“No, no. Really, you don’t need to do anything. It’s fine.” I stood and went to do some work, but Jonathan caught me before leaving.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Me? What happened to us? He and Alec were always together, like fish, but now it was like he was throwing him away. And why was this any of his business? “I don’t celebrate my birthday.”
He stared at me like I was crazy. “Why? Birthdays are important. You celebrate the passing of a year.”
That was one reason I didn’t celebrate my birthday. When you knew you would live at least two hundred years, if not more, birthdays weren’t that important. “We never had much time for birthdays. In my family, it’s just me, Ritta, and Mother. We get by every day by working, so no time for birthdays.”
He shook his head. “How about Christmas?”
“I know it’s a celebration of the royals, but I don’t actually know what it is.”
He stared at me in disbelief. “It’s not a celebration of the royals. Christmas is the birth of Christ, and we celebrate it.”
Oh. So it’s a religious feast.
“How about Halloween?”
I shook my head.
“It’s when we banish the bad spirits,” Jonathan explained, and I froze and paid attention. “We dress as ghosts, wizards, and monsters, and we have fun.”
Speechless, I stared at him. Fun? They dressed as witches and warlocks and they had fun? They were making fun of who we were. Only humans would do that.
“Surely you know what a weekend is...”
I nodded. “Yes, Saturday and Sunday when rich people don’t work.”
He looked at the ceiling. “No. It’s when everyone doesn’t work.”
“But we work. In the village, we work, at least we used to...”
He looked at me. “Why?”
“Because you—” I put a hand over my mouth. “Because the royals make us work.” I almost said because you make us work, but that would make no sense to the others. “Now I have work to do.” Furious, I went upstairs and took care of my usual chores. When I finished, I went downstairs. Fortunately, nobody was there but Alicia’s mother, so I asked her if I could help her with anything.
“Of course, you can, but it’s your birthday...”
I smiled. “I can do whatever I want.”
She smiled kindly. “Since you love the horses so much, you can help clean them and their stalls a little bit with my son.” I nodded, and we went to the stables. I helped brush the horses and feed them. It was an exciting job, and we had fun. It felt cold outside for November, but maybe that was normal here. Working with the horses warmed us up a little bit.
When we were finished, we returned to the kitchen and—What was going on? It was like the whole place had been transformed. The table was set with what looked like a thousand different foods. There was enough to feed an entire army. What was she, a witch? No one could make that much food that fast. Seeing my confusion, the boy said, “Mom called the neighbors to help her.”
That made more sense. “But she didn’t need to,” I said as I looked at all the foods in front of me.
He smiled. “Mom gets excited for feast days. She loves them and it’s her way of celebrating and having fun at the same time.”
How unusual. Midnight came running up to me and her face was messy. “Exactly what do you think you are doing?” I asked her, lifting her up. Meow. “Lunch has not begun, and you have eaten already. Did I teach you that? Did you ever see me eat before time? No. So why are you doing it? Meow. She put her paws on her nose—she did that when she was sorry or guilty.
“Don’t yell at her,” Alicia’s mother said, and she came toward us. “She helped me cook the foods.” I raised an eyebrow. “Since we didn’t know which foods you liked, the cat helped us understand a bit what you didn’t like. But why do you hate meat?”
Midnight, you are a genius. “I don’t like the thought of eating an animal. I eat it but not with pleasure.”
She nodded. “I see. I made some other Spanish foods, and she helped me choose and acted as a tester.”
I lifted Midnight up. “Sorry, but you didn’t tell me you were helping.” Meow. I kissed her and hugged her. “So now how about a bath and we clean your face?” Wrong words. Midnight fled from my arms faster than a horse which was being chased by bees. Oops. “Midnight hates baths,” I said.
“Every cat does.” The mother laughed.
I took a bowl with water and looked for Midnight. “Come on, Midnight. Time to drink.” I saw her little face peek out from under the couch.
“What happened in here?” Jonathan said.
“Shh. The situation is very delicate.” I put the bowl down not very far from Midnight. “See? Drink. It’s good. No harm, no danger.” Midnight examined the bowl and then started drinking.
“What did you do?” Jonathan asked.
I kept my voice low. “I said forbidden words.”
“What words?”
The fear of all cats. “Words that you should never say in front of a cat.” I mouthed the word “bath.”
He smiled a little. “She is afraid of—”
“Shh. She will flee again, and this time it would not be under the couch.”
“You don’t wash her at all?”
I shook my head. “Almost never. Cats are very clean animals and since she hates it, she never gets mud on her face because she knows what follows. I have to trick her every time to make her... you know. It’s all hell loose when that time comes.” I didn’t tell him that since I was a witch my job was easier and fortunately Midnight didn’t have magical powers. Well, she had some powers, but she couldn’t do magic. In any case, it was always a mess.
He laughed. “I want to see that once.”
“I don’t recommend you do that. You will have some injuries for sure.”
“How do you trick her?”
I smiled mischievously. “I recruit Ritta and I use a fish to lure her.”
He laughed and Midnight dropped her empty bowl at my feet. “Oh, so you want more water now.” I teased her and refilled it. We sat at the table, but Midnight sat in my seat, so I had to sit in hers.
