Mask & Veil Ch. 01

Chapter 1: The Red Fever

Keira Bryn Davan, having just turned 18, danced from gentleman to gentleman around a bonfire, fiddles and pipes played ceremoniously for her. The Rom had stayed up late for this special occasion and she couldn't be more happy with all the attention warming her breast and spinning in her head. It has been six years since Enin was lost in the woods in southwest France and things had been getting better lately.

But when the festivities were over, she was reluctant to go bed without first going to Katalina, who was waiting to read her cards. As Keira entered her wagon, the old woman told her to leave the door open.

"The air is fresher," Katalina said.

Keira pushed through the beads and lace to get to the Seer's table, taking a seat without saying a word to the old woman. The fresh air was a wind that drove through the door, quite mild most of the time, keeping her a bit chilled. But she did her best to ignore it.

"My Child," Katalina said. "This is the first day of your eighteenth year and you look so beautiful. It will be soon for you to find a man to keep you, to bare him children and live your days as a mother."

Keira screwed up her face at that, saying: "Maybe one day, but I don't feel like doing that now. I have things I must do first."

Katalina chuckled as she took her seat and began shuffling the tarot the old woman had made of thin, dried birch wood. "The Old Ways are mostly gone now, Keira. To keep the traditions of your tribe, you must have the wisdom to control your temptations. Only through a family may your tradition prosper."

Then Katalina held out the deck and Keira picked six cards, putting them face down on the table before her. She wondered what the Gods would say to her and what "quest" Katalina would foresee in them. It was her time now. No pithy domesticity. It was time for her to have something real happen to her and *she knew* it was going to be an exciting time for her.

Katalina closed her eyes and flipped the first card. Without seeing it, Katalina knew what it was: "The Fool. It looks like it's time that the maiden grows up. I see a man, a little older than you. He has been hurt by evil forces, but it only made his heart stronger. He searches for something, but he must come to you with a problem. Something only you can help him with."

Katalina flipped the next card two cards. Still, her eyes are closed, but she knows what it is. "The Paige of Tomes. This represent a surprising manifestation of a new passion. Fire burns the earth, a catalyst for the blaze. All this will force you on an adventure away from us. Of course, this will lead to tragedy. The second card, the Tower, is crumbling. I see the Dark Dominion that has come to us from the Holy Land, tainting the Old Ways and warring with the New Holy Church. *Gods...*, I see blood!"

Keira's eyes were widening, her cheeks hurting with the tension of her news. She didn't want to go away from here. The Rom were her family. Where was she supposed to go? What would she do without Katalina?

"Three more cards for the Crescent Maiden," Katalina said, turning the next two cards without opening her eyes. " The Six of Tomes, reversed, my Child. False pride and failure."

Flipping the next card, the Seer added: "The Knight of Sites, reversed. This is the voice of the man, whom will come to you shortly. It is the voice of honor and valor, but also of pride and overconfidence."

What's with all these reversals, for Christ's sakes?

And with the last card, the Seer concluded: "The Eight of Sites, reversed, my Child. A true destination, a mask and a veil. Things hidden may remain hidden, but at great cost. I see both the Material and the Suspirium as dark mirrors, facing one another and bleeding. True horrors will be released, but I cannot say for sure whether you're successful or not. The rest is hazy, untold and unforeseen."

Keira had to stand up, throw her skirt to the side so that the wind wouldn't catch it. All she could think about was that *she wasn't going to do it*. No way. Her destiny had to lay somewhere else. This was a bad reading, nothing more. If some guy came to her, asking for her help, she'd deny them. She'd travel with the *kumpania* and she'd stay away from dangers. This was not a time to be begging for more trouble.

"I know what you're thinking," Katalina said, opening her graying eyes now. "You may deny it as you wish. Though, I warn you, Dame Fortuna has a mysterious way of tricking you into following destiny whether you like it or not."

"Not me, Seer. I'm staying with you and the *kumpania*. My place now is with the Rom."

Katalina smiled and gestured toward the door. "The door is open. You may close it if you wish."

Later that night, Keira covered herself with skins in the smaller wagon beside the Seer's own and fell easily to sleep.

