The Bathory Curse (4 page)

Nea knew the face in the last frame very well. It
was her mother: Jenica Bathory. Nea felt her heart rate speed up,
this was a great gift: to be able to look at her mother whenever
she wanted to.  She was the oldest woman in the portrait hall
the dates under her said: 1420-1458.

She reached out to listen to her mother’s voice, but
when she touched the wood nothing happened.

“She was not like the others, her painting is simply
that…a painting.”

Disappointed Nea gazed at the painting.

“Mother, she got so sick that winter, I wanted Vlad
to bring her to the castle. But the healer said that she couldn’t
travel. I didn’t get to see her before she died. Father followed
two years later.” Nea sniffed. It hadn’t mattered she was a
princess or that she had married Vlad, illness and heartbreak had
still taken them from her.

“I know. She was a good woman”

“How did she escape the curse?”

“I have no idea. It is something for you to figure
out, you and she will be the first to do so. It is because of her
you are not dead.”

“Maybe I would rather be dead.” Nea spat out,
realizing as a Strega she would never see her family again.

“Perhaps, but you are not so why dwell on it?”

“Why are you showing me this? Telling me these
horrible tales?”

“Because your main task is to break the curse of the
Bathory women. You are linked and will become aware the moment a
Bathory girl’s curse triggers. I don’t care how you do it but find
a way to stop it.” Bendis shrugged, trying to look nonchalant but
Nea knew better.

“And if I do?”

“I will personally take you into the underworld to
be with your family…If that is what you still wish.” Bendis leaned
down and placed a kiss on Nea’s forehead.

“Wait. Earlier you told me I wouldn’t have gone to
my afterlife.” She was confused, and really didn’t like the Goddess
touching her.

Bendis sighed, “Yes, it is part of the curse....
Women in your family who reach puberty do not go on to be
reincarnated or any sort of afterlife where they are rewarded or
punished…they wind up in purgatory.”

“Wait…. Is that where my mother is? In purgatory
with all these hideous women?” Nea paled, the thought of her kind
mother spending time with the likes of Catharine, Agata and the
rest, a nightmare.

“Yes and there is nothing I can do about it. When I
found out they were being kept in Limbo I did what I could….founded
a sort of inn where they stay…They understand they are dead but not
completely. Most are content to try and hurt each other and do what
they did while they were alive and my minions try to accommodate
that.” Bendis explained, grief in her words.

“No, that’s not acceptable. I can’t do this knowing
my
mother is in some sort of Limbo Inn with
members of her family she ran away from.” She was scared and angry,
a bad combination.

“I know how you feel. Would it make it better if I
promised to take you there? Your mother is safe and happy. I
promise, she is not alone with these monsters. I would not leave
her to that after the good life she lived.” For a moment Bendis
looked so remorseful it pushed back the loud emotions swirling
inside Nea’s head.

“Good, but you still haven’t told me how I make a
Strigoi.”  Nea was tired, this was all too much, but she would
hold the Goddess to her word and see for herself her mother was
fine.

“You will just know. You must make one every five
years to satisfy me, it seems like a lot, but only the cleverest
Strigoi live longer than a decade.  I must go, the night is
ending and I still have other things to do.”

“Wait! You’re going to leave just like that?” Nea
exclaimed

“You are a grown woman my Strega. You have seen a
marriage bed, birthed two healthy sons and seen bloodshed. I think
you can manage. If you truly need me then call for me, but I won’t
always come.” With those words she was just gone and Nea shivered
in the hallway.

“Well I did not think she’d ever leave.”

Nea spun around at the voice. There was a young
woman standing behind her. She was slim wearing a velvet dress of
deep green, her very red hair was in a thick hair net called a
snood and her green eyes had amusement in them. Staring at her Nea
felt a not unpleasant tingle from her fingers straight up her
shoulders.

“Yeah that would be your first lesson, that tingle
means you are in the company of another Strega.” The girl had a
strange accent, one that Nea had never heard before.

“You’re a Strega?” Nea asked, distrust lacing her
words.

