Gypsy Magic by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbara Cartland EBooks ltd
Published: 2013-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

There was silence for a moment as the King stared at the Voivode in surprise.

Then slowly, because she was shy, Laetitia came from the shadows to stand beside him.

She had taken off the jewelled wreath, the earrings and the necklace she had worn for the dance and replaced them with her own. She again had on her hair the red veil with the gold coins outlining her forehead.

But the effort of dancing so wildly had brought a flush to her cheeks and a sparkle to her eyes so that she seemed to glow almost as if within her there was a light that was part of the flames of the fire.

The King looked at her.

Then he turned to the Voivode,

“And who do you suggest I marry?”

“Who else but Saviya? But let me first explain something to your both.”

The way he spoke was so solemn that both the King and Laetitia looked at him enquiringly and he went on,

“If you were of my tribe, the Kalderash, I could not perform the ceremony I am going to suggest to you – ”

“Does not Saviya belong to your tribe?” the King interrupted in surprise.

The Voivode shook his head.

“My tribe are all pure bred and their blood is mixed with no other tribe, but Your Majesty and Saviya are not wholly Rom. Nevertheless you will be permitted to see, to hear and to feel what is forbidden to gorgios.”

The King did not speak, but Laetitia, because she could not help it, gave a little murmur of excitement.

This was something that she had always longed for, but had thought she would never be permitted to see.

The gypsies were, she knew, fanatically secretive about their magic, just as they never answered questions from outsiders or talked of what was known only to their own tribe.

She was almost certain that the King was not aware of how proud they were of their blood and how the purity of it must not be soiled by a union not only with a gorgio but not even with a member of any other tribe.

As if he knew what she was thinking, the Voivode looked at her with wisdom and understanding in his expression before he began to explain.

It was his Hungarian blood which made him speak not only eloquently but with the culture of a man who in his own way of life was born a King.

“A marriage which takes place between a pure gypsy and his bride is sacred and lasts until they die,” he said. “For the Kalderash it is a sacrament which would be shocking to break. To do so would mean expulsion from the tribe.”

He paused and went on quietly,

“But there is another ceremony not used amongst the Kalderash, but among many other tribes especially those in Russia and France.”

He glanced at the King as he spoke as if he remembered that he had been living there.

Then he continued,

“This is a marriage which is, to all intents, a gamble in which both the bride and bridegroom are under the direction of the Gods.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.