In her dreams, she was collecting firewood when she saw a grown man with dark hair walking through the trees. Wondering who it was - thinking perhaps one of the Rom - she began to follow him, looking for him as he weaved in and out of her site. After a few moments she lost him. Keira had never been one to give up, so she kept looking until she came across a steep ravine with large rocks around her. Below her she could hear the small trickling of water and the wind wove around her, rustling the trees to a soft whisper.

At first that's all she heard, but then she began to hear that the wind was joined by some moaning. Curious, she looked around the big rocks until she saw that a few feet away from her, legging wrapped around his knees, the dark haired man was caressing his tight skinned balls and holding up a reddening rope of meat. Keira had only seen something similar once before, so she vaguely knew what it was. Watching him as his hands tugged and stroked his manhood, his head fallen, his eyes closed in the rapture of his flesh, she began to feel all at once guilty and horny. Her own pussy called to her with nerves of satin, warming her loins and crawling up her stomach to her nipples.

*But his face*, she thought. It was familiar, yet different somehow. Then, all at once, it clicked. Her mind puzzled it out and a grin grooved in her pretty face. *That's it*, she thought, *Enin!* And just as she thought that, Enin groaned and stiffened, his manhood thrusting through his fingers like he was fucking his fist, and a stream of white seed erupted from the bulging tip. A few more milking squeezes, last drops, and he was done. He began to pull up his leggings, but Keira couldn't wait any longer...

"Enin!"

Enin looked her way, face flushed and eyes wild with fear. He pulled up his leggings and began to run.

"No, Enin! Wait! It's me! Keira! Remember?!"

And then she woke up, her fingers already kneading the soft pulp that hid her inner hollow and the pink bud that held the secrets to her greatest pleasures. Keira panted as her pulse made her dizzy, as her body began to rack with a small explosion of gratification. Sighing after, she rolled over. Somehow during the the hot self masturbation she had begun to cry. Her sobs continued for awhile as her grief for Enin reigned anew.

The next morning, Keira was out collecting herbs for Katalina before the *kumpania* got ready to move on to the county of Aquitaine, south of where they were now. For some fun, she asked Mara to come along with her. Mara was her closest friend and, like the others, full blood Rom. Mara was a year older than she was, with hair just as dark, but curly, and darker brown eyes. Mara was just as pretty, if not prettier than Keira, who had light brown eyes and straighter, longer hair.

Mara walked in front of her, answering Keira's question about her Maidenhood tarot readings. "The Seer," as Katalina was most often called by those who were not directly related to her or much in her company, "said that my destiny remained in the Rom, where music and dance would be the centerpiece of my existence."

And Mara was a greater dancer and lute player, which she used to sway locals out of their money when they needed it.

"But what did she say about love? Of family?" Keira said.

"She said that I would have both, but first I must remain with my head in my learnings. Again, dancing and music," Mara said, something that came off a little funny between them and they both laughed. Maybe it was the sarcasm in Mara's voice; the light bitterness she felt for not having a destined husband as soon as she wanted it.

Keira felt a little parched, sighing and realizing that she was looking at a mandrake in front of her. She had picked them many times, something not to be taken lightly. Mandrakes were called witch's root for a reason. If you pulled them without their permission, the mandrake would cast a curse on you. Sometimes the curse was *veneficia* - magic poison.

"The Seer asked for one of these, right?" Mara said, catching her eyes and finding what her friend was looking at.

"Yeah. But it's not fair. Why should I have to leave the Rom people? I'm just as much a part of them as you are," Keira said.

"You're not of the blood. You're *gadje*," Mara said, too matter-of-factly for Keira's taste. Sometimes she thought her friend was a bit prejudice about that subject. It didn't seem to effect their relationship, but there was a little of that "you are an outsider whether you like it or not" that made Keira cringe sometimes.

"I'm thirsty," Keira said, looking for a fresh root *other than* the mandrake for some water.

Mara ignored her as she kneeled down to the mandrake and whispered her desire to pull the mandrake from it's nest. Mara then leaned her ear close to it and listened. A few minutes later, Mara's head popped up and said: "It's a male and it says that we can take it with us."

"Great. Get it and let's move on. I don't want to be out too late," Keira said. She hated being out late ever since Enin's disappearance.

