The Cursed Girl, #1

by Maria Vermisoglou

  “Yes, it’s all right. We will take the boat to Bretagne,” Ritta said.

  We said our final goodbyes, I hugged Alicia and the rest of her family, and we took the road to the port.

  From Italy to the north of France would take at least two days, so this ship was bigger than the ship we took from Spain. It even had rooms for sleep, so we took a three-person room, but I usually sat outside, listened to the wind blow, and watched the fish swimming in the sea. While we were traveling, I received another pigeon, but it wasn’t from Alec. It was from Jonathan and it wasn’t a pink pigeon.

  My dear Eva,

  I know I shouldn’t write this letter or even send it, but I always have been honest with you except maybe when we first met. I used your key. Half the palace is ready, but it was dangerous for me to sleep in my room since it could collapse any minute—the workers said. I could sleep in Alec’s room, but well... I thought it was kind of inappropriate. Jasmine left—I am sure you heard the good news—to tell her parents and arrange some other things. She will be back soon, and Alec lives in his own world swimming in happiness. I am happy for him though, he is my brother, and I want him to be happy in his life.

  I miss you. I start going to your house to ask you for advice or just talk, but then I remember you are not there. I walk in the village and see your drawings everywhere: on the houses, in paintings, in papers... everywhere. You have left your mark in this village. Spring has come and many flowers have bloomed, but I don’t know the name of even one, but I am sure you can name them with your eyes closed. I hope you are having a great time, and I wish you will come home soon.

  Yours truly,

  Jonathan

  I finished reading and I felt my cheeks heat and redden. At first, it seemed like a social letter but it wasn’t. It was a kind of love letter, but it was written very carefully so anyone who read it would think that it was just a friendly letter.

  In just a few lines, he made me feel. He didn’t say “with love” but “yours truly.” He missed me, and he went to my house, but I think he did it so he could feel my presence and not because he couldn’t find a room to stay. The palace had many rooms. He also complimented my abilities with flowers, but I had to admit I didn’t know every flower. I knew almost every healing flower, but I had to research some to learn their use. Sometimes a flower was just a flower. He said he missed me, but I missed him too. It was strange to walk in Italy without him and Alec. It will be even stranger to go to Bretagne without him. I know I had yelled at him because of Midnight there, but I had also made him understand that she meant a lot to me. He hadn’t called her “your cat” since that incident.

  Returning

  We arrived in Bretagne three days later because there was no wind for a day or so and the ship had to use oars. We went to the same inn we had stayed at when I had come here with Alec and Jonathan. The lady didn’t even recognize me, but the last time I was here, I had pretended to be blind.

  We went to the market to get some food and then went to the beach. After our swim, we sat on a blanket in the sun to dry and eat. I liked picnics, and this was one of the most unusual except for the balcony picnic. My mother complimented the food and the sea, and Ritta just watched the sea. She had done well with her swimming lessons, and now she was swimming like a fish. In the afternoon, after washing, we went for a walk. We looked at the sea and it had moved away from the beach. It was so peculiar. We sat to admire it and I drew it very nicely. I was sure Alec will like it.

  In the morning, another letter arrived, and this time it was certainly a love letter. No, I won’t share it; some things were private. I responded carefully to show him that I cared but I didn’t tell him I loved him yet. I enclosed one of the drawings I had drawn yesterday: the sea away from the beach and the silver moon shining and making the sand brighter. I had never received love letters from anyone before. Every other boy thought that just because I was tough and wild I didn’t need things like that. Jonathan knew I was tough, but he kept sending me love letters, and I liked it. It meant he knew I had a soft side too. I did. Sometimes.

  When I returned back and the moment was right, I might tell him that I cared for him or that I liked him or that he made me feel things.

  The month was almost over and we must go back to our normal lives and things. In a way, it was sad because here I felt nice, and I liked seeing the sea that went away, the market with the peculiar things, and nature. It felt like I was in a paradise or that I was dreaming, and I didn’t want to wake up.

