The Gypsy Queen (23 page)

  “Yes, they will talk,” Bastion said. That was one of the things he never did like about city life. The man took a more serious tone, and leaned closer to Bastion.

  “The young women of
Jedikai
will be none too pleased at the thought, I expect,” he said, “nor some of their fathers.”

  “I shouldn’t worry,” he tried to assure him. “She is a gypsy, and they aren’t known for city life.” The idea of angering the gossips, however, amused him.

  “I’ll give you one thing, though, that you can tell anyone you like,” Bastion said. “That young gypsy right there saved every one of us.”

  The man raised his eyebrows.

  “Including me,” Bastion said. 

Bastion bid the merchants farewell, along with his men and the captives. He grabbed a lit torch and approached
Yana
, who had walked out to the end of the dock, where the empty ship they had arrived in awaited.

  “You ready?” Bastion asked her.

  “Ready,”
Yana
replied.

  The ship was tugging on the dock so hard that it felt like it might come apart. The sail had been dropped and the breeze blowing out to sea would have had the ship nicely making way. Instead, it had one thick rope attached to the stern and the dock, pulled taut, and Bastion chopped it loose. Immediately the dock settled and the ship lurched forward out to sea, unmanned.
Yana
waited a moment, and then knocked the arrow she had prepared, and touched it to Bastion’s torch, lighting the tip. She took careful aim, even though it was a huge target. Launching the arrow high into the air, they watched it sail, landing on the rear deck amidst the heating oil they had spread, and igniting a massive blaze. The ship sailed further out to sea as they watched it go, burning down in earnest as it went.

  “You’re pretty good with that bow, little gypsy,” Bastion said.

  “I’m pretty good at starting fires, too,”
Yana
said, holding her side where it still hurt. They made their way to the horse the merchant had left for them.

  “There’s a gypsy pitch nearby, and I want to get a good dressing there. They
’ll have herbs that will help
it heal. There was no good medicine on the ship,”
Yana
said. “You
gaje
... it’s amazing you get by without the things the gypsies have.”

  “We get by,” Bastion said. “I think it’s amazing that the gypsies get along so well. It’s a hard life.”

  “That is what makes it a good life,”
Yana
said. They arrived in the gypsy
camp
Yana
had headed for, and she found the woman who was known for treating wounds and ailments. Several gypsies recognized her from her travels, and Bastion enjoyed watching them all come up and greet her so warmly, and getting to meet them. Some had missing teeth, some had very long hair, many had strange outfits he had never seen... but all of them were friendly, offering help, food, or whatever was needed. That was surely why they thrived, Bastion figured. They stuck together.

  Finally, they mounted up,
Yana
sitting behind him, happy to be leaning into him and feeling his strength as they rode. She looked out her telescope across the terrain. She had been planning a surprise, ever since
she realized where they would make
port.

  “Bastion,” she said, “I want us to go somewhere special, before we go back to the city.”
Yana
was looking for a way to prolong her time with him before she had to go. Perhaps she would pretend that she didn’t have to go at all.

  “Somewhere special?” Bastion said. “Where?”

  “Bosh,” she teased, “it’s a surprise, of course. Trust me.”

  “Trust a gypsy?”
Bastion teased back.

  “Hmmph,”
Yana
answered. “Just head to the left side of that grove up there. It’s not far.”

  Bastion laughed, and headed for the grove.
Yana
guided him through the rocky field, and up a ridge, bringing them to the mouth of a small cave.

  “This is it,”
Yana
said.

  Bastion dismounted and helped
Yana
down carefully. Bastion looked around. The ridge overlooked Jofranka, and the
Black Sea
. It was beautiful, but otherwise unremarkable.

  “This is it?” Bastion asked.

  “I want to camp here tonight. Just you and me,” said
Yana
. Just the thought of it made her tingle with anticipation, and she held her wrist. It felt like all that feeling resonated from it, as she remembered the faded wound there.

  “And so we shall,” Bastion said. “We better gather some wood, then.”
Yana
set about making it comfortable, unpacking the horse and arranging their things
, mindful of her wound
. Bastion collected wood, finding plenty, and set up a fire pit right at the mouth of the cave. He lit the fire, and went to explore the cave itself. It was narrow, with a bend that curved well into the mountain. It ended in pure darkness, only lit by the flaming twig he carried. There was a large pile of heather and straw heaped in the cave’s end. It would make a decent place to sleep, he thought, and went back out to
Yana
.

  The sun began to set over the sea,
magnificent
oranges an
d purples blending
in the clouds over the water. Bastion set up a spot where they could sit comfortably, watching the fire and the sky together.

  “So, why is this place special?” he asked, settling in.

  “It is special because of you and I,” she said.
Yana
had always made it a point to camp at this
obscure
cave when her travels had brought her this way.

  “Do you mean that we are something special?” he asked. “You and I?”

  “You have been special to me since the moment I got this,” she said, pointing to the old scar on her wrist. Bastion instinctively touched his chest, the scar he had gotten that same night.

  “I loved you, that night in the rain,”
Yana
said. “You had never said a word or looked in my eyes, at that moment... it was just... the way I felt. The way
you
felt.

  “I have loved you every day since then,” she continued. “My travels have been bittersweet without you, Bastion. I have longed for you on many nights.”

