The Cursed Girl, #1

by Maria Vermisoglou

  I looked at her in surprise and said, “I thought people like you did only good things...”

  She gave me a sweet smile. “We do, but that doesn’t mean we are happy all the time. I restored the forest, of course,” she added, laughing a little.

  “So...” I said. “You’ve met me. What do you want from me?”

  She looked at me strangely. “What do you mean?”

  “You wouldn’t have bothered to meet me if something wasn’t wrong. Unlike most people, I am very perceptive and I can sense the intentions of people toward me. You need something from me. What is it?”

  She looked startled for a moment and then she laughed. “You are right, you are quite perceptive. And I do need something. But nonetheless, I was going to meet you even if there wasn’t something I needed. As for the matter—”

  A loud bang shook the entire palace. I clutched my head in agony. There was something evil in this palace. I looked at the queen, and she held her head too. She rose from her seat, said, “Something is wrong,” and ran out of the room.

  Something this evil would have to be dealt with, and the queen was not strong enough to do it, so I ran after her. Things crashed and windows broke. The maids’ screams guided us toward the source of whatever happened.

  When we entered the grand hall, I understood that this was no ordinary threat. The king was in the center of the room, and I saw he had performed a ritual. Since when did the king perform rituals? And a ritual of black magic? We had arrived too late to stop the ritual.

  The queen said, “That was what I wanted to talk about... an Ignis is possessing my husband”.

  I slowly let out my breath. An Ignis was an evil spirit; when a human was too obsessed with something—in our case, power—the spirit made the person believe there was nothing else more important than the obsession, and the spirit fed from the person’s emotions until there was nothing left. In this case, though, the spirit might be working for something bigger.

  “It doesn’t make sense, Ignis aren’t that strong,” I yelled.

  The door opened and Alec and Jonathan entered. Now we couldn’t stop the Ignis. Before they had arrived, I could have used my powers in front of the queen. The king wouldn’t remember anything once I had exorcized him, but now I couldn’t do anything without revealing myself. Occasionally, we revealed our powers to mortals, but only to save them. We erased their memories afterward, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it to them. What should I do?

  A red light flashed, the ritual was finished. Smoke filled the room. I waited, ready to attack, but when the smoke cleared, what I saw was the end. A black knight—the reincarnation of Nothing.

  From a very young age, we are taught that in the beginning there was the Nothing, a place neither bad nor good. It was just nothing—no material and no life. From the Nothing, two powers were born: good and evil. When the End comes, the powers will return to the Nothing. Black knights were literally a legend; no one had seen one in real life, but the stories said that if you saw one then your life would end very soon. They were full of the Nothing and were summoned by powerful warlocks only to put order back in place. So how had this petty demon managed to summon him? Something was wrong here. Ignis were not known for their power, but for their deceit. The knight was in an armor as black as the blackest darkness, and his eyes were red like rubies. He moved like a man, but he wasn’t. The queen inhaled sharply knowing that we were doomed; the knight would clear us from the board like pawns. It didn’t matter who summoned him or if there wasn’t something wrong in the scales of good and evil; the only thing that mattered was that he was here and he would do his job.

  “Father.” A light voice, Jonathan’s voice. “Who is this? What did you do?” he wanted answers, but there wasn’t a rational explanation. The king’s face was like stone. He didn’t recognize his own son. It was so sad.

  “Mother?” Jonathan said, and I detected a trace of fear in his voice. “What is going on?”

  “Something very bad, my dear. Something very bad,” said the queen in a fearful voice.

  Jonathan turned and when he saw me, his eyes widened. “Eva?”

  I looked at him and said in a calm voice, “Don’t move. When you see your chance—run.”

  He nodded as he stood frozen in place.

  The knight turned to the Ignis in the king’s body and raised his hand. “What was born from the Nothing shall return to the Nothing,” the knight said in a raspy voice, like stone grating on metal.