  On the other hand, it would be good to see Alec again and we would have a lot to do with his wedding and all. And Jonathan too. What was I going to do with him? What was I going to tell him? I didn’t know. Maybe the stars would decide for me.

  “I wish upon a star that I will make the right choice.

  I wish upon a star that life will be good and all things will be right.

  For me and you. Oh, my stars. Guide me through the night.”

  It was a song my mother used to sing when I was little. I didn’t know if the stars really guided us, but I hoped that in this case, they would.

  Today we took the ship back to Spain. Back to our normal lives. Although with a prince’s wedding, I doubted our lives would be normal, at least for a while. With the love letters Jonathan had written, he must expect an answer too. I hadn’t responded to any of his letters but the first. It was weird, but I longed to see him and Alec too.

  When we arrived in the village, it was night, so we all stayed at my house since we were too tired to go to my mother’s and then back. We didn’t unpack, and we changed into nightclothes and went to sleep.

  The next morning, before I could eat breakfast, there was a knock at the door. I was sure Jonathan couldn’t wait to see me, so I opened the door and smiled. Instead, I saw a stranger. “Who are you?” I asked.

  The stranger with brown hair and brown eyes and a little childish face said, “Lady, the cards have spoken. We two are meant to be together. Let us guide together the life of the stars.”

  I stared at him. “I don’t understand a thing you are saying, and I don’t know who—” He walked through the doorway to the kitchen. “Hey. You. What are you doing? Where are you going? That’s rude.” He sat at the kitchen table and I tried to calm down. “Who are you? For the last time.”

  “We are meant to guide a life together—”

  “I heard you the first time, but I don’t know your name.”

  He stood and bowed. “My mistake. How rude of me. I am the Lord of the Land in Barcelona, and I have come to make you my wife.”

  I stared at him. “Excuse me? You need my permission for that, and I say no, so you can get out of my house right now.”

  “I am a lord and I don’t take a no for an answer.”

  Why? Why does reality have to come so fast? Couldn’t it wait for a couple of days? A month? Or a year?

  Another knock at the door saved him or I would have killed him. I opened the door with a glare that could kill, and Jonathan jumped back. “Hello, Eva.” I tried to calm down. “Bad time?”

  Why didn’t you come earlier? Why did I have to face the lunatic first? “Hello,” I said through my teeth and let him in.

  “Are you all right? You seem ready to kill someone.”

  “That’s because I am.”

  “Who? Ritta? Your mother?”

  I shook my head. “None of the above.”

  He saw the lunatic and raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t know you had company so early.” The lunatic started talking again and I looked at the sky. “Are you all right, Eva?”

  “If he doesn’t leave right now, I will cook him,” I whispered, and he seemed confused.

  “Didn’t you let him in?”

  “Do you think I would let in a lunatic into my house at this hour?” I went to deal with the lord. “Sir, listen. I am very honored with your proposal, but I am not interested, so you can go now and court another girl. Maybe a princess. I have heard that in Barcelona there
are many princesses and in France too. Have a nice day.” I opened the door for him while Jonathan looked in awe.

  The lord was not going to leave quietly. “But I want you, you are—”

  “But I am not interested. Leave me alone, and leave my house.”

  The lord had a serious expression now. “You will come with me, want it or not.”

  I wanted to kill him for real now. “How dare you. I don’t know who you are, but you have no manners at all, and you will leave right now, or I will chop you to pieces.”

  I was really angry now, but Jonathan stood in front of the man and said, “I have to ask you to leave. I am the king, and I do not desire your presence in my village or you bothering one of my subjects. You do not talk to girls like that and especially not to our hero. Leave and until you learn some decent manners don’t come back.”

  The man was stunned but left since he recognized Jonathan’s authority. I sat in a chair. “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “Well, you are unlucky. First day back and you had to face a lunatic.”

  I liked his smile. “With an empty stomach too.” Meow. I turned. “Where were you? Where were you when this lunatic came in here? Huh?” Midnight licked her paw.