Mara carefully uprooted the mandrake, carefully pulling the roots from the yielding earth. Then she turned to Keira and held it out to her. "It's about time I taught you something that I learned when I turned 18."

"Yeah?"

The mandrake was thus named because the shape of the main root came in two genders. The root either formed an hour glass (female) or straighter (male) shape. Dividing roots often formed "legs". Mara pressed her thumb between the mandrake's legs and began to rub, making sure that Keira could see what she was doing. After a moment a "little finger" sized nub began to appear, lengthening and straightening; the tip was similar to that of a mushroom, shiny and wet.

Mara then handed the mandrake to Keira, saying: "Suck on it."

Keira raised the mandrake to her face and pushed out her lips around the small, wet root and began to suck with her lips. After a moment she felt a sweet fluid beginning to dart into her mouth, again and again like a milked teat. The fluid was refreshing, sending shivering waves of coolness down her throat and throughout her body. The weariness flushed away, bringing her mind at ease and filling her with vitality.

When she had enough, she let her lips slide off the root and it drew back into the main body of the mandrake. Smiling at Mara, who watched the whole thing, Keira handed the mandrake back to her and said: "I can't believe it."

"One of the magical properties of the mandrake. Come on. Let's get going before it gets too late."

Mara took the mandrake and lead on, Keira walking behind her, feeling clear and as light as the air around them. She couldn't help but to laugh and skip from time to time, feeling like she could take on -

"Sheep shit!" Keira said and pointed at the man, laying on the ground next to a bush. He was wearing a knight's uniform, though very little armor. A shield was a few yards away from his bloody hand.

"Oh..." Mara said. "It looks like one of the local nobles."

Mara began walking closer to him, but Keira reached out to grab her arm.

"No! Don't touch him," Keira said. "They hold the right to cut of the hand of the peasant who touch them."

"I'm no peasant," Mara said. "I'm Rom." With that, Mara pulled away from Keira and moved closer to the man.

"Mara! You're going to get us killed!"

"Relax! I'm just getting a closer look," Mara said.

Keira watched a moment and then began to walk slowly over to the knight's shield. There was a dragon crest, white and vicious.

Mara screamed and Keira saw her drawing away from the man as he began to set up, reaching for her in a weak attempt.

"Let's go!" Mara said, starting to run.

"Help!" the man cried out. He was bloody and his face was red, probably from a feverish heat. Men who were often wounded suffered from what they called the Red Fever.

"I'm just a peasant!" Keira cried.

"Please, help! I don't care! You breathe and that's all I need," he said.

Keira began to think about what Katalina had foretold. A man would need her help and she must give it to him if she were to follow her destiny.

"Dame Fortuna be damned!" Keira shouted at the man and began to run.

*There. I did it. I have saved myself from destiny*, she thought, running through the trees, around bushes and up the hill to a... a ravine? Remembering her dream stopped her. How did she get turned around? Keira was sure that this was the way back to the *kumpania*.

She looked down at her leather herbal bag, which was going to be any help to her. When she turned around to find another path, she saw that he man had gotten up and was stumbling toward her. He collapsed and fell still.

*Did he die?* Keira began to inch closer to him. When she was almost standing over him, she realized he was still breathing. And sweating bad. She touched his brow and felt the heat that could kill in mere minutes.

"I won't help you!" she said.

The man grabbed her legs, startling her into a scream. There was nobody to save her, though. All she could do was kick until she was free of him. When the hand fell away, she backed away and started looking around, turning her gaze back at him to make sure he wasn't moving.

The man groaned, a pain that sang in the rough reverberations of his throat.

Keira decided to follow the dying sun back to her camp, running as fast as she could go. Barefooted, she could run forever, especially after a taste of the mandrake's vital nectar. She was running so fast that she knew that she'd forever escape this man...

Keira was running so fast, like that night when she left Enin in the woods. She was like a deer, escaping from the wounded predator.

*Enin...*, she thought. *Poor, poor Enin*. He had been just a tender boy, afraid of nothing and ravaged by the devils of the night. All because of her. *I was supposed to be his guardian; protect him from dangers. I was older than he was!* So how could she have left him?

How could she leave the dying man? Sure, her destiny was a dark one, but wouldn't her guilt be darker?

