The Gypsy Queen (53 page)

The Gypsy Queen- CHAPTER 30- “bond”

  “No!”
Yana
shouted, getting down. She walked around to stand in front of her horse. “No! Why did you bring me here?” she fumed. Kuta looked at her, as she threw a fit.

  “We were going north!”
Yana
admonished her horse. “No! I never want to see this place again!” She swatted Kuta on the nose, causing the horse to jerk back in reaction. Still,
Yana
’s horse just looked at her, patiently. It seemed the horse had gone where it wanted, when
Yana
had yielded any direction.

 
Yana
looked around. It was a good long way back to Jofranka, and even farther to escape the
kingdom
. It would be dark soon. She decided her best bet would be just to go into the forest a little ways, and camp the night. Then, she could make sure she went where she needed to go.

  “I’m sorry, girl,” she said, hugging her horse’s nose where she had slapped her. She couldn’t blame Kuta.
Jedikai
was a fine place for a horse, and Kuta had her own instincts.
Yana
led her into the forest a little ways, and found an old campsite, next to a lively little stream.

 
Yana
unpacked a few things, and got a f
ire going. She was still in the
kingdom
that held her heart. She realized that her desire for the road was not there. The world was laid out before her, and she could go anywhere she wanted. She could ride all night and make it out, possibly. Instead, she set up camp, and went to go wash up in the river.

  She washed a few garments, and toweled herself in the chilly, fresh water. It was good,
a sort of cleansing in the
Jedikai
river. She wished she could wash away the guilt of what she had done. It weighed heavy on her.

  She knew there was no way back to where she was, before she had tracked Bastion into that gulley. There was no way to act normal, to pretend that she was all right. Maybe that existence had not been so good to her anyway, she thought. She had felt scattered and chaotic then, too. Being a wanderer was a life of adventure, but her time with Bastion had certainly been an adventure too. Only, with him, it had purpose.

  She was tired of being afraid. She had always thought she felt free out on the open roads, but like Lyubov had said- “you not free.” She had not been free at all. She had wanted to be with Bastion, even as a child, and could not. She had never let herself be free enough to be with him, fearing confinement. Fear and freedom did not mix, she realized. Bastion was right- a gypsy is only free if she is allowed to choose what she wants.

 
Yana
had done her share of misdeeds, and had been on the run on many nights. She was a rogue all the more
tonight
, enjoying the waters of a
kingdom
she had betrayed. Being a rogue had been something fun, but it had no luster for her now. She had tasted honor, by Bastion’s side. It tasted good.

  Bastion had said she was released from her mandate, and from the
kingdom
. Except, she did not feel free at all. She liked protecting Bastion, just as she had from the moment she met him. She l
iked his protection too, like
she had felt after she had seen Draiman in the forest. Just being near his gates, his courts, was a sort of comfort. She wished she had not listened to that wretch, Draiman. She had been listening to the wrong man all along. He knew how to speak to her dark side, her fears. But Bastion... he spoke to her heart, he encouraged her, lifted her up. She had feared him, but maybe it was the only the dark corners of her
own
hear
t
that she should have v
anquished, to let herself shine
next to her King. She wished she had trusted him more. Now, he could never trust her again.

  She wanted him to be her King. Even in his own imperfections, he had gained her truest heart. She could never bow to him again, but as she finished washing up, she felt that there was nothing else she would rather do. Now, she had doomed herself to a life of shadow, al
ways on the run. From her guilt… from her lover, the King… f
rom herself.

  She had betrayed herself, most of all. She wondered how that could be, and if there was a way, somehow, to make it right. She gat
hered her things
and went upstream
a few yards. There was an eddy-
a remarkably calm little pool
behind a big rock in the stream
. She brushed her hair, and looked into her reflection in the water, as she worked on it. She remembered the way Bastion
had held her,
his fist gripping her hair as he loved her, and kissed her.

 
Yana
stopped her brush, mid-stroke. Her reflection in the pool was playing tricks on her. She could see her own aura in the water. Yet it was not hers. It was Bastion’s.

  She was glowing, red and gold, in the peaceful waters. Just like when he was effused with lightning. Just like when he made love to her, and desired her. Just like when his passion burst forth from him, in sound, and voice, and love. She could not take her eyes off the reflection. Red hot, sharp gold, bursting from around her edges like there was a massive fire, just behind her. She looked behind her. The only thing behind her was a city. The city of the King.

  She looked back at the water. Still, her aura vibrated to an unknown rhythm, the same little hum that
she felt with Bastion. The scar
on her wrist burned hot. Then she felt very silly. She raised her hand up to take off Bastion’s mantle. It must just be the colors from that cloak he had left, that was throwing so much color.

  Except, she was not wearing it. It was
over
on the bench of her wagon.

  She looked back into the water, watching Bastion’s aura surround her. She smiled, as tears graced her young face once more. Bastion had infused her,
inspired her, and accepted her
. The aura in the pool told the truth.

  She was his.

  She made peace with herself, there at that pool. Finally, she knew what she had to do. She knew how to get free.

