The Cursed Girl, #1

by Maria Vermisoglou

  I didn’t pay much attention to her words since I was concentrating on her ointment, but a word caught my attention.

  “It’s the king’s wedding,” she said.

  Maybe she was confused. “No, it’s the prince’s wedding. Alexander is the prince, and Jonathan is the king.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Not anymore?” Maybe I was confused.

  “Sir Jonathan quit last month, and now he is like everybody else. A peasant like me, but not you since you are considered a hero. He didn’t even stay a royal. He threw it all away.”

  I stared at her. Please, someone slap me, this is all a bad dream. Yes, I am dreaming and I will wake up.

  “You weren’t here last month, and it was the talk of the village. It is very unusual. Actually, it has never happened before. I wonder why...”

  I pinched myself, but I didn’t wake up. This was not a dream. It was a reality. “Kings or princes can’t just quit. They can be exiled, but even then, they keep their title.” I tried to focus on something I knew.

  “I know, but it happened. We are writing history. Thank you for the medicine. I will see you at the wedding.”

  After she left, I couldn’t contain myself any longer. I paced and yelled, “Ritta!”

  Ritta ran to me faster than a panther. Panting, she said, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Is there a fire?”

  “Go and find out who is the king.”

  “Jonathan is the king,” she said and looked at me like I was crazy.

  “The woman who was just here said that Alec is the king.”

  “I heard a rumor about this, but I thought it was just a rumor, and that’s why I didn’t tell you.”

  I was not interested in rumors because in the end they were lies and they made you believe things which were false. “Please go.”

  She left and I tried to collect myself. I sat at the table and put my head down. It had to be a lie. Alec couldn’t be the king. He was just the prince and Jonathan’s best friend. That woman had to be confusing the facts.

  “Eva?” Ritta said when she returned. I lifted my head. “Alec is the king.” She didn’t sound like she believed it. “I asked a guard, I asked at the hospital, and I asked at other places, and there is no mistake... Alec is the king or rather he will be after the coronation and Jonathan formally quits. Jonathan no longer lives at the palace. He lives near the palace and the sea.”

  The blood drained from my face. “It is true then. Alec is the king.”

  “What are you going to do?” Ritta asked.

  I stood. “I am going to kill him, and then I will go to the palace to help with the decorations. You can start without me.” I left with Midnight. She knew I was angry, and her company was a comfort. I headed toward the sea to look for Jonathan.

  There weren’t many houses near the sea and near the palace. I guess Jonathan wanted to be near his best friend. It was easy to find his house. It was a wooden house like the villagers’ houses. I knocked on the door and he answered wearing peasant clothes. “Eva. Do you need something?”

  “Yes, to kill you.” I went inside without waiting to be invited, and I leaned on the wall. The house was exactly like the others with a kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom, and living room.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  I tried to calm down. The nerve. What’s wrong? “Why did you quit?”

  “Um, well...”

  “Are you out of your mind?” I yelled.

  He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “My brothers and sister liked Austria and the farm, the simple life with no responsibilities, the safety, and especially no wars.”

  “They can live there if they want, but it has nothing to do with you.”

  “When we were hiding and going from one country to another, I liked it. Not the hiding, of course, but the life—going to the market and choosing the food I will eat, washing it, setting the table, eating with friends, and us having a picnic in nature and not with royals discussing politics and hearing about meaningless things. That someone bought another big castle or that someone passed a new law and ignoring the peasants who do everything for the purpose of surviving but still... they do it with a smile. I felt useful, I felt like I could do something because I liked it and not because I was forced or it was my duty.”

  That was the stupidest explanation I have ever heard, but maybe the truest. I had never heard him talk like that. I wasn’t sure he had been paying attention when I was telling him about the life of the peasants.

  “You don’t understand. We are poor. At times, we have nothing to eat and we go to bed hungry. We are at the mercy of rain, thunders, and wind. We don’t go on vacations often and we work all the time. Is that what you want? To look at people knowing you can’t help them?”

  He took a deep breath and sighed. “I was never good at being a prince and a king? Even worse. I think I was never fit to be a royal, like my mother. She seemed so out of her element, but she worked hard. I should have seen what my uncle was up to but I didn’t.

  “My father would have foreseen it and stopped the war before it even happened. I was supposed to be cruel and not care about people and marry someone who was the same status as me, but I couldn’t.” Jonathan’s voice grew louder. I have never heard him raise his voice this much, and I kept quiet and waited for him to finish.

  Jonathan stepped closer to me, and his voice gentled. “Maybe it was Alec or you or going to the village, but I cared about people, and I couldn’t do it. I was bored with all the paperwork and meetings and everything.” He sighed.

  “You are supposed to care about your people. What the other royals do is harsh and wrong. I think kings should be more like you and Alec,” I said.

  He smiled. “He will be very good at it. Besides, he will soon have a wife to help him.”

  “Enough with this. You are a good king. Please go back.”

  “No. I like it here. I appreciate everything our servants did all these years and what you did on the trip. It’s difficult, but it makes you think about life.”

  “Life is not easy, especially if you don’t have a job.”

