THE SUN-THIEF






And yes, there was a full moon that night. the first time our people crossed their path.
And yes, we knew there was something wrong. But we couldn't tell what it was.

It was a long time ago, early 1600.
And the moon was full that night.
We had found ourselves an open spot, an old woman let us stay on her field, in trade for our services of course. Nothing is free in this world.
We usually managed to survive on what we earned by crafting, mending and reading...But this year it had been little work for us. The women earned more than the males.

The summer had been warm, the smell were haunting us. The dirty so-called streets outside London was a pit of human garbage. We lived among actors and artists, the drunken and insane, on the wrong side of the river Thames.

That night...

Our carriages were placed in a circle around a huge fire. The children were sleeping, and we were about to do the same. When we heard this thrilling laughter.

- Take your hands of my dress, they are dirty!
The sweetest, softest voice...

- Look! Gypsies!
A man spoke, Our males rose from their positions, Their eyes were watching the shadows, an inner alert told them, that there could be a danger.

But we had never met anyone like her before, and she appeared to us as a goddess. In her deep green clothing, golden laces and sparkling jewels. She could have been a princess.

Her hair were held in place by a golden comb, her cloak was purple, and tear shaped pearls hang from her ears. There must have been emeralds in her necklace, emeralds and diamonds...
Her silk shoes were dirty after her walk, even if the two gentlemen who escorted her seemed to have carried her most of the way, they had dirt all the way up to their waists. So much silk and velvet, ruined, by a rich woman's walk...

That's what we thought, back then...We didn't know. You never know, what's inside.

- Stop!
The woman, commanded her escort.

- I want to talk to them! Gypsies are fun!

She lifted her skirts up from the ground, yellow silk approached under the green velvet, careful not to step in the dirt she walked into our circle. The horses moved nervously.
We gathered in the circle's middle, as animals searching for eachothers protection. We were about ten grown men, she was a tiny lady, who had even left her guards behind in the night.

And she was like a sun, shining in the dark.

Our eldest woman approached.
- Go away,
she said.
- Leave us!

The pretty woman laughed,
- Don't worry, old woman. I'll leave in a while.
As if she was controlled by a instinct she turned to our leader,
- I want to hear my future, I'll pay well!

- We don't work at night,
he answered.

Still smiling she opened her little green purse and threw it to him.
- Enough? ,
she asked.

Her eyes showed amusement over his not so well hidden reaction, this was more money than we had had all summer, and our children were starving.

Still, I think we all shared this cold emotion, a warning that something was wrong.

When our leader accepted the offer with a bow, my heart froze, it froze, but I can still not figure out what it was with her, who made me feel like this.

My aunt should do her reading, she was the best we had.
She was old, and wise. She had kept a certain goodness in her heart.
Not destroyed over the years.

As usual when she did her readings, I crawled into the back of the carriage we shared, among others, to listen. It was our little secret...I loved to hear her low voice, the way she just grabbed a person's soul.
Read it, explored it, and carefully put it back again. Without the person really noticing.

What is your name?
My aunt asked her customer.
- Darla...
Her face looked like a dolls in the single light inside. A carefully painted porcelain doll. Her lips so red, her eyes so shiny blue, black lashes, and pale, pale skin.
And her hair, that blonde hair. Like a golden carpet over her shoulders.
It looked so soft, so silky...I remember I felt this need, to touch it...

But I also saw my aunt, the way she wet her lips with her tongue, her hands were a bit shaky. And she avoided eye contact with the Lady across. It made me nervous too...And curious...
I was young, only fourteen...And I had never seen anyone like her before.

- Are you a noble woman?
My aunt asked her,
- You can call me countess if you want...
The honey voice announced.
- That's what I am, these days...
She smiled, Her teeth were unusually white, like small pieces of white glass. I had never seen anything like it, those days people were happy to have teeth left by the age of twenty.

- I need a personal belonging of yours, your earring perhaps, My aunts eyes were starring down at the table between them.

The lady put one of the shiny white tears down between them, in reach of my aunt's sight.
My aunt reach out her hand and gently touched the cold surface of the jewelry.

- This isn't yours!
She said, and quickly redrew her hand.
Her dark eyes starred at the earring with disgust,
- The real owner died a violent death, not long ago.

- Yes,
the lady answered, without showing any surprise,
- It was such a pity...
She was still smiling while she spoke. Her pale fingers picked up the pearl.

- I want you to read the cards for me!

- No! No! There will be no more reading! Go home!
My aunt crossed her hands in front of her chest in a protective gesture.

Her guest slowly rose her eyes, there was fire in them now, dark fire.
- Read the cards!

