the wagon circle and smiled darkly to himself.
"Try all you like whelps, she will be mine."
Months passed and I continued my courtship of the gypsy maiden known as Tatyana. She had become a regular guest at my home, much to the dismay of her brothers.
The snows had begun to fall earlier than expected, making it impossible for the caravan to leave for their wintering grounds. I thanked whatever fates needed be for that slight intervention.
It had taken some time, but she had finally become comfortable around me. Whenever she came for dinner, I feigned the excuse that I had eaten earlier while working in my study. Yet I watched each morsel that passed between her lips. Lips that I longed to have pressed against my own. But time, I had time...I would do this properly.
The seduction began simply enough, I arose from the table one evening and took her hand and asked her to dance with me.
Music began to strain in from unseen musicians as I moved her across the floor. She was relaxed, not only by my company but by the several cups of wine she had drank with her dinner. I could smell it on her breath. Thick sweet Ravennia wine. I inhaled it's scent, mixing with her own and closed my eyes in rapture as I pulled her closer to me. We danced for what seemed to be unending time before I tilted her chin up and gazed into her eyes.
"Tatyana...I..." I began but couldn't finish as she whispered my name.
"Vasili..." it was a husky soft whisper that burned through my mind and body. I could not resist her any longer. My lips came down upon her own in a soft yet passionate kiss.
I broke it off almost instantly though as I felt desire leaping through my body. I had to wait. Just a few more nights....
"Forgive me, I had no right to take your kiss." I bowed my head to her, only to feel her gentle warm touch on my cool skin as she tilted my own chin up to look at her.
"You have every right Vasili, as I give it to you freely." she said breathlessly as she raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed me with a passion I had not expected from her.
As the kiss broke off, I only started at her in wonder and amazement. I had not even had to bend her will. She had done this thing of her own accord. If my heart had been beating, it would have burst out of my chest with my love for my beautiful Tatyana.
It was so hard to take her back to the caravan that night. I wanted nothing more than to take her to my bedchamber and spend eternity in love's embrace with her. But the moon was not full yet, now was not the time.
The full moon sprang forth with a glory the following night as Tatyana stood at her window humming to herself as she brushed her hair before bed. The evening had been full of dancing and merriment. Pasha and Torvi were teasing her endlessly about her "affair" with Lord Vasili.
"If it keeps us in his good graces Pasha, then leave her be!" Mariska shooed the boys away with a broom and she stood on the steps of Tatyana's wagon.
"Get some rest child." was all she said as she closed the door and left Tatyana alone.
She watched the snow fall down slowly dotting the sky with white dancing flakes. She smiled winsomely and spun a slow circle, as if dancing with a partner that wasn't there. Torvi had made sure that the fire in the small grate in Tatyana's wagon was blazing. Almost to the point where it was unbearable hot in the wagon. Opening up the window to let some of the heat out, she curled up on the bed and drifted off to sleep.
Tonight! What glory at last! The moon was full and now was the time! I watched her from the tree near her window. She had no idea I was there as she undressed and made ready for her slumber. I was especially glad she had left the window open. It made it so much easier for me to get into the wagon. I willed myself into a vaporous fog and began to flow through her window before taking on my man form again. She was sleeping soundly. So beautiful in her pristine white nightshift.
"Tatyana..." I called to her. I was weaving a spell around her and I knew she would answer.
She muttered my name longingly in her sleep as she rose and began to sleepwalk towards me.
"Tatyana, come to me..." I held out my hand as she approached, still asleep, she would have no memory of this, only perhaps as a passing dream.
I picked her up in my arms and carried her back over to the bed. I had to make her come to me, to see if her will could be bent to meet my own needs. Laying her gingerly down, I kissed her deeply and let my hands roam her body. She was perfection in all ways. I had to block the heated whimpers and moans coming from her lips from my mind.
"Tatyana, a moment of pain for a lifetime of pleasure." I whispered to her as my lips trailed across her neck...I could almost feel the blood flowing beneath her tender flesh and fought against my nature to sink my fangs into her veins.
"Please..." she whispered, completely under my spell now. I pulled her nightshift away from her bosom and placed a tender kiss against one pale breast before sinking my fangs into her flesh.
A soft cry of pain left her lips before I licked her wounds and watched them heal before my eyes.
"Shh, my darling....just a slight pain..." I could not contain myself any longer, I threw my head back and I knew my fangs were showing, but she could not see them. I used my fingernail and slit a small gash in one finger and placed it acrossed her lips. Only a few drops, that's all it would take.
She kissed my fingertip in her sleep, and I could not deny myself any longer.
The next morning she would have no memories of my seduction of her. No idea how the tiny wounds on her breast appeared. All she would have would be dreams of us together, locked in passions embrace. It would take 2 more moon phases before Tatyana would fully be mine. But in that time, I would spend every evening using all my powers to make her fall in love with me.
But two moon phases I would not have with her. For the following evening I received word through my network of gypsy spies that Tatyanaâs caravan had moved on during the day. Trudging through the spring snows and leaving behind a protection symbol carved into the landscape. A ward against evil.
So by now, you must be wondering to yourself âHow did this all begin?â I often wonder the same thing myself. The tale of Tatyana and myself began centuries ago. Itâs now shrouded by time and faded memories. But my memories of her never fade. She is the reason I walk the nights, she is the one who did this. But how? You ask...and why?
A simple twist of fate and a curse. Now, I spend countless lifetimes seeking her out in each reincarnation, trying to atone for the evil I wrought upon her and trying my best to make her love me. Many lifetimes ago, this simple gypsy maiden caught my eye and stoled my heart. Unfortunately for the both of us, fate had other plans in store. I was a callous cold young man with nothing in my heart but envy and lust. She was only trying to save her people. And in the end, she cursed me, to forever walk the night and never know the warmth of real love.
And I havenât. I can sense when the time is drawing near for her to be reborn and I search, aimlessly and sometimes in vain to find her. In all these years, I have found her only 2 times. Each time to have her ripped away from me before I can make her mine for all time.
This time, I will not fail. No matter where she goes...I will seek her out. By now, our spirits have intertwined. Her heart and body beckon her to me, yearn for my touch. My spell over her is almost complete and I will find her, no matter how hard they try to hide her from me.