“Yes. My name’s Sabine. Been with the Mistress here
a while. So when she figured on you for a new recruit, told her I’d
be happy to teach you the ropes.” She shrugged.

“Where are you from?” Nea just had to know, this
woman spoke so strangely. Nea understood the words, not so much the
context.

“Scotia.” She winked.

“How did you end up here?” Nea knew from maps her
father had that Scotia was very far away. As she followed her down
the hall she watched her, this Sabine was probably a spy for the
Goddess.

“Hecate. She grabbed me up from death and made me an
offer I could not refuse. C’mon let’s get you settled in. Follow
me, lass.”

“Hecate? And I am a married woman, certainly not, a
lass.”

“Meant no offense, with those hips I can tell you’re
no maiden. And Hecate is my name for Bendis.”

Nea wasn’t offended by Sabine’s words. She was much
fuller of figure than Sabine, it was a sign she was rich enough to
eat well, and honestly she’d never lost the weight after having
Mihnea. Vlad had told her more times then she could remember how
much he liked her with some meat on her bones.

Confused about why Sabine would call the Goddess a
different name she asked. “Is Hecate like a nickname, or a…pet
name?”

“Nah. Hecate is a powerful Goddess, she is seen all
over the word. The Holy Roman Empire calls her Trivia, while
Egyptians praise her in the name of Hequet. In my country and in
Greece she is called Hecate,” Sabine explained, “She has three
forms, the crone, the maiden and the mother, which you have just
seen and that’s lesson two.”

“So are you my keeper then as well as a teacher?
Here to make sure I don’t run away?”

“I couldn’t care less what happens to you. If you
are dumb enough to try and run go for it. It won’t take Hecate long
to find you. Then she might stick you with a Strega who is not as
much fun as I am.”

Sabine opened a door and warmth hit her square in
the face from the fire place. She sighed with welcome when she saw
the bedroom. There was a bed, vanity, dresser and everything she
could need to be comfortable. Except her children and her
husband.

Sabine reached out, flicked a switch and harsh light
filled the room.

“What is that?!” Nea exclaimed wincing, and a little
frightened.

“Electric light from the 1890’s.” Sabine had
mischief in her eyes and words.

“The 1890’s? You’re teasing me!”

“Nope, Hecate can time travel and we get the benefit
of her gifts.” Sabine went farther into the room and opened a door;
there was a fancy indoor privy. Nea turned a tab and was astounded
that warm and cold water came out of it.

“It’s called plumbing; you have three, what’s
called, bathrooms and then water in the kitchen.” Sabine sat down
on the edge of the bed.

“Why doesn’t she share these things with the rest of
the world?” Nea asked.

“She has Stregas all over, some in different times.
She has to let humans learn on their own. Lesson three; you are not
to share anything from the future with a human, unless you have
Hecate’s permission. She gives us gifts, she can take them away.”
There was a hint of anger in Sabine’s voice.

“Then why can’t she go into the past and change my
family? Or the future for that matter?”

“Lesson four, you ask good questions for a spoiled
rich girl, Hecate cannot change anything that has already happened
or is fated to happen. Some things she says are called…fixed
points.” Sabine stood up, yawning.

“Can I time travel?” Nea thought that would be a
great way to spend her spare time, she decided to ignore the
spoiled rich girl comment, she had employed classier servants than
this overly talkative red head.

A shadow passed over the other woman’s eyes. “No. We
could once…but not for a while now. I used to go into the future
all the time. They have the best clothes in the future!”

“Why can’t we time travel anymore?”

“A Strega screwed something up big time. When one of
us is bad, we all get punished, remember that.”

“Another lesson?” Nea was only half way listening
now, thinking about time travel and the future.

“Yup, Lesson 5. If you run we’ll all be on lock down
and a bunch of angry witches will show up at this castle.”

“I do not understand some of your language, why
would locked down angry witches come here?”

Sabine laughed, “I use what is called slang, in the
future. Spent a little too much time there, at least that’s what
Hecate says. I meant a large group of angry Strega’s will come
here, furious….at you… because they will all be confined to their
quarters, got it?”

