La Gitana

by Carol Ann

  183

  I loved the smell of him like a sweated horse and my lower part was moist with yearning. He rubbed his cock back and forth so I would feel its rigidity and power. He then took my face into his hands gently stroking my cheeks.

  “This is not just about sex, Gitana. I love the woman you are, both soft and dangerous, I find a kindred spirit in you.” His eyes were flickering in the candlelight and I saw them as moist, brown jewels.

  “I feel the same, my lord.”

  “Gitana,” he whispered in my ear, “You are my woman now and as such you are forever under my protection financially and every other way. I am the roof over your house, understand me?”

  I nodded and led him to my red velvet canopied bed, and laid him down.

  “My lord, I am going to worship you from the tip of your toes to the place where you rut and jerk and expire in sex fluid.”

  I started licking and sucking his toes, one by one, and then slowly and methodically licked and sucked his entire body, save for his cock. He tasted of salt and wine and he groaned low and rough like a bear.

  Then he said, “Give it to me, gypsy, I want to fuck your pussy. I want to fuck the life out of you and flood you like a river. I want the smell of my stink all over your body, head to toe.”

  So, I climbed on top of him and because of his immense width, I was filled to the hilt, top to bottom. I began to snap my back to give him more power. My woman’s part was a large hungry hole dying to be filled every inch by his rigid cock. The sides of my dirty flower were contracting and releasing him and I know it is rare to be so excited. I 184

  would have cut my heart out for a peso and given it to him. He cried out and pulled me down close so he could bite and suck my breasts. I felt a small stream of blood flowing from my right breast and I thought, yes, let there be blood, sweat, and semen and the darkest side of the moon. I pulled back up and gave him all my rage and power and love, nothing held back. My teeth were clinched together as I came. He surged up and screamed as he came shooting me full of semen that ran down my leg.

  Afterward we lay in each others arms in silence letting the miracle of our joining swirl around like a sainted ghost. His muscular arm cradled my head and the other hand rested tenderly on my pussy. And we fell into a deep purple dream and we were one.

  The next morning, very early, he lay on top of me controlling the rhythm, plunging in and out like a raging bull. I felt him touching the top of me where few men can seldom go. He had my legs thrown back behind my head for maximum thrust and at each thrust I felt a delicious pain. I cleaved to the pain and the man. I thought of my pussy as a warm, black velvet pouch full of soft, round pearls. A treasure for the man I loved. When he came, thrashing and screaming he looked right in my eyes. There were tears in his eyes.

  Then he removed his mask and said, “Your Falcon King is also King Louis but you knew that all along, did you not, Carmen?”

  “Yes, Louis, only a King can fuck like that.”

  He lay still and soft within me stroking my hair and the cheeks of my face.

  “You shall always be safe. We are like a cloud forever floating over you. Should you get with child, We will take care of him or her and you. Always. Always, from now to the end of time and beyond the grave. You are Our woman, Carmen.” 185

  He was my King, my love, my heartache. It appeared I was destined never to have a man of my own or to be a fond wife. Starlings mate in the air and fly separately away in the hushed, blue sky. So it was with me. I developed a real hatred for Madame de Maintenon for mine is a jealous, harsh heart. I put a curse on her next child that he would be still born and it came to pass. But hers was not Louis’s last child. My child was Louis’s last child. I had a bounding, ruddy, boy. Antonio had a brother! My trip back to Spain was a pleasant one. I felt closer than ever to Marie after knowing her Uncle Louis. But there was something in the treacherous, turbulent green sea that put me ill at ease. I believe in signs: and I had the feeling of impending disaster. On the black and white dance floor of the ball I was but a chess piece being moved around by fate and my fate was tied up with Marie Luisa’s. I was an actor in a play and I did not write the script.

