The Tattooed Princess

Sweet Evil

         The winter storms never let up those days across the Eurasian Stepps, while Zaria regained her power and freedom within the palace of the Pazyryk clan. The soldiers who were sent out into the cold to bring back any Amazons at Sharvur's obsession for revenge had not been heard of in over twenty days. Their families now feared for their lives and there was talk that they may have been engaged in an attack from the east or north by the Amazons themselves which left none to return. This was of course no consolation to those families who had already lost relatives due to the terrible feverish affliction which still raged throughout Sharvur's kingdom. It was nevertheless the hope of many that knew of Zaria's plight that her reinstatement as protectoress of the nomads would begin to work its magic. That they might feel some relief from the suffering and death which wandered amidst them. Meanwhile, each day and night the bodies were accumulating into frozen piles in the deep snow and along the icy roads. 

            Knowing that her dearest friend Svetlana was for now living in comfort and being loved by Murka, Zaria had three immediate desires to fulfil with her revived freedom. One of those included a brief visit to Svetlana's new home to see for herself if the rumors about her comfort and good fortune were true. Her second was to intercede in Branka's fate before Sharvur had his evil ways with her. She needed to somehow prevent his sadistic plans using the brutal Arpada for his enjoyment. Zaria had only recently felt this humiliation and sexual danger which the king was too willing to inflict on her. It was abuse by proxy—employing this new male subordinate as an instrument of sexual torture. Something had to be done and quickly, for each day Sharvur's injury healed brought the possibility of Branka being summoned for his nightly pleasure. Branka's own plans for escape, which she had expressed to Zaria passionately, were virtually impossible during these times of truly deadly weather. 

            Lastly, Zaria herself was still love sick for Tsudros—the man who brought her so much joy and had been the object of her nightly dreams since she had emotionally and physically bonded with him. Their union had been initiated first through his otherworldly tattoos upon her skin, and secondly upon their limited but glorious lovemaking, which she now had pledged to consummate fully when they were reunited. 

            That she was given the freedom to see the tattoo artist again by Sharvur own decree—and at her own will, was the reason Zaria had sent Mila to Tsudros' home earlier that day. It was an invitation to see her in her own palace chamber that very evening. Mila had returned with the good news that the young artist was elated over the news—not only that Zaria still loved him, but that they could now be together again on Zaria's terms and more often. Mila smiled when she told Zaria that Tsudros had not left his home during the whole time she had been detained by Sharvur's orders, sketching designs for her body. He told her that the fact that she was not killed or treated any worse than she was, came as a great relief him. To the moody artist during those days of her confinement, when Mila had kept him informed of Zaria's plight, the young man suffered significantly for the woman he loved.  

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            As Zaria was escorted that afternoon on horseback to Murka's tent complex, seeing the bodies of plague victims wrapped tightly in sheets and stacked together, she came upon a plan as to how to save Branka from her tortuous nights. It could possibly keep her out of the clutches of  Arpada—nicked named "the bull," and the sadistic orchestrations of the king. It was a risky plan and a desperate one, but Zaria felt she now had no other choice. The time had come to spare her fair sister from the sure horrors which awaited her. 

            As she entered Murka's house, she was shown to the inner chambers by a man who was a special guard of the hero's.  Following the ringing of a little bell at the doorway, Svetlana suddenly appeared from another section of the house. She was delightfully showing rounder now with child, and she held the hand of a young child. Zaria and Svetlana immediately embraced upon meeting in the torch-lit hallway.