The Cursed Girl, #1

by Maria Vermisoglou

  “Tell me who is the other person and where can I find him?”

  He trembled. “Let me go. I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  My eyes flashed. “Of course, you know. You are a spy. There will be bloodshed in a few days. But what are you waiting for? And why do you do this?” I asked in a cold voice.

  “Who? A spy? Where?”

  “I saw you sending messages to someone from the window. Now answer me or I will have my servants cut your hands off.”

  Pierre tried to pull away from Jonathan and Alec, but he couldn’t escape.

  “Please no. Have mercy.”

  “I will have mercy if you tell me the truth.”

  He whimpered. “I—I, they were going to kill me. I don’t want to be killed.”

  I was angry. “And so you betrayed the people you vowed to protect? Why? What did they give you, money?”

  He whimpered again. “He, he said that if I told him the names of the members, I would be rich when they won the war.”

  “Who is he? And how do I find him?”

  He sniffed. “I don’t know who he is, but he is from Spain. He has this accent. I don’t know where he lives, but when I have to tell him something, I go and meet him at that place.”

  “Tell him what? New names?” He nodded. “So you will go tonight. Where?”

  He gulped. “A tavern named “The Hunter’s Cave.”

  Why all the taverns here were named after caves? Are there that many caves around here?

  “Tie him up and gag him.” I directed Alec and Jonathan, Jonathan asked in a low voice, “Now what?”

  I smiled. “We will take a little walk with our friend here to The Hunter’s Cave.”

  “And then what? We don’t know who he is.”

  “We will see who he is and we will act accordingly.”

  Pierre must have been more scared than I thought. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and walked right into a tree branch. A muffled yell escaped him, and Alec caught him before he fell. If it wasn’t for the gag, Pierre would have alerted anyone in hearing distance to our presence. What if Pierre did that on purpose? Maybe he thinks he can escape or be rescued? I kept a closer eye on him. After a few more minutes of walking, The Hunter’s Cave came into view.

  “Thank God, we are here, or I would have killed him if we had to go much further. He is insufferable,” Alec said.

  I raised my eyebrows and stared at him. Alec was kind to everyone. “I don’t tolerate spies.”

  “Now tell us where in the tavern you are to find this man,” Jonathan said angrily to Pierre. “How will we identify this filth?” He didn’t seem to tolerate spies either.

  Pierre’s eyes widened. “Mmph, mmph.”

  “I believe that if you remove the gag, you will understand what he’s trying to say,” I said.

  Jonathan smiled awkwardly at me and removed the gag.

  “Over there, behind the tavern,” Pierre said and pointed.

  The dark made things easier for me. We looked at the spot where Pierre had pointed, and both Alec and Jonathan gasped.

  “What?” I asked as I looked at the man waiting in the shadows.

  “He’s the spy,” Alec said.

  I looked at each other. “I know he’s a spy—”

  Jonathan groaned. “No, he’s the spy. The spy who gets the job done no matter what. He’s famous for spying on Russia’s palace.” Russia was famous for their security. Anybody who attempted to spy there was caught, but rumor had it that this spy had spied on the Russians and not been caught. Either it was the truth or he was just saying it to attract more filthy customers.

  “All right. Here’s half of the plan—” I said.

  “Why half?” Jonathan sounded confused.

  “You can’t know everything, especially with a spy standing right here.” I smiled.

  “Uh-oh,” Alec said.

  “Congratulations, gentlemen. You are going to be baits.”

  They stared at me. “Excuse me?” Jonathan asked.

  “Well, you wanted action, and action shall be delivered. He wants you and I am pretty sure he will be surprised if you show up.”

  They nodded. “And then?” Alec asked.

  “Leave that to me.”

  Jonathan glared at me. “I hate your plans.”

  Alec and Jonathan went with Pierre to where the man stood in the shadows, and I waited behind. The man flinched when he recognized the king and the prince. He must have seen Jonathan many times since he recognized him even with the mustache he had grown these past months. Months? Really? Has it been months? I had lost count. I might have been a little far from the boys and Pierre, but I could hear the conversation as clearly as if they were standing in front of me. Witch sight and hearing are amazing.