 
Yana
tended to herself, that night. She ate well, from Bastion’s provision. She finished her hair, and set her clothes just right. She let her horse drink deeply from the waters of
Jedikai
, and drank of them herself. She settled into a fire, warmed by more than just the flames. Her horse stood near her, as if to stand guard, picking and eating little stalks and plants at leisure.

  She watched the fire awhile. It reminded her of her and Bastion. Bastion, the stones.
Yana
, the fire.
The stones contained the fire. 

 
Yana
played her harp, pouring her heart out into the night sky. She sang a little, in Romany, the language of her youth. She fed the fire, and brushed her horse, enjoying the simple things of nature in a childlike way. When she was content, she retired to her wagon, and set out the softest bedding she could. She laid in it, thinking of her darling boy, the King. She slept soundly into the night, as well as she ever had before.

 
Yana
awoke the next morning, setting her things in order. She enjoyed a light breakfast, and wore her finest garments, setting wildflowers in her lovely hair. She stroked the long, flowing mane of her horse, and made ready. When she was set, she climbed aboard, and stroked the rune-shaped scar on her wrist, with love in her eyes.

  She snapped the reigns, and directed her horse to the city gates. 

  Entering the meadow,
Yana
decided to get out and walk. She led her horse by the bridle, the rig following behind them. She talked to her horse in Romany, praising her with words of love and thanks. Kuta had been good to her. She took in the morning sun, enjoying a serenity she had never felt before. She took her time, but still, the gates loomed large as she neared them. She drew upon her love for Bastion, to give her courage.

  She hailed the gatekeepers, who were already on their way down to see her. Pook and Gumi shuffled outside, and approach
ed her. They knew of the trouble
, and were at a loss of what to say to her. Being at a loss for words was rare for the curmudgeonly old watchmen.
Yana
pulled a telescope from her garments.

  “I took this telescope from you men, when I first entered the city. It is yours, not mine.” She handed it over, and Pook received it.

  “I am sorry for stealing from you,”
Yana
said. “I will never do so again. I hope you will forgive me.” The old men finally found a word or two.

  “Thank you,
Yana
,” Gumi said. “May you know honor.”

  “You should not be here,” Pook said. “You should run, before you are found out.” He wanted to help her somehow.

  “I am found, already,” she said with reassurance. She stepped up to them and kissed them each on the cheek, much like she had when she had first enchanted them. “Thank you for watching over the King,”
Yana
said, and departed their company. They watched as she rounded the bend.

  “Now we both have a telescope!” Pook said, grinning. “But I’m keepin’ this one! It’s better!”

  “That one is mine!” Gumi argued. “That one was mine before!”

  “Oh, it was not!” Pook argued, as they ambled back inside, jostling and fussing amongst themselves.

 
Yana
walked to the livery, the stables where she had found Bastion in her time of trouble. The stable boss came out, and the boy
Yana
recognized as having taken care of Kuta, when she left her here before. She handed the reigns to the boy, and nodded to them both.

  “Please,” she said, “I want you to give this horse and wagon to Mille, the court jester. You know of her?”

  “Yes
,
my lady,” the boy said.

  “You will make sure she gets this?”

  “Yes,” the boy said. “I can take it to her.”

  “Thank you,”
Yana
said. “Tell her that now she can go anywhere she wants to.” She remembered that Mille had said she didn’t have a good horse of her own. Now she did.

 
Yana
walked the short distance to the palace. For all the miles she had traveled in life, that short walk was her longest.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “No,” Otta said, explaining to Bastion, “the meeting will work better tomorrow. The citizens you want to deal with must all be there,” he said. 

  “Will that work if we have to meet that ambassador, too?” Bastion asked.

  “We can do both,” Otta said. “Do you have your speech assembled?”

  “I have my points written,” Bastion said. “Will you look it over?” he handed the paper to Otta. His uncle looked it over, doing his job with the King, administrating the
kingdom
’s business.

  “Sire!” a guard called out, from the doors of the throne room. Otta answered him out of habit.

  “What is it?”

  “Miss Yana wishes an audience.” Bastion jerked upright, getting up out of his throne. He reeled, forgetting his wounded leg. Otta caught him, and righted him, handing him a staff.

  “What?” Bastion said. “That cannot be.” The guard poked his head in.

  “Shall I send her in, Sire?” Bastion and Otta looked at each other.

  “Aye,” Bastion said in disbelief. Sure enough,
Yana
walked through his doors, and entered his court.
Yana
walked in and set herself directly before Bastion, kneeling at his feet.

  “Oi, King Bastion,” she said, keeping her head hung low.

  “What are you doing here,
Yana
? You mustn’t be here!” Bastion said, feeling panic arise in his chest.

  “I am here to surrender myself to my King,” she said.

  “No, no,” Bastion agonized out loud. “You cannot be here!”

  “You said yourself, that I could go wherever the hell I want,”
Yana
said. “This is where I want to go. This is where I want to be. Right here at
the feet of my King.
”
Yana
continued to kneel, but her voice was strong.
Bastion looked at her in shock
.