A Gypsy's Tale

Pounding, loud pounding, echoed in Esric's foggy and sore head. He groaned and rolled to get away from the blinding morning light, stopping, when he hit something that groaned back. He forced his tired eyes open, trying to figure out what he hit, his blurry eyes trying to focus. He could tell it was a person, sleeping next to him. "Tecor?" he asked in a horse voice, reaching out to touch the body.

"No." said a cold voice that was not Tecor's.

Esric rubbed his face with a hand. Then it dawned upon him whose voice it was. "Branwen?" he said, sitting up quickly, and regretting it when the room began to swim. "What are you doing here?" he asked, holding his head, hoping it would make it feel better, but the instant swimming told him that he was wrong.

"You invited me to your room remember?" she said, sitting up, letting the blanket fall from her naked body.

"You are naked!" Esric exclaimed, quickly covering his eyes.

"Yes! You do not remember the wonderful night we had together?" she asked with a sad look.

"No. I remember drinking with Damien, and then everything is black. Could you please cover yourself?" he asked, afraid to look. He felt ridiculous having such a conversation without looking at her.

Branwen sighed and pulled the blanket up, covering herself. She felt sore and tired, Damien turned out to be rougher than she thought. She spent most of the night thinking of what to say once Esric woke up. "You can look now." she said softly

Esric removed his hand and looked over at her with a serious look. "You have to tell me everything." he said in a firm tone.

Branwen let out a soft sigh, than replayed what she had thought of during the night "Well Esric, you asked me to come to your room to talk, you seemed fine to me. Then you began kissing me, and one thing led to another, and we ended up making love on your bed."

Esric shook his head. "I could not. I have never been able to do such an act."

"Well you preformed wonderfully last night." she replied with a happy sigh and a small smile on her lips.

"There is..." whatever Esric was about to say was lost when his door opened with a single knock, and Damien walked in.

"Brother...." Damien stopped pretending to be surprised. Damien was waiting all morning to catch his brother and Branwen in bed together. "What is Lady Branwen doing in bed with you?"

"I have been trying to figure that out." Esric said, getting out of the bed, moving to his closet, pulling out a pair of pants and quickly pulling them on. "I cannot remember past drinking with you."

"You said you wanted to go to bed. Perhaps you wanted something else as well?" he said with a slightly devilish grin as he watched his brother's world fall down around him.

"You know I could not do such a thing," Esric said, combing his hair with his fingers. "Let us go to my study and let the Lady get herself together. We can discuss what to do." He looked over at Branwen, but only for a moment.

Esric shook his head; Damien put a hand on his shoulder. "Come brother; let us get out of the room, to let the Lady get dressed." With that said, Damien led his brother out of the room.

In the hallway near Esric's room was a young servant girl, scrubbing the floor. She had heard everything that was said, and was itching to spread what she just heard.

Damien waited for Esric to close the study door before he spoke in a firm tone. "Brother you know there is only one thing you can do. She could be with child. Father will force you to marry her, whether or not you wished to. You must keep her honor, and our family's."

"But, I could..."

Damien quickly interrupted him. "That does not matter Esric. All people will know is she was in your bed, and that is enough."

Esric searched his brain for the memory of what happened last night. "Father is going to kill me." he groaned, looking up at his brother.

"He does not have to know just yet brother," Damien said with a slight shrug.

"What of Tecor? I told her I only cared for her. She will never forgive me, and I do not blame her," he said with a heavy heart, as he hung his head in shame and heartbreak.

Damien stood there unable to keep the smile from his face.

*****

Tecor woke up later than normal, but still managed to catch Alessio for breakfast.

"I wonder where Esric is?" she said, as they finished their meal, looking over at the door hoping it would open, and he would appear.

Alessio smiled and put a reassuring hand on hers, "I am sure he will be here shortly. I have never known Esric to be late for a meal," he said with a gentle smile.

Tecor smiled back softly. "I just wanted to apologize, for my over reaction last night," she explained with guilty eyes.

He looked at her confused. "What happened last night?"

"I found him kissing Lady Branwen, and I did not give him a chance to explain. Damien was telling me that he did not care for me, he was just using me, but that did not sound like Esric," she said, looking down at her hands.

Alessio nodded his head in agreement. Of all his son's Esric had the most integrity and sense of honor. Even after he offended the gypsy that cursed him, he searched for weeks wanting to make amends. "No it does not. I believe he cares for you deeply. Let me ask my man servant to fetch him." He waved over an older gentleman. "Hector, could you please fetch my son." Hector who prided himself on knowing whatever house he was in like the back of his hand, already knew were the Prince was, and what situation he was in. He bent over and whispered all that he knew into the King's ear.

Alessio's face grew purple, and he stood up quickly. "Excuse me my dear, but I need to go talk to Esric."

"Is something wrong?" she asked in a worried voice.

"It is a family matter my dear, I hope you understand." With that, he left

Tecor sat there for a moment, then decided to follow him. She was not about to be left in the dark, family matter or not.

Tecor followed the King to the study and could already hear the raised voices.

"I have always thought you were the least likely to do such a thing Esric," Alessio shouted loudly. "Even before the curse, you have always had good morals and a sense of honor. Now...Now, I do not know what to think of you. I am ashamed to call you my son." Alessio took in a deep breath, "I have already called for the wise women to see if Branwen's story is true, that you did indeed sleep together."