  “My king. My prince. You are alive.” Ugh. What a hypocrite. “What can I do for you?”

  Jonathan let go of Pierre and stood in front of the spy. “You can tell me who you spy for. My uncle? Who?”

  The spy looked at him and smiled. “But for your army, my king. When they heard of your disappearance, they hired me to look for you.”

  The spy was not only elusive but smart. If we hadn’t seen the slaughter in Florence, we might have believed him.

  Jonathan’s jaw clenched. “What are you talking about? That’s a lie. There was a slaughter in Florence, and you dare to suggest that all this time the army was looking for me?” Jonathan thundered.

  “There was a revolution in Florence, and the army had to intervene. The peasants were killing innocent people; they had to be put down.”

  The peasants were innocent people. The spy was playing with their knowledge and attempting to manipulate the facts.

  “Innocent people?” Jonathan’s voice grew even louder.

  He was getting nowhere. They could probably go all night like this. If this kept up much longer, I would have to do something or someone might hear them.

  Alec glared at the spy. “So tell me, if you are in the service of the king, why are you spying on these Hope People?”

  “Because they mean harm to the king. They have to be stopped.”

  Jonathan had enough. “Tell me who you are working with and I might let you live.”

  Oh no! Big mistake, Jonathan. Spies don’t respond well when confronted with threats, power, or authority.

  The spy glared at him. “I told you. They are a threat to the kingdom.”

  They were going in circles. I had to do something now. Even the spy had begun to yell, how would I take him down? How did you put down a spy who was fearless? I looked at him and tried to look into his mind. I slipped in easily. If you could enter someone’s mind—if the mind was not defended, a skill most humans did not possess—then you could see everything: the person’s name, important people, ideas, secrets, pleasures, and fears. I saw the spy’s fear, which was so ridiculous, I checked again just to be sure. But there was no mistake. The greatest spy’s biggest fear was spiders. I summoned spiders from the woods and told them there was a bad man who was threatening to destroy the woods. I could have summoned them with a flower that attracted spiders, but it would take longer. I added some illusions and voila.

  After a few minutes, I saw the spy’s face paled. I advanced silently behind him. I lifted him in the air and put my knife to his throat. “I hear that you are the best spy in the world, but what I see is the dirtiest rat in the world. Now tell me who you are working for, or I will let the spiders eat you.”

  He smiled as though he wanted to be my best friend. “I don’t believe you,” he said, trying to breathe.

  “Really? Your tricks won’t work on me. I am no royal, I am not a queen. I am just a peasant, so you can abandon your tactics.” I lowered him toward the ground and the spiders.

  “No. Νo! Please,” he screeched.

  “You know what attracts spiders? A specific flower and it’s like the honey that attracts the bees. Unfortunately for you, I have it with me, so if you don’t tell me
exactly what I want to know, I will put this flower on your clothes and tie you in a tree. The rest you can imagine.”

  His courage had abandoned him like the color on his face. “The k-k-king. H-he is the one.”

  “Now we are getting somewhere. For what purpose?”

  He trembled so hard, it became difficult to understand him. “To eliminate all... People... Hope... Italy... more.”

  There were other groups of hope. “When will the slaughter begin?”

  He inhaled deeply. “Two days.”

  That wasn’t much time to warn everyone. “How many?”

  He looked down at the spiders and froze.

  I shook him and lowered him closer to the spiders. “How many?” I demanded, my voice low and raspy. If he wasn’t in the air, he would have jumped from fear. “Two thousand.”

  Since I had learned everything I needed to know, I banged his head on the tree, and he passed out. I set him down on the ground and sent a message to the spiders: All clear. Return home. I threw one of the special flowers toward the woods so no one would suspect a thing. I turned to Jonathan and Alec who stared at me with their mouths hanging open. Pierre was passed out—from fear, I guessed.

