The Gypsy Queen Read Online Free PDF

bringing back a host of memories...
     
     
      Bastion had been rescued by Yana , as a youth, and was cared for by the gypsies. He had been unconscious for two days after being struck by lightning, and they had stayed in a cave Yana found after the storm. The gypsies tended Bastion’s burns with herbs and oils, after they found them, and he had healed well, save for a faint scar on his chest.
      He traveled with them a while, because he had already been a good distance from the kingdom , and the gypsies traveled even further with him before they realized who he was.
     
    Heir to the throne.
     
      Bastion’s father was the King of the great city of Jedikai , and the surrounding kingdom . That made Bastion a prince, but he had always tried to shirk that label. He took his place in the palace, and loved his work serving his father the King. He just didn’t feel like a prince. He was Captain within their small army, and that suited him just fine.
      The gypsies had delivered him back to the kingdom as a child, but not before they had shared their music and their lives with him a while. Yana became swift friends with him. He was older than she, and bigger, but she had dragged him through the mud to safety that first night, and had been his immediate caretaker following it, taught and guided b y Lyubov. The music and community of the gypsies held a special place in his heart ever since. They showed him great kindness, especially Yana .
      They stoked fires together for those few short weeks, and were inseparable. Yana had been aching at the loss of her parents, and Bastion was in no hurry to leave her. The fire tonight reminded him of that, and the silence that lingered a while between them this night intimated that both of them were reflecting back on those times. It was difficult for Yana , as she had lost her parents, and Bastion always reminded her of that... and then she had lost Bastion as well , when he returned home.
     
      They sat next to each other rather close at the fire, knowing it would help them speak quietly, and not be overheard.
      Bastion spoke first. “I believe a thanks is in order,” he said.
      Yana played dumb. “A thanks? For the dance? That will do for now, but the next one’s going to cost you,” she said.
      Bastion nodded. “The dance was exceptional, Yana ,” he replied. “But I do believe you may have saved my life again.”
      “I’m not that good of a dancer,” she joked.
      “What in the lands were you doing there in the gulley, Yana ?” he asked.
      “I spotted you. I tracked you,” she replied. “I couldn’t help it. I knew it was you, even in the dark.”
      Bastion nodded. They had looked each other in the eyes unmistakably, before she had fled. She looked him in the eyes once more.
      “I am glad you survived,” she said.
      Bastion nodded again. “As am I,” he said, smiling. “I do not know if we would have fared so well without your intervention, Yana ,” he continued.
      Yana looked away. “You shouldn’t be here, Bastion,” she said.
      “And you should not have been in that gulley, Yana , but here we are anyway,” Bastion replied.
      “Why don’t you go back to your kingdom and your army?” she asked. “Why follow me? You left us. Why not let us be?”
      “I have my reasons,” Bastion said. “But mostly, I just wanted to see you.”
      Yana frowned. Bastion had left her, left the gypsies, and though she knew it was the only way it could be, she still didn’t like it. If he wanted to see her, why didn’t he come around for so long?
      “I rather doubt that, Bastion,” she said.
      “I have had to let you be, Yana . It has pained me, but I had no choice. In fact, it was you that left,” he added.
      “I am a gypsy,” she said. “It is our way.”
      “I know that well, Yana .” It seemed cruel, her way. He knew it wasn’t, really, or at least he tried to tell himself that. He was stuck in the business of his