  “I think she means she was sleeping.” Exactly. Lazy cat.

  I put together some breakfast and Jonathan asked how my trip was, and I told him who we saw and what we did. When I asked him about the news here, all he said was, “Not much. Alec’s wedding is being prepared, but everything else is as usual.” That was strange. In my experience, there was no “usual” in a village’s life. Or maybe there weren’t many things going on in a royal’s life, who knew? But a royal’s wedding was big news for us. You didn’t hear about them much.

  When Ritta came down, he said goodbye and left. “What did I do?” Ritta asked.

  “I have no idea. It was all very weird, but the weirdest was the lunatic. He takes the prize.” She stared at me and I told her about the lord of... what land did he say he was from?

  Later we went to the palace to congratulate Alec. He was really glad to see us. “Eva. I am so glad to see you. How was the trip? Was the weather good?”

  “The trip was very nice, and we liked Italy and Bretagne. I am very well rested now and ready to get back to work.”

  “Good, how was your first day here? A little difficult to adapt?” He smiled.

  “Terrible. I couldn’t get a decent breakfast because there was a knock and a lunatic at my door.”

  He knitted his eyebrows. “What lunatic?”

  “I think he was a Lord of Barcelona, and he wanted to marry me without my consent. He was not taking no for an answer.”

  “You are kind of popular now that you are a hero.”

  I scowled at him. “I am not.” The palace had changed very much. It seemed... brighter. There were yellow curtains and a light blue ceiling, and the rooms were in shades of green. Everything was in light colors, but it was all very well balanced. The rugs were a sweet red, and the chairs were either light blue or violet. It must be Jasmine’s touch. That girl had style, and I was sure it wasn’t French. “It’s very nice, the palace seems... lighter.”

  Alec smiled and Ritta said, “And easier on the eye. Bright red and pink would have tired you. I like it.” Ritta had always had a sense of style and colors.

  “Jasmine chose it and I like it better than the plain white it was before.” Alec smiled. “So, who saved you?” I turned to Alec. “From the lunatic,” he said, seeing I didn’t understand.

  “Oh. Jonathan, but he didn’t save me. He just intervened before I could chop him into pieces. But that’s details.”

  He laughed. “Ritta, Jasmine asked me to tell you that she will be glad to have your help for the wedding. She will be coming next week, and you can discuss whatever you want. I don’t understand any of this at all.” Ritta was delirious with joy.

  I gave Alec a meaningful look and he laughed. I saw my paintings in some rooms. “You know, you can hang better paintings than these. There are professional painters.”

  “But they are not our friends and they have no imagination. You have no limits when it comes to drawings. If I ask you for a house in a village, you will draw a house and behind a valley and some flowers in the garden and the sun with some white clouds shaped like sheep.”

  “I am not going to make clouds like sheep. I prefer cats and dogs.”

  “See? That’s what I mean.” He laughed. Meow. Midnight had made an appearance in the palace too. “Hello, Midnight,” Alec said, petting her. “Come with me,” he said, and we followed him to a big room with toys.

  “What’s this?” Ritta asked, picking up a wooden bone, and I examined a ball of wool.

  “We call it the pets’ room. If we have a guest with a pet, he or she can leave it here to play,” Alec said.

  Midnight ran in the room, and I threw her the wool. She started to unravel it and play with it. “What if you have more than one guest with an animal? Not all animals like each other or in some cases can be dangerous toward others.”

  “We have dividers.” He pointed to some wood. “We put them up to divide cats from dogs.”

  “I didn’t mean that exactly. Some cats don’t like dogs it’s true—Midnight isn’t usually bothered by dogs—but I meant animals like snakes.”

  Alec grimaced. “Snakes? No. Who is stupid enough to have a snake for a pet?”

  I exchanged a look with Ritta, and she answered, “It’s actually a royal from France. We were at a ball, and well, he terrified everyone by walking with the snake around his neck.”

  Alec shook his head. “No, I will clarify which animals are invited here.”

  “Eva was thinking of making a snake soup,” Ritta laughed.