  Marie died that year, 1689, of tuberculosis. I felt as if a piece of my heart had been chipped away. I loved her magnificence, her greed to live each day at its fullest. I would never see those strange, bright eyes again not touch those soft, little breasts. Her eyes floated above me in all I did during those horrible days of grieving. Carlos was disconsolate and could not eat or sleep. He talked about her all the time and could not cease weeping. He even had her body exhumed that he might hold her again. He became ill and feared for his life. He suspected everyone but me. I was his sole confidant and connection to the outside world. The running of the government became the sole responsibility of the Junta del Gobierno (assembly of the government), and me and a few select nobles skilled in finance and government.

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  Carlos never got dressed in other than sleep clothes and refused to bath or comb his hair. He said, “Marie is not dead: she comes to me glowing like a star at night and tells me what I must do. I must move toward Our Savior and pray all day and night for her swift return to me. She will rise again like Christ. ” Something had to be done. Cardinal Mazzarin proposed Maria Anna of Newbourg-Pfalsburg, an Austrian princess for Carlos’s new wife. He described her as a plain simple girl well acquainted with the domestic arts and with no ambition but to be a good wife. She might soothe Carlos’s shattered nerves. She had absolutely no interests in politics or the mechanics of power. Her sole purpose was to be a good wife.

  And indeed, she was plain, with a pocked round face and blank brown eyes that watched the world without amusement or joy. One heard the dull thud of her feet on the floor. She was thick in the middle and low slung in the ass. For all her royal blood, she resembled a peasant out of a Breughel painting. She was anything but what he purported her to be. She was harsh, and grasping and terribly interested in power. She was not interested in being a helpmate to Carlos: if anything she tried to keep him weak that she could advance the Austrian interests in Spain and appointed many Austrian diplomats to important posts much to the chagrin of the Hidalgos.

  And she had not a kind word for him. She would say, “You’re insane, Carlos.

  You’ve lost your mind. You stink: go wash yourself. Do not come near me, you sloth.” When he called her she always had some hateful thing to say such as, “What do you want now. Why are you still weeping: are you a woman? No king comports himself in such a way.”

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  He would stammer, “We are sovereign not you, wife. You cannot talk to Us in this manner. Do you think Us a shoe black or a poor merchant sent to serve you? We are the King not you.”

  “When We look at you we do not see a King: We see a sniveling little boy.” I replied, “It is not fitting for you to criticize the King. His power comes from Our Majestic Lord and you are merely the Queen, and wife.” She replied, “We know of your relationship with Marie Luisa and may We say We do not eat persimmon, if you perceive my meaning. You are less than useless to Us.

  We do not believe in gypsy spells and may decide to cast her out on the street.” King Carlos roared, “You shall not hurt my gypsy. Guards place my wife in the North Tower and she shall eat bread and water until such a time as We see fit to release her. And no visitors. None. The mere sight of her repels Us.”

  “Perhaps, We misspoke, my love. We have many cares which We have been handling during your illness and being a mere woman it was too much for Us. Have pity, My Lord.”

  The King remained adamant and she was taken away, kicking, and screaming, and swearing at the top of her lungs.

  “Hortencia! Guards bring me Hortencia.” And he made Hortencia his chief guard as she had been to Marie Luisa. “Hortencia, We give you this position for you loved Marie Luisa and We want the same loyalty you gave to her. If something looks wrong or amiss in court you must tell Us immediately.”


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  “Yes, my King, I swear total fealty to you.” And there were tears in her eyes. “I am honored.” Hortencia was quite the beauty after being liberated from the prison and her skin was ivory white, and smooth and her long red hair was combed and lustrous.

  Many a guard was in love with her but she preferred the maidens of the court, softness clinging to softness. Still, there was a trace of malevolence and pain in her clear green eyes which would never go away. Marie Luisa had said a very astute thing about her. She said love, humanity, joy, could be stripped away from a person yet passion remained. The life of the loins persevered.