I could see how my aunt were struggling with her fear, and I heard how my own heart were pounding in my chest.
The beautiful woman had a deadly threat in her eyes, which none of us could ignore.
Like a cat on a hunt.
Stone and ice.

I remember how I thought that our instincts had been right, we should never agreed to let her in to our carriage.
And now my dear aunt picked down her cards from the shield above the lady's head.
Her long, grey hair touched the guest's shiny blonde. Her dirty blue clothing against the rich texture of the woman's velvet dress.
And I was no longer sure, which one of them who were pretty.

I remember her white fingers picking out cards, and how my old aunt spread them in her usual pattern.
I could read her heart, the fear, in her eyes.

When she turned the first card, she swallowed hard. And so did I, from my hiding place.
The lady, just smiled. Calm and relaxed.

I could see my aunt struggling to concentrate on the card below her eyes.
It was the darkness inside, not the one around who distracted her mind this night.

- Go ahead, old woman!
Still sweet, still soft, like a pillow filled with feathers. Like sugar on a freshly baked cake, still warm. Melting on your tongue.

-In your past,
my aunt cleared her voice,
- In your past, I see a strong male. He wants power and influence. This is the king of swords, he wants to rule by it... His path is filled with violence,

My aunt closed her eyes, as she did when the visions came over her,
- He wants to rule in the dark...His history goes far back...
Her voice cracked,
- Perhaps he is your father,
she finished.

The woman laughed. Silent, but powerful in the small room,
- I guess he is my...Father...

My aunt turned the next card, it didn't surprise me at all to hear her describe The Devil;
- This could mean that you're bound to the earth, that you have no God. That your actions are just to make your life comfortable...
Or it could mean you're have given your soul to the devil!

My aunt starred at her guest with her dark, glowing eyes. Usually this was a powerful gesture, tonight...It didn't work...

Her guest laughed again, her voice were sarcastic;
- The Devil...?! Oh please, you know better than that! Tell me the rest. Are there any angels in my future...Will I ever go to heaven...Or to hell?

My aunt closed her eyes, I could see by the look on her face that she was angry. And scared too. But most angry now...
- Yes! There is an angel in your life! A dark angel.
- The angel of death?
Her eyes were shining,

- No! No...But yes.

She nodded her head to confirm that here vision was over, and returned to her cards.

- Do you live at the court? With the queen? Are you one of her maids? The Empress, and three of cups appeared as she turned the next cards.
- Yes, I am...I And Elizabet are playing cards every afternoon, there are so many tasteful people there...I can never get enough.
Her eyes were dreamy.

- But you have no husband?
A queen with a sword were the next card on the table.

- Not now...I had...But he had an...Accident, while we were traveling in France...But I'm sure I'll have many more...
She smiled,
- journeys,
she finished, with a disturbingly, wicked look on her face.

I should have left then, but I didn't...I had never seen evil before. So I was fascinated.

- Future:
My aunt announced, and turned three cards on her left.
The star, The moon and the Fool...And above them she turned up the princess of cups.

- An innocent soul. She's of you blood. But not your daughter. Pure of mind and heart. She has the gift...I see the shadows of the moon reaching for her...Living in her mind...Darkness. I see confusion and fear. Unsecurity...A sensitivity ruined by an iron boot. Ashes. Ruin and death...Please!
My aunt cried now. Salty tears in her eyes,
- Please, I can not continue! Please I beg you! Spare me of this darkness!

It happened so fast...The woman's hand around my aunt's throat, squeezing it.

- You will continue...Or I swear this rotten camp of yours will burn!

My aunt must have seen something I didn't, because her eyes widen in shock.
Her body lost all resistance, and she fell back on her chair...She was still shaking, but managed to turn the next cards.

- She must be your daughter in-law,
she whispered.
- Your son is the one who will lead her to destruction. your son is a pale, dark man. Tall. I see him as the tower of destruction, where ever he goes, destruction will follow. He is a trickster, The magician, he can play tricks on people's minds. He has the gift of words. He is filled with passion, a dark passion. He is the reversed knight of Wands.

My aunt's voice were cold, she was deeply concentrated. I guess she just wanted to finish, so that the woman would go away.

- There is a son of his. He is loving her. A true love. But he do also have this mark on him. I don't think he is a good man, even if he looks like an angel. He Is fair, blond...
But the shadows of ten swords may indicate that he has the same appetite for destruction as his father before him. If you weren't such a fine family, I would say they were all...Maybe a war will come. Maybe that's what I see...

- How far in to the future do you see?
Hearing her soft voice again, after hearing my aunt's predictions, sent cold shivers down my spine. I had never experienced such fear before. Didn't think it possible. This woman had proved me wrong! I was terrified!

