“I do bother people when it’s necessary.”
He laughed. “Yes, but for a good reason.” Midnight climbed into my lap.
“You love her a lot.”
“Of course, I love her. She is my friend and my companion.”
“I never had pets. Once we had a guest that had a snake as a pet. Can you imagine it?”
“Disgusting. “Yikes. I don’t believe animals that are dangerous should be pets.”
“Me too. I think pets should be something that you can relate to and feel comfortable with.”
“Are you saying that I look like a cat?”
He shrugged. “A little. Not in the face, but in your character—you are fierce and loyal like your cat and smart.”
I blushed and smiled. “I guess. Then you will be a pigeon. Pigeons retain memory only for two seconds.”
He scowled. “What? Take that back.”
“No.”
“I have a very large memory.”
I snorted. “But you are stupid. So, you are a pigeon.”
Alec walked into the garden. “What are you arguing about this time?”
Jonathan pointed at me. “She accused me of being a pigeon.”
“You started it. You said that an animal’s traits matched the human’s character. You should have a pigeon for a pet.”
Alec laughed. “And what pet do I have to take then according to my character?” “
“That’s easy. A dog. Dogs are kind and faithful.”
Jonathan pointed at Alec. “How come he gets a dog and I get a pigeon?” He looked hurt.
“Stop acting so stupid, and I might change your animal.”
“Hmm...”
I turned to Alec. “You finished?”
“It was easy.” Easy? Woodwork is easy? “I had been doing it since I was a little boy with Jonathan.”
I didn’t know Jonathan could make things out of wood. “So you are not totally useless.”
“See? Told you.” He said triumphantly.
I shook my head. “You did not tell me, so now you can be a woodpecker.”
“What? It’s not even a pet.” The look on his face was priceless. “I can do other things too.”
“Until I know them, you can stay with your woodpecker. And yes, you can have a woodpecker as a pet.” Alec laughed.
Soon, it was lunch, and we sat at the table with Alicia’s family. We discussed the duel, but I was not nervous. That man had it coming. You don’t boast and you don’t boast in front of me or take credit for something I did.
“Are you going to kill him?” Alicia asked.
“No,” I said. “Sometimes you just have to prove that you are stronger, not weaker.”
“I want to be like you when I grow up.”
“But I don’t want you to be me when you grow up. I want you to be you, someone you will like.”
She beamed. “I promise.”
Jonathan whispered to me, “That was nice.”
I whispered to him, “It’s the truth. If you become someone else, then you are not yourself.”
After lunch, we cleaned up and then prepared for the duel. I gave the boys cloaks to wear, and Alec put Jonathan on his back. I couldn’t arrive carrying Jonathan—you should always arrive at a duel standing and prepared to fight immediately. I asked Alec to find out what was going on with the war and the Hope People, and he said that he would.
When we arrived at the plaza, a lot of people sat in chairs. There was a wide empty space in front, and I guessed that was where the duel was going to be. There was not much grass, fortunately.
My opponent was already there. He was a tall man and that was good. I could duck and he would need to double the effort to reach me. He didn’t look particularly strong. Alec and Jonathan sat in the front row. Before I went to meet the tall man, Jonathan grabbed my hand. “Good—” I raised my finger, “Oh, right. Umm, for the win?”
I stopped him before he could say good luck. “That will do,” I said and took my place across from the tall man.
Stefen was the referee and he stopped next to me. “I am sorry for that. I should have stopped it,” he whispered.
You should have stopped a lot of things, Stefen. “It’s not your fault,” I said.
Stefen stepped away from me and gave the sign to begin the duel.
The tall man took out a sword and I took out my silver knife. The crowd gasped. A knife against a sword didn’t seem like a good idea, but the best way to take out a sword was with a knife, especially if the knife is magically enhanced.
“You should have stayed at home.” The man yelled and attacked.
I deflected and stabbed him in the wrist and he yelled from the pain. “You should have thought before challenging me. You should have stayed at home,” I yelled. I was angry. “I did not come all the way across the seas to lose to a liar and a loser like you.” I stabbed him in his arm, and then my instincts took over. When he attacked, I ducked and then kicked him, hit him, or stabbed him. We continued in this rhythm until he began to tire. He tired quickly because the sword was heavy and he put all his strength in the hit. You could never win like this, I could assure you, but you also couldn’t win a duel with a witch.
I kicked him again and he fell. My knife was in my hand, and I put my foot on his chest so he couldn’t get away. “Please, please,” he begged.
The crowd was silent as they waited to see what would happen next. I would not kill him. I was not a murderer. I just wanted justice. “You will never lie again about me or about anyone else. You will never boast, and from now on, you will help people who need it. You will do this until you are judged worthy by the leader of the city. If you don’t do these things, I will come back, and I will cut you into pieces. Understood?”
He was frozen and couldn’t speak. Beads of sweat rolled across his face as he nodded rapidly.
“Good.” I turned to the crowd, and they all looked scared. Alicia stood and applauded, and the rest joined in. Little Alicia always came to my aid; she was going to be something one day.