  “But I do.”

  Was I missing something again? I looked around the room and saw some silver jewelry on the table and amethysts. “The princess’s wedding jewelry?”

  He nodded. “Did you choose it?”

  “She did. Ritta and I helped her with the dress. It’s kind of a mix—ah. You will see. I am not supposed to tell.”

  “Why not?”

  “The groom is not supposed to see the bride before the wedding, and since you are his best friend, you will betray the secret. It’s considered bad luck.”

  He laughed. “I didn’t know that.”

  “I will let you work and I will continue helping with the flowers and decorations.”

  “Will you hate me?”

  “For what?”

  “For being a peasant.”

  “I didn’t hate you as a royal, so a peasant might be more pleasant.”

  “You didn’t?” He looked surprised.

  “No, you just annoy me most of the time with your stupidness. Now I have to change your animal again. Stop doing that. I have changed your animal at least three times.”

  “Then I can remain a tiger. A lion is the king of the animals, not the tiger.”

  “Fine, you will remain a stupid tiger,” I said and walked to the door.

  Jonathan followed me. “I will pick you up in two weeks from your house.”

  “No, you will not,” I said as I opened the door. How could he think about the wedding now? And who said I would go with him? I walked out the door and left Jonathan standing in the doorway.

  “Eva?” he called after me, and I turned. “You were the third reason.” He closed the door.

  I walked toward the palace and thought about his words. The third reason? What third reason? When I was steps away from the palace, I figured out what he meant. I was the third reason why he quit being a king. The first was his famil
y, the second was himself and the simple life, and the third was me. What was I going to do with him?

  Alec greeted me at the palace. “Hello, Eva.” He was cheerful as always.

  “Hello, Alec.”

  “What’s wrong?” My heart is broken into pieces and I am confused... again. “Nothing, I will go and help Jasmine now. I suppose Ritta is already there.” He nodded but looked at me worried. I couldn’t tell him that I was sad because Jonathan had quit; it would hurt him. It’s a huge change for him too, and I must believe in him. “Congratulations on your new position.” I headed to Jasmine’s room after leaving Midnight at the pets’ room to play.

  “Thank you,” Alec said beside me. “I am a little confused with everything, but I will make it. Better this than sleeping in the woods and everything.” Alec had hated our trip, whereas Jonathan had liked it.

  “You can leave me here and go to your job.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s bad luck to see your wife before the wedding.”

  “Why? I don’t understand it.”

  Once he left and was away from Jasmine’s room, I went inside. “Sorry I am late. Alec wanted to talk and followed me,” I said.

  “Fortunately, you didn’t let him in. It would have been a disaster.” Jasmine was wearing her wedding dress.

  “You are really beautiful, and the dress looks amazing.”

  She blushed. “Thank you. It arrived this morning. The needlewoman said your detailed sketch was very helpful.”

  “It was nothing, just a sketch.” I arranged her tiara better, and Ritta and I braided her hair.

  “You don’t seem so good.”

  “I am not.”

  “The flowers. I saw them in the woods, and I forgot to pick them up. I will take Alec and I will go.”

  “Can’t we go together?” Jasmine asked.

  “You and Ritta have to make sure the wedding dress is perfect and doesn’t need any adjustments. And Alec must not see you in the dress—or the dress itself. Besides, it’s time he learned flower gathering.” She laughed and I slipped from the room and caught Alec eavesdropping. “What are you doing here?”

  “Um...”

  I took him by the arm. “You and I have important business to attend to.” He tried apologizing, but I held up my hand. “No apologizing. Take your basket and we can go.”

  “What are we doing?”

  I smiled mischievously. “You will learn flower gathering.”

  Alec and I went into the woods. “Where are we going? The woods are not that safe,” he said.

  “Don’t worry, we won’t go that deep. Ah. Here.”

  He looked down at the white flower I was pointing at. “You brought me here to pick a small flower? You could have picked it yourself.”

  “But there is a wedding ritual that begins with this small flower.” I smiled.

  “What kind of ritual?”

  “It is said that if the boy brings the girl one of these flowers, they will be together forever. It will bring joy and happiness upon them, and nothing bad will come into their path. These flowers are called moon flowers and must be cut with a silver knife.” I gave him my knife.

  “And you believe it?”

  I brought you here, didn’t I? “Mhm.”

  He took my knife. “But that’s—isn’t that the flower Jonathan gave you? The first?”

  “Yes.” I blushed.

  He smiled and cut the flower. “Oh, dear. You must have thought—”

  “That he knew absolutely nothing about flowers. It’s a rare flower though. I wonder how he found it. You will give it to her on your wedding day, so better take care of it.”

  “I don’t know much about flowers, and since you still have yours, it’s better you do it.”

  I used a cloth to put the flower into a pouch. If I touched it, the magic would be lost. “Now let’s cut some real flowers. We can’t return empty-handed.” We filled the basket with sunflowers, roses, jasmine, and other colorful flowers.

  “What’s that flower called?” He pointed to a flower.

  “Eva,” I replied.