  “Do you have a date?”

  “Four weeks from now, so it should be next month, and Jasmine is coming next week, so we will have a lot in our plates.”

  We bade him goodbye and I took Midnight in my arms; otherwise, she would have stayed in the pets’ room forever.

  “I am so excited for the wedding and happy,” Ritta said. “We don’t get to see weddings like this very often.” I smiled at her excitement. “I wonder if I could design the dress,” she said dreamily.

  “I am sure she has her own designers, and we can’t exactly fly her up.” Ritta looked disappointed so I added, “But I am sure you can help with the hair and decorations and maybe the guest list? It’s a lot of work and three weeks, well, it’s not a lot of time for a wedding like this.”

  She clapped her hands. “Yes. Yes. That’s so great.”

  When Jasmine arrived, I learned I was wrong. She did not have her own designers, but she had some sketches done by a close friend, so she asked us to help her decide. “Oh. I am so glad you came. You can understand me, I hope. My parents want a luxurious wedding for me, but I want a wedding that I will like. I want it to be symbolic: white and gold and silver.”

  “Luxury is overestimated anyway,” I said. “You can have a wedding without big things and still be luxurious, and a meaningful wedding is the best in my opinion.”

  She nodded. “Yes, that’s what I am talking about. Like your dress at the ball: simple but with the power to blend into the environment. I liked it.”

  “Let’s have a look at these sketches then.” We looked at the sketches and discarded three of them as being too much for the wedding she wanted. That left two to choose from. The first was a simple high-necked dress with transparent sleeves and small flowers on the veil. The other was... colorful. The veil was pink and the dress was different shades of blue, green, and yellow, which I thought was too much. The veil was simple with white roses and a silver tiara. The dress had a white belt and transparent sleeves. “I like both, but I don’t like the colors in that dress, but the veil is nice, and I like the dress in the other, but I don’t like the little flowers on it,” Jasmine said.

  “Then combine them,” I proposed, and she raised her eyebrows. “Give me a minute.” I took so
me paper and drew the high-necked dress with the veil from the second dress—but in white instead of pink—and the silver tiara. I handed her the drawing.

  “That’s perfect. But the flowers I will hold... I don’t know... is it too much white?”

  Ritta said, “Make them sunflowers. They symbolize the sun, and you see them at weddings all the time. It’s considered good luck.”

  “I don’t suppose you want to use yourself?” I suggested, and she stared at me. “Jasmine,” I said.

  She giggled. “I didn’t think of my own name and the flowers for it.”

  I corrected the flowers in the drawing, made them sunflowers, and colored them. “How about shoes?”

  “Not high shoes, I can’t walk in them.”

  “Glass slippers?” Ritta suggested. I shot her a look. “How about light blue then?”

  The shoes decided, we worked on the jewelry next, which was a necklace, bracelet, and earrings in silver with amethysts.

  The hair was difficult to decide. Ritta suggested a braid and Jasmine said loose hair. “What do you think, Eva?” Jasmine asked.

  “How about a loose braid? You seem to like both, and you can put ribbons to separate it.” I drew a sketch, and she liked it. She wanted light purple ribbons with a few amethysts in them. “You do seem to like amethysts a lot,” I observed.

  “It’s my birthstone and I like purple.”

  For the rest of the day, we talked about fabrics, curtains, shades, flowers, and decorations. When we left the palace, my head was ready to explode. “If anyone asks me about flowers today, I will kill him,” I said and Ritta just smiled.

  The next day I had a customer for herbs—my first in some time. “My daughter loves flowers but she gets a rash from them.”

  “Don’t worry. She will be fine,” I said as I mixed the right herbs and began preparing the ointment.

  The woman smiled. “Thank you very much. We have the big wedding too. It’s not often that we get invited to a royal’s wedding.” Alec had invited the entire village to the wedding, and I thought it was funny. I could only imagine the faces of the royals; that would be worth seeing. “My daughter and I have to go to the city to get dresses. We can’t be underdressed.”