She hugged me. “I knew you weren’t going to kill him.”
“I told you,” I said, and she laughed and clapped.
“You know, I thought you were going to kill him for a moment,” Stefen said.
“Then you don’t know much about duels. If I had killed him, everyone would have hated me, and it wouldn’t have mattered that I had killed the Red Death.”
He nodded. “You made a point. That’s why you scared him. But with a knife? I thought you were doomed from the beginning.”
I laughed. “And now you have a person to help you. You are the leader, aren’t you? He was doomed from the beginning. To win a fight with a sword, you have to use a knife. Knives are better at close contact battles.”
“But not in a war surely...”
I shrugged. “It can come in handy, you never know.”
“I will keep that in mind.” He went and made the announcement for the winner and said that we were in a good way with the communication with the Hope People.
“That was amazing,” said Jonathan.
“And great. That tactic is really good. We should use it sometime,” Alec said.
“I told you, you don’t need to kill people to make it work.”
“You are right,” Jonathan said, taking my hand.
“Things don’t go well,” Alec whispered to me. “The leader of the Hope People said that they will respond soon, but no word. Stefen has sent many—”
So he was lying and sounding upbeat to keep the people thinking positively. “Do me a favor. When the next pigeon is to be sent, give it to me first.”
Alec nodded and went to talk to Stefen again. Once their conversation ended, Alec put Jonathan on his back again and we left. When we reached the house, we went upstairs, and we put Jonathan in the bed. The night was starless, and in my world, that was not a good sign: starless nights were good for black magic and they foreshadowed something bad.
Later that eveni
ng, we had a celebration dinner with a big chocolate cake. Afterward, we went back upstairs to get ready for bed. “You know, there should be an easier way for this,” Jonathan said.
“Yes,” I said. “How about you walk? Or will you invent moving stairs?” I laughed.
“Moving stairs. That’s it.”
Does he believe everything? “I was joking.” I put him back in bed.
“But I am not. It can make things easier...”
“You keep working on that.”
Birthday
The next day Alec brought me the pigeon. “As you asked.”
I took the pigeon, whispered a spell to it, and then let it fly from the window.
“What did you tell it?”
I smiled mischievously. “You will learn soon enough.” I went to do some work. Thump! The loud noise sent me running back to the room. “What are you doing?” I asked Alec and Jonathan who was on the floor.
“You said I should walk so I am trying.”
I helped him to a chair. “And I thought an elephant fell in the room.” He glared at me. “Maybe you should try little steps at a time,” I advised.
Someone knocked on the door, and Alec opened it. “What happened?” Alicia asked.
“An elephant fell in the room,” I told her.
“Really? Where?”
“Eva...” Jonathan said. If he could walk, he would have killed me.
“I came to ask if you want to help me with the stables.”
They had stables? How big is this place? “Take Alec,” I said. “Actually, take them both. They don’t help in here anyway.”
She laughed. “Great.”
They were gone. Some peace at last.
“Eva! Come here. Quick.”
Oh, no. “Who was hurt, Alicia?”
“Nobody.”
I relaxed. “Then what is it?”
“I just wanted to show you the horses.”
They have horses? Of course, they have horses, Eva. If there are stables, there are horses too.
I followed Alicia to the stables which were huge. There were several horses in many colors: black, white, and brown. I even saw some cows.
“Eva, come on!” Jonathan said.
I looked up and saw Alec on a brown horse and Jonathan on a black horse. Did that mean that Jonathan walked?
“Come on,” Jonathan said again.
I shook my head. “I am good.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to ride a horse?”
Now, how did he know that? “It’s not on my everyday list.”
“Don’t worry. It’s easy. Look. Even Midnight rides a horse.”
I looked and Midnight was sitting on a black horse.
“She’s sitting on the pregnant horse. She is going to have one baby.” Alicia said.
“How do you know it’s not more?”
“Horses have only one baby at a time. They are born alive like cats or dogs. The only difference is that the baby horse is up and walking the moment it is born.”
I raised an eyebrow. I never knew horses were born ready to run. That was interesting.
Alicia took my hand. “Choose whichever you like except the pregnant horse—we don’t want to force her now.”
Like I would do such thing. I looked at each horse, but none looked too friendly.
“Oh look. Bianca wants to be ridden. We use her for beginners, so it’s all right.” If it’s for beginners... I should be fine. Alicia showed me how to ride her, and when I was ready, she took the horse outside to show me how to run. I did it, and I even liked it. The horse and I ran in a couple of circles. I liked feeling the wind in my hair.
“There are competitions every summer,” Alicia shouted.
“What kind of competitions?” I yelled.
“Many. The fastest runner and also artistic competitions. They do all sorts of things with horses—stay on top of it and jump in the air.”
That sounds interesting.
“Eva! Don’t you dare do it,” Jonathan said, reading my mind.
“Why?” I had stopped my horse.
“Because you are new at this, and people train for months and years to achieve something like this.”