  “So, Carmen, Our heart is broken but We hate that sow of a wife. We must find my strength again that We may lead the people. We have been sick too long. We are not well: many are just counting the days until Our demise. Then she plans to seize the government and put in a puppet ruler who will act on her command. My nobles have been telling me that. It’s time We listened.”

  “My King, I am so happy to see you become yourself. You are a great King.

  Never forget that. I love you. We shall fight this thing together.”

  “That’s right. We are becoming Ourselves again and with you by Our side, We shall not fail.”

  That very day Carlos addressed the nobles of His court sitting down in his royal chair. “Nobles, Lords, and Gentlemen, as you know, We have not been well for a number of months. But We tell you the mind can heal just as the body does. Do not count the hours until Our demise. We shall not die. We shall lead Spain to greatness again. No one thought We would live this long and my pulse is red and strong. We shall reduce the foreign influence in government and appoint Spanish hidalgos in their stead.

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  Miracles happen. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. So it is with Us. We have been raised from the dead. And here We are to lead you to greatness. Spain shall rise again.” The nobles applauded and there were a few snickers which Carlos failed to notice.

  I also felt great joy as I was carrying Louis’s baby. Greatness is sometimes foisted upon a person. I sent a sealed letter by courier to Louis. A month later, his reply came. He was delighted and would make arrangements to meet me. He did not trust the seas and pregnant women so He would come to me. He also sent a major fortune in a leather pouch full of silver sovereigns and did so many times. throughout the years.

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  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The Duke or Jito, as I called him, took the news of my pregnancy with equanimity.

  He said that if it wasn’t this man it would have been him. He evinced a theory that the man was high born, perhaps a royal. I replied that it was the court jester as I liked the way his balls jiggled.

  “You can jest all you want. It’s fortunate Marie Luisa never knew you were with child. She might have vanquished you to hell.”

  ‘I had no desire to break her heart. Fortunately, gypsies don’t show pregnancy until the seventh month or so. She died so quickly. I watched her go from pink and robust to yellow and gaunt. Her face looked like a skeletal thing in the end. She became a ghost, a thin tracing of herself. It was my saddest moment in life. She saved my life twice and I could not save hers. I’ll never stop loving her.”

  “What about me? Do you still love me?” Jito asked.

  “I love people in varying degrees. You were responsible for bringing me to court.

  None of my life as I live it now would have happened with out you, Jito. I never forget a good deed.”

  “I am too wise to ask to what degree. I am just satisfied that you do. I am getting too old to fight young men’s battles. Hark, a rose lies on the ground between two suitors: who shall draw the sword and win her hand. No, not for me. Will you one day join him in France?”

  “If fate wills it.”

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  “That makes me sad that I may one day lose you. As you know I have no love for my wife. All she cares about is eating and drinking wine and would no longer recognize a cock if she saw one. I love you and my daughters. You are the most important thing in my life.”

  “I do love you too, Jito. Tell me are the nobles happy with the new prime minister?”

  “Relatively so. But the Queen has appointed many new Austrian officials to important positions in the government and we are very unhappy with her choices. As you know this happened during Carlos’s absence of mind.”

  “What would you have me do, Jito?”

  “Carlos will be better for awhile then go down again and she’ll take over with a puppet ruler to obey her command. This is very bad for Spain. She is interested in more than lace and feathers and titles. She wishes to rule Spain. Have Carlos reenact the Junta del Gobierno or perhaps institute the French form of government.

  In France no one person has all the authority but the King himself. We want able men who can veto bills based on foreign influence. Here is a list of names and I am one of them. Can you get Carlos to do one or the other before he goes mad again.”

  “I can do it. The queen is in the tower right Spain now. Carlos finally stood up to her after much abuse. He is sane for the moment,” I said.

  “Excellent, mi Corazon, (my heart). At least I know you are one person who has the real interests of Spain in mind. I know you were instrumental in getting the Church to cede up its ill-gotten lands back to the rightful owners. What did you think of King Louis XIV?”

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  “He was powerful and able enough to be a King.”

