The Guardian's Keeper (The Guardian Trilogy, Book 1) (15 page)

The woman’s smile grew and she s
hook a boney finger at Claire. “Ah yes, you’ll do fine, Renka has seen it.” She patted Claire’s cheek gently. Claire fought with herself to stand her ground even though she wanted to back away from the nasty hag.

The old croon ch
uckled. “I am Renka, Queen of the Gypsies. You are welcome here while you prepare yourselves for your journey. Nikoli, we will circle up at nightfall, be sure you’re within the circle if you wish to stay. We will speak more after the feast, for now I must go rest.” With that she turned around and hobbled back up her stairs into her caravan.

Claire stood gaping at the spot where Renka had been. How was this insulting nasty old thing going to help them destroy the Fang? W
hat did she mean by ‘circle up’?

A young man approached and spoke to Anya in hushed tones. She turned to
Nikoli.

“
This is Garridan. You stay with him tonight. Claire stays with me. You go, get your things put away and get cleaned up for feast tonight.”

Claire tensed. “Can’t we stay together?”
she asked Anya imploringly.

Anya shook her head. “No, you are not…”
she searched for the English word “….married and Nikoli is not even human. No good.” She shook her head. “You stay with Camp you follow Camp rules. Women do not stay with men who are not their married ones or family.”

Nik
oli spoke low in Claire’s ear. “It’s fine Claire. You go with Anya now, we’ll catch up with each other later. It’s okay.”

“
Come.” Anya looked at Claire impatiently. “I have clothes you can wear for feast.” She strode off without looking to see if Claire was following her or not. With a shrug and a weak smile at Nikoli Claire hurried after her.

Anya stopped in front of a caravan painted a brilliant peacock
blue. “This is mine, please come in.” She held the little door open for Claire.

Claire stooped and crossed into the little caravan. Her eyes went wide in surprise. The interior was painted in bright yellows and oranges. Some sort of finely detailed cloth
in hues of red, orange and yellow was pinned to the ceiling to fan out and cover it. A single bed had folded out from the wall and built in drawers covered the remaining walls. A weathered oval mirror rested on top of a small crate topped with a fine silk cloth. Heaps of gold and silver jewelry covered the crate. Two small windows allowed some light in.

Anya began to fling open her drawers, rooting through her
clothing. “Where is my….here.” She pulled out a beautiful flowing blue skirt covered in small metallic medallions at the bottoms of each ruffle. “This should fit you.” She dug around some more and pulled out a white blouse and a black bustier that tied up the back. “We get you wash water, you put these on.” Anya stuck her head out the door of the caravan and trilled out another high pitched call.

A moment later Claire heard a male voice outside the door.
Anya beckoned to Claire. “You go with Garridan, he take you to stream.” She handed Claire a pair of metal pails.

Claire stepped down the caravan steps. G
arridan stood waiting for her. “I will take you to the stream to get some water,” he told her as he took both pails from her.

“Thanks.”
Claire fell into step beside him as he led her out of the Camp circle and into the forest. “Are you Anya’s brother?” she asked, making conversation.

“No,” Garridan answered. “We’re cousins.”
The sounds of the Camp faded behind them as they walked deeper into the forest. “You and the vampir are…together?” Garridan asked boldly.

Claire felt unease bloom in her stomach. She
didn’t like Garridan’s tone. “Yes, he’s my boyfriend, as well as my Guardian.”

Garridan did not reply.

“So how come Anya didn’t take me to get water?” Claire inquired in an attempt to lighten the mood and break the tension between them.

Garridan stopped a
nd wiped his brow. “There are bandits in these forests, it is not safe for a lady to go out alone,” he frowned at Claire.

“So I’ve seen,”
Claire muttered under her breath. “But Anya was out alone before, when she found Nikoli and I,” she challenged Garridan.

Garridan shrugged
and began down the path again. “That is Anya, she can take care of herself but she cannot be responsible for another woman without a proper escort.”

Claire snorted to herself. Apparently the Gypsies were decades or more behind with the whole Women’s Lib idea. Oh well, she only had to play along for a day or two until the Fang was destroyed and
she and Nikoli could go home again.

“
We are almost there.” Garridan pointed to a break up ahead in the path where a small clean stream crossed it. He held the pails out to Claire, clearly expecting her to fetch the water herself. Claire took the pails without comment and dipped into the fresh stream to retrieve her water.

As she leaned over and filled the pails her unease grew. Glancing up she saw Garridan watching her intently, almost leering at her. She hurried to finish filling her pails but it took a bit of time as the stream was not deep enough to dip them in to fill them. She had to hold the pail so it caught the water flowing downstream
and wait for it to fill up.

“
Why do you waste your time with the vampir?” Garridan sneered. “You will grow old, you will die, and still he will live on.”

Claire was so flustered she dropped her pail and lost most of the water she had collected so she had to start
again. “I love him, and he loves me,” she replied in a steely tone.

Garridan
flicked his hand dismissively. “That is not love. How can you love a dead thing? He cannot give you a proper home, you cannot give him sons. It is unnatural.”

Claire bit t
he inside of her cheek to contain the rage boiling up inside of her as Garridan continued on.

“
You need a real man, a man who will take care of you and provide for you. A man who will give you children to care for.” Garridan openly appraised Claire’s figure with his eyes.

Claire rose with her
pails of water and glared at Garridan. “Let me guess…a man like you?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “
Yes, I am unmarried still. I find the women of my Camp to be too boring, too plain. You however would make a fine wife. I would be a good husband- I am the best hunter in the Camp. You would never go without.” He grinned at her proudly.