  “Mission accomplished. Gentlemen, please close your mouths, it’s rude.”

  They did as I suggested. Alec grinned, “That was—”

  “Formidable!” Jonathan finished in French.

  You know French too? “Please suggest how the two spies can be taken care of,” I said since I had no idea what to do with them. I could cast a memory spell, but how would I explain it?

  “We could kill him,” Jonathan suggested bluntly.

  “They are human beings. No matter how filthy,” I said.

  “We could let the Hope People decide,” Alec said.

  I nodded. “That’s perfect and we should warn them either way.”

  “We don’t know where they live,” Jonathan said.

  “I know where one hope person’s shop is. Maybe he lives there too.”

  They shrugged and looked at the spies. “I’ll take one and you take the other,” Jonathan said. He took the spy and Alec took Pierre.

  We went to Stefen’s shop and I knocked. After several knocks, someone said, “Who is it?”

  “Stefen, it’s me, Eva.”

  The door opened and Stefen appeared in his bedclothes. “Eva?”

  “I am sorry. I know it’s late, but it’s an emergency.”

  He inspected my company. He raised his eyebrows as he took in two men on the boys’ shoulders, but he ushered us inside. We went through the shop and into the back where there was a door that led into a room with a wooden bed, a small kitchen, and a bathroom. Where were the children?

  The boys put the spies on the bed and sat on the floor. Alec and Jonathan were exhausted from carrying the spies. Stefen and I each sat in a chair. Stefen looked from the spies to me. “So what happened? Are they injured?

  “Spies,” I said.

  Stefen looked at us in disbelief. “Spies as in...?”

  Jonathan took over and explained what we had uncovered.

  “My God! I had no idea.” Stefen leaped from his chair. “But Pierre... yes, we suspected that something was wrong, but to be in league with the Spanish?” He paced the room.

  “We have to prepare to fight,” said Jonathan as he stood.

  “Fight? Dear boy, we can’t fight. We are too few, and we can’t possibly ask from youngs like you to fight.”

  I looked at Alec and Jonathan, and they nodded. “Actually, Stefen, these two youngs, as you call them, have fought more battles in their lives than you can possibly imagine.”

  “How so?” He laughed.

  “And I would watch my words. Here are the young king and that’s the prince of Spain.”

  Stefan’s expression changed from mocking to horror. “I, I am so sorry. Please forgive me, Your Highness.” He tried to bow.

  Jonathan waved him off. “No need for that.”

  Stefen was silent and stared back and forth between us. “Don’t worry. They are nice. They are not like the devil who kills people now,” I said.

  “Who is he?” he asked.

  “He’s my uncle who didn’t like that he lost the throne.”

  Stefen pursed his lips. “I see, but still... we can’t fight.”

  Alec said, “How about the other hope groups?”

  Stefan seemed confused, “What other hope groups?”

  Alec looked at me and said, “The spy said that he had to eliminate all the hope groups in Italy and then continue to the others in the world.”

  Stefen looked at him in awe. “There are other groups?” He smiled. “Then there is hope! We must contact them at once, and we can defend Bologna together. But how do we contact them?”

  Nobody had any suggestions and the boys looked at me. I sighed. “Write a letter to the other groups, and I shall get it to them.”

  Stefen found a paper and a quill and composed the letter with help from the boys. He handed me the letter. I took a pigeon from my bag and tied the letter to its leg.

  “Excuse me, do you have any lions in your bag too?” Jonathan asked.

  I scowled at him. “No, but I can be one if you want.”

  He put his hands up. “No, thank you.”

  I let the pigeon out of the window.

  “Will it reach the right person?” asked Alec.

  “Really, Alec, after all this time you don’t trust me?”

  “I trust you. I just don’t trust the pigeon.”

  “If you trust me, then you can trust my pigeons.”

  He smiled.

  “What about them?” I pointed at the spies.

  “Ah, don’t worry,” Stefen said. “I will put them in the cage and bring them tomorrow. You must come, Your—”

  “Please, don’t call me like that. We are in hiding so he is Lex”—Jonathan pointed at Alec—“and I am Jo.”