“Oh, well I would not want that. Can you tell me who
used to be in that other painting in the gallery?” Nea frowned, she
wanted this woman to at least like her a little, especially if she
was going to learn magic from her….Though the thought of Nea
learning magic was still ridiculous.

Sabine went to the wardrobe and opened the closet
showing Nea many clothes, “You should change. Some of these are
from the future, try not to wear them outside unless you are sure
you won’t be observed.” Sabine glanced at Nea’s outfit and raised
her red eyebrows, judgment in her face at Nea’s state of dress.

Nea looked down at herself, noticing for the first
time that aside from the coat and boots she was in her linen
chemise: her underwear. She’d been dressing for bed when Radu had
come into the room. Nea hoped that Vlad would do truly horrible
things to his brother. Picking at the nightgown she blanched, the
Goddess had dried her off, but the stains of her own blood were
still reminders of what had happened.

“Do I have a decent size staff here? Will you be
staying here with me, permanently?” Nea asked, shrugging out of the
coat and hanging it up, she hoped not, Sabine was really rough
around the edges and would get on Nea’s nerves in no time.

“Goodness no, I am just here to help you out for a
bit of time. You’ve got yourself a fine staff, couple of maids, a
housekeeper, butler, cook, even a gardener and stable hands, right
proper lady you are. Most are from other time periods, like my own
staff. Owe Hecate a favor…or two.”

“So you will be teaching me...” Nea trailed off,
sitting down on the bed and pulling a huge fur blanket around her,
she was so tired, she didn’t think she could change and bathe,
blast what Sabine thought of her.

“Magic,” Sabine raised her eyebrows, “I know you’re
a Christian woman, but Stregas, well, we gotta get over our old
hang ups to follow Hecate’s path. I gotta teach you how to use all
that power, how to eat emotions and create Strigoi.”

“And in your first life, you were not Christian?”
Nea wondered if in the morning she would wake up in her bed and
this would all have been a really strange dream. Sabine’s odd word
choices were making her current headache worse, what in God’s name
did “hang ups” even mean?

“Of course not, it was easy for me to give up my old
ways…but I guess I am a natural, not everyone has what it takes to
be a Strega.”

“I think I can manage it just fine, thanks.” Nea’s
eyes narrowed.

“We’ll start with your first
Strigoi tomorrow, Bendis requires we make one every five
years
.
Best get
it out of the way first off, and then you can do anything you want
for a while. I’ll be leaving you to sleep now, you’re still healing
from the fall after all.”

Sabine left the room and Nea laid down, glad the
other woman was gone and annoyed. Too tired to bathe and change she
fell on the bed and curled up on her side, crying as she begged God
for this to have all been a nightmare, but as she drifted off to
sleep she could have sworn she heard Bendis’ laughter.

Chapter 3

1482

Sabine stayed with Nea for years, teaching her how
to use her magic, showing her how to feed on emotions and how to
make Strigoi. Nea discovered that Strigoi gathered emotions for
Strega’s to fuel their magic. Bendis called on them several times
to fix the balance between day and night, good and evil. This
basically consisted of good not becoming too full of themselves and
evil understanding there were consequences to certain actions.

The two grew into the best of friends, even after a
rocky start. Nea learned to understand Sabine’s bizarre way of
talking, even figured out how to use a few of her phrases
correctly.

Sabine helped her through difficult times, like
right after she became a Strega and Nea went to check on her sons,
Sabine held her while she cried out all her sorrow of missing them
growing up. Patting her head Sabine said,

“Lesson seven; looking back is a bad idea. After
Hecate found me I tried to go back. Worse mistake of my life.”

Sabine went on to tell her about how her husband
pushed her off a cliff and Bendis restored life to her broken body.
Nea and Sabine grew closer since they shared the same death.

There were many trying times the first decade Nea
was a Strega. Three months after her “death” she had word that Vlad
had been taken capture by a man they had both though that was their
friend, Matthias, who was a leader in Hungary. He was held for ten
years. Her children were raised by distant family and she had
nightmares about not being with them. Finally Sabine appealed to
the Goddess who granted Nea the right to use magic to free
Vlad.