“That’s not going to happen,”
Claire hissed at him as she started down the path with her full pails of water. As she walked she could feel Garridan’s gaze upon her.

“
You will see, my crazy American, you will see.”

Chapter 21

Back at the
Camp Claire headed straight for Anya’s caravan. She put her pails down and went inside to find Anya. She wasn’t in but had left out some towels for Claire to use to clean up.

Garridan knocked at the caravan door. He and Claire had walked back to
Camp in complete silence. He gave Claire the creeps and she was glad to be rid of him when they got back to Camp.

“Goodbye Garridan,”
Claire called loudly through the thick door. She hoped he would take the hint, she had nothing to say to him and planned to stay as far away from him as she could during their stay.

Anya cracked the do
or open and stuck her head in. “It is not Garridan, it is me,” she said. “I have put your water over the fire to heat, it will be ready soon. Why you sound so mad at Garridan?”

Claire sat down on the bed with a
sigh and Anya sat beside her. “He said some nasty things about Nikoli and told me I shouldn’t be with him,” she explained. “He thinks I should be with a ‘real man’ like him.”

Anya nodded seriousl
y. “Yes, Garridan wants to take you for his bride. He already asked Yokov if he could buy some sheep from him to give to you as an engagement present.”

Claire was
horrified. “We just got back!” she stammered, wondering how Garridan had the time to go looking for sheep to buy already.

“Oh no,” Anya explained, “
he did before you went to get water. He saw you first time with Renka he decided you will be his wife.” Anya shrugged. “I told him leave you alone, you are with Nikoli. He not listen, he never listen to me.”

Clai
re held her head in her hands. “Maybe he’ll forget about it,” she said wistfully.

Anya shook her head. “
No, he wants you for his bride, he will not forget.” She fiddled with Claire’s unruly curls. “Water should be ready now, you wash up and we fix this mess.”

An hour later Claire stood in front of Anya’s little mirror looking at her
reflection in wonder. Anya had transformed her from casual American girl to sultry Gypsy peasant. The white blouse Anya had lent her rode low on her shoulders to show off her creamy soft skin. The black bustier over the blouse whittled down her waistline and pushed her chest up enticingly. The blue skirt cascaded down from her hips and the little medallions jingled when she moved. Anya had arranged her hair so it was pulled off her face but her wild dark curls cascaded down her back and a few tendrils drifted down her neck. The look was completed with some heavy kohl eyeliner and piles of bangle bracelets to match her large hoop earrings. The scratches on her chest and neck still stood out red against her alabaster skin but a little loose powder Anya had borrowed from a friend toned them down. Claire felt like she blended in with the Camp residents when she stepped out of the caravan.

“Whoa.”
A low whistle came from her left as Nikoli approached. He grabbed her around the waist as he broke into an appreciative grin. “I must say I like this look on you.” He nuzzled her neck.

“
You don’t look too shabby yourself,” Claire commented as she pushed Nikoli away to admire his outfit. He was clad in skin tight calfskin pants and a poet’s shirt with wide sleeves covered by a matching calfskin vest. The shirt laced up the front with a leather thread but Nikoli had left it open.

Angry sounds reached Claire’s ears as Renka hobbled over to them. She waved her cane about franticall
y as she shrieked in her native tongue.

“
Looks like someone doesn’t appreciate our little moment we’re having here,” Nikoli whispered to Claire as he stepped away from her.

Renka stopped in front of him as she shrieked on some more, jabbing her cane into the air for emphasis. Nikoli
gave her an apologetic smile and responded to her in her own language. Whatever he said seemed to mollify her. She slammed her cane back onto the ground with a grunt and called for Anya.

Any
a came out of her caravan and spoke with Renka for a moment before filling Claire in on what was going on. “I must go do the circle for Renka,” she explained as she waved towards the darkening skies. “The magic will not be enough tonight with you here.” She saw Claire’s puzzled look. “Nikoli will tell you, I must go now.” Anya took Renka’s elbow to escort her back to her own caravan.

Claire turned to Nikoli. “
What is this circle thing I keep hearing about?” she asked.

Nikoli stepped towards her but then stepped back again as he glanced at Renka shuffling away. Claire grinned- her big bad vampire Guardian was
afraid of a little old woman.

“
Normally Renka just casts spells around the Camp to keep vampires out,” he explained. “She lifted those spells, just for today, as she knew we were coming. With you, and the Fang, here in Camp tonight she wanted to do more than the usual spells to protect her people. She has seeped special flowers and herbs together for days now. They have added the blood of a Gypsy to the mix, and Anya is going now to dribble that mixture around the perimeter of the Camp. Dusk will be here soon, then night. The whole Camp is in great danger while we’re here so Renka wanted to beef up security.”

“
Gypsy blood? For what?”

“
You know how Gypsy blood changed Stavros when he drank it?”

Clai
re nodded and Nikoli continued.

“
The same magic that turned him into a supreme killing machine has an odd effect on vampires outside of the body. We can’t cross it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Whatever magic in Gypsy blood turns vampires into monsters also creates some sort of barrier against them. Spill a line of Gypsy blood in the sand and a vampire can’t cross no matter how he tries. Renka made this potion mixed with Gypsy blood to encircle the Camp tonight to be sure no vampires breech the Camp. Well, except me, I suppose.” He shrugged.

“
So that means you’re stuck in Camp tonight? No vampires in, no vampires out, right?”

“
Yup. You’re stuck with me.”

J
ust then Garridan came up to them. “The feast will begin soon.” He addressed Claire and refused to acknowledge Nikoli’s presence. He held out his hand. “Won’t you join me?”

Nikoli stif
fened and moved next to Claire.