  “Why do you have a cage?” I asked.

  “Ahh... that. Someone asked for a bear once, and well, he didn’t want the cage. He had his own.”

  Who would possibly want a bear? As what? As a pet? And how did Stefen get a bear?

  “We will see you tomorrow, and don’t forget to alert the people for the meeting,” said Alec as we headed toward the door.

  “First, thing tomorrow,” said Stefan.

  “Where are the children?” I asked.

  He smiled sadly. “With one of their mother’s relatives. It’s not safe here.”

  I nodded. “Don’t mention us to anyone. You don’t want to see me angry.” I scowled at him.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, and I walked out the door as Jonathan said, “You really don’t want to see her angry.” The door closed after Alec and Jonathan joined me outside.

  Preparing for War

  We walked toward the woods to find the way to our cave, but I was so tired I could barely walk. I hadn’t felt it before when I was in action. When I was in danger or when I ran, I didn’t feel tired; humans called it adrenaline. I have to hold on, I can, I will. I tried to pull myself together, but the woods started spinning. I barely heard Jonathan when he called my voice. I put my hands out in front of me so I wouldn’t hurt my face when I fell, and then everything went black.

  I opened my eyes and saw our cave’s ceiling, I sat up.

  Alec smiled at me. “Well, look who’s up. Breakfast?” He pushed some food in front of me.

  I started eating. Why am I so hungry? “What happened?” I asked.

  “What happened? You scared us! That’s what happened. You passed out on the way to the cave from Stefen’s house.”

  “I have to go to the city to see what happened.” I tried to get up.

  Alec pushed me down. “You are not going anywhere. You were sick last night and besides, it’s been taken care of.”

  “I am fine, but what do you mean it’s been taken care of?” Then I noticed Jonathan was not in the cave. Oh, no.

  “Don’t worry, h
e’s gone fishing. We were debating whether to go to the city—”

  “You did not do such a stupid thing.”

  He smiled “—and we thought it might be risky, plus you would kill us, so we thought of another way to get a message to Stefen...”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “We used Midnight to do it.”

  I stared at him. You are joking, right? “Really?” I was surprised. They didn’t give my cat much attention, but lately, they had decided Midnight was a supernatural cat with the things she could do.

  “We attached a message around her neck, and we hoped for the best. The message was encoded, of course.”

  That they would be so cautious and careful and that they used my cat... that was the surprise of the century. “Fortunately, she returned and the message said that the pigeon returned with good news and there was a wide response from the headquarters of the Hope People.

  Alec grinned. “Your pigeon found their headquarters. Can you believe it? I don’t know how you made it happen. It’s great news because the headquarters alerted all the other Hope People of Italy, and they are sending help. There is going to be a meeting tonight, and we are going to discuss strategy.” Alec was glowing with happiness.

  I wasn’t happy. There was going to be a battle in the city, and I couldn’t prevent it and I would have to see it; some of the people wouldn’t return home. “So, why did Jonathan went fishing? We have food.”

  Alec smiled. “Ah, we are all eating fish to thank your cat for her great services.”

  I tried, but I couldn’t hold back my laughter. “So, if my cat ate pigs, you would have gone pig hunting?” He stared at me, and I laughed even harder.

  The plant curtain moved and Jonathan came in with a basket—my basket—full of fish. “We have lunch and dinner,” he announced proudly. “I see you are up. Have you heard the good news?”

  I looked at him. “Yes, you ruined my basket.”

  He smiled. “I didn’t ruin it. I just put fish inside—”

  “That’s exactly why you ruined it. I can’t put my herbs in it now. The smell from the fish will ruin them.”

  He looked ashamed. “I can make you a new one.”

  I laughed. “You? Make me a new one? What a joke. You can’t even knit.” Midnight came to my feet and licked my hands. She could tell I was upset. “Yes, don’t worry, my sweet cat. He’s just infuriating. You did well, my brave cat.” I petted her.