Keira stopped, let her breath come back to her and then she turned around. She thought: *No more guilt!* And made her way back to where the wounded man grew closer to the earth that might forever be his resting place. The Red Fever had taken his consciousness, so she had to act fast. Pouring out the herbs from her herbal bag, she shuffled her fingers through them until she found what she was looking for.

"I can't promise you anything," Keira said. "I'm sorry I left you."

Keira began rub together elder flowers, yarrow flowers, peppermint leaves and hyssop leaves until they began to part and crumble into wet bits in her small hands. After this was done, she grabbed the man's helmet and went down one of the safer routes to the bottom of the ravine. She collected fresh water in there, pouring the herbs in the water. Then she rushed back to the man's side.

"This is a healing solution for fever," she said. And touched the rim of the helmet to his lips. At first, she had to force the water into his mouth, but then he awoke and starting gulping what she gave him.

"Drink all of it," she told him.

The man helped balance the helmet by taking it with his bloody hands, but she controlled it so that it didn't fall all over him. Once the last sip was gone, she pulled the helmet away and said: "Can you stand?"

"Wh- Where are we going?"

Keira never realized how beautiful blue his eyes were. Amongst the Rom, blue eyes were never seen, so seeing them now made her feel in awe.

"Down to the spring at the bottom of the ravine," she said.

The man could barely help himself and he was a lot of weight, yet Keira was going to make sure that this man lived... *for Enin*. Once they were down near the spring, she helped him sit in the cold water and lay out so the cold water could flow over him. He shivered and tried to get up, but she pushed him down and began stripping his shirt where the blood looked like it was the worse.

The wound was a deep one, which meant that he was probably weak from lack of blood. She drowned the torn piece of shirt in the water and then wrapped it around his arm, loosely and applied pressure. With her knees in the same cold water, they stayed together that way for what seemed like hours.

Keira checked his brow now and again, satisfied when his brow seemed cooler than her hand.

"We need to go now," she told that man. "Are you ready to move?"

"God, get me out of this water!" The man tried to do it himself, stumbled and fell back.

Keira, trying not to laugh, helped him up the next time and he leaned on her as they went back up the ravine. On the way, she said: "You'll need more rest. What caused the Red Fever may still be a problem, so we're going to have to keep you cool and well rested."

As they made their way back to her *kumpania*, the man, out of nowhere, asked: "What's your name, pretty?"

"Keira Brynn Davan," Keira said, not thinking. "And yours?"

"Touran DeVaughn," he said, sighing.

Touran looked two or three years older than she was. Young and handsome - something you might expect from a knight.

"My shield?" he said.

"I only have to arms, Sir," she said.

No answer. Then...

"Thank you for this, Keira Brynn Davan," Touran said. "I will never forget the kindness."

*You better not*, she thought. Especially since Dame Fortuna was grinning at her right now, shouting: "Nyah, nyah, I told you so, I told you so!" *Bitch*.

When other Rom began to see how she was helping Touran, they came to her rescue, picking him up and carrying him to the Seer. Katalina asked for them to grab a bath tub and fill it with the coldest water they had and they dunked him in it again. His fever had begun to arise just before entering camp.

Katalina told Keira to strip him to get him ready, handing her a knife. Keira took it and did as she was told, cutting the clothing away from him as he moaned beside her. Mara brought back the first bucket of water and poured it and Keira couldn't help to glare at her.

"I'm sorry, Keira. The Seer told me what would happen and told me to leave, so that I wouldn't interfere with your decision in this matter. I guess we all serve Dame Fortuna."

Keira sighed. It was a good thing that that was her reason for running off without her. If it was out of cowardness, Keira would have to punch her flat out.

When she got to Touran's leggings, she cut them from the hip to the leg seem on both sides, pulling them off. When she unveiled his manhood, she couldn't help to look with a bit of an awe. It was a nice size, bigger than she had ever seen, yet nothing as some of the men around here boasted. A part of her wanted to touch it, to know what one felt like, but she knew that now wasn't the time.

Once in the bath his fever began to descend again. Keira watched him beside Mara and Katalina, who sat on the pull-up ladder of Katalina's wagon door. Feeling comfortable that his fever was gone for now, some of the helped them remove him from the bath and wrap him in a skin.