  The king turned into smoke and disappeared. The king’s spirit had been absorbed by the spirit of the Ignis. They had become one, and there was no saving him in the end.

  The knight turned to face Alec. But why? He was a human like Jonathan. Why would he be interested in him?

  “He has the blood of a melec, and maybe he can be saved.”

  In that phrase I understood everything. It was like someone had cleared the smoke so I could see clearly. A melec was a half angel; however, they rarely descended to Earth anymore. They only descended if something drastic affected them and the humans. Risk of global destruction was an event that would bring a melec here. Now I understood his nature and friendliness and why he cared for others so much and wanted to help. But, how? The last time a melec was on Earth was five hundred years before Alec was born. How was that possible?

  But I had worse things to worry about now. The knight was targeting Alec, and I knew what would happen: the king was evil since the Ignis had corrupted him, and Alec had melec blood in him, so he had to be eliminated. That way the knight would have done its job. As for the others, we were just collateral damage, and we had to be eliminated as well.

  I turned to the queen. “Did he inherit your powers too?”

  She looked at me as she struggled to stay calm. “No, none of my children did.”

  At least Jonathan would be safe. Now Alec... I knew what I had to do even if it would cost me my life. Without anyone seeing me, I put my hand out and threw both of them out of the way, unfortunately, I did not throw them far enough and out of the harm’s way. The knight advanced toward Alec who drew his sword, and Jonathan drew his sword too—like swords could do any harm. I was attacking the knight’s back with every spell I knew. Fortunately, the boys didn’t see me since they were too focused on the knight, but nothing affected the knight. It was like a cat running into the wall repeatedly. I knew my spells wouldn’t work, but I didn’t care. I had to save them.

  The boys had their backs to the wall. They had nowhere to go. They were trapped. The knight raised his hand and said, “The angel shall perish...”

  I ran and yelled their names. “Alec! Jonathan!” I leaped in front of the boys. I couldn’t move my body, and I couldn’t breathe. I opened my eyes, and somehow I knew I had made it. I was in front of them like a shield. I always thought fairy tales with sacrifices were pathetic, but in this case, I was prepared for the sacrifice. The knight had no choice but to hit me. He hit me hard, but I didn’t disappear yet. I felt like my bones were being smashed piece by piece and my muscles were being fried. I had never felt such terrible pain in my life. If I was going to go, I would just as well shine brightly. I gathered my emotions. It was like the queen had said. My heart, not just my skills, guided my power. I looked the knight in the eye and thought, leave this place. You are not going to harm anyone I love.

  And then the memories flooded in. My mother baking me my favorite foods, Ritta tossing me a ball when we were children, Alec smiling at me like a friend, and Jonathan taking my hand at the ball. Everything exploded, and before losing consciousness, I remember thinking Jonathan. Then everything went black.

  Recovering

  I was dead. I remembered flying. Do witches turn into birds when they die? I am sorry, Mother. I am sorry, Ritta. I am sorry, Alec. I am sorry, Jonathan. I had to protect you, and I did everything I could to make it happen. I don’t and I would never regret it. I was falling, falling... everything was white, but then I saw a door with golden edges. I didn’t k
now why, but I knew I had to reach that door. The closer I moved to the door, the more obstacles I had to face—branches that nearly killed me, tornadoes, and broken glass but in the end, I made it. I opened the door. All was quiet and then... I woke up.

  I was in a room as white as the clouds and luminous; the sun was pouring from every window. Could I be in the White Land? Was I not dead? But I couldn’t be in the White Land because I felt so weak. The White Land usually made me feel stronger, not weaker. Two faces came into view. Ritta and my mother were here. My mother knelt so she could be at the same level as me, and then said in a low voice, she asked, “What happened?”

  I looked at her worried face. “I don’t know.”

  Ritta moved closer. “They said you were injured...” They? Who are they?

  “The queen summoned us so you could have a familiar face with you when you woke up.

  The queen... wake up... My voice came out as a whisper. “Where am I?”

