Sapphira

[Sapphira]

Name: Sapphira
Height: 165 cm
Weight: 50 kg

‘Who are ye?’ ye said?

I be Sapphira, daughter of the Sultan of Nujel’m. That makes me a princess.

What? Ye think I lied? Fine, so do ye want the truth, the whole truth, or nothing but the truth?
If ye truly must know, I’ll tell ye. I , Sapphira am a Rom of Ilshenar; from the tip of my head to my toes, Rom be in my blood and in t’marrow of my bone. Pretty deep eh?

‘Tis not a matter of embarrassment at all that I am not with my people but here amongst the gadje; I be here because the gypsy king himself commissioned me to learn your strange gadje’s ways and return to the romipen once I attained immeasurable wisdom, knowledge and untold riches. Doesn’t have to be all three, two out of three will be fine too. Ain’t it generous of him? We have the best gypsy king I tell ye.

Why not all young and beautiful gypsies like me are out and about ye asked?

Well, uh…. That’s because I be.. special.. ayh, that’s the way ye gadje put it. Ye see, there was.. uh.. a string o’unfortunate events that led to my current ‘predicament’. I don’t remember much of them but I’ll tell ye some.

There’s this spirited ten years old lad, Nadav who’s the sweetest thing ye’d ever lay yer eyes on. Spirited and determined, he’s only borrowed a few coins from me and fergot to let me know. So o’course when he was ill with constipation (from eating too much sweets bought with a few coins he borrowed from me but fergot to let me know about) I was more than willin’ to help him. I told him to stand on one foot by the lake till sunrise and crow with the rooster. I heard Daj Zorda gave the very same advice to the gadje that strayed our way the other day, so it must work! However fer some strange reasons young Nadav’s Daj and Dad weren’t very happy about it and reported me to the king for ‘tryin’ to harm a child’. What nerve! I say.. those ingrates.

Then there be time when I was tryin’ to help Daj Zorda perfect a new kind of purple dye in her lab. T’wasn’t my fault at all that a small accident happened. Who would’ve thought that a small amount of sulphurous ash would react that way when in contact with fire? So the tent blew up and his show canaries are this pretty shade of purple. There were no casualties at all, and Daj Zorda could’ve made an obscene amount of gold showing ‘rare’ purple canaries, but do I get even a ‘thank ye Sapphira’? No..Daj Zorda just had to over-react like a mad sand vortex with a purple potion lighted up her skirt.

Ye know what she made me do for helping her? She made me wash the steps to the Gypsy King’s caravan. T’was a very dirty wooden thing if I may say so meself, so I soaped it real good and scrubbed like ne’er before.  Oh’ t’was most grueling and tiring thing one can ask a lass to do, so, d’ye think it was me fault if I obliged happily when Daj Zorda called me to dinner in the middle of my task? No one in their right mind would! So, the king had a grand fall on his arse, but I assure ye, it was in a very dignified, kingly manner that he fell. Still, it be no reason for him to expel me in the land of strangers!! That ungrateful sorry excuse for a lyin’ and thievin’ little impy king. King my arse!!!!  ‘I have enough o’ that lass’ he said ‘let’s unleash her to the gadje and let them handle her, he said!’ What with that attitude?? How can he call himself king?!!

Anyway, once I achieved my goals, I will return to my people, and they will be very happy to receive me again. I am sure of it.