  “Why did you not come to me?” Bastion asked.

  “I... I have been afraid of you, Bastion. I knew I could not have you, and it hurt. I knew it would... I knew I would get hurt even more.”

  “And now? Are you still afraid of me?” he asked.

 
Yana
nestled her head into his chest.

  “Yes.”

  “You are still afraid you will get hurt, being with me?”

  “I can prove it,”
Yana
smiled, pointing to the gypsy dressing on her wound.

  “It
is hard to argue that,” he
conceded.

  “I do not wish to hurt you, Bastion,” she said. “It would not be a kindness to you, to get too close.”

  “It’s too late for that now,” Bastion said.

  “I did not mean for this to happen. I know I should have left you alone, but I... I didn’t want to.”

  “If you had left me alone, I’d have died in that gulley. I imagine that would hurt worse,” Bastion said.

  “Are you sure?”
Yana
replied. Bastion paused, considering the question.

  Bastion allowed silence to fall, as the sun set quietly behind the sea. The crackle of the fire invited memories for him, of the fires he had shared with his darling gypsy. Not enough, he thought. He wanted more of her, and feared that he might always feel that way, no matter how much he got. He knew he could not predict the unpredictable. He knew he might only have the night, and no more.

  “
Yana
, you are right. This time is special. We cannot know tomorrow, and each day has enough of its own pains and pleasures. There are things I do not know. Things I can’t control. There is one thing I know for certain.

  “I love you, young gypsy.”

 
Yana
’s heart felt like it sank and soared at the same moment. She loved him immensely, but she also knew this confession could be the end of them, not the beginning. She knew what could likely come of it, and the roads it would lead to. Roads she could not travel with him.

  “Ya tebya lublu,” she said, in spite of it all. It felt more powerful to her, when she spoke in her native tongue. She leaned in to kiss him. Flushed with desire, she kissed him freely, deeply, with all the longing she had felt for him all those years. Bastion drank of her kiss, thirsting for her in every way.

  “I have dreamed many times of this night, when I stayed alone in this cave,” she said, breaking away. “It has always made me feel closer to you. I dreamt that you would come to me, make love to me, in a place where nothing and no one could enter, no one could know. Just a place for you and me. Our private place. Our secret.

  “I liked to dream that you would carry me inside, like I carried you,” she said.

  “Like you carried me?” Bastion asked, sitting up. “Why did you come to this cave to feel closer to me?”

  “Do you not recognize it?”

  “I
t is the cave that sheltered us
after the storm, as children.” she said.

  Bastion finally realized the dim familiarity it held, and realized why
Yana
had called it a special place. He could not think of a more beautiful moment than this. He pictured her here alone, thinking of him, desiring him. Tonight, it was in his power to fill that desire.

  Bastion said no more, but stood, and lifted Yana into his arms, and carried her into the heart of the cave...

____________________________

The Gypsy Queen- CHAPTER 14- “wildflowers”

  Bastion lowered
Yana
onto the heather and straw the cave provided, only after feeling around with his foot, to find it. It was surprisingly warm, as the heat from the fire seemed to be warming the cave.

  He sat her up, and removed her cloak. Bastion could no longer see anything at all- not even his own hand in front of his face. He felt along
Yana
’s body, his sense of touch the only guide. He kissed her lips in the darkness, and laid her back.

  His hands enjoyed the firmness of her body. He wanted to take her in, feeding his other senses.
He began to undress her, slow and
deliberate. He could smell her, a scent that was distinctly her own, and distinctly divine. His senses came alive.
Yana
let out a soft moan at the touch of Bastion’s hands gliding across her bare chest. The feel of her, the smell of her, the sound of her- filled him with pure desire.

 
Yana
laid back and let him lead. She let him feed his appetite for her any way he wished. Her stomach tightened with excitement as he pulled away t
he rest of her clothes. She lay
naked before him, but was unable to see him. What he was doing, his face... she could see nothing. She let her focus turn to his hands, how they felt on her. His hands felt so strong. She thought of how he was able to lift her like she weighed nothing at all, and his touch in the dark made her feel weightless.

  She arched her back and pulled her hips, as he slid his hand across her stomach, and down between her legs. She was ready for him, oh so ready, and just that one stroke of his hands set off a wild desire to feel all of him. She wanted to grab him and wrap herself around him, but she resisted, letting him touch her, and moving in pleasure as he did. 

  Bastion la
y
beside her, pressing his chest to her back, and pressing his manhood against her backside. She tightened, loving the feel of it. He pulled her to him, exploring her body, his hands devouring her. When he could wait no more, he moved himself, and pressed into her. She stiffened and flexed, finding her voice as she struggled to take him. She had tried to be quiet, but abandoned every plan or thought, surrendering to the ecstasy of him. He gripped her thigh, and set the rhythm, stroking her and pushing in deeply. He pressed his face into the back of her neck, indulging in her feminine hair, and setting his teeth gently and firmly on the back of her neck. He began to move harder
and
stronger, and leaned forward, causing her to lean forward too. She could feel his weight on her, and it was so reassuring. She loved the stroke of his body as it seemed to nearly envelop her, dominating her. He did what he wanted, and took what he wanted-
Yana
had no control, and loved the way he took it from her.