  “I know your name is Eva, but what’s that flower called?”

  “I already answered. The flower is called Eva. It’s a healing flower.” Alec laughed.

  When we returned to the palace, Ritta and Jasmine greeted us since Jasmine had changed into a different dress. “These flowers are beautiful,” Jasmine said.

  Alec smiled and gave her the Eva flower. “Do you like this one?”

  “Yes, I do.” From the way they interacted, I could see how much they liked each other. When they were together they seemed calmer and more relaxed too.

  “Then you like Eva,” Alec said.

  “Of course, I like her. She helps me a lot, and I like Ritta too.” Alec, Ritta, and I laughed because we knew the joke. “I don’t understand,” Jasmine said and frowned.

  Alec pointed to the Eva flower she held. “That flower is called Eva.”

  Jasmine turned to me. “You have a flower named after you.”

  “I think I am the one who is named after the flower.”

  She smiled. “Let’s continue after lunch, shall we?”

  We said goodbye and left, but after a few steps, I stopped and ran back. “What happened?” Ritta hollered.

  “I forgot the cat.” I ran inside, nearly crashing into Alec and Jasmine.

  “Did you forget something?” Jasmine asked.

  “Yes, my mind and my cat.” I marched toward the pets’ room and found Midnight still playing. “Come here this instant. You are supposed to come with me. Not play here all day.” Meow. Keeping her head down, Midnight walked toward me. “Lazy cat.” I picked her up, and we departed from the palace.

  “That’s the first time in years,” Ritta said. “You have never forgotten her... like ever.”

  “Yes, but she always follows me. I guess there is a first time for everything.” She laughed and we went home for lunch.

  A Royal Wedding

  A week before the wedding, almost everything was ready. The invitations were sent, the flowers were ordered or gathered, and the wedding dress was ready and hidden. The curtains and decorations were ready. Everything was set—or I thought it was.

  “I need a dress for my ascension,” said Jasmine.

  “Guess what, Ritta? You will be designing a dress after all. Jasmine will need a dress when she becomes a queen.”

  Ritta clapped her hands. “Wonderful.” Ritta told us her ideas and I drew the designs when Jasmine said she liked them. The final dress design was a simple dress: purple with silver and golden designs that matched the royal tiara and jewelry. The shoes were violet slippers with a small heel. We incorporated the little tiara from her wedding dress into her hairstyle with the royal tiara. Her hair would be in several braids tied into a bun. She would look lovely. The princess was very happy, so I left her with Ritta, and I went to work with Alec.

  I knocked on his office door. “Yes?” he answered.

  “It’s me, Eva.”

  Alec opened the door. “Eva. What can I do for you?”

  I entered his office, and he closed the door behind me. “Actually, it’s what I can do for you.” He raised his eyebrows. “You know what you will wear for your wedding?”

  Alec blushed. “I, uh, well, I have something...”

  “Alec, it’s your wedding. You can’t just wear something.”

  His shoulders slumped. “I know, but I have work to do—”

  “You can deal with this later. The wedding comes first.”

  Someone knocked on the door and immediately opened it. What kind of servant just opened the door without waiting for an answer? Jonathan entered. Of course, the previous king and best friend to the new king wouldn’t need an invitation to enter.

  “Oh good, you are here. You can deal with Alec’s work, and we are going to work with his wedding clothes.” Jonathan started to protest, but I stopped him. “You made all this mess, and the least you can do is to
help out a little.” I took Alec by the arm and we went to his room.

  “Aren’t you a little harsh?”

  “No, he had all the training to be a king and you didn’t.”

  “But we took lessons together, so I know what to do.” He shrugged. “I didn’t go to meetings, but he told me everything.”

  I looked at his formal clothes to see if he had anything we could use. “Yes, but it’s one thing to learn and quite another to do it for real.” Alec didn’t attend many official events, so he didn’t have many formal outfits. Jasmine’s wedding dress was simple, so maybe I should try something simple for him, but he would be the king.

  Alec interrupted my musings. “Eva, I want something simple. I don’t want anything very fancy. That wedding in France we went to was too luxurious, and the king’s outfit was so fancy that the bride paled in front of him.”

  “Poor girl. You and Jasmine are alike. She wants a simple wedding too.”

  I drew some sketches and showed them to him. He finally picked a design, but we made quite a few changes to it. It was a white outfit with a purple tunic. The pants were white too, and I put amethysts as buttons and a flower in the lapel too.

  “Why amethysts? I know it’s not a precious stone but...”

  “I have my reasons and it’s a change from gold, don’t you think?” The truth was that it would match Jasmine’s dress. “Now for the other outfit.”

  Alec groaned. “Another? Why would I need another?”

  “For your ascension? Or you will ascend with your wedding costume?” I drew a quite simple outfit for his ascension with silver designs on the sleeves that matched Jasmine’s dress. “How about that?” He looked at it and nodded. “Now I will call Ritta for the rehearsal.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “The what?”

  “You know, how you will enter, where you will step, that kind of thing.”

  He threw his hands in the air. “If I knew these things were included, I would have had a simple wedding on an island.”