The Bathory Curse Read Online Free PDF Page B

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