- It's hard to tell...now, let's see...There is something else: You will be traveling a lot...But you never marry...But there will be lovers...

My aunt suddenly turned pale,

- How can you love your son that way?
Who are you?!
What are you?!

The woman just giggled at her, the half smile on her lips remained.
- Haven't you heard all the stories about the nobility? How strange we are?
How perverted? How we use to spank eachother...Having orgies at the royal castle...How we kill our bastards and hide them behind the bricks in the walls...?

My aunt's mouth turned into an almost invisible thin line, she lowered her gaze and went back to the cards.

- How will I die...?
The woman asked, there was something strange in her voice, like she was about to laugh.

My aunt picked up the cards and mixed them together, then spread them out again and quickly turned the first five...

- I can't see...
She whispered,
- I can not find...
She turned paler.

- There it is!
triumph!

But I saw the woman's face, and I saw curiosity for the first time, and anger.

- What do you see?!
She demanded to know,

- I see a warrior princess.
- A slayer?
- ...I don't know! What is that?
- She will kill me?
- No...Your son will...in time...she will come between you...

The lady seemed to relax again, her eyes were again filled with amusement.
- And then I'll die?

A wrinkle appeared between my aunt's eyes:
- Yes you will, but...Not! I can see many deaths, many births. It looks like you will live. But also die.

She held up the card of Judgment, an angel waking up the dead. But also the card named Death, a dark angel collecting it's souls.

- Have you ever been near death before?
My aunt asked her,
- I can see the mark of death in your past. And a sleep, a strange sleep. A sleepwalker in your present. Are you?

- No..I don't sleep much, at night...But I have been touching, what you call...death...

Her white hand reached out and touched my aunt's face, terrified I watched as a crimson mark was left on her cheek.
- Can you see anything else?

My aunt laid her palms on the remaining cards, she closed her eyes, and I knew she was about to to touch her inner depths.

- I see...
Her eyes flew open,
- You will hurt my people,
her voice seemed darker, and strange to my ears.
- Your blood will hurt them! And that is what will lead to your fall!

A pale hand slapped a face.

- Enough!

Shock and horror fought inside of me...How can I ever describe what I felt when I saw Darla's true face?
The bony wrinkle above her nose and on her forehead, like claws over her face, the yellow eyes, her sharp, white fangs...
I can't describe. Just recall the feeling.

She grabbed my aunt by her throat and held her up in the air, her voice were a loud whisper. It cut like a sharp knife through the air:
- I cannot die, you moron! I AM death!

And with those words she lowered her and pulled her closer, her teeth sank in to my aunt's neck, and her mouth closed over the wounds. A thin strip of blood ran down from her mouth while she passionately sucked it from my aunt's body.

Yes, she was the queen of death. Her marble skin glowed pale in the dark room, my aunt hang like a sack from her arms.

Her mouth let go of her victim for a brief moment;
- My children can't harm you or no one! I can't have children! That's what happens when you receive the gift of immortality!

Her mouth went back, sucking.

My aunt screaming, with her last drops of life;
- I can see the trail of blood? Why?!
Why all this blood?! This innocent people?! Why?!

The demon threw my aunt's dead body on the floor;
- I have to feed, you stupid, old fool! You just happened to be dinner!
Her face turned back to normal, human form as she spoke;
- At least I pay well for the meal! Not that it was worth it...old and sour!

She was headed towards the door, and I let my breath out, a bit too soon...Suddenly she froze, and turned around in one motion.

I stared at her, and my aunts body on the floor. I was shaking beyond control, still I couldn't move. I felt the tears on my face, but couldn't remember when I started to cry.

She was standing in front of me. Her small frame, suddenly so tall, so frightening. Her eyes were crystals of pure steel and ice.

- What a cute boy you are, what's your name?

Summer came crawling back to her eyes...Sugar and honey were floating from her mouth. She smiled, this beautiful smile of hers, still I couldn't move.

She looked over her shoulder, at the body she had left...

- Did you know her?
Compassion in her voice.

- ...She was my aunt...
I finally answered.

- Oh, so sad.

First her fingers stroke my hair gently, and then she pulled me close to her chest, I could hear no heart beating in there.
To afraid to even try to escape from her arms, I felt her lips on my neck.

- What a sweet boy you are,
she whispered again, before her fangs cut through my skin, and I felt her tongue lick my neck.

I was badly drained that night, I know.
But the worse thing was loosing the sun.
To never be able to look up on it, without getting burned and die.
To feed on humans is not so bad. The sensation of human blood running down your throat, a pleasure beyond belief.
But I miss the sun she stole from me.
And I miss her.
Darla.


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