Jonathan was not happy about it. “Why do you do whatever she wants?”
Now I felt guilty, so I moved my chair near his and Midnight’s near mine—like before—only that my chair was hers and mine was Midnight’s. “Because you are supposed to make others happy on your birthday.”
He laughed. “No. It’s the other way around. It’s the others who should make you happy. It’s you they celebrate, it’s your day, and you can ask whatever you want. Well... almost.”
“So... if I ask to bring me the moon, would anyone do it?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Shame. It’s so beautiful.”
“So are you,” he said. Are my ears working? Did I just hear that? No, I did not hear that.
The children came along with their father and were dressed very nicely. “I feel underdressed,” said Alec in a low voice.
“Me too,” said Jonathan, and I nodded.
We ate plenty. There was too much for me to try everything on the table. The mother left the table and came back with a huge cake that had two tiers. The cake was blue and green with a yellow candle. On the top, it read “Happy 21st birthday, Eva.” A small sculpture of a little bow and arrows was on the top. I was touched and then they all started singing. I didn’t know there were birthday songs. Then the father said, “You have to make a wish, but you can’t tell us. Unless it comes true, of course.”
All right, a wish. I didn’t know if it would come true, but I made one and then blew out the candle.
“Look!” Alicia yelled and pointed out the window. Oh no. What did I do this time? “A shooting star.” The boy ran to the window.
I could do many things, but shooting stars were a little out of my league.
“Well, a shooting star on your birthday. You will have a lucky year or your wish will come
true,” said Alec. The shooting star was beautiful, and when it came down, it ended in many colors. What kind of shooting star was that? It was gone so quickly. I wanted to stare at it all night. “Eva.” Alec handed me something wrapped in pretty paper.
“What’s this?”
“It’s for you. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you. You didn’t need to give me anything.” I opened it, and it was a wooden cat shaped and painted exactly like Midnight. He hadn’t exaggerated. He was good with woodwork. “That is so beautiful. Thank you.” I hugged him.
Alicia handed me a gift too. “It’s from us. Happy birthday.”
I smiled. “Thank you.” I opened the package and it was a blue porcelain brush with an engraving: La bellezza non è sempre visibile. “It’s Italian and means that beauty is not always seen,” the father explained.
I thanked them and we spent a pleasant time together. After a while, we said goodnight. Alec went upstairs, and I followed him with Jonathan behind me.
Jonathan tapped my shoulder. “Can I tell you something?”
“Sure.” Why is he asking me if he can tell me something? I continued to the room, but he pulled me back. He gave me a little black pouch. “My gift,” he said.
Why did he wait to give it to me? Why couldn’t he give it to me in front of the others?
I opened the pouch. Inside was a silver bracelet with five little green stones. It was malachite, my birthstone. When and where did he get this? “It’s wonderful. Thank you.”
“I made it,” he said proudly and smiled. He made it? How is that possible? “Alec is good at woodwork like I am, but I am best at this.”
He is a jeweler? “If you were a peasant, you would have made a living with this. Women would love it.”
He laughed. “I guess.”
I couldn’t restrain myself and asked, “How did you know?” He gave me a questioning look. “The stone, it’s my birthstone.”
“Really? Wow. What a coincidence. I didn’t know. I had made it a long time ago to give it to you, but I couldn’t find the right moment. I guess tonight it is.”
Coincidence? No, I didn’t believe it. I never believed in coincidences anyway. He had carried it all this time for me? Why? Because he thought he owed me? Or something else? “Thank you,” I said and when we went to our room, we found Midnight having a conversation with the wooden cat. “Darling, I don’t think she will respond. She is wooden.” I put her paw on the wood. I knocked on the wood also. “See? Wood. No conversation.” Meow. After I got in bed, Midnight jumped in, taking her place near me. It had been a good day. On days like this, you could forget the situation and just enjoy life.
Go, go, go
I know I dreamed last night, but I don’t remember a thing. It was weird, but I remembered the feelings and one thing was certain: I must stay in the house today. It was bad timing because today we were supposed to go to the plaza this afternoon to hear the announcements.
After breakfast, I went upstairs and drew pictures from last night. I drew a picture of when we were at the table, a portrait of the family, and one picture of Alec and Jonathan together. “What are you drawing?” Alec asked, and I showed him the portrait of the family which I had finished adding color to. “That’s great. Will you give it to them?” I nodded. “Today are the announcements, Eva. Remember?”
“I guess.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You will come, right?”
“No, I will be staying here.”
He looked at me as though I had suggested that I had three feet. “Why not? It’s important.”
“I know it is but you will go and tell me what has been said.”
Alec paced the room. “And why not come? You always insist on coming.”
“You won’t understand.” I sighed. “I have this feeling that I must stay here in the house today. I can’t explain it.”
He gave me a long look. “All right.”
“But I will give you some rules before you leave.”
He laughed. “I would have been surprised if you didn’t.”
After lunch, Jonathan came to me. “Why you won’t come to the plaza?”
“I have to stay here. I don’t know why, but I have this feeling...”
