Gitana

By Oyuki

Chapter Four

Nadja couldn’t sleep that night. She could not help but think that if Renzo’s father found her worthy of his son, and if her father agreed, then she’d be forced to marry Renzo. They would compare all her skills to all the other girls of the village and if she was the ‘best’ then she’d have to marry Renzo. There would be nothing she could do about it; it was in their culture, she could not refuse.

She closed her eyes and sighed. She did not love Renzo and she knew her sister did. There was no way she could marry Renzo. She had to think of something. Maybe she could sabotage the ‘tests’ that were set out for her, or maybe she could do something do prevent Aladar from finding her suitable.

She didn’t know how, but she was not going to marry Renzo; if only for the sake of her sister, Nata.

*~*~*~*

Milliardo tossed and turned in bed. The image of Lucrezia kept flashing through his mind, popping up in the innermost recesses of his mind. Memories he’d buried years ago resurfaced and tortured his already tormented mind. His breath came in short gasps. He swore under his breath, even though there was nobody there that could hear him. He had to see her, he had to talk to her once more. He knew who she was and he was going to bring her here; bring her home.

He got up and slipped on some pants and a clean shirt. He stumbled around in the dark looking for his riding boots. He pulled them on and sneaked outside using the back door and heading to the stables where his horse, Pietro, was waiting almost impatiently for him. He approached the horse and saddled him without a sound. Milliardo climbed on the horse’s back and rode out of the castle’s stables without a backwards glance. He was going to try to see Lucrezia.

He thought much about what he would say to her if he did manage to see her but couldn’t think of it. It took him two hours to get to the village, but he couldn’t think of anything. ‘You can try the truth,’ his mind said. ‘Yeah right,’ he answered back. ‘What am I going to say? “You’re my wife, you’re coming back to a castle full of people you don’t know”?’

He approached the village by the river, even now he could tell that they were getting ready to leave. Their last show would probably be that night. He glanced to his side and saw the river, a few feet away was a woman, washing clothes. Her short, dark hair gave her away, it was Lucrezia, or Nadja as she was known here. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and licked his suddenly dry lips.

“Nadja,” he called out as he walked towards her.

At the sound of her name, Nadja turned her head sharply. Her eyes widened in surprise before she could do anything else.

He stopped two feet away from her. “If someone sees you here--” she started.

“I came here with the hope of speaking to you, Nadja. Please don’t deny me.”

“I am not allowed to be in your presence by myself. My father or my brother need to be here,” she told him in an attempt to get him to leave. She didn’t feel at ease with him. There was something unsettling about him, something that did not forebode anything good. “Leave,” she pleaded. She stood up and made the mistake of looking into his icy eyes.

“I wasn’t lying the other night. You’re my wife, Lucrezia!” said Milliardo, grabbing her arm harshly and pulling her closer to his body. She pulled away.

“Don’t you dare touch me! How do I know you’re not lying? You must know I can’t believe you!” she said, hugging herself with her arms.

“Come with me!” he said suddenly, surprising himself as much as her.

“I can’t do that!” she said incredulously. “If I leave with you... I can’t ever come back,” she said rationally. “I can’t.”

He desperately tried to think on his feet for something he could do. “Just today, you can come back tonight. Please, come with me?” he asked her.

Nadja shook her head slowly, disbelieving of his words. “I can’t. I have duties to attend to, my father, my mother and my brother and sister need me here. I... no. It’s impossible.” She had to be true to herself, she was considering it. She did not, for any reason, want to marry Renzo. ‘What should I do?’ she asked herself. ‘I have my duties to my family, to my dadro, but Nata loves Renzo.’ If she left, Nata would be the next suitable choice as a bride for Renzo. ‘Am I willing to risk it all for my sister and her chances to marry for love and not for duty?’

Milliardo stood there staring at her. He didn’t know what she was thinking, but he knew he had to get her to his castle one way or another. He was contemplating kidnapping when she spoke again.

“My father wants me to marry his friend’s son. My sister is in love with this man,” she said. She took a deep breath before continuing. “If I go with you, what role will I play? What will be my status in your home, my lord?”

Milliardo wanted to smile with relief. She’d all but shocked the boots off his feet with her comment. Before he could stop himself he said, “You’d be my wife, my princess-- princess of my country!”

Nadja shook her head. “I don’t know what-- I don’t want to marry Renzo!” she said suddenly. “But I don’t want to leave my family. I don’t want to hurt my father, but if I stay I will cause my sister pain.”

Milliardo looked deeply into her eyes. “I guess you have your choices. You stay here, please your father, and marry the man your sister loves. Or you come with me, never return and live with the fact that your sister married the man she loves.”

Tbc… stay tuned!