So what? I was a witch. “I won’t fall,” I said and climbed on top of the horse. The boys stared at me in horror.
“You will need two more horses,” Alicia said and headed to the stables.
“Eva, it’s dangerous,” Alec said.
“Oh. So you can do dangerous things and I can’t?” Jonathan dismounted from the horse and stood. He could walk again, but he was limping some.
“It’s not about that—” he said.
Alicia returned with two horses and put them in place. “You must make a circle like this and then jump from horse to horse and then land on the ground without falling.”
“All right.” I snapped my fingers and Bianca started running in a circle. I jumped to the next horse, and I landed on my hands and feet. I pushed myself again and landed on the last horse. I finished by jumping on the ground and doing a flip in the air.
“Wow.” Alicia clapped her hands. “You are a natural.”
Jonathan put his hand on his forehead. “She’s going to drive me crazy,” he muttered. Who? Me?
Alec clapped his hands and shook his head. “Congratulations. You have had your first riding lesson.”
I smiled. When I go back, I must see if there are horses for witches too. Ritta would certainly like an alternative means of transportation to walking.
“Are you crazy? You could have been killed,” Jonathan said.
“No, I could have hurt myself, but not killed myself.” Why does he act like this? Can’t he be happy for me? I did something that I like. Oh, I understand. He worries about me. “Thank you,” I said, “for worrying about me, but I am fine. I am going to help prepare lunch.” I thought he blushed. The rest of the day went smoothly. The boys were out riding, and I stayed in the house and did laundry and other boring household chores.
“Eva? Do you want to join us?” Jonathan asked.
“No,” I said, without looking at him.
“Why not?”
I shrugged. “I am busy and you think it’s too dangerous for me anyway, so why ask?”
He took my arm. “I am sorry about before, but I thought it was dangerous to try something like that when you didn’t know to ride, that’s all. I am sorry I yelled at you.”
I was right. He had been worried about me, which was kind of him.
“You know I wasn’t in danger before. I have trained jumping fences.”
He smiled a little. “But horses are living things.”
I dried my hands. “I guess.”
“Your hands...”
I looked at them, they were kind of wrinkled. “Yes, what?”
“They are kind of—”
“Wrinkled?” I smiled.
“Yes.”
“Well, that happens if you play with the water too much every day.”
He looked confused. “Then don’t.”
That was impossible. “And who is going to wash our clothes? Last time I checked, cats don’t like water. Or do you think they are going to wash themselves?”
He smiled uncomfortably. “Isn’t there something you can put on your hands?” It was kind of him to ask if there was a medicine I could use. “There is but I’d rather use it somewhere else, especially now.”
“I know, I know... what I don’t know can fill a book.”
“Exactly. Can we go now? I want to see the horses.”
He laughed. “We should get you one if you like them so much.”
I put my finger to my lips. “Shh. My cat will hear you.”
It was dark when we went to the stables, and we couldn’t see a thing. “I guess we can come tomorrow,” I said disappointed.
“Don’t worry. There are lanterns and we won’t stay long,” he said, took out a white horse, and helped me to mount. I did some walking and then running with the horse, and
then he helped me dismount.
When we went back to the house, he asked, “Do you know why there aren’t any stars? There should be. There aren’t many houses here, and we are in the countryside.”
“You don’t? When there aren’t any stars in the sky, then it means that danger is near.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Always good to know.” We enter the warm kitchen and Alec approached.
“You will never guess what Stefen told me. The leader of the Hope People responded him. It’s amazing. A miracle.” I smiled. “Or maybe not. What did you do, Eva?”
“Nothing,” I said innocently.
“What did you tell to the pigeon?”
“To bite them.”
They stared at me and then laughed. “You did not do any such thing,” Jonathan said.
I smiled. “Why not? Sometimes you have to force miracles.”
Jonathan said, “When they find out—”
“They won’t and everybody knows that you can’t talk to pigeons.”
Before going to bed that night, I asked Alec, “What did the letter say?”
“I don’t know. Stefen didn’t tell. We must go to the plaza in two days for an announcement.”
The next day I did what I usually did like any other ordinary day in Italy—as ordinary as a day could be in times of war—but it wasn’t an ordinary day, and only one knew it. We sat at the table and ate. Midnight didn’t want to sit in her chair today, so I let her sit on my lap. I tried to eat, but it was difficult with Midnight licking my hands all the time, so I petted and whispered in her ear, “I know but be quiet now.” Meow. Meow. She ate a little, but continued meowing so I was forced to put her out of the kitchen—she wouldn’t eat anyway.
“Is she sick?” Alec asked.
“No,” I said.
“Then why is she so upset?” Alicia’s mother asked.
“She’s not upset, she’s just excited,” I explained.
“Really? Why?” the boy asked.
“Because she knows she will get whatever she wants today, and it’s her way of reminding me.”
Alicia put her hands on the table. “Is it her birthday?”
“No. It’s mine.”
Everyone stared at me. “Why didn’t you tell us? We must have a special dinner,” Alicia’s mother exclaimed.
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