He surprised me then by just nodding. He trusted me just like that, and before I left, I gave them rules. “You will wear these”—I pointed at the cloaks—“with the hoods on, and you will not sit in the front row, try the last, and try not to talk to anybody you don’t know except if it’s absolutely necessary.”
They nodded and put the hooded cloaks on. Alec asked, “Is it bad? Your feeling?”
I nodded sadly. “One more thing: don’t do anything stupid, and if there is any situation, run, don’t fight.” I gave them their weapons. We were not out of danger yet. After they left, I wrote a letter to Alicia and her family and set it on the table downstairs with the arrows I had promised her and the portrait of the family. We would not be returning tonight. I went upstairs and checked our bags. I had packed and had them ready for some days now. I took the bags over to the window and stared outside.
Not too much later, I saw Alec and Jonathan running toward the house. “Eva. We have to go,” Alec yelled.
I jumped from the window and ran. “Follow me,” I said. Alec and Jonathan followed me, and I opened a door near the park, and then walked toward the tunnels.
“There we go again. The tunnels. And I thought we were done with them,” Jonathan complained.
“What happened?” I asked.
“We have the worst luck ever. That’s what happened,” said Alec. “Stefen was making his announcements—you know, the war is roaming in Germany now and other things that we are in good position—and then a pigeon flew and landed near him. He seemed surprised, like everybody, since he hadn’t sent anything today, I suppose.
He had no choice but to read it to us. It said that the ex-Prince Alexander of the East Spanish Court and the ex-king Jonathan were among us and we needed their help and that Spain needed them. They were spotted in Italy, and please come join us now. I know it was probably something sincere, but we weren’t sure. Maybe it was a trap, and that is why we ran,” Alec continued, and he seemed ashamed of that.
“It’s all right. You did good. You would have put them in more danger if you had stayed and revealed yourselves, although now it doesn’t matter,” I said and he looked relieved.
“How did they know we were there?” Jonathan asked.
“I get that a lot of people saw you in the battle, but to recognize you? That’s beyond normal.” Meow. Midnight had followed us into the tunnels. Smart cat. “What do you get from that? Hmm?” Meow. “Nothing? Me too.”
The boys laughed a little at my conversation with Midnight. “Where are we going now?” Jonathan asked. He was holding my hand and Alec was behind him. Why did Jonathan have to be the one holding my hand? “I don’t know... exactly.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Jonathan asked.
“Relax. I know how not to get lost, but as I told you before, there aren’t any signs in here. We will reach a sign soon, but if you wanted to get to England, I wouldn’t know how to guide you.”
My words turned out to be true ten minutes later. I touched a sign “No, no, no,” I yelled.
“What?” the boys asked.
“The city with the worst people. I don’t want to go there,” I said.
“Where are we?” Alec asked.
“We are back in France.” I groaned.
Jonathan laughed. “The city of perfumes and wigs.”
I wanted to scowl at him, but in the dark, he wouldn’t see it. “In my experience, the worst people ever. Sometimes they come by my shop and they are insufferable. It’s like they bathed in perfume. And these wigs are just ridiculous. You can wear a wig at a ball or if you are bald, but they have hair. And very beautiful hair too. Why they would destroy their beautiful hair with these white... things?”
“It’s the fashion there, Eva. And
they don’t all wear perfume or wigs. Besides, perfumes are nice at a logical quantity,” said Alec.
“No, only the French Court. Peasants are too poor for these things. And their court. They rule so cruelly.”
Jonathan squeezed my hand. “That is something I agree with.”
“So, what are we doing?” asked Alec.
I sighed. “We are going up to ask for information, my friends,” I said although I didn’t like it. I opened a door and we stepped into a gray place with many carriages and horses. “Where are we?” I asked.
“I think this is Paris,” said Alec.
The three of us put on our hooded cloaks. “It’s daylight, but in this gray, no one will notice. If it’s Paris, then the palace is near,” I said. I was worried. This could be dangerous for us.
“Paris is the city of fashion,” said Jonathan.
“Is that supposed to soothe me? Because it’s not working.” We saw some ladies talking to one another as they walked along.
“We might have a problem. Do any of you speak French?” They shook their heads.
“How about Italian? I heard that they are close languages,” said Jonathan.
“Do you know any Italian then?” I asked and received a negative response again. What were we going to do? I looked around me, and all I saw were gray buildings and gray sky. Behind all the beautifully dressed ladies, I spotted a middle-aged woman sitting on the ground. She appeared to have an injured leg, and all the fancy ladies walked right by her. Nobody paid attention to her or even offered to help her. “If we don’t talk French, we will talk business,” I said and walked toward her. Alec and Jonathan followed and watched as I prepared my herbs and mixed them quickly. Medicine ready, Eva was ready for business.
The woman watched us carefully. I used hand gestures to show her I wanted to put my medicine on her leg, and she nodded. I put the medicine on her leg and sat back and waited. The woman’s eyes widened as the medicine began working. She made hand gestures and said, “Merci, merci.” I think she was thanking me.
“How did you do that?” Alec asked.
“I just thought it was good to give her some relief from the pain.”
The Cursed Girl, #1 Page 27