A large shattering sound echoed in Tecor's ears, and she knew it was her heart breaking. She did not even realize she was screaming until Esric was holding onto her, blubbering empty apologies through his own tears. Any servant that walked by would remember it for the rest of their lives, as when true love was killed.

It took ten minutes for Tecor to calm down, and the first question she asked was, "I thought you loved me...?" with red empty eyes.

Esric bit his bottom lip. "I do, Tecor. I lo..." She stopped him with a hard slap that made him let go of her. She stood up with a dark look in her eyes.

"Do not lie to me Esric, do not say you love me, because my heart is already broken, my soul destroyed. Lovers do not do that. I curse the day I ever looked upon you, Prince Esric. And may the goddess curse you with a long life with your new wife." She spat in his face, turned and ran down the hallway with tears running down her cheeks.

Esric sat on the floor, unable to move, unable to breathe. He took in a sharp breath only when Damien put a hand on his shoulder. "Come brother," he said, pulling Esric to his feet. "Let us go hear what the wise women have to say."

"I have to go after her...I have to..." He was quickly cut off by his brother. "And tell her what Esric? When will you learn to leave an angry gypsy alone? She is gone Esric, you will just have to live with it for the rest of your life." The words cut Esric like a knife, and he let Damien drag him back into the study.

The wise women later confirmed that Lady Branwen was no longer a virgin, and the blood on Esric's sheet's confirmed his fate.

"You will have to marry her Esric." his father said in a sad voice.

"Father, there has to be another way. You know there is no way I could do such an act. She kissed me last night, before I started to drink. She made me sick; Father, there is no way I could do more."

"The curse never said you could not make love to a woman, Esric." Damien said, leaning against a wall. "It simply stated that you were cursed to fall in love with someone who would never want you." Of course, that is not what he told Branwen when they had started this whole thing. "I do not think Tecor will have anything to do with you now," he said in a harsh voice.

"Damien!" their father growled. "There is no need for such words. However Esric, he does have a point."

Esric sighed heavily. "I have never been able to perform the act. Every time a girl is near me, I feel no desire towards her."

"Are you telling me that you are virgin, little bother?" Damien said in a disbelieving voice.

"I swear on our mother's grave that I have never done such an act," he said in a firm and confident voice.

Alessio rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "We will have to test this." he said finally. "Although I believe someone deflowered Lady Branwen, Esric does bring an interesting point."

"And how do you propose we test this?" Damien asked, trying to hide the worry in his voice. He did not want this to come back to him. He was already engaged to marry a foreign princess, and would not settle for a Noble's daughter.

"I will think of something. Now both of you leave me." They did not dare to argue with their father at this point, and quickly left the room. Alessio waited until the door was closed to turn to his servant, Hector. "We will have them repeat the act, with a witness. I shall watch them, without them knowing. Someone will tell the Lady Branwen that she needs to make a sexual sacrifice. It will unmask her if she is playing a game. She knows little of our culture, and would not dare to upset us." Hector nodded with a slight smile.

"I will see to it, Your Highness." He bowed and left the room.

******

Later that night, Esric and Branwen were led to his room. Branwen had a smile on her face. She heard from the servants that if she wished for her marriage to work well and be blessed, that she would have to offer a sexual offer to the Goddess. She would have to make love to him, in the name of the Goddess.

She was sure that she was able to do it, no matter what Damien had said about the curse. She was sure it was just some story he made up.

The doors were closed behind them, and they stood their looking at each other. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Esric finally spoke. "You may have the bed my Lady." He said as he pulled some blankets off the bed.

"Oh come now Esric, we are to be married, we should sleep in the same bed. We have already done so before," she said with a sly smile, as she laid down in the bed.

"I do not remember that, so in my mind we never have done such an act," he said, looking over at her. Branwen continued to smile at him as she reached out and took his hand, tugging it lightly.

"Then let me remind you," she said, pulling him towards the bed, until he was right in front of her. She sat up and kissed him softly on the lips.

Esric growled and pulled away quickly. She tasted bitter and sour, like milk that had gone bad. "I do not wish to be reminded," he said, firmly pulling his hand out of hers.

Branwen let out a small huff as she watched Esric settle on the floor, in his clothes. But she would not give up that easy. She smiled as she pulled off the night gown she was wearing, and slithered next to Esric completely naked. She wrapped on arm around him and felt him stiffen under her touch.

"Lady Branwen, if you do not go back into the bed, I shall make sure you stay there. I may have to spend the night with you, but that does not mean I will make love to you." Branwen let out a soft growl, and moved back to the bed with a sour look.

Satisfied, Esric slipped into a troubled sleep, filled with guilt and sadness.

Branwen waited until he was asleep, and moved back onto the floor with him, still naked. He may be able to resist her while he was conscious, but she was sure he would not fare well now that he was asleep.

She moved her hands carefully down his hips, undoing his pants with daft hands, then slipped one of them in. She gently took hold of his limp cock, and started to rub it gently. Her fingers moved up and down the shaft, but it did not seem to harden. "What the..." she whispered to the darkness, as her frustration began to build.

Esric groaned and shifted in his sleep, his dreams full of Tecor moving through the desert, creating distance between them. He did not feel the hand down his pants, or realize that the woman next to him tried to get him hard until her hand would no longer move.

From behind the wall, Alessio smiled cunningly to himself. His son had no interest in the woman, even in his sleep. That is when he knew that Lady Branwen had lied about who she spent the night with. However; if it was not Esric, than who? He would know soon enough. Tonight, he could rest easy knowing that his son would not have to marry the Lady Whore.