  Concern in her eyes, Ritta stared at me. “At the palace. Do you remember anything that’s happened?”

  I focused on remembering what had happened. Blank. Flashes. White. Dark. “Just flashes.”

  My mother turned to me and said, “When you didn’t return from the palace after the invitation from the queen, we were kind of worried, and after a guard came to bring us here, we were really worried that something happened to you.”

  Invitation?

  Ritta continued. “You were asleep for five days, but no one bothered to come because they had their own troubles...”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “The king is dead.”

  Shocked, I turned to her. “The king is what?”

  “No one knows how it happened, it’s a mystery, but don’t worry, the funeral is next week.”

  The King—dead. A soft knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.

  A woman wearing a black dress entered the room. Her long hair was in a braid that trailed down her back. The only thing that was bright was her eyes. She must be the queen.

  “I see you are awake. I was praying that you would wake up.”

  She knows me? Do I know her?

  My mother rose from her seat. “Lily, I am sorry.”

  Lily, the queen’s name was Lily. She had the same name as a flower, but it suited her. The two women hugged, and then the queen sat next to me. “How are you feeling, my dear?”

  I sat up groggily. “A little weak.”

  The queen stared at me. “I see. With a little rest, it will pass, I am sure.”

  Ritta added, “And a little lost.” Remembering her manners, she hastily tacked on, “Your Majesty.”

  The queen turned to her. “What do you mean exactly, my dear?”

  Ritta shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Well, she doesn’t remember anything.”

  The queen stared at me again. Why does she keep doing this?

  “What is the last thing you remember?”

  I thought deeply because my head was a little hazy. “Yesterday. When I was in my shop with Ritta and the soldiers came.” I winced. It was a bad memory.

  “That was not yesterday. It was from five days ago,” Ritta said.

  The queen took my hands. “Close your eyes. I can give you what’s mine, but I can’t give you what’s yours.”

  I wondered what that meant, but I closed my eyes obediently. Colors flashed, followed by shapes, people, the visit, and the fight. The knight. Alec. Jonathan. The queen’s memories from the event flooded into my mind and triggered the return of my own memories. An excruciating pain nearly tore me apart. I opened my eyes and saw the three of them watching me. I looked at the queen. “What happened, Your Majesty? Is it gone?”

  My mother and Ritta looked at me asking silent questions. Ritta spoke out loud first. “It? What’s the it?”

  The queen responded, “I don’t know really. It just perished like my husband.”

  I looked down at the white sheet on the bed. “I wanted to save him.”

  She looked at me with sad eyes. “He was already gone, and you can’t save everyone, my dear.”

  Unable to wait any longer, Ritta asked, “What happened? Do you remember?”

  I nodded.

  “So?” she pressed.

  My mother was also eager to know. I wasn’t sure how to tell them.

  The queen answered for me. “She defeated a black knight.” She said it like it was an ordinary feat or something that happened every day.

  Ritta’s mouth was shaped like an O, and her eyes were ready to pop out of her head. My mother’s expression was one of disbelief. “Come on, Lily,” she said, “black knights don’t exist. If they were, she would be dead.”

  The queen stared at my mother with her big eyes. “Honestly, Angela! After all, we’ve seen, you can’t believe that simple fact? And your daughter was dead... at least for a moment. After, I don’t know what happened... it was like a firework of colors and emotions went off.”

  My mother was not finished. “You can’t just defeat a black knight like this, even if we say they exist.”

  Skepticism. Fortunately, I haven’t inherited that from her. The two women continued arguing, but I didn’t pay attention. If I had defeated one powerful evil, I should be feeling strong, right? But I didn’t feel strong at all; I felt tired and sad.

  Ritta recovered from her shock. “How was it?”

  I stared at her. “How was what? Facing a powerful evil? Being dead? Seeing that your friends might die in the next moment? Being a shield? Watching an Ignis summon the knight?”

  She looked indecisive for a moment. “All of them. Wait. An Ignis? That is not possible.”