  “Do you have anything else to add?”

  “He sets a fine table.”

  “Me thinks you protest too much. Louis has quite and eye for the ladies although rumor has it that he is loyal to Madame.”

  “He saw only a gypsy when he looked at me. I was not powdered, perfumed, white of skin. So he had no use for me, other than as being a companion to Marie Luisa.”

  “Give me as hint as to who the man was,” said Jito.

  “He was a noble, that’s all. I was drunk on wine and he pulled up my skirts in the King’s garden while Marie Luisa was otherwise engaged. I washed myself and got into bed with her as I always did. So, I cannot tell you: I don’t know myself.”

  “And tell me what you did with Marie. I never tire of it.” He took out his cock which I took in my hand. I told him of soft breasts like ripe plums, and of her mouth sucking on my pussy, and of the cool luminescence of her skin in the moonlight, and the rank smell of rotting fish which I so relish. The love of soft women with hard hearts. He came on my breasts and then he rose again taking me on an amorous journey. He was less powerful as a man than Louis yet still quite pleasing.

  I missed the soft love of Marie Luisa as she had become part of my heart yet I did not seek out other women as my first preference was men. In the year of 1690, Louis sent word he was coming to honor the grave of Marie Luisa and to see me. I was nine months pregnant, plump and soft. There was much speculation on the identity of the father. I just smiled and said that he was a robust man as his son kicked like a mule. I knew my baby would be a boy.

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  Louis arrived on August 20, and the peasants were wild to see the Sun King. He rode in a gold embossed coach with six black stallions with purple plumes. It was an entourage of ten people including Jean Baptiste Colbert, and the Lady Magdalena.

  Madame was present. Carlos because of illness waited in the castle but sent the Queen, myself, and several high ranking nobles to greet King Louis. A band of musicians walked alongside his carriage playing French military tunes. Antonio, my son, newly turned fifteen, was also with me. He had become quite successful in spite of his relative youth. In his portraits of King Carlos he captured the sadness of the King, and also his meager strengths. There was more life in his portraits of Carlos than in Carlos Himself. Antonio had grown tall and thin and like his father, Benecio, he had vibrant, yellow cat eyes framed with thick, black lashes. I wondered what Louis would think of him and vice versa.

  The peasants were throwing flowers at the King’s coach and entoura
ge, and Louis threw sovereigns to the crowd to the delight of the peasants. The Spanish Queen, Maria Anna, not to be outdone, was doing the same thing. Many a peasant would have a fine repast that night. The king’s coach followed ours to the palace and upon arriving he greeted each person after he greeted the Queen. When he got to me, he said, “Greetings, Gitana, and friend of Marie Luisa, my poor, dead niece. How it sorrows me she has passed yet you bring new life into this world. Death waits at one door, and Life waits at the other. May Our child be blessed.” And he held out his ring hand for me to kiss.

  I introduced Antonio as my first child, and Antonio stepped boldly forth taking the King’s hand and said that he would be honored if the King would sit for him. Louis 194

  laughed and said that He got his boldness from his mother and that He would pose if I would also pose with him. How could I refuse, my heart beat so wildly.

  Carlos who waited on his throne mustered up the strength to greet Louis.

  “We count ourselves lucky you do not come in war, King Louis. Welcome to Spain, you are a man We much admire.”

  “It would be better if you feared me. Machiavelli says fear is preferable to love since fear lasts and love does not,” and He laughed.

  I interjected. “Of course, we lesser beings fear you as the Lion of War but King Carlos has no such trepidation.”

  “Can he not perceive a jest? We know he does not fear me. We came as an equal to honor my dead niece and welcome the new Queen,” said Louis.

  “We perceive the jest and We shall love and honor Marie Luisa forever. You will never know how much,” said King Carlos.

  “Your Majesty should love and honor me as well,” said the Queen.

  “Of course, my love,” said Carlos. “We feel the same about you. You bring me much stimulation.”