The Tattooed Princess

Her First Tattoo

"And you?" he asked of Svetlana, the tallest of the three. "The same?"

She thought for a moment.

"Yes. A beautiful. . . small. . .bird," Svetlana said, seeming to get into the spirit of the group. "But not there. I want it here . . ." She leaned over toward the artist and pulled her top down practically exposing both breasts. She pointed to a place just above her right breast. "There," she insisted. Both Branka and Zaria looked surprised.

"Very nice," the artist said.

Zaria was amused at how quickly her two friends caught on to the idea of decorating their bodies.

"And you, Zaria? What shall we put on you?" Tsudros seemed very curious as to learn what she would say.

"I want a creature like no other," she said with resolve. "A tattoo like no one else has in Sharvur's kingdom. Like no one else has in this life."

The artist was silent. It was apparent he was intrigued with the challenge.

Finally, after several moments in deep thought, Tsudros spoke. "I think I can do something for you," he said. "Do you trust me?"

Zaria looked at Tsudros, as if seeing him for the first time. Her eyes met his and stayed upon them as she thought about his use of the word 'trust.' She slowly pulled her top down off one shoulder and half way down her arm.

"Yes. I trust that you will make this creature unique," she said, finally. "And you will make it large. From here down to here." She motioned with her other hand a point starting at the top of her left shoulder near her neck, all the way down to her elbow.

The other two girls just stared at this bare section of skin with wide eyes. They looked back at the faces of Zaria and Tsudros. They still had not stopped looking at each other. And after an awkward moment for Branka and Svetlana, Zaria finally turned and looked away from him.

"So shall we begin?" she asked

The artist stood and opened the contents of his bag onto the table. There were a series of sharp incising tools made of iron and bronze. Some were as fine as needles and some wide like knife blades. Tsudros also took out many soft wads of what seemed to be sheep's wool. There was also several containers placed on the table.

"This I will put on your skin to make the pain very weak, he told them reassuringly, "it is made from crushed bees and wasps," he said.

The girls did not move, but just looked with concerned faces at each other.

"This I will rub into the design," he added, holding up a larger clay bowl of black, oily substance."

Branka closed her eyes and looked away.

"And finally, when the day is done and we are finished, I will rub this into your tattoo and you will not have the sickness that cuts can bring to your body." He held up a small golden bowl designed with butterflies with a clear liquid in it. "You will come back to me each morning for more of this magic only five days and we will then be finished."

The girls seemed restless now and were unsure about how to begin.

"Branka I will start with you." The artist said, organizing his toos and substances on the table. "Svetlana, come back to me when the sun is directly over head and I will be ready for you."

She nodded and stood.

"Zaria, I will do your design when the sun is just down and there will be torches here for us to see. Now go the two of you and return as I told you. Branka will be fine with me. There will be some pain but you will all endure it."

The two girls left together, while Branka reluctantly moved closer to the table, still seated on the floor. Tsudros moved his tools closer and leaned over Branka's young and tender shoulder. . .

* * *

By later that evening, each girl had been decorated by the king's finest artist. Branka now brandished a lovely nightingale incised in midflight on her shoulder. It was half the size of her hand, and the lines of feathers and wings in flight were fine and delicate. She was satisfied with the outcome. After dealing with another type of pain only hours before during the previous night, and at the hands of Sharvur, she was now exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

Svetlana exited the artist's work that afternoon more exuberant than Branka. She sported a beautiful and delicate hummingbird hovering for all eternity just above one of her lovely breasts. Although she complained loudly to Tsudros continually at the scratching of his most delicate cutting needles, she also left him pleased with her new design, embellishing her already supple and curvaceous body.

After the entire evening, lasting almost into the next day, Tsudros worked on the phantasmagorical creature Zaria now had permanently placed on her shoulder and arm. It was the form of a previously unseen beast, with the delicate body of a deer. It had a ferocious but graceful head of the prehistoric griffin the Pazyryk people admired for its mystery and power. It also sported the tall backwards-curving horns of the capricorn. But the most amazing element of this composite creature, never seen anywhere before among the Pazyryk peoples, was the majestic, curvaceous wings which the being had running in repose down Zaria's sensual arm.

Standing back in the early morning and looking exhaustedly into the large polished bronze surface of the kings mirror, both Zaria and Tsudros admired with awe the new creature-and in essence, the new Zaria.

* * *