  “Terrifying, but I didn’t feel brave—not then and not now. I just wanted to save them. I don’t feel like a hero. I feel tired and sad.”

  She smiled a little. “That is being a hero. You fight evil because you have to, not because you feel brave.”

  “It was an Ignis. I saw it. The Ignis had become one with the king. I know it is not possible, but is it impossible that I defeated the knight? Right? No one has ever defeated a black knight.”

  She was silent for a moment. “We should look into this. When you are better we will go to the library and search. We might find a clue about your powers and maybe your aura.”

  The library, you ask? It wasn’t a library on Earth. It was the White Land’s library. Our library contained more information than you could ever imagine. Ritta was right. If we were at the library to research the black knight, we might as well look for information about my aura. You might recall that my aura was possibly transparent and that the color of a witch’s aura was linked to her powers.

  Every witch could do normal stuff like summon objects, and turn materials into animals, but each witch also had a unique power. Some, like my mother, could control water; these were called Elementals because they controlled elements of nature. Others had harmless powers. For example, Ritta had the power of the spring. In battle, we used knives and bows and arrows because if you used your powers you tired faster. We used our powers only if the situation was really bad, using our powers was our last resort. Everyone knew what powers they had by the age of ten, but I had never learned what powers I had. I could summon elements and turn clouds into stones; I could practically do anything you could imagine, but I could do nothing at will.

  “Maybe,” I said hopefully. We turned to the two women still fighting. “That is not possible.” I clapped my hands two times and a vase fell from a shelf. “Oops.” Like I said, uncontrollable powers. “Ladies! Please. Can we be civilized for a moment?” They were acting like children.

  The queen scowled. “In any case, no one knows about this, and it must remain as it is.” She turned to leave the room.

  “Wait a moment. What do they think happened?”

  She looked at me sadly. “They believe the king had a heart attack and that some part of the castle came apart so it knocked us unconscious.”

  I stared at her in disbelie
f. “And they believed that?”

  She said with a small smile, “Of course, they believed this because indeed some of the castle has come apart.”

  She erased their memories? Her own family’s memories? I felt guilty. I had destroyed the castle. What if someone was injured?

  Reading my thoughts, the queen said, “No one was injured but you. You should be grateful for that because we could have been dead or worse. I know I am grateful.” She left the room as quietly as she had entered it.

  Silence followed the queen’s departure as we considered her words. I couldn’t wait any longer so I asked Ritta, “Are they alive?”

  With a small smile, she looked at me as though she had been waiting for me to ask this question. “Yes. Alec has a broken arm, but he is going to be all right, and Jonathan has a broken arm too.”

  I was relieved. At least they were alive. What was weird was that Ritta didn’t comment further and she called him by his name. Usually, it was he or the prince or your acquaintance—or your fiancé, which was even worse. Maybe she had given up trying to make me like him or love him. Who knew? But I was feeling tired, so my mother and Ritta left me with the promise to come back tomorrow. I slept and this time—miraculously—I didn’t dream.

  The sun pouring in the window woke me up. My mother and Ritta were not here yet, but I noticed some breakfast had been left on a table nearby. There was plenty to feed two families: eggs, fruit, cereals, milk, and orange juice. Most was in proportions that we couldn’t have afforded. I picked up a spoon and started eating slowly. It must be nice to be rich and not have to work for your food or even prepare it. If you were hungry, you just called your servants and the food was delivered. The food was so delicious I wanted to share it with everyone. I wish it was possible.

  A voice interrupted my thoughts. “I see you are feeling well enough to enjoy the food.”

  I didn’t have to look to know whom this sarcastic voice belonged to. It had always angered me, and if I looked up, I would see a sarcastic smile too. I continued swallowing my food and said with dignity, “I don’t usually get to eat such rich quality food so I prefer to enjoy it in silence.” Out! Now! I don’t want to see you. I